Hello folks! Over the past two weeks, I've been hard at work with not only finals, but squashing bugs and refining systems for Expresso Espresso. Today, I was finally able to release the latest update dubbed "Build System and AI Overhaul." After reading a lot of the negative reviews, I determined the biggest issues the game had to be the AI and building system. This is just one of many updates to come that'll change how you play the game.
I have a lot I want to implement for the game, but nothing I can publicly commit to yet. Nonetheless, here's a list of changes that were made/implemented:
Build System
Implemented Item rotation for chairs, tiles can be rotated by pressing the R key
Changed tile selection controls. You now click on a tile in the build menu, then either place it down or drag a selection rectangle out. Before, we had the reverse.
Building furniture on-top of furniture will replace the existing furniture tile with the new tile
Adjusted bulldozing/deleting items. Can be turned on by pressing B.
Clear your tile selection by right-clicking.
De-select the current tile you are building with by pressing C.
Walls, floors, machines, and furniture now add to your expenses when being built. The item refund rate is currently set to 80% of its original price.
The red-brick and plaster wall tiles automatically update their textures based on their neighbors. If either tile has their same tile on the north and south sides, their textures will change.
Added several new furniture tiles.
AI System
AI will now spawn on a random concrete tile, rather than at the middle of the map.
Pathfinding predicates (rules to go somewhere) were changed.
Pathfinding changes were made for the Barista, Front, and Support employees.
Pathfinding changes were made for the Customer AI.
Barista employee will drop-off drinks 1 tile below the register.
Front employee will now stay 1 tile above the register, once the register is found.
Customer entities will not go through each other, except when picking up their drinks.
Customer entities now correctly finds the register, goes to 1 tile below the register.
Customer entities now correctly find their chairs.
Customer entities now correctly find their coffee cups.
Adjusted the range detection for all AI.
Customer Spawn System
Modified the current customer spawn system to match with the stores current level.
As the store level increases, customers will spawn more frequently.
Customers spawn in packs of 5.
Other Changes/Fixes
Fixed an UI issue not allowing the Settings button to be seen.
Fixed the "Buy Chairs" objective not disappearing once 5 chairs were built.
Despite the negative reviews the game initially received, I loved reading them. I enjoyed the honest and constructive feedback we've received. If you have any bugs you found or if you just want to hangout, come join our Discord below! https://discord.gg/4SVdhBqfuD
05-02-22 Patch & Mac Info
Hi all,
As previously mentioned in the Spring-Summer 2022 roadmap, I promised several updates and fixes for AI. Today, Patch 05-02-22, will deliver several fixes for the AI.
Patch 05-02-22 Changes:
Increased range for AI, from 3 tiles to 4 tiles. AI will now be able to detect tiles faster and update their states more efficiently.
Implemented a check for AI getting stuck. This will update every 3 seconds, checking if the AI is in a state where it is supposed to be moving, but was in the same position the previous 3 seconds.
Fixed an issue with the multi-select having trouble with other wall types.
Mac Information
As of now, the game is currently un-able to be launched directly on Steam for Mac users. However, you can still launch the game by going directly to the games files. If you have Expresso Espresso installed on your Mac device, go to the file-path below:
With the AI tested and patched, I will begin development on over-hauling the build system. Since finals are next week, the build system may not be overhauled until 2 - 3 weeks from now.
If you have any questions, comments, or reports to make, join our Discord! We would love to have you on our server.
https://discord.gg/RsS5XqFmqp
2022 Spring-Summer Roadmap
2022 Spring-Summer Roadmap
Hello all!
As a college student nearing finals, it's hard finding time to improve on existing features, squash bugs, and conduct overall development for Expresso Espresso. Nonetheless, despite the rocky start, I plan on implementing major changes to the overall gameplay and systems for a better user experience. These changes will come periodically during the Spring and Summer. I cannot promise if there will be an update once a month, as I will delegate enough time to make sure these new systems are integrated greatly.
Below is a list of what systems or features I either plan on over-hauling, implementing, or changing:
Current AI System
Early this week.
While every entity (Barista, Front, Support) has every state implemented for their AI, there isn't enough standardization on switching between these states.
We narrowed down the AI getting stuck and will be releasing a patch tomorrow, or later in the evening (CST), to fix this issue.
Overall, more configuration on the AI is needed to balance out the feel and movement.
Current Employee Management
Early this week.
Firing employees will be implemented in the coming week.
Build System Overhaul
Within 2-3 weeks.
As of now, the build system works fine as intended. However, the controls need to be changed.
Tiles and furniture currently do not cost anything. This will be changed in the future. The refund rate for tiles will depend on your initial loan you chose.
Zoning will be introduced as a way for players to manage where customers go, where employees can go, and other uses.
Item Rotation will be implemented.
Textures for walls currently do not connect northwards-southwards.
Other various changes will be implemented to improve the current user experience.
Most of the features mentioned above that we have planned for are prepared to be implemented into the game, such as the cities and statistics. We have a lot of systems we would love to implement into this game.
If you have any suggestions, comments, etc. please feel free to leave some below! Or join our discord server here: https://discord.gg/RsS5XqFmqp
04-30 Hotfix
04-30 Hotfix Changes:
Recent build update was configured wrong for Mac and Windows users, fixed.
Mac depot now has game files.
AI Pathfinding configured, changed predicates for states. Some led to the AI for workers becoming "stuck" at corners, fixed.
