[p]Hello![/p][p]Here with a Public Test Branch weekend hotfix! Here’s what’s been addressed:[/p][p][/p][p]🛠️ FIXES:[/p]
[p]Fixed an issue where some suspects waited too long for police officers to arrive.[/p]
[p]Resolved a problem where contractor workers reset to 3 if you had contracted fewer than 3.[/p]
[p]Fixed the End Day Report menu staying in the background of other menus due to sorting order issues.[/p]
[p]Fixed an issue where customers would leave complaining about no toilet even after using the toilet.[/p]
[p]Resolved a bug where end-of-day final rating points between -100 and 100 weren’t added correctly to the overall rating score.[/p]
[p]Fixed a problem where rating points still reset to zero even in new saves.[/p]
[p]Fixed a bug where customers wouldn’t use vending machines unless a lounge was present.[/p]
[p][/p][p]⚙️ CHANGES:[/p][p]I’ll be focusing more on balancing things —especially transportation capacity upgrade costs, which are currently way off and have become a much more important part of the game— once the remaining graphs unlock in the next patch. That said, I’ve made a few early adjustments in the meantime, mainly because they were necessary after the recent changes to the customer behavior selection system. Things might feel a bit off during testing until the main balance update lands. Here’s what’s been updated so far:[/p]
[p]Slot game round time decreased by 20%[/p]
[p]Maximum rounds a customer can play decreased by 10%[/p]
[p]Customers who can’t use any services will no longer go to the toilet[/p]
[p]Customers who can’t use any services will no longer commit crimes[/p]
[p]Casino machines are no longer lineable again, but gamblers will still wander, watch games, and play if they find an available machine(Slot Machine, Keno Machine, Video Poker Machine)[/p]
[p]Chances of customers watching casino games after playing have increased by 15%[/p]
[Public Test Patch] v0.7.5.0.51 (pt)
[p]Hello![/p][p]Here with a Public Test Branch patch! I pushed a few fixes earlier this week without a changelog, so I’ve included some them in this list. Thanks a lot for testing and sharing feedback![/p][p][/p]
🛠️ FIXES:
[p]Fixed an issue where achievements could still unlock during testing. (If you got any—consider them a testing gift 😄)[/p]
[p]Fixed the tutorial starting up in the test version.[/p]
[p]Background music now plays through the entire playlist before repeating a track.[/p]
[p]Fixed an issue where subway-related agents weren’t showing in the hiring window.[/p]
[p]Fixed a bug where rooms would shrink to one tile if built before the first in-game day started.[/p]
[p]Escalators now properly connect to the switchboard.[/p]
[p]Elevator shafts now correctly connect to the switchboard after being placed.[/p]
[p]Items now properly register their power usage when a switchboard is placed.[/p]
[p]Fixed a bug where locomotive driver contracts wouldn’t end after selling the locomotive.[/p]
[p]Fixed an issue where the utility lines menu sometimes wouldn’t open after placing a switchboard.[/p]
[p]Switchboard lines now get properly removed after selling the connected item.[/p]
[p]Fixed some contractor salaries not being paid.[/p]
[p]Contractors now end their contracts correctly when there’s no money to pay them.[/p]
[p]Contractors now leave when their contract time ends.[/p]
[p]Subway and bus mechanics now correctly switch to their assigned active work.[/p]
[p]Fixed a bug where garage vehicles didn’t require maintenance even after their maintenance interval passed.[/p]
[p]Customers no longer leave with uncompleted To-Do list items.[/p]
[p]Bought newspapers and books now correctly add to a customer's spending record.[/p]
[p]Fixed the second subway wagon not appearing in the UI.[/p]
[p]Fixed an issue where customers were committing more crimes than intended after the rating system changed from 0–10 to 0–100.[/p]
[p]Resolved a bug where customers who left early wouldn’t display their reason if they were waiting for the bus.[/p]
[p][/p]
⚙️ CHANGES:
[p]Custom Mode is now unlocked for public testing.[/p]
[p]No Sweat Mode is now unlocked for public testing.[/p]
[p]Removed the rating adder/remover tool from developer tools in the test build.[/p]
[p]Increased the research cost of Electricity II from level 3 to level 4.[/p]
[p]People now display the facial expression of their last moodlet for 20 in-game minutes before switching back to their dominant mood.[/p]
[p]Customers no longer try to perform their favorite customer service task if it hasn’t been unlocked or researched.[/p]
[p]The base bet amounts for casino games have gone up by about 35%.[/p]
[p]Customers now receive a random positive moodlet when exchanging casino chips.[/p]
[p][/p]
🎵 ADDED:
[p]Added 25 brand new, creator-safe original background music tracks, and removed the old ones.[/p]
[p]Added 4 new wallpapers.[/p]
[p]Added ambient audio FX to overlay views.[/p]
[p][/p]
🖥️ UI:
[p]Added a "Fired" indicator box for the employee menu.[/p]
[p]Fixed walkway foot traffic info text overflowing into the graphics area in the menu.[/p]
[p]Fixed an issue where subway parts showed incorrect taxi tooltip info.[/p]
[p]Added audio SFX to most main menu buttons. (Still working on the rest!)[/p]
[p]Fixed mechanic agent skill info text overflowing into the graphic area.[/p]
[p][/p][p][/p][p]Let me know if you find anything weird![/p][p]Thanks again for testing 💙[/p]
[Public Test Update] Echoes Of The Community Update is Now in Beta!
[p]After a full year in the making, the massive update I’ve been working on is finally in its last stage of testing, focused on fixing, balancing, and polishing. What started as a public test build has now officially become the beta for what I’m calling the second "Early Access launch".[/p][p][/p][p]Would you play an early access of an early access game? ːsteammockingːːsteamhappyː[/p][p]This is by far the biggest update yet. The whole game has been basically rebuilt from the ground up. Almost everything under the hood has been rewritten to be more stable, flexible, and future-proof. After launch, the scope of the game grew way beyond the original plans, so this update had to grow with it. Now, it’s finally ready for the long haul.[/p][p][/p][p]And the best part? It’s been completely shaped by the community. Every piece of feedback, every bug report, suggestion, wild idea, and late-night rant helped mold what this version became. So really, almost every feature we’ve agreed on together is in it.[/p][p][/p][p]So yeah, the main features are in, the new foundation is solid, and things are finally coming together. We’re almost there, and just about to kick off the huge roadmap ahead, packed with major updates and more content. But before all that, I could really use your help for one final round of testing on this upcoming unusually big update.[/p][p][/p][p]You can switch to the public test branch and jump in right now![/p][p][/p][p]⚠️ Heads-up: There’s no tutorial yet. So if you’re brand new to the game, I recommend checking out the older version first to get the hang of it. (That tutorial wasn’t the best either, but hey, the new campaign mode and tutorial system are on the way!)[/p][p][/p][p]Things are still a bit rough:[/p][p]Some content is missing, the balance is all over the place, polish is... let’s just say “a work in progress,” and yes, there are definitely still bugs hiding in the corners. So if you’re just looking for a smooth and stable Casino Resort Tower experience, I’d recommend waiting for the main branch release.[/p][p][/p][p]Thanks to this new foundation, updates from here on out will be and is much faster and smoother.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/41717099/4eea1bb82cdbc2f651a405ee2e2bba4632c2a791.png"][/p][p][/p]
How to Switch to the Public Test Branch
[p]Open your Steam Library[/p]
[p]Right-click on Casino Resort Tower and select Properties[/p]
[p]Go to the Betas tab on the left[/p]
[p]In the dropdown menu, select: publictest - Public Test Branch[/p]
[p]Close the window, Steam will download the update automatically[/p]
[p]Hit Play when it’s ready and enjoy the test build![/p]
[p][/p][p][/p][p]💡 Bonus Tip for Testers:[/p][p]Some of the development tools are still available for now to help you quickly test things, since game balance isn’t fully in place yet.[/p][p]You can access them by pressing O + P in-game. [/p][p][/p][p]📢 Update Logs & Community Posts: I’m planning to share regular update logs right here on Steam for the public test branch, which will always stay active and maintain the next major update.[/p][p]This means there will be three types of posts going forward:[/p]
[p]Public Test Branch Updates/Changelogs[/p]
[p]Main Branch Updates/Changelogs[/p]
[p]Community Gazette: where we’ll talk about future plans and community topics[/p]
[p][/p][p]Looking forward to keeping you all in the loop and hearing your feedback! Thank you so much for being here. Let’s make this final stretch count! ːsteamhappyː[/p][p][/p][p][/p]
📝 The Changelog
[p]Since this is the first changelog for the public test branch here on Steam, I have to start somewhere![/p][p][/p][p]If I tried to list everything that’s changed compared to the current main branch version, it would be massive, so I’ll save that for the Major Update post when it officially goes live on the main branch.[/p][p][/p][p]For now, I’m starting with just the highlights, picking up from where I left off in Discord and the Community Gazette.[/p][p][/p][p]So, here’s the first official changelog for the publictest branch on Steam![/p][p][/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/41717099/5538d04e795a15220cb873ab17c3f1a41a22a781.png"][/p]
⚡ Switchboard
[p]While most of the utility system upgrades are planned for the upcoming Seasons Update and Architecting Heights, I’ve decided to release one of them early — because I know the late-game electricity spaghetti was driving some players nuts. 😅[/p][p]Introducing the Switchboard:[/p]
[p]Place a switchboard to merge all electrical connections from items in a room.[/p]
[p]You only need to connect the switchboard to the main power line.[/p]
[p]It will auto-connect to everything else in that room, greatly reducing wire clutter.[/p]
[p]The HR Manager system already automates the late game hiring and firing (Will also be balanced like a lot of other things), but the negotiation window needed some love too.[/p]
[p]You’ll now see the chance of acceptance for your offer during salary negotiations.[/p]
[p]Acceptance is based on the job type, candidate traits, and of course, your offer.[/p]
[p]This makes the system clearer — or lets you roll the dice with lowball offers if you’re feeling lucky.[/p]
[p]Expect more UI/UX improvements to this and other UI systems over the coming week.[/p][p][/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/41717099/083d5aaab76907d17194c88d05c2cd965c54d224.png"][TAG-270][/p][p][/p]
🚍 Public Transportation – Fully Rebuilt
[p]The reworked Transportation System mentioned in the last Community Gazette is now fully implemented, though a bunch of bugs are still being ironed out. Here’s a recap of the core features:[/p][p][/p][p]Public Transit – Key Highlights[/p]
[p]Complete Rebuild: Fully redesigned public transit system.[/p]
[p]Vehicle Management: Buy, sell, and maintain taxis, buses, subway wagons, all with unique stats and quirks.[/p]
[p]Licensing Required: You'll need to acquire city licenses before running each type of service.[/p]
[p]Vehicle Condition: From Brand New to Bad, condition affects pricing, breakdown rate, upkeep, and resale value.[/p]
[p]Since townfolk relations now matter more, especially when it comes to convincing the city for things like licenses or infrastructure, their quests and interaction style are getting overhauled during this phase.[/p][p]Lots of smaller improvements, tweaks, and bug fixes have also been made since the last Community Gazette, but these are the biggest changes so far.[/p][p][/p][p]As I mentioned earlier, I’ll be posting regular changelogs for the public test branch here on Steam. Expect almost daily balance tweaks, improvements and fixes as we push toward the full main branch release, and clean up the heavy system changes and remaining big construction mess that came with it.[/p][p][/p][p]Thanks again for being part of the test! Your feedback truly helps, and now, as we enter the final stretch for the Echoes of the Community update, let’s make it count. 💚[/p][p][/p][p]Cheers![/p]
Community Gazette - Issue #6 - Garage, Vehicles, Agents and the City
Hey everyone!
Back again with another Community Gazette! If you've been following development closely—especially on the public test branch—you probably already know that we’re reaching the final stage of the base game rebuild.
We’ve just wrapped up work on the final core system: public transportation, which builds on the transportation & rating revamp. It’s the last major content piece before we move into the polish and balance phase. With this, the main gameplay loop we've been designing is finally complete.
And that means we’re almost ready to ship something special to the main branch: a massive, unexpected update we’re calling "Echoes of the Community". It wasn’t even on the roadmap, but here it comes.
So, what’s changed since the last gazette?
Originally, the goal for this update was pretty straightforward: take public transportation out of the research tree, let players buy buses, subways, and taxis, and set up schedules. Done and done.
But… if you know me a little by now, you’ll probably guess what happened next. I just couldn’t help myself, I had to add more details to the system, even though I knew we were already running behind schedule.. This update already started to feel like a second early access launch, so I wanted to rework this system to be more fun to manage, not just something you check off once and forget.
So it’s grown, maybe a little more than planned, but I think in a good way. Here’s what you’ll find in the new public transportation system:
Public Transit – Rebuilt from the Ground Up
You’ll now need to buy, sell, and maintain your public transportation vehicles. That includes taxis, buses, subway trains, and wagons, each with their own stats and quirks. Just like walkways, you’ll need to get licenses from the city before you can run these services, but there’s a catch… which ties into a new dynamic with the townsfolk. More on that in a second.
Vehicles now have condition ratings—from Brand New to Like New, Fair, and Bad—and these affect everything: price, upkeep, even how often they break down. You’ll also deal with maintenance intervals, fuel costs, and yes, even vehicle mileage, which tracks how many round trips each vehicle makes between the casino and the city.
Higher mileage means lower resale value and more wear and tear—but also a cheaper price up front. Whether you invest in shiny new subway cars or pick up a few well-worn buses to get started is entirely up to you.
Maintenance & Mechanics
Just like items and rooms in your casino, transportation vehicles need maintenance, but they do it in their own way. Each one has a maintenance interval (how many rounds it lasts) and a maintenance cost when it’s time to service it. These numbers depend on the vehicle’s base stats, its condition, and a little RNG from the dealer you bought it from.
If that sounds like a lot to micromanage, don’t worry. The idea is that, instead of constantly doing research, you'll be tinkering with different elements to expand your transportation capacity and automate tasks. Then, you'll revisit these aspects over time to keep improving. That's why you’ll now be able to contract mechanics as Agents to automate the process. Which brings us to…
Introducing: The Agent System
We’re adding a new type of professional to the game: Agents. These are freelancers you can contract temporarily for specific roles and tasks. Unlike your regular employees and contractor workers, they operate outside your business and come with different perks and limits.
For now, the Agent system includes:
Drivers
Train Operators
Mechanics
Lawyers (Will be moved to this)
You’ll need drivers and operators to actually run your public transport vehicles. They also work as part of the scheduling system, hire one for mornings, and they’ll cover that shift hours automatically. Want full-day service? You’ll need two, but that also means faster mileage, more wear, and higher costs.
In future updates, more agent types will be introduced. Think detectives (for spying on rival casinos in the Rivalry update), or art dealers to track down rare pieces in the Luxury Amenities update.
A Bigger City, A Deeper Connection
Your casino isn’t the only thing growing. Every bus, taxi, or subway line leads to the city, and the city’s going to matter more than ever.
To get licenses, you’ll need to build relationships with the townsfolk, especially if you want to run something like a subway line. The more you grow your public transportation network, the more important those connections become.
And this ties into the bigger picture: the city system will eventually connect to upcoming updates like Go Global, Rivalry, Catastrophes, and Advanced Logistics. This is just the start.
What's Next? The Polish Phase
Once this update hits the Public Test Branch, we’ll begin the polishing and balancing process. After that, everything gets pushed to the main branch as a complete rebuild of the base game, and we shift into full-on content updates.
The polishing tasks are much smaller and quicker to complete. I’ve always been the kind of person who prefers to get the big heavy lifts out of the way early, and now it finally feels like the construction is done and we’re moving on to interior design. This is the fun part.
Here’s what’s coming in the final polish update:
Redesigned townsfolk quests and decision UI
Balancing of the main game loop values
Final implementation of missing AI behaviors (e.g., animations for the hood hair dryer, cigar lounge ashtrays)
Audio remastering
New UX for negotiations
Tutorial improvements
Visual & audio effect polish
Some key quality-of-life UI upgrades (with more in the QOL patch after Nightlife)
Wrapping Up
I truly believe this rebuilt version of the game feels like a second early access launch, and it’s going to give us a strong foundation for all the content that’s coming next. Once polish is complete, we’re heading full speed into expansions, features, and chaos.
Thanks for being part of this wild ride and helping shape this unique, deep, and sometimes delightfully chaotic simulation.
See you in the next Gazette, Cheers!
Community Gazette - Issue #5 - Starting Map Size, Community Save File Sharing
Hey!👋
I hope your year has started off great! We’re finally about to launch the next update, kicking off a pipeline of content updates. I’m really excited about it. It’s time for another Community Gazette to go over what’s been happening since the end of the holiday season.
Starting Map Size System & The Go Global Update
For a while now, we’ve had three map sizes to choose from when starting a game. However, many in our community have requested different ratios, larger maps, or even more basement floors than upper floors. To address this, I’ve added an even bigger map size and implemented a customizable map system where you can set the width/height ratio and the percentage of basement floors before starting. This feature is live on the public test branch and will roll out to the default branch with the Echoes of the Community update package. Sorry for the delay in getting this to you, public test players! I had to address some issues with the transportation system while implementing it.
But the most significant part? This ties into the upcoming Go Global update. In the future, you’ll manage multiple casinos in different cities, each with unique challenges. Map sizes and settings will play a crucial role in this system. This means the customization options may be revisited again before the 1.0 launch, but for now, these settings should provide a solid foundation.
Financial Data Graphs & Transaction Names
I’ve finalized the casino data collection and financial graph system I mentioned earlier. The financial data graph is now live on the public test branch, with additional graphs coming in the next patch after some UI tweaks.
If you’ve been using an older public test save, you might notice some outdated transaction names or financial data for casino rooms at first. However, as new data comes in, everything should gradually align with the latest system.
Transportation System Refactor & Vehicle Changes
There was one part of the transportation module that hadn't been refactored during the past backend work campaign. It stood firm, a stable, a shrine of old code, if you will. 😊 However, since unlocking worker trucks and private cars, bugs have been creeping in. So, I decided to give the system a proper overhaul and migrate it to the new vehicle garage system too. So Heads-up: After updating, you might notice all your cars have disappeared when loading an old public test save for the first time. Your people might also complain about not finding their cars, but in theory, everything should settle smoothly after that!
Cheat Panel & Final Pre-Balance Features
The public test branch is still out of balance so the "Cheat Panel" is still active for you to use while testing, but I have two key features left to improve before tackling the game’s balance update. Yes, improvements can go on forever, but I know, you know, we all know that these two features are essential before we can truly feel satisfied and move on to the content phase of the roadmap 😅
Building Research Overhaul – I plan to move the building research tree to a licensing system, similar to transportation. This means using administrative documents and money to purchase building licenses, improving permits and elevator specifications.
Hiring Negotiations – While we introduced auto-hiring through the HR Manager, the negotiation messaging system still feels a bit clunky. I want to improve both its UX and mechanics as part of the Echoes of the Community update.
Next Steps & Community Save File Sharing
The plan (which can't stop changing) is as follows:
Later today or tomorrow – A hotfix patch addressing collected reports (huge thanks to everyone who submitted them!).
Next focus – Completing the transportation system, then implementing negotiation improvements and building licensing.
Final stage – Game balance, quality of life and polish update, which will be released as a major default branch update.
Since balance is on the horizon, I’ve created a new Discord channel called “Save It and Leave It.” Here’s the cinematic channel description: Submit Your Legendary Saves! Got an epic, oversized, or glorious save file? Share it here! I’ll use it to test and balance the game, and the community can explore and enjoy it too. Whether it’s for inspiration, chaos, or just curiosity, your save could make an impact! So, feel free to drop your saves into the channel, especially when you’ve wrapped up a casino and are moving on to a new one. This will help me tremendously in balancing the game, and it’ll also serve as a space where you and other players can share and review save files. Eventually, I’ll implement Steam Workshop support for an even smoother experience.
Thanks for Being Part of the Community! That’s all for this week’s update! I appreciate all of you for being part of this journey.
See you in the next one! Cheers!
Merry christmas and happy new year to everyone !
Merry christmas and happy new year to everyone ! 🎄 ✨
This holiday season, we wish you joy, love, and warmth. Here's to a New Year filled with happiness and amazing moments.
Thank you for being part of our journey. Cheers to a wonderful 2025! 🥂
Community Gazette - Issue #4 - Transportation Parking, Info Chart and Graphs
Hello! 😊 Christmas is almost here again, guess they were right all along, time really does fly, doesn’t it? 🎄✨
What’s Been Happening Behind the Scenes
In the first week after our last Community Gazette, my partner and I had lots of smaller chunks of available time rather than long, focused work sessions, as much of our attention went into settling moving logistics I mentioned earlier, like signing rent contracts and setting up utility bills in a new country. 😬😱 So we tried to make good use of the smaller pockets of free time to focus on early polishing and bug fixes for the public test version, thanks to the helpful reports from our incredible Discord and Steam communities. Your feedback has been invaluable!
Thanks to this, I also finally had the chance to fix some long-standing minor visual bugs, like those problematic elevator door animation issues that had been lingering on our to-do list while we were busy with heavier tasks. I briefly considered releasing some of those smaller fixes (which are already available in the default branch) as a separate update for it, but with the big update so close, it made more sense to bundle everything together.
-The ghost door glitch was reported by a Discord member (Mazi), who suggested we keep it as a Halloween animation, honestly, that checks out!-
Anyway, after the first week, as things started to settle down, I turned my attention back to finishing the remaining transportation and data graph features that we have been developing on the public test branch and made some progress.
So, what’s changed in the public test build since the last community post, other than bug fixes?
I’ve implemented the parking part of the new transportation system I’ve mentioned in previous posts. You can now test contractor, employee, and customer parking in the public test branch. The document requirements for parking licenses still need some balancing, but I’m holding off on that for now, balancing can wait for the info graphs. Those graphs aren’t just a new game mechanic; they’ll also help me fine-tune the game balance and polishing in the final stages. Yay to progress! 😉😊
One change to maybe mention is that parking spaces will now generate hourly income instead of just a one-time payment when customers first arrive. This long-requested community change means that when a guest goes on a one-day gambling bender, they won’t get away with only paying a $10 parking fee!
I've also worked on the info charts and graphs. The data info system has been ready and waiting for its UI for some time now. I've started designing and building the interface backend, beginning with the financial data window. The financial data graph is nearly complete, and I’m planning to upload it to the public test branch with the upcoming patch in a day or two.
The garage and public transport systems are also awaiting their UI, which will be the final task before we move into polishing and preparing for the default branch release.
After that, it’s time for the fun content implementation sprints! 🎉
Thank you for being part of the community. Until next time!
Weekly Community Gazette - Issue #3
Hello! 😊 I think I’m starting to get the hang of this development journaling thing, who would’ve thought?
First and foremost, I wanted to share that the changes and updates that I mentioned in the last weekly gazette have been uploaded to the public test server after some internal testing with my partner hopefully wihout breaking too much. This patch unlocks the entire new hotel and laundry system along with the hotel menu. If you’re someone who enjoys participating in public testing and maybe reporting issues, this is your chance to dive in and explore.
With that said, let’s jump into what we’ve been working on behind the scenes this week.
The Revamped Vehicle Parking System & UI
As mentioned in the last post, where we explored changes to the walkways and transportation systems, this week’s focus has been on completing the remaining transportation mechanics in the public test build, starting with vehicle parking!
To streamline things, all transport systems have been removed from the research tree. This means parking spaces now start unlocked, allowing you to jump right in. However, as your parking needs grow, you’ll still require accounting and HR documents to secure government licenses for expanding your parking capacity.
Another addition is the ability to build parking spots for contractors like builders, delivery drivers, garbage collectors, or police officers. This gives you greater control over how your spaces are utilized and helps optimize the flow of people and services.
I’ve also worked on a new parking menu that doubles as a handy data minimap and a place to buy government licenses. It shows who’s arriving and leaving, the number of licensed spaces you have, how many are in use, and other useful insights.
The Revamped Public Transportation System & UI
Public transportation; taxis, buses, and subways has also received a major overhaul. Like parking spaces and walkways, these systems now start unlocked. However, you’ll need to construct and upgrade a garage to operate these services.
From there, you can purchase vehicles like taxis, shuttles, buses, or subway trains, and schedule their operation. You can run your vehicles 24/7 by contracting drivers to both morning and night shifts, but it will lead to faster wear and tear. Upgrading your garage will also unlock automated vehicle maintenance, helping you keep the operation running smoothly.
Thanks to the revamped transportation systems’ integration with the new service capacity and rating system, you should now have a clearer view of each transportation need to make decisions. This allows you to adapt your operations to meet growing demands efficiently.
Vending System Changes and Additions
In the previous version of the game, vending machines functioned more as room decorations, with customers using them as part of their room interaction modules. Back then, vending options included tobacco machines, cold drink machines, hot drink machines, and snack machines. During Early Access, we expanded the interactivity of bookshelves and newspaper racks, allowing customers to use them as vending-like items that generated income for the player, though these didn’t require inventory items.
With this update, I’ve written a new behavior script dedicated to vending machine usage, making these interactions more accessible throughout the casino hotel.
Bookshelves and newspaper racks now require inventory items to operate. There are four newspaper varieties and six book varieties available for you to stock, enabling customers to choose their favorites. Additionally, candy machines and keychain machines have been reclassified as vending machines. Candy machines now need candy bars as inventory items, while keychain machines require keychains. We’ve also added two new vending items, pipe vending stands and lighter vending stands, to complement the new cigar shop feature. These vending machines come with corresponding inventory requirements.
Large Dumpsters and Cigarette Bins
Based on valuable feedback from our Discord community, we’ve added large dumpsters and cigarette bins to improve waste management.
Customers who smoke will now look for a cigarette bin after finishing their cigarette. Failing to provide enough bins in smoking-friendly areas will result in more trash accumulation and, with the upcoming Catastrophes update, it could even pose a fire hazard.
On the dumpster side, we’ve introduced a larger dumpster that takes up slightly less space than two standard dumpsters but can hold more waste than both combined.
Room Signs
Previously, closed rooms displayed signs during restricted service hours. We’ve expanded this feature to include a variety of visual indicators.
Thanks to new sign drawings from Nil, rooms now display small signs that you can hover over for important updates. These signs highlight issues like essential item shortage, pathfinding problems, construction status, and low room ratings depending on the room type. This update adds a clearer, more intuitive layer of management to your casino hotel, ensuring you can address the issues you choose quickly and efficiently.
Personal Stuff
As some of you may already know, we’re a two-person game studio, just my partner and me. Alongside the development work mentioned earlier, this past week has been a bit chaotic as we’ve been in the middle of an international move we’ve been planning for a while. This is also why this week’s Weekly Gazette is a couple of days late, I just couldn’t find the time to get it out on schedule. Normally, I aim to post updates every week between Saturday and Monday, and I believe we’re back on track to maintain that schedule moving forward.
What Are the Current Plans?
Here’s what’s on the near horizon: First, I’ll be uploading the remaining transportation changes discussed here to the public test server. After that, I plan to dedicate a week to animation and ai behaviour polishing, balancing, bug fixing, and working on tutorials, UI improvements, and data graphs. This will also include merging save files from the default branch with those from the public test branch. Once all that’s done, the Echoes of the Community update will be ready to launch on the default branch. Looking ahead, I’m aiming to complete testing for the Nightlife update before the New Year. Most of it is already finished, I prefering to not to make promises. I’m trying to avoid unnecessary extra stress if unexpected issues pop up this time. 😊
That about sums it up for this week! Thank you all for your continued support and patience during the development of Casino Resort Tower, it means the world to us. I’ll see you in the next one. Cheers!
Weekly Community Gazette - Issue #2
Hi everyone! 😊
This week, we’ve been busy improving the hotel system AIs and crafting a brand-new hotel menu. Along the way, I also tackled several fixes and balance adjustments. These updates should be live on the public test branch in just a couple of days. After that, I’ll focus on the final touches for the transportation system. Once that’s complete, we’ll be ready to merge everything into the default branch for the release of the "Echoes of the Community" update and kick off public testing for the "Nightlife" update.
Here’s a closer look at what’s been in the works this week:
Laundry System Overhaul
Dirty sheets will now function as physical objects within the game, similar to trash in the waste management system. You’ll need to store these "by-products" of guest services and remove them efficiently. Housekeepers can collect and deposit dirty sheets into laundry bins, which can then be processed in washing machines and iron presses. The new system encourages players to identify and address bottlenecks by managing housekeeper numbers, storage capacity for dirty linens, and available washing machines and presses. And the new hotel menu, along with detailed data graphs, will provide all the insights you need to stay on top of things!
Hotel System AI and Behavior Updates
Housekeepers: I’ve completely rewritten the housekeeper AI for improved performance and streamlined behavior. Housekeepers now operate in two key work states instead of one randomized one: Collecting dirty sheets – They can pick up to three sheets at a time and deposit them into the nearest available laundry bin. Cleaning and ironing – They retrieve dirty sheets from bins in their assigned laundry rooms, wash them, and iron clean sheets for reuse. Housekeepers prioritize laundry bins based on their assignment, be it a assigned room, a patrol route base room, or the closest available bin if unassigned. Guests: Guests can now use luxury amenities, such as hot tubs, in high-end rooms. We’ve added new behaviors and mood modifiers for these items, making the guest experience more dynamic.
The Hotel Menu
The newly designed hotel menu provides an at-a-glance overview of room occupancy rates, laundry bin capacity, counts and capacities of key housekeeping items. You’ll also have the option to open or close rooms for bookings, whether to catch up on services or manage other hotel operations.
Customer Inventory
Borrowing from the employee inventory system, customers are now have an inventory too. This feature allows players to see what guests are carrying, such as casino chips, souvenirs, or vending machine purchases.
Finally, we’ve decided to add a special touch to the main menu: a little character to honor the memory of Bacon, our beloved pug, and a cherished member of our development team. We hope this small tribute keeps his playful spirit alive in our hearts and the game.
Until next time, Tolgahan
Weekly Community Gazette - Issue #1
What is the Weekly Community Gazette?
Originally, I intended to use Steam’s news feed only for major updates, when things were polished and closer to a commercially playable state. For those who wanted to be more involved in the development journey, we had our Discord as a place to dive into the "behind-the-scenes" work, gather feedback, and have discussions with the community. I’m also always available in the Steam community hub to answer questions and consider suggestions.
This approach seemed like a good balance, keeping Steam's news feed focused on major, ready-to-play updates for those who preferred final highlights without frequent updates on the ongoing development process. However, after an objection from a community member, I realized there are many of you who are interested in the development progress but may not wish to use platforms like Discord.
With that in mind, I’ve decided to start a weekly news post: The Community Gazette. Each weekend, I'll share a snapshot of what's happening behind the scenes, discuss future plans, and provide a closer look at our journey toward release. This way, those who prefer not to join Discord can still stay in the loop.
Alongside these weekly posts, I’ll continue to post separate update/change logs whenever there are significant updates to the main game.
How is the Public Test Branch Going? A Recap
Since this is the first issue of Weekly Community Gazette, let’s do a quick recap!
For those following along on Discord or in the community hub, you might know we kicked off a significant refactoring and rewriting phase a few months back. Given the scope of the project and our ambitious roadmap, there are some exciting content-focused updates in the pipeline. To support large-scale simulations running smoothly over time, we chose to invest this phase in overhauling the core systems.
After completing the refactoring phase, I’ve implemented nearly all the features and changes we discussed together on the community hub and Discord. I’ll be posting a comprehensive changelog with the upcoming default branch update, but you can already check them by switching to the public test branch right now. Here’s a quick look at some of the most-requested features that have been implemented following the backend overhaul:
Rating System Refactoring: I've overhauled the hotel rating system, changing how ratings are sampled and adjusting level thresholds. Basically, daily ratings will now vary between -100/+100, making it clearer for you to make informed decisions about your casino hotel and giving me clearer numbers to work with while balancing the game.
End-Day Report: There's now a single end-day report that includes multiple reports about transportation capacity, service capacity, daily guest traffic report, links to the data info graphics, guest appeal, rating, and some administrative windows like tax and salary payment.
New Transportation System: I’ve removed all transportation-related stuff from the research tree. Going forward, to meet your casino hotel’s transportation capacity needs, you’ll focus on regularly upgrading/constructing walkways and managing your garage. This includes buying, selling, and repairing public transport vehicles as needed, rather than simply scheduling them. Additionally, instead of unlocking features through research, you’ll now acquire licenses to build bus stops, parking lots, taxi ranks, etc.
Daily Attracted Customers: The new mechanics now include a finite number of daily customers, based on both service capacity and hotel rating, rather than just an instant number of attracted customers, with the help of new walkways and transportation stuff. This makes each customer more valuable to manage and send off happy.
Item Usage Queue: In the old system, folks would wander around items they wanted to use, and whoever checked back first got to use it when it was free. Now, items have a queue capacity. People will form clear lines to use them if they're queueable. They'll enter the line, start a timer, and if they wait too long, they'll get angry and leave the casino hotel. You can see how many people are in line, the order of people, how long they've waited, and if they're happy by hovering over the queue or using the item's info menu. If the usage position of the item is on the left side, they'll start the line on the right side and vice versa. The line will always stay in the room and curve to the other side if necessary. This system also talks with the new room capacity and renewed hotel rating system.
Asynchronous AI Item and Room Searching: Every time an entity with decision-making abilities takes action, it usually searches for a specific item or room from a huge list of objects. As you can imagine, this happens a lot in CRT and can cause frame drops if too many searches occur at once. To tackle this, I've created a new search engine-like system that's asynchronous and CPU multi-threaded. It collects all search requests, prioritizes them, checks the CPU load, and decides how many to execute per frame, making others wait for the next frame. This spreads the workload over time, boosting FPS, especially for massive casinos with thousands of entities.
Escalators: Escalators have been added as a more guest-friendly alternative to stairs, especially in places where you don't want to place elevators. Customers will now leave if they have to climb more than 5 stairs to reach their destination, but this limit is extended to 15 for escalators. If an escalator isn’t powered, guests will treat it as regular stairs. Additionally, I’ve increased the movement speed penalty for stairs. The image shows the current state from the public test, but we've decided to make escalators 2 tiles long instead of one. More varieties, like stairs, will also be added.
Executives System: You can now hire executives such as an HR Manager, Finance Manager, Research Manager, and Marketing Manager. Each of these roles has an attention value of 100, which can be assigned to different tasks to automate processes like hiring/firing employees, auto-paying taxes and salaries, or boosting various parts of your business.
Room Capacity System: I've added a room capacity value to the public service rooms. It's calculated by room size and available items related to the room type. Now customers don't enter full capacity rooms even for waiting for a service. Room capacity value also determines the overall service capacity of your casino hotel. Factors like transportation capacity and hotel rating influence how much of this capacity is utilized.
Separate Room Policies: You can now set the work hours, pricing or smoking policy of the rooms separately using the policy menu or the room's own information menu even if they have the same room type.
Data Recording and Info Graphs: I’ve added a system that tracks almost every bit of transactional or situational data in your casino hotel. This includes Financial Data, Rating Data, Office and Archive Data, Happiness Data, Security and Crime Data, Utility Data, Transportation Data, Inventory and Storage Data, Environment Data, Cuisine Services Data, Entertainment Services Data, Hospitality Services Data, and Leisure Services Data. You'll be able to visualize these datas with new infographics and charts, as well as interact with them throughout the UI such as item-based menus.
Contractors System: You can now select the number of outsourced workers such as builders, waste collectors, and delivery persons you want to hire using the contractor's menu. However, these workers also have an hourly rate calculated based on the number of people you call.
Specialized Parking Spaces: You can now place designated parking spaces for police, builders, delivery persons, and waste collectors to increase efficiency.
People Inventory System: You will now be able to clearly see what people are carrying on them from their menu, such as trash bags for janitors, menu items for customers, tools for maintenance officers, and so on.
Employee Quitting: Employees experiencing extended periods of unhappiness are now more likely to quit. You can check their quit probability directly in their UI window.
Employee Break Room Item Need: Employees now look for their favorite break room item and throw a tantrum if it's not available. They end up spending more time in a tantrum than they would if the item were available.
UI Improvements: Many UI improvements have been made, both in terms of design and performance. This includes a service-type-based reports menu, changes to item types in the item selection menu, a rehaul of the research menu, and many other updates. I’ll share more details once the update is released to the default branch.
We’ve also added some content-based features that aren’t directly related to the upcoming Nightlife Update but were requested frequently. These include specialized cuisine services like an Asian Fusion Restaurant, Italian Ristorante, Mexican Cantina, Seafood Restaurant, French Bistro, Smoothie Bar, and Steakhouse. Additionally, we’ve added leisure and amenities options such as a Cigar Lounge, Cyber Cafe, Hair Salon, and Yoga Studio.
As I mentioned, you can get a sneak peak to all of these changes by switching to the public test branch. Feel free to share your feedback on the Community Hub, Discord, or Reddit if you do!
So, What’s Coming Next?
After working through and testing all these updates with the help of the community, we were about to start testing some of the remaining core features for the "Nightlife" update, such as the new calendar and events system, nightclubs, and more. However, there's been a shift in our plans. With so many tweaks to the core mechanics, the current public test version of the game has evolved quite a bit compared to the older version on the default branch. To make this transition smoother, I’ve decided to split the update into two parts.
The first part, titled “Echoes of the Community” (since it covers most of the feedback and suggestions from here and the community hub), will be a mid-major update released just before the “Nightlife” update. This update will include what’s currently on the test branch, along with the final adjustments to the transportation and hotel systems, and some last requested features from the feedback channel. I’ll also focus on completing data graphs, polishing AI behaviors, balancing, and audio improvements to prepare for the release. As part of this, I’ve temporarily removed the remaining unreleased content from the front-end (though it’s still functioning in the background) and will hold that back for a later release to the default branch. This way, we can polish the features we have now and deliver them to the default branch much sooner, like very soon!
I think that covers everything for this first Weekly Community Gazette. Thanks again for all your support! I really appreciate your patience and your feedback, it’s been invaluable in shaping the game. As always, feel free to reach out on the Community Hub, Discord, or Reddit if you have any questions or thoughts.
