Hi everyone! As you can read more in the previous post due to my financial situation and lack of time further development of DevLife is currently on hold. But today I have a small update for you! Thanks to the hard work of @TennelZW from our Discord server the game has been fully translated into Simplified Chinese! Alongside it, our store page has also been localized and this language was added to the supported languages ;) To celebrate this update, the game will be available for -50% off for the next week!
If you find any mistakes or overlooks in the localization, you can leave them on the appropriate channel at our Discord server ;) Once again big thanks to @TennelZW for making this update possible!
Changelog:
New Features:
Added full Simplified Chinese localization
DevLog #8 - Spring Sale 2024 + Important Update
Hi everyone! Spring is just around the corner and that means a seasonal sale is starting here on Steam! You can get DevLife -65% off during it! 🌷🌳 I want to use this occasion to give you an update on the full release of the game. But unfortunately, the news I bring is not a good one...
What's Going On?
As you've probably heard, if you are at least somewhat interested in gamedev, this and the previous year have been really hard on the industry. The layoffs didn't miss me and currently, I don't have any full-time job. That means I need to focus on pursuing things that will help me get a new position or have more potential for generating meaningful income. And let's be real here, DevLife isn't that.
For that reason, I haven't really made any progress toward preparing the full release of this game and decided to put a hold on it until my financial situation stabilizes a bit. That doesn't mean I'm abandoning the project though. I still very much want to bring it to the point I envisioned it all those years ago. But it requires time and effort that I just simply cannot spend right now. I hope you can understand that.
Plans for the Full Release
To not leave you with nothing I'll briefly go over what I've already prepared as my plans for the full release. The most crucial and demanding thing that I want to add to the game is the relationship system between the characters. It will allow you to create those relationships when the game starts, make new ones during the life of your character, and trigger many new Interactive Events.
The whole thing is still in very early stages of planning and designing but here you can see the UI concept for the family tree. During character creation, you will be able to edit all of the characters present in it and, during gameplay, see how your relationships develop over time.
Besides that, I plan to make one more map, I don't yet know at what stage of the game it will be positioned but the initial idea is to have a river flow through it in the middle to strongly differentiate it from the other maps.
Final Words
I hope that despite this somewhat bad news you will still follow the game and look forward to the full release. As soon as I'll have anything new to announce I'll for sure let you know here or on our Discord server ;)
Stay safe! Roman
New Update! - Alpha Build #9 (0.9.83)
Hi everyone! Due to finding some quite crucial problems with the new update here is a hotfix to address them. If you find any new bugs or have suggestions about the game, you can leave them at our Discord server.
Until the next time! Roman
Changelog:
Game Balance:
Drastically increased the chances of appearance for the buy new location company goals when the player has enough money to buy the next location in the progression
Bugs Fixes:
Fixed not updating components unlock state and level after firing employees
Fixed the decisions panel being not interactable after going to the pause menu
Fixed saving of the message about unlocking new furniture
Fixed problems with loading employees in inadequate employee salary message tooltips
Fixed the close button on employee trait change notification not closing it
New Update! - Alpha Build #9 (0.9.82)
Hi everyone! With a huge delay, but it's finally here - a fresh update for DevLife including the new map, Interactive Events about music and random life situations, and a new decision system! Alongside it comes the biggest discount to date -65% as part of Steam's Capitalism and Economy Fest 2024!
I already went over the details in another post and of course, you can test them for yourselves. Just one important note: due to changes in the locations' balance, saves from the previous game versions are incompatible with the new version.
As always the full changelog for this update is available below. If you find any new bugs or have suggestions about the game, you can leave them at our Discord server.
Until the next time! Roman
Changelog:
New Features:
Added new map: Bay Office
Added decision system
Added Interactive Events connected with the new map
Added Interactive Events connected with music (learning instruments and going to concerts)
Added Interactive Events about random life situations
Added new water system
Added highlight for hovered furniture in the Build Mode
Added tooltips for furniture placed in locations
Added employee’s salary renegotiation tooltip
Added unlocked skills tooltips in the employee stats tooltip
Added hover states for all interactable UI elements that lacked them previously
Added lights for windows during night in the location currently owned by the player
Game Balance:
Rebalanced location progression, prices, bills, and maximum number of available employees
Increased chances for a random Interactive Event start the more time has passed since the last successful activation
Increased chances of getting no furniture additional decorations
Corrections / Improvements:
Changed all tooltips to have fixed positions
Changed the way the community language tooltip works (now it will appear on the dropdown options)
Changed window light color in the Family House location to match other locations
Improved accuracy of selecting already placed furniture in the Build Mode
Blocked showing Environment Settings window during Interactive Tutorial without canceling it
Disabled collisions for snow particles
Bugs Fixes:
Fixed problems with loading active simulated Interactive Events
Fixed not working commissions search filters toggling
Fixed not working collisions after loading the game and not unpausing it
Fixed camera going back to previously owned location after selling it and going back to Family House
Fixed loading water quality settings not working properly (they were loaded from textures quality selector)
Fixed trees wind animation
Fixed missing blur in the Environment Settings window
Fixed showing snow overlay during loading when starting a new game
Fixed corner kitchen worktops that sometimes were unplaceable
Fixed not unlocking some furniture present in the default location furniture after buying it
Fixed loading wrong player's character salary value in the Company Manager window after clicking on it and not editing its value in the input field for the first time
Fixed not hiding location trackers in cinematic camera mode
Fixed location trackers sometimes not rendering correctly
Fixed disabling some of the window night lights after fading buildings when they should not be disabled
Fixed missing materials on some of the Halloween decorations
Fixed the possibility of entering skills and components names in search panels during the Interactive Tutorial
Fixed exceptions when exiting to the Main Menu when there was no workstation placed in the location
Fixed not showing notification about the possibility of creating a company after having met the money requirement but not the one about learning at least three skills and learning the final required skill
Capitalism and Economy Fest 2024
Hi everyone! I'm happy to announce that DevLife will be a part of the Capitalism and Economy Fest that starts in just two days on Steam, with the biggest discount to date! 💵
As promised the new update focused on music and random life situations will be released on the same day, that is 8th of January 2024 at 18:00 CET. An hour later when the event itself starts I'll be streaming the game on Steam so make sure to tune in and see me showcasing some of the new things coming with the new update.
I hope to see you there! Roman
DevLog #7 - Progress on the Next Update
Hi everyone! It's time for me to shed some light on the next update coming to DevLife! But before we do that, I want to remind you that the game is available for -60% off during Steam's Summer Sale! 🏝️🏖️☀️ It's our biggest discount yet, so it's a great time to purchase it in case you are still undecided!
Unfortunately, as you can see, the plan for releasing it in the first half of 2023 didn't work out, mostly due to the lack of free time and other responsibilities that required my attention. So once again, the full release will be postponed until the next year with a plan to release the next update when it's finished somewhere this year.
But enough of the bad news! It's time to talk about the new features coming to DevLife in the next update. There are three main things that I want to focus on: the decision system, Interactive Events about music, and the new map. So let's maybe start with that!
New Map
As you can see in the screenshots below, the map is coming together very nicely, and a lot of it is already mostly finished. This new location, situated at the beautiful ocean shore, will become the second location in the game progression, offering the option to hire employees as your family house won't be able to accommodate them anymore.
Making a location near the ocean required us to rework how the water looks in the game, and I hope you will like the new effect that we've managed to achieve! Of course, a new location means new, dedicated Interactive Events that will take place exclusively in it. I hope you will like them as we plan to make them quite impactful, literally influencing how the map looks. It will be quite a challenge to achieve it, but I think the final effect will be worth it!
Decision System
To give you more agency over the life of your characters, I've decided to implement a new decision system that will allow you to start certain Interactive Events and not depend entirely on RNG and what the game presents to you. Most of them are repeatable within given cooldowns, and some have additional conditions for their start and appearance. You can see all of the available decisions in the new, dedicated panel shown below. Of course, it's still a work in progress, but you can get an idea of how it will look in the final version.
Music Interactive Events
The focus of this update in terms of content is mostly on the music. There are two main branches of it: learning instruments and going to concerts. We plan to add six different instruments that you can choose to learn and eight music genres that can become your favorites.
For now, the impact of these new events on gameplay won't be very spectacular, but it will allow for some more roleplay and lay the foundation for the full release of the game, where they will become far more important with the relationships system. But that's a story for another time.
For now, I would like to remind you once again that, during the Summer Sale, DevLife is available for -60% off and that, as always, you can join our Discord server if you find any bugs or have feedback about the game or the new features that we plan to add to it!
Thank you for your time, and remember to stay hydrated! Roman and Roman Studio Team
New Update! - Alpha Build #8 (0.8.81)
Hello everyone! A bit delayed but it's finally here - a new update for DevLife featuring Interactive Events simulation for employees!
From now on, characters in your game will live their own stories and adventures that will influence who they are. Or in more technical terms, most of the existing and also future Interactive Events will be simulated for your employees and allow them to change traits during the course of the game.
Due to various changes in the Interactive Events structure there might be some unhandled compatibility issues with saves made on previous versions of the game. In case they occur feel free to contact us at our Discord server to get help with fixing your save in case you want to continue playing on it.
To emphasize this change we've added new Interactive Events that will trigger randomly and change yours or your employee's traits. On top of that, we've also prepared audio cues for Interactive Events that will help you distinguish more easily between them and provide you with a basic idea of what the event is about.
Lastly, we introduced new tooltips, commission filters in the Commission Manager, and new notifications amongst other things. We also fixed some bugs and as always, you can read the full changelog below.
If you find any new bugs or have suggestions about the game, you can leave them at the previously mentioned Discord server. We also made the decision to suspend usage of our bug reports website so from now on, please contact us here or on Discord ;)
Until the next time! Roman Studio
Changelog:
New Features:
Added Interactive Events simulation for employees
Added audio cues for Interactive Events
Added new Interactive Events for random traits changes
Added tooltips for furniture
Added sorting and filters for commissions in the Commissions Manager
Added new notifications about employee trait changes
Added notifications about new employee mood modifiers
Game Balance:
Added gaining Adventurous trait after going on a tourist space flight
Fixed chances for employee death in Venomous Spider/Scorpion Interactive Events depending on the employee's age
Fixed the wrong amount of earned money and max energy taken by some Additional Job traits
Fixed too high condolences money after an employee dies due to COVID-19
Corrections / Improvements:
Link tooltips will now be spawned at the mouse position
Improved constraining tooltips position inside of the screen
Improved focusing on commissions in lists when showing their details
Unified employee salary renegotiation buttons icons in the Employees Manager
Added COVID variants of Pet Death Interactive Events for employees
Added missing tooltip in messages window Welcome Screen
Added more detailed description for Additional Job traits
Added closing dropdown menus after clicking outside of them
Added some missing Polish translations
Minor fixes and improvements in Interactive Events descriptions
Bugs Fixes:
Fixed bugs with missing workstations that prevented from loading the game
Fixed bugs with not working Permanent Notifications
Fixed exceptions when hiding the Furniture Info panel in the Build Mode
Fixed exceptions when firing employees
Fixed the possibility for endless In Grief trait in Save The Fish Interactive Event
Fixed the possibility of gaining excluding traits in some Interactive Events
Fixed the possibility of having multiple Additional Jobs at the same time
Fixed bug with starting multiple instances of Employee Motivation Program when an old game save was loaded and saved two or more times before the event had a chance to show up
Fixed not ending the Last Adventure Interactive Event after your character was healed
Fixed not removing the Off Work trait in some outcomes of the Runaway Pet Interactive Event
Fixed not gaining Spacewar achievement in one of the outcomes of the Visit in Museum Interactive Event
Fixed missing tooltips on choices after cleaning in PetDestroyedRoom Interactive Event
Fixed scroll with the mouse wheel on Messages List in the Messages Window
Fixed horizontal scroll views scrolling direction when using the mouse wheel
Various fixes for tooltip positioning and blinking
New Update! - Alpha Build #7 (0.8.80)
Hi everyone! As promised on our Discord, today we released a small hotfix for not working drag and drop for components and skills. Additionally, because one of the features planned for the next big update - contextual notifications about changes in money and fans, was already done we decided to push it now instead of waiting a few more months ;)
As always, if you find any new bugs or have suggestions about the game, you can leave them at the previously mentioned Discord server or on mestoegames.com/bugsreport ;)
Changelog:
New Features:
Added contextual notifications about accounts balance and the number of fans changes for the character and company
Bugs Fixes:
Fixed a bug that prevented components from being assigned to commissions via drag and drop
Fixed a bug that allowed assigning locked components to commercial projects
DevLog #6 - Roadmap for 2023!
Hello everyone! First of all, happy holidays, and everything best for the new year! 🎄🎆 We hope you had a fantastic time and that 2023 will be even better than the previous year! Today we'll walk you through a new roadmap for DevLife guiding us toward the full release in the next year.
But before we start just a small reminder that the Christmas event is currently available in the game until the 5th of January, enabling environment decorations and achievements to unlock! The game is also -50% off during Steam's Winter Sale!
As you can see in the graphic above we decided to chop previously planned update into two separate ones. There are two reasons behind this decision. Unfortunately, the new map development wasn't going according to plans due to our artist not having time to work on it. But fear not, recently we had some progress in that matter, and below you can see new, work-in-progress screenshots of the map.
Additionally, after starting to plan out the implementation of the Interactive Events simulation system, it turned out that it might require more work than previously anticipated to be done correctly. That's why we don't want to add new, themed Interactive Events. Instead, we will focus on ensuring that after this update, your employees will become more dynamic and change their personalities during gameplay and that you don't have to wait for it for who knows how long.
On top of that, we want to add some new quality-of-life features such as even more informative tooltips, sorting available commissions, or changes in quick notifications so you don't get spammed with it, especially during the later stages of the game. One last small, but hopefully fun thing is audio cues for Interactive Events.
You can expect all of that near the end of the first quarter of 2023.
As for the further updates, I won't go into detail about them in this post as the time for it will come after the next one is released. Once again we wish you all the best for the new year and we hope you will get to enjoy the full release of DevLife! :D If you find any new bugs or have suggestions about the game, you can leave them at our Discord server or on mestoegames.com/bugsreport ;)
See you next year! Roman Studio team.
New Update! - Alpha Build #7 (0.8.79)
Hi everyone! We hope you all are staying healthy because from now on your characters and employees in DevLife won't! With this new update, we are introducing 6 different health conditions, both contagious and serious - deadly even, but also those we need to deal with on a regular basis. It will be up to you how you handle the situation and how it will affect your company and more importantly: your life.
Aside from that, we are also introducing a new mechanic - employee motivation program. After reaching certain company sizes your employees will demand you share some of the profits with them. Once again is up to you to decide if and how much you are willing to share. But remember, some might not like your decisions, especially if they are more greedy!
This update also introduces a lot of performance tweaks and optimizations as well as new, more informative tooltips. They will allow you to manage your employees better and reduce lags between opening game windows, thanks to the usage of object pooling.
Of course, we also fixed a lot of bugs and made some improvements to the game balance. As always you can check out the full changelog below. If you find any new problems or have suggestions about the game, feel free to leave them here, at our Discord server, or on mestoegames.com/bugsreport ;)
Stay healthy! Roman Studio team.
Changelog:
New Features:
Added Interactive Events with illnesses
Added employee motivation program mechanic
Added additional tooltips in commission panels
Added information in the tooltips of commissions about the number of employees who can currently work on them
Added information about the maximum number of employees who can work on a project at the same time in the own project estimations
Added gaining company experience for executing company actions (hiring employees, finishing commissions, finishing projects distribution)
Added mood penalty to all of your employees after player's character death
Extended COVID Interactive Events
Updated the project to the new version of Unity (2021.3.12f1)
Mechanic Changes:
Added getting extra skill points for unused trait points during character creation
Added option to not go to the animal shelter or pet store even when player's character is an animal lover (only when has at least one pet)
Game Balance:
Increased employee's mood penalties after their colleagues die
Reduced the bonuses provided by the Working Conditions company upgrade by 50%
Achievement balance improvements
Corrections / Improvements:
Enhanced the tooltips of skills and components to include information about which employees can work on them
Enhanced the tooltips about unlearned employee skills with a detailed list of them
Changed tooltips in Skill Trees to have static positions instead of appearing on mouse position (sometimes it was hard to select the skill because the tooltip blocked the node)
Standardized skills tooltips in all places in the game
Optimized the performance of the Employees Manager
Optimized the performance of the Commissions Search window
Optimized the performance of the Employees Search window
Optimized the performance of the Project Creator
Optimized loading of character traits lists
Removed quick notifications about finishing Interactive Tutorial first that appeared in some places and standardized them to show the accept panel to cancel it
Improved indentation and line breaks in texts
Bugs Fixes:
Blocked the ability to send employees on vacation from their tooltips / Employees Manager when it shouldn't be possible
Fixed a bug that sometimes caused auto closing of opened Interactive Event window
Fixed bug with stopping working on project components when the project panel was folded
Fixed the display of deselected components or skills in the available lists when current filters shouldn't allow it
Fixed a bug that blocked firing employees after player's character no longer had blocked actions
Fixed not removing certain traits after player's character death in various Interactive Events
Fixed not working continue playing button in some death Interactive Events
Fixed a bug with loading location prices during Global Financial Crisis Peak
Fixed not removing Off Work trait after recovering from a broken ankle in Vacation Adventure Interactive Event
Fixed bugs with hiring employees during Global Pandemic
Fixed missing translations in some Interactive Events
Fixed possible tooltip blinking after it was constrained to fit inside the screen
Fixed transparent background in employee tooltips in Skill Trees
Fixed bugs with line animations in the Skill Trees and Company Upgrades
Fixed showing the icon about the wrong salary in employee tooltips in Skill Trees
Fixed incorrect orientation of the arrow indicating the unfolding of the commission panels
Fixed the size adjustment of the commission reward panel in the Project Creator
Fixed wrong value displayed in character trait header when editing employees
Fixed showing the tooltip on the Buy Location button about not having enough money to do so when it shouldn't be visible
