Update 1.3.0 is Live! Auto-Roast, employee level changes, and UI improvements

Hello!

We are back with another update for Coffee Shop Tycoon! This time, we wanted to address some of the top requested features from the community, starting with roasting and the end-game loop.

Auto-roasting and roasting challenges

We follow the reviews and comments very closely, and one thing that immediately jumped to the top of the list for us was that the end of the game feels grindy, and roasting stops being fun; for that reason, we made several significant changes.
First, we rebalanced all the roasting milestone challenges to reduce the roasting required to complete the milestone by half in most places; this still provides a challenge without feeling like a chore to complete. Secondly and most importantly, we added Auto-Roast when creating roasting profiles for employees with the "Roasting Expert" specialization. If your employee is level four or higher, you can specialize as a "Roasting Expert." Once you do that, you will have the option to auto-roast from the HQ.

The final grading of your roasting profile and the score of tasting notes is determined by the roasting skill of your employee. Higher-skilled roasters can create roasting profiles without negative notes and with a high grading score.

Another feedback we received was about the requirement of roasting points (RP) when roasting high-quality coffee varieties. We decided to change what varieties require RP, and now only Exceptional varieties require 100 RP (this number used to be 350 RP); the rest of the coffee beans can be roasted using money.

Employee level and retirement age

Another significant change we are making with this update is removing the employee level cap. Before, employees couldn't go past level 6; we did this to prevent the game balance from breaking once employees reached a very high skill. However, this has caused some confusion for players, and it can become very annoying if you try to level up an employee to create higher-quality beans. Therefore, we decided to remove the level cap and introduce a new game mechanic, "employee retirement." Each employee can now retire; the time depends on the employee level at the time you hire them. Higher-skilled employees will retire sooner than more junior employees. When an employee is close to retirement age, you will get notifications to help you prepare to hire a replacement; you can also click on your employee to see the time remaining until their retirement.

UI Improvements

Another area we focused on for this update is UI. This update includes several bug fixes for tooltips and addresses some potential crashes. Additionally, we added new functionality that will make adjusting your store prices much easier. If you have played CST long enough, you have probably come across the message "Price is low" when checking your menu. Now, instead of raising or lowering each drink or food price individually, you can apply the new prices to all your menus!

Improving graphical quality

We started working on CST many years ago, beginning with the first location you see on the game and progressively adding new locations throughout the years. Naturally, some of the first locations don't look as flashy as the rest. In this update, we started upscaling some textures and replacing some old models. The changes are notable on the start screen and the first location. We plan to continue doing this process while keeping the existing charm of the game.

Other bugs fixes

• Fixed the price of the training called "Roaster, you are our only hope."
• Fixed a bug where new drinks created in the HQ did not receive a bonus for the trending ingredient
• Fixed a bug where the preview of new custom drinks could be smaller depending on the resolution of the game

What's next

We are working on three major things:

Localization: Our plan is to finish the Spanish localization and use AI to generate some of the most requested languages. We'll announce what those languages will be later this year and create new beta branches for people who want to test them out and provide feedback.

Steam Deck Verified: We are working to have CST appear as verified for the Steam Deck; we hope that this will help bring the joy of coffee to new homes.

64-bit support for macOS

Investigating gamepad support: We are testing out several approaches to support gamepads in the game. We are still far from achieving this, but we believe it will improve the game experience for those playing on mobile consoles like Steam Deck.

Thanks for reading this far, and enjoy your coffee!