Ahoy! Announcing a new game in the Final Profit world, called Oil Town. The Steam page is live so scoop it into your wishlist!
And please watch the trailer! I put so much work into it, and I'm really proud of the new music.
You may recognise the name from the later acts in Final Profit, the story in Oil Town is going to be rich in tasty lore and relevance for the overall plot going forward. The gameplay is significantly different, but it can still be considered a number-go-up type of game. And we'll be seeing many familiar faces.
I intend to release it in Early Access at some point, I would rather do this sooner than later but there are -business- considerations to... consider. It's generally recommended for a developer to wait until you have a sufficient pile of wishlists before making a game available, else it won't make it onto Steam's New and Trending at launch, and that is such a crazy snowball effect that it hurts your game forever if you miss it, which unfortunately was the case for Final Profit. It launched with only 2000 wishlists and didn't land on that chart. The number recommended is around 7000 (which may even be a bit of a lowball). So because of that I am going to try and build that pile before launching into Early Access. I would appreciate if all you Final Profit fans help in this regard by spreading the word, the sooner we reach that number, the sooner I can launch.
In the meantime, so I can still get some feedback during development I have made a development build available to my Patreon supporters. This is experimental and I will only continue on that path if it's seeing decent use and providing helpful feedback (so far it has been quite helpful). Patreon supporters can also submit names for the customisable workers in Oil Town, just like they can for the Patron customer in Final Profit.
You may notice on either the Final Profit or Oil Town Steam pages a new link to the Brent Arnold collection. This is the beginning of a central place to find my games. I hope to bring Rebertha over here in the future as well, though I want to polish it up a bit first.
I've also been busy sprucing up the Official Website, adding a World page where you can see how the various games in the setting relate to each other. And adding a main page for Oil Town.
There's also a new Oil Town channel on the Final Profit Discord for discussing the game. And a new development log channel there too so I can separate my Oil Town live development log from the Final Profit one.
Thanks for playing! And for all the continued support! Appreciate you all!
Two Year Anniversary - State of the Game
Wow! Two years is a long time for an indie to keep up post launch support, especially when all the updates are free! Going in, I didn't know if it would be a viable development method, but thanks to all the continued support from the community I'm still hanging in there. Please keep recommending the game to people! It's keeping the lights on and the updates coming!
Contents
- Year in Review - Roadmap - Art Corner - Thanks
Year in Review
First up, some stats.
This year the game has seen almost double last years sales, and a steady increase of new wishlists. Steam key activations look a bit weird in both years, with last year including keys from taking part in the Yogscast Jingle Jam, and this year including those from the recent Fanatical bundle (details below). Not listed above are 300 additional downloads through Itch, from taking part in the Queer Games Bundle which was a delight.
This year I've put out 4 Major Updates, with loads of features and improvements, even an entirely new game mode! Links to each below.
1.2.3 - Just Shop Mode https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1705140/view/4678767641836768590?l=english 1.2.2 - Coin Laundry and Museum https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1705140/view/7026261605374807688?l=english 1.2.1 - Shop Staff and Commodity Pavillion https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1705140/view/4175475163766583852?l=english 1.2 - Lighting Overhaul https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1705140/view/7279578129964076622?l=english
Alongside the launch of 1.2.3 I managed to get a Daily Deal slot on the front page of Steam, huge!
Which led to a hit reddit post where I analysed how this was achieved, and the many things I did to maximise the opportunity.
Twitter is gross now, so I've migrated most of my social presence to Bluesky, some fun work-in-progress previews show up there from time to time.
At time of posting, Final Profit is part of the Sandbox Sensations Bundle over on Fanatical, 1200 or so keys have already been redeemed from there. I don't see much of a cut with these compared to Steam sales, but it's nice to spread word about the game and I was glad to get involved.
Throughout the year the game has also been nominated for a bunch of awards, won some, and been featured in many festivals. Including the short film festival Aesthetica! Which still tickles me.
Roadmap
I get asked where the public roadmap is all the time, up 'till now there hasn't been one, just my comments sprinkled around the forums and on discord. But today that changes! Let's take a look at what's in development.
As for timeline, they will be ready when they're ready. 1.2.4 is still months out. And 1.3 is a loooong way off, if you've been putting off trying the more recent content because you've been waiting for 1.3 I urge you to dive in sooner rather than later, because there's still a big wait. And momentum now is better for the game, which improves my ability to get the work done.
Art Corner
Ideally, this is where I'd put fanart... If i had any!
(draw Biz ya'll, and show me!)
Alas, I have some 1.2.4 spoilers to share instead.
Don't expect to see this next one in the game, this was just a bit of fun to see if I could draw Biz in a Chrono Trigger style. Think I pulled it off?!
Thanks for playing!
The game continues to grow. It's all thanks to your ongoing support, please keep spreading the word and telling your friends about the game! It is immensely helpful. And consider leaving a Steam Review.
Here's to another great year. Let's hope year three is even better! -Brent
Support future content updates on Patreon Join the community on Discord Also there's a website
Nominate Final Profit for the Labor of Love Award?
Most opportunities for games to be seen are launch dependent, which makes it tough to get noticed when your model is to keep releasing free content updates.
The Labor of Love award is one of the few exceptions. It would be awesome to see the love I continue to pour into Final Profit be recognised, so please nominate it!
Final Profit 1.2.3 Update Available now!
Ahoy! And welcome to 1.2.3! This is a very different update, adding an entire separate roguelike game mode, accessible through new options when selecting New Game at the title screen. This is an alternate scenario to the main game, Final Profit is now effectively two games in one!
Before we get into it, some general news. Over to you Brent.
Thanks Brent, first up, Final Profit is now in IGN's funky new games thingo, users can rate games there so it would be awesome if some of you head over and lavish some praise! Maybe we can drum up enough attention to get a reputable review so I can finally get the wiki page approved! -gasps audaciously- Please and thank you.
Final Profit is also involved in a few events at the moment! Such as the Melbourne Queer Games Festival (be aware, there are some NSFW games in there). It's also featured again in MIGW which has been wonderful in previous years so a big thank you to the organisers. And it's even featured in an upcoming film festival! Yes, you read that correctly. Aesthetica has a new Games Lab which has selected 32 titles to showcase, which is super cool and I really love being able to say "My game's in a film festival".
I've also made some new Pixel Art of Biz, you'll find this used in a couple of places in the game. Enjoy!
Just Shop Mode:
The big ticket item. This is basically a new game so I'm not going to list everything about it like I normally would in the patch notes, but I'll talk a bit about it! J.S.M. is a roguelike mode that focuses on income through the shop, the main goal is to pay off your loan(but there may be something more beyond that...) and there are LOADS of new customers. Only a couple have carried over from the base game, the vast majority are different, with unique upgrades and mechanics.
Though this is a separate scenario to the main game, there is still story content and lore, and it is canon, excluding some endings, which there are 9 of.
Many aspects of this mode are unlocked through the new card systems, where you roll for cards and get a choice between whichever 3 pop up. These are separated into categories and have different methods of obtaining more rolls.
My goal with adding this mode is to create an option for players that are put off by the gradual start of the main game, it's a way to quickly see what the game really offers, though it does so by throwing you in the deep end so we'll see how effective that is. It also provides existing players with a fantastic way to get more out of the game.
You can't use New Game+ saves with J.S.M., to access it just start a new game and follow the prompts.
There are several difficulty options to set during game creation that effect the run. Play around with these and see how much of a challenge you can handle!
In this devlog I went over a bunch of the new features, though some were added after it came out so it's not comprehensive. Still a good overview!
Slight disclaimer: I built Just Shop Mode in under two months so it is possible there are bugs are oversights I've missed, but thanks to the playtesters over on Discord I think we've caught most of them and it should be a fairly solid experience!*
*I hope.
Changes:
Some very small changes to a couple of cutscenes to accommodate the existence of the new scenario.
The Money Hole will now remain active after having met it, even if the conditions are no longer true. (There's always money in the money hole *click sound*)
Updated Patron list (Thanks patrons!)
Nerfed coin laundry passive income exchange rates
Removed a certain item from persisting into ng+ (I can't remember what it was...)
Added Generosity and Ruthlessness to save screen, reduced font size, renamed Items Sold to Sales.
The Vend cutaway will now say 'not too long ago' if she's already working.
Using the Garden Pillar to plant seeds will now cost 1 Mana total, instead of 1 Mana per seed.
Updated the Gems in the Lab to not stop movement
Reworded Gift of the Fae accessory descriptions from 'products made using mana' to 'products that can be made using mana'. (they're for more than just hats!)
Updated loading screen graphic.
Updated some instances of the rendered coin image to match it's new fanciness
Updated picture graphics used in the climactic confrontation
Slightly adjusted lighting in the Top Floor
Added something secret. (I've also forgotten what this was, so it'll be a nice surprise when I find it too)
Moved where Goalie hangs out near the Biztorium if you haven't found them yet when you get there
Added game mode selection when creation a new game
Added new music track
Added new song to OST: How Far Will She Go?
Added a new effect when sensing new royals
Added some extra jump spots at the Port so you can get a better look at how to get around to the Apple
Made it so that you can jump off the ledge in the City Markets so you can get to the Bar faster
The chicken song will now play before the Jukebox, alert rather than after
Rearranged the Gift of the Fae accessory lines list priority so they don't split the Animal Magnetism line in the menu
Life Insurance Policy application will now cause HP damage (ouch)
Added a new sprite for the Tutemun holding a gun
Added 3 new accessories (JSM exclusive... for now)
Fire accidents during crafting no longer spread by themselves, instead they spread through further crafting, and when extinguishing the flame you'll get some Fire components. (this should hopefully make crafting candles more of a fun thing)
Reaching the end of the Apple Labyrinth will now unlock a warp between both ends
Changed the wording on some Steam achievements to specify they need to be done in Main Story Mode
Changed icon for the Crunch spell
Changed Lava Place internal warps to eliminate lag when going through them (for maximum BIRDNESS!)
Reworded Store Marketing Beat item description
Added a new easter egg (I remembered this one!)
Slight change in the Commerce District so the player can get around to and speak with the Wood Boss near the restaurant
Goalie will now only pop up in the Residential Quarter while you're on the roof, and will spawn there 4x faster than normal
Commodity tables will no longer allow purchases to go over the item caps
Changed the rock blocking the way to the Deepwoodway to be interactable on touch rather than on use, so it's easier to stumble into it
Added an Auction related easter egg (... I don't remember this one, but at least there's some direction to where it should be!)
Stock trading is now taxed (the cries of a thousand businessmen were heard throughout the city this day)
Disabled staff income popups from the climactic confrontation onwards
The camera will now follow King Bean on his very slow walk (because we don't wanna miss it)
Mimic sales will now multiply by 1.01 each click (op)
Added 'blue' to the description of the bubbly jump spots when learning Bird: Up!
Added new pixel art to new game creation (when not skipping the intro, there's also a funky new jingle!)
Added a jukebox near Tinto
Added 9 new Steam achievements (all 9 JSM endings)
Bug Fixes:
Two cosmetics had flipped hints, unflipped them. (350 points!)
Fixed Garganna's disappointment not counting towards her timer (happiness nerfed)
Fixed a clipping issue in the Slums
Fixed some bugs in the Bee loop logic which was causing them to pay more than they should before the 1000 vendrank quest was complete (bee bug loop log)
Fixed washing machine cosmetic facing the wrong way
Fixed a couple of instances of Scrunched Token text being the wrong colour
Fixed Bouncer not being able to leave when Staff are in the way
Fixed overlapping floating text over the VenDRANK! driver
Tinto sales will no longer count towards Batnik levels
Hotfix roundup:
Fixed text in Under HQ saying 'crammed' when it was really 'scrunched'
Pushed an Under cutscene 1 tier token unlock higher
Fixed a softlock when running into a car
Fixed Upmarket Coffee on table not being interactable
Vend will no longer congratulate you on buying the Information Center if she's working for you
Properties will now generate upkeep correctly during a Charitable Landlord challenge run
Sped up swapping spellbinds
Fixed getting stuck from car collision when in between spaces
Spellbind menu now has icons
Made setting spellbinds always available and set to a quickbind key
Changed some default keybinds (use spellbind from v to s, equip menu from b to e, set spellbind (new) to a)
Vending machines now also give e.i.tokens when collecting profits
Added a special interaction if hitting a car while the max tier boots are equipped
Added track 36 to the OST
Updated control info at the start of the game
Made the portable spellbinder unobtainable
Getting through the Faeona crystal no longer blocks movement when successful
Horse skin unlock now actually works (oops)
The chimney outside the Bakery will now correctly turn on after the Bakery becomes available
Made the Spirit Child count as an Apple related customer for accessory benefits
Fixed a token redeem bug
Fixed laundry vending machine being tied to the wrong property unlock
Goalie fund extract input will default to 1billion if you have more than that in the fund
Increased passive income and upkeep caps
Adjusted passive income numbers from token exchange
Typos
Made the intro to the cosmetic museum more noticeable
Added an option to toggle the shockwave during token compression
Added 2 new token upgrades to increase how many of the lower tier tokens can be compressed at a time
Fixed Under cutscene save warning not appearing
Made certain butterflies no longer halt mouse movement
Fixed premium member token interaction
Added an option to move e.i.token popups to the left
Changed the mouse click destination to a coin sprite
Substantially reduced the price of the decorative plant selection
Fixed decorative plant selection choices being available by default
Added an extra Elora hint in The Capital directing to the Oil Town commodity quest
Added product hint SFX to Elora in The Capital
Reduced cost of furniture warehouse from 1000 to 300
Fixed dog upgrade costing more than intended
Thanks for playing!
Please help spread the word about Final Profit by telling your friends about the game! It really helps a lot! And consider leaving a Steam Review.
-Brent
Support future content updates on Patreon. Join the community on Discord. Also there's a website.
Dedicated Final Profit demo page now live!
Steam has made it so that demos can have their own dedicated page that can receive reviews! If you've played and loved the demo it would be a great help if you left some kind words!
The Final Profit demo is always available! I feel that provides the best service to the players.
Final Profit is joining PixElated Fest on July 29th!
It's the perfect time to check out a bunch of cool pixel art games and demos! I'm excited to announce that Final Profit is part PixElated Festival's Official Selection!Wow!
The festival begins next week on July 29th and there's plenty of good stuff, including ✨ discounts ✨ live streams ✨ art contest ✨ demos✨ developer chats ✨ and (probably) more!
Check out the official line-up and get more information about the event here: http://pixelatedfest.com/
Final Profit 1.2.2 Update Available now!
Ahoy! And welcome to 1.2.2! Like always, there's more here than I originally intended. There's some big new things. Also, while working on the update the community discovered an interesting exploit that let them clip through certain events, allowing for a lot of sequence breaking. I've added a bunch of easter eggs for some of the interactions they found while doing so, and some fixes to prevent soft locks to open up speedrunning potential. On to the features!
Introducing the Coin Laundry!
A new section of The Capital has opened up, revealing a Coin Laundry where you can compress your Economic Incentive Tokens into a series of compact tiers! With the help of Elora, track down who you need to repair each machine and unlock a new tier of compression. Tied into the new story revolving around the shady organisation known as The Under, trade your compressed tokens for a bunch of new stuff! Or spend them on oodles of Passive Income. But what could be lurking beneath The Under..?
Fill out the new Shop Cosmetic Museum!
A wealthy local in Enterpriston has opened her warehouse for your use, fill it up with all your shop cosmetics, which now all carry over into NG+! But what about duplicates? When you unlock a cosmetic you already have you'll get to choose from a selection of neat rewards!
Travel in... Style?
Traffic has been added to The Capital, they can be a bit of a hazard so watch your step! But Lady Plenty has been working on a new project and needs your help to get the local bus network up and running. Once that's done you'll be able to fast travel around The Capital! But the Oil Barons aren't gonna like that...
Changes:
Updated Patron list
GG set bonuses now indicate they are active due to 3/3 (in the set bonus text display)
Added 4 new GG talent nodes (these are all designed to integrate with other aspects of the game)
Added a 9th, 10th, and 11th GG point. (to allow more freedom to choose the new nodes)
Added an option to donate Compressed VenDRANK! directly to the bees.
Added an option to toggle off commodity refill notifications.
Added floating text above the VenDRANK! delivery driver indicating how much he has in storage.
Added commas to goalie fund related text.
Added a horse dimension themed shop skin (finally we can decorate full horse style!)
Changed the text when introducing Art so that Inspiration is capitalised and coloured. (indicating that Inspiration is an item and not a concept)
Added a new statue near the challenge mode statue that will appear in NG+, it lets you make a fresh NG+ save based on your current progress.
Both statues mentioned above now have floating text.
Removed wait time when using Auction Paddle item.
Auction Paddle item can now trigger an auction immediately when used on the Auction Plaza map.
Influencing stock trends now has choice memory (once again, I cave to peer pressure)
Commodity selling now has commas
Added a special feature to the horse shop skin
Adjusted how the camera is handled during auctions so that it always goes to the right place and does so smoother than before.
Added a stacking collectable trophy item that costs 1 billion coins (this is entirely for bragging rights and crazy people)
Dimensional shift will now make plant slot cosmetics walk through-able until they are swapped or the map refreshes.
Added something to the grand apple shop cosmetic
Added a new book slot cosmetic
Added a new map to the gem lab
Added a new puzzle (it occurred to me that there was only 1 sokoban puzzle in the game, i wanted to remedy that)
Added a new light slot cosmetic
Added a way to get battlepass ingredients without the usual method (this is to allow an unusual playstyle/personal challenge)
Added a new curtain cosmetic
Added a workaround to prevent softlocks when triggering the Faeona council cutaway scene through event clipping.
Added flavour text for event clipping into Finnjamin's room.
Updated track 27 on the OST (this went live immediately when it happened)
One of the secret customer upgrades now indicates that choosing it will disable their gimmick
Dimensional Shift now works on the Bouncer (lasts until a kick is performed)
Added a shop cosmetic Museum map to Enterpriston
Reworked how shop cosmetics are handled so that they all can carry over into NG+
Duplicate shop cosmetics gained in NG+ now give a selection of rewards instead.
Enabled certain other items to be carried over into NG+ (I'll leave which ones up to you to discover)
Updated RichWoman01 vocal effect
Made it so that the Tall Horse shop cosmetic no longer disables the light slot item above it.
Added a sneaky workaround to make it so your upkeep won't be subtracted from your coins when you're at 1 billion until your upkeep exceeds your rental income. (no more memeing about not being able to stay at 1billion with the permanent upkeep)
Changed the 'Got Token' popup to include how many tokens you currently have
Extended the Retail Sector map to make room for new buildings in the South.
Added new building: Coin Laundry
Added new building: The Under HQ
Added new map: Under The Under
Moved the Mr. Tony's vending machine into the Coin Laundry instead.
Built a new lategame system, Coin Compression in the laundry.
Can now check how many NG+ deep you are at the NG+ statue (this won't retroactively count)
Coloured goal bonus text
Added overpriced art for purchase in the auction warehouse
Added a hint about rabbits and crit
Added a new Lady Plenty quest in The Capital that unlocks a bus network around the city.
Added traffic and road rage to The Capital. (those drivers can be quite profane)
Added a quest line that runs through the Coin Laundry and The Under.
Added progression and reward system for new compressed tokens.
Updated game logo. (probably burying this too deep here, but it's a minor touch up)
Added a new early end with associated achievement.
Implemented hint system for repairing washing machines in the coin laundry, Elora will direct you to repair persons.
Added a new shop cosmetic.
Added 2 new accessories.
Added ledger stat pages for Coin Laundry and associated staff.
Changed how going between floors in the shop is handled so there will no longer be lag. (it feels so much better, proud of this one)
The Lost Apple minigame will now refund gold when you fail and restart.
Harsh Tax Frequency challenge now also increases upkeep rate.
Added new HUD for compressed coin tiers and Laundry Time saved up.
Plant growers are now spellbindable.
Passive Income is now tracked separately from other income in 'best profit' popups.
Added 'best profit' popups when leaving the Commodity Pavillion (tracking passive income separately will allow for a much more accurate gauge of profits in the late game)
Added biggest commodity profit stat.
Slightly extended the fade time of gab windows
Added a new song for The Under and Coin Laundry (it's a banger, will add to the OST tomorrow because writing these notes wipes me out)
Factored new choices into convincing One
Elora will now direct the player to new income sources in the late game, she'll do so from within your office in The Capital.
Bug Fixes:
Fixed camera not following to top floor in the shop when you teleport in for the easy craft bag unlock if you have the shop camera lock toggled on.
Fixed an issue causing upkeep to go negative during NG+
Bird in sewer will no longer speak in NG+ before they should
The early real estate interface in NG+ will no longer clear permanent upkeep
Hotfix roundup:
Fixed Vend not dismissing correctly when her level was an even number. (Vend sets the TV volume to intervals of 5).
Fixed incorrect game version in credits
Fixed a missing trigger for something (what could it be?)
Fixed a player visibility bug in Tutetown cutscenes.
Fixed the possibility of Mrs. Five cutscene getting stuck in NG+ under certain conditions.
Removed Vend initialisation dev square (you weren't meant to find that)
Fixed one of the secret customer upgrades not working correctly
Fixed Alcoholism secretly going into the negative and causing issues.
Fixed commodity trading through tables not increasing max caps.
Fixed craft bags going into the negative bug (but also...)
Added a secret item that lets you replicate the above bug because it's a useful exploit.
Fixed some errors with staff xp carrying into NG+
Sped up Automation Sceptre speed
Added a small secret
Typos
Fixed an obscure softlock if using an exploit in NG+ (but also again...)
Worked the above exploit into the story if you can pull it off.
Fixed playtime display in the end card. (maybe, playtime is an ethereal thing really.)
Fixed a duplicate of Meghera appearing under certain conditions.
Fixed spellbound Apple Slice costing MP instead of HP (wow, missed that one for a long time huh?)
Fixed card sequence bugging out a bit if One isn't present when certain others are.
Fixed invisible Vend cutscene in certain conditions.
Added a slight pause in Tinto's sell loop logic to hopefully improve lag when the speed upgrade is high.
Fixed Tutetown automation not accounting for Birds Hate You mode.
Autosold fruit now counts towards amount sold for fruit.
Autosold art now counts towards amount sold for art.
Very slightly changed some Tea Factory dialogue.
Fixed a clipping issue in the Graveyard (why are the clipping issues always there? too spooky).
Fixed birds and the bees achievement trigger.
Added a small detail to the L.i.P. sequence.
Fixed bird call defaulting to the worst karma option. (birds have been hating you more than they should have)
Thanks for playing!
Please help spread the word about Final Profit by telling your friends about the game! (the algorithm just does not like the game, current success is all because of the fans, so thank you!) And consider leaving a Steam Review.
Support future content updates on Patreon. Join the community on Discord. Also there's a website.
Final Profit joins the first ever IGF Celebration Days on Steam!
Ahoy! It's time to celebrate together with all the IGF winners and finalists! Final Profit was nominated for Excellence in Design and is 40% off for the duration of the festival!
LuddoNarraCon: Featured Game, Developer Streams Final Profit
Ahoy! LudoNarraCon has begun and the game is on sale! Also I've put up a new gameplay stream showing off some of the basics as well as some of the new things in the 1.2 update!
