Star Chef Simulator | Full Release

major update

Star Chef Simulator Soundtrack · published · build 24681403

Hello again!

We know it's been a while since the last update on Star Chef Simulator. But as we recently announced, we've been cooking behind the scenes. The full version of Star Chef Simulator is out now!


Over the past few months, I've overhauled the game's core systems for improved, smoother gameplay. For example, I rebuilt the entire cooking and dish preparation system to be less glitchy and easier to understand.
In addition we've collected and addressed all the Early Access feedback, so hopefully you give the game another try!

You'll find the full patch notes at the end of this post - they're long!

I've built a whole new tutorial for the game, better explaining how to prepare a dish using the new system and the overall gameplay. And Walter was added as an NPC character!

As mentioned in an earlier post about the game's development, we replaced all the AI profile pictures with MetaHumans. Although we're still using AI for translation, troubleshooting, log review, etc., we've decided to take a step back from AI slop for our own good.

The game now uses Lumen for Global Illumination instead of deprecated standalone ray tracing, so the overall looks and graphics improved massively! And finally, the ghosting and black reflections on metallic surfaces are fixed!

We've added a new mechanic to the game: The more you use a knife for cutting and slicing groceries, the less sharp it becomes.. At some point you'll need to sharpen your knife using the new knife sharpener in your kitchen, including a small minigame.

As mentioned already, there is a new system for preparing dishes. We call it "Dish Assembling".
You pre-select the dish you want to prepare for your crockery. After that, only items required for this specific dish can be added and transfered to the plate.All item positions are pre-set depending on the specific crockery and dish, you everything you cook looks beautiful! No weird and glitching physics anymore, but everything's animated smoothly. Enjoy!

With overall improved weather visuals, there's actually snow on the ground now! Screen weather effects for outside the restaurant have been added as well.

There's many more new stuff to explore, so check out the patch notes below if you want.

Before the patch notes, I want to say thank you!

Thanks for supporting us by purchasing and playing the game, giving feedback.

Thanks to all the people supporting me behind the scenes, family, friends, but also my 3D artists, 2D artists and publisher.

Bug Fixes:

  • Fixed bug of fridge sizes only updating on the next day after upgrade

  • Fixed bug that cam motion couldn't be deactivated sometimes

  • Fixed that you were able to put all items into trash

  • Fixed MetaHumans having black stripes on their skin

  • Fixed personalization widget being glitched on startup

  • Fixed some knives having weird shadows

  • Fixed that you've dropped the knife when leaving the cutting mode

  • Fixed items on spatula not being aligned sometimes

  • Added missing description for Wasabi powder and sesame

  • Fixed knives being wrongly placed on knife block

  • Fixed buttons looping their animation in save game creation screen

  • Fixed bug of subtitle widget not disappearing at the end of the tutorial

  • Fixed alarm clock not having any tooltip or description

  • Fixed birds being visible in minimap

  • Fixed some pedestrians glitching into objects

  • Fixed bug of order display not updating cam motion setting instantly

  • Fixed camera stuttering with less than 30FPS

  • Fixed broken dishes falling through the ground

  • Fixed tooltips appearing while having the tablet open

  • Fixed the gradient texture in UI

  • Fixed light leaking through some background buildings

  • Fixed content overflowing in dish tooltip widget

  • Fixed dish tooltip widget updating every frame (led to worse frame time)

  • Fixed payment for drink always being $10

  • Fixed bad resolution of level up animation

  • Fixed package boxes randomly re appearing

  • Fixed day ending too early for last customers to spawn

  • Fixed order not disappearing on kitchen display if customer left

  • Fixed saving symbol not disappearing if game was paused

  • Fixed fire extinguisher sound playing while loading

  • Fixed weird stretching of spice decals

Improvements:

  • Groceries now take longer to cool down

  • Huge engine upgrade from UE5.3 to 5.6

  • Material optimizations

  • Improved MetaHuman rendering

  • Improved widget updating efficiency

  • Improved NPC navigation

  • Completely reworked the animation of grabbing/dropping items (much smoother now)

  • Added animation when placing knives on knife block

  • Added smooth progress bar animation for cutting mode, transfer bar

  • Reworked profile picture selection

  • Reworked design of subtitle widget

  • Reworked dish rating widget design

  • Reworked and replaced some icons

  • Improved charts (display negative values now)

  • Moved the mop to the storage room

  • Removed the feature "falling items"

  • Decreased delivery costs to $15

  • No negative ratings for not enough menu variation in lower Levels

  • Increased overall XP gain for dishes

  • Decreased customization & upgrade Costs

  • Decreased salary for employees

  • Decreased costs for hiring/firing employees to $125/100

  • Increased size of tooltip description and added auto scrolling

  • Shop locks groceries if their dishes aren't available yet

  • In GameMode Sandbox the level is displayed as "∞" now

  • Consistent translation for recipes

  • Startup personalization now instantly applies chosen theme

  • Loading screen now waits until PSO precaching is finished

  • Added Lumen support for Global Illumination (default)

  • Added settings toggle for Global Illumination method

  • Added settings toggle for reflection method

  • Added settings toggle for Anti Aliasing method

  • Added settings toggle for Anti Aliasing Quality

  • Added LODs for background buildings

  • Added two new windows to the restaurant building

  • Tooltip menu widgets now have a delay to close them

  • Updated input action tooltip

  • You now instantly put crockery back to the dish cabinet when interacting

  • Added animation for water liquid

  • Light mode for UI is now blurred glass (change to dark for better visiblity)

  • Added average star rating to statistics and payments app on tablet

  • Added small randomized delay for lights turning on or off in the restaurant

  • Accessibility crosshair color applies to cutting minigame dots now

  • Added tooltip when unlocking employees and restaurant customization

  • Slightly increased probability for rain, thunderstorm and snow weather to appear

  • New metal mixer and improved mechanic

  • Pots and pans snap to gas cooker plates now

  • Fryer baskets snap to fryer now

  • Spice shakers snap to holder now

  • Mixer container snaps to mixer now

  • Dishes snap to microwave now

  • Linux version of the game natively runs on Linux runtime 3.0 (sniper) now

  • Reworked customization system (save game reset, sorry!)

  • Added light shaft for sun

  • Improved weather effects on surfaces

  • Added weather effects in HUD

  • Added actual snow on ground

  • Improved level loading

  • Updated personalization widget on startup

  • New crosshair design when interacting

  • Settings widgets now adjusts size to fit

  • Increased probability of tips

  • Display in kitchen shows remaining patience of customers now

  • Added difficulty level display for dishes

  • Added banana peel

  • Decreased probability of employees being sick

  • Fires spawn once only per kitchen machine per day

  • Reworked the tutorial

  • Added Walter as NPC to the tutorial

  • Light switcher actives restaurant fans as well now

  • Spice decals align with the surface now

Features:

  • Added salt and pepper shaker to tables

  • Added new drinks "Titanium White" wine and "Lemore"

  • Added 2 new hair color variations for customers

  • Replaced old AI profile pictures with MetaHumans (trying to avoid AI :D)

  • Added new knife models for better visiblity

  • You can now edit the name and profile picture of your restaurant afterwards

  • NPCs look at you now when you look at them

  • You can now speed up the credits with holding the space bar

  • Added foot IK to NPCs (their legs react to the ground now)

  • Completely reworked dish assembling system

  • The player now has a flashlight

  • Use the new call bell for telling waiters to get your dish

  • Added knife sharpening mechanic


Your feedback is crucial to the further development of Star Chef Simulator. If you have any suggestions, comments or discovered bugs in the game, please feel free to share them with us using the Steam forum or our Discord server.

Star Chef Simulator | Full Release · Star Chef Simulator Soundtrack patch notes · SteamPeaks