Genre: Simulator, Strategy, Indie, Card & Board Game
Luck be a Landlord
Content Patch #14 -- Hotfix #9
Content Patch #15 has been delayed by another week.
News
Hey everyone,
As unfortunate as it is that I keep having to push the release of Content Patch #15 back, it must be done one last time for a few reasons:
1. This is the biggest hindrance: My area has had a few power outages making it difficult to actually work on the game reliably. Thankfully it seems to be back on for the time being, and my development PC has not suffered any damage. 2. The reworked UI will have less bugs if tested extensively in the coming week, which is always a positive. 3. The text strings have vastly different lengths in each of the game's 15+ playable languages. Testing them all with the reworked UI will take time, but is definitely worth it so strings are guaranteed to fit on the screen at lower resolutions. 4. Even if I somehow get the patch done in less than a week (like I initially expected), Content Patches have always released at 1PM EST on Fridays, which are good for making sure everyone gets the patch when they'd normally expect it.
I'm very sorry that this keeps getting delayed. Believe me that this is far from what I want. Constant delays hurt the game's reputation and sales, which is obviously not something I would prefer.
Thank you very much for your understanding and patience,
-Dan
Changes
Updated in-game timer to reflect delay
Content Patch #14 -- Hotfix #8
The game has been patched to fix a few localization issues.
Changes
Fixed a few wording issues in the Traditional Chinese, LatAm-Spanish, and German localizations
Fixed an import issue in the LatAm-Spanish localization which caused the strings for using Removal Tokens and paying rent to display the description for Quiver Essence
Content Patch #14 -- Hotfix #7
Content Patch #15 has been delayed by 1 week.
News
Hey everyone!
Unfortunately, Content Patch #15 needs just a bit more time to finish development. Fortunately, unlike previous setbacks, the development of the UI Scaling feature is coming along very smoothly! The tech is working as intended, and the majority of the work left to be done on the patch isn't very complicated, there's just a lot of it.
I realize saying the patch is "coming along very smoothly" might beg the question: "why does it need to be delayed?"
Well, it's to avoid crunch. I could theoretically get everything done for Content Patch #15 in the next few days, but it would mean having to crunch very hard on finishing the work, which could easily result in burnout for me and awful bugs for you.
I won't name other games, but I know we've all seen titles released over the past few years that have suffered as a result of developers having to go through crunch and other awful conditions. Not only is it inhumane for the workers (I shouldn't need to say more than that), it also results in worse games and games needing a lot of post-release bug fixes.
I realize it's probably frustrating to have the release dates of Content Patches not match the in-game timer's initial countdown, and for that I apologize. I'm getting better over time at predicting how long each Content Patch will take to develop, but it always becomes clearer the more it's worked on when an estimate is off.
Thank you very much for your understanding and patience,
-Dan
Changes
Updated in-game timer to reflect delay
Content Patch #14 -- Hotfix #6
The game has been patched to fix a few bugs.
Changes
Fixed a bug where hovering over a sub-tooltip could cause the game to crash under a few specific circumstances
Fixed a bug where clicking the icons in the hover tooltip within a prompt for Credit Card, Credit Card Essence, or Chili Powder Essence would add that icon as a symbol/item instead of the intended symbol/item
Fixed a bug where clicking the icons in the hover tooltip within a Removal Token prompt would remove a symbol identical to the clicked icon if possible
Content Patch #14 -- Hotfix #5
The game has been patched to fix a few bugs.
Changes
Fixed a bug where Coin symbols in the prompt for Credit Card / Credit Card Essence were offset under multiple circumstances
[Modding] Fixed a bug where modded existing symbols added from sources other than emails would be replaced with "missing" symbols
Content Patch #14 -- Hotfix #4
The game has been patched to fix a few bugs.
Changes
Fixed a bug where having multiple hoverable coin symbols in a description could cause large amounts of lag (this was primarily noticeable with Credit Card / Credit Card Essence)
Fixed a bug where the game would frequently crash on the prompt for Credit Card / Credit Card Essence if the language was set to Simplified Chinese or Traditional Chinese
Content Patch #14 -- Hotfix #3
The game has been patched to fix a few bugs.
Changes
Fixed a bug where fast-forwarding with any gameplay speed set to Instant would temporarily set the speed to 2x
Fixed a bug where using a Reroll Token on the prompt for Credit Card or Credit Card Essence would crash the game if the Menu speed was set to Instant
Fixed a bug where Time Capsules weren't destroying Capsule Machine Essence when destroyed
Content Patch #14 -- Hotfix #2
The game has been patched to fix a few bugs.
Changes
Fixed a bug where Duds added from apartment floor modifiers would affect items like Frozen Pizza Essence
[Modding] Fixed a bug where symbols with "forced_rarities" could crash the game under certain circumstances
[Modding] Fixed a bug where symbols with "comparisons" checking modded "groups" would crash the game if no modded symbols were loaded with that group
Content Patch #14 -- Hotfix #1
The game has been patched to fix a few bugs.
Changes
Fixed a bug where multiple copies of Shedding Season and Fertilizer were stacking improperly
Fixed a bug where Swapping Device Essence could increase the Permanent Bonus of a Pear or Amethyst if it was added during a spin
Fixed a typo in the Polish localization
[Modding] Fixed a bug where having multiple of an item could cause item desync in sandbox mode
Content Patch #14 -- Spring Cleaning & Steam Trading Cards
The game has been patched to fix numerous minor bugs, balance several symbols and items, and add Steam Trading Cards and Community Items!
News
Howdy folks!
It's been a while! I've been very busy over the past few months with a cross-country move and various programming setbacks, but Content Patch #14 is finally here!
As mentioned in my Plans for 2022 post, Content Patch #14 was originally going to feature UI scaling options. While this is still a planned feature, it proved to be even more of an undertaking than I initially thought, so it'll have to wait until a later Content Patch, most likely Content Patch #15. As I said previously, the plans for the game are always subject to change!
Moving on, Content Patch #14 is the "Spring Cleaning" update! It's been more than a year (wow!) since Luck be a Landlord released in Early Access, so I've taken a good chunk of time to address bugs and balancing issues that have slipped through the cracks over the past 16 months or so.
I've also added Steam Trading Cards and Steam Community Items! This was ready earlier than I expected, but I figured there wasn't any reason to withhold their release. I hope you all enjoy collecting, trading, and using them!
That's all for now, see you in Content Patch #15!
-Dan
New Content
Modified 9 existing symbols (changes listed under Game Balance)
Modified 16 existing items (changes listed under Game Balance)
Multiple copies of Common, Uncommon, Rare, and Very Rare items can now be obtained once a raritiy's "item pool" has been depleted (instead of only being able to obtain Pool Balls, Horseshoes, Bowling Balls, and Four-leaf clovers)
All Common, Uncommon, Rare, and Very Rare items now provide multiple instances of their effects if the player has more than one of them
New Features
Added 9 Steam Trading Cards
Added 3 Steam Profile Backgrounds
Added 10 Steam Emoticons
The prompts for Comfy Pillow, Comfy Pillow Essence, Credit Card, Credit Card Essence, and Chili Powder Essence now have a slight delay before a button can be pressed (to prevent misclicks)
The "Billionaires Guillotined" stat now increases by 1 when triggering Guillotine Essence
Updated the credits section to reflect the new website of the game's composer (he's looking for work, check him out!)
Game Balance
Adoption Papers Essence now gives 77 coins when destroyed (instead of 33 coins)
Cardboard Box now triggers every 10 spins (instead of every 9 spins)
Credit Card now triggers every 7 spins (instead of every 10 spins)
Cursed Katana no longer makes Ninjas Common instead of Uncommon
Devil's Deal Essence now gives 33 coins when destroyed (instead of 66 coins)
Flush now gives 77 coins when destroyed (instead of 50 coins)
Flush Essence now gives 77 coins when destroyed (instead of 50 coins)
Grave Robber now gives Urns, Big Urns, and Tombs a 66% chance of being destroyed (instead of a 50% chance)
Lockpick now gives Lockboxes, Safes, Treasure Chests, and Mega Chests a 35% chance of being destroyed (instead of a 30% chance)
Lockpick Essence now gives Lockboxes, Safes, Treasure Chests, and Mega Chests a 100% chance of being destroyed (instead of a 75% chance)
Looting Glove Essence now gives a 3.5x multiplier (instead of a 3x multiplier)
Swear Jar Essence now gives 50 coins when destroyed (instead of 40 coins)
Swear Jar Essence now has a threshold of 25 coins (instead of 20 coins)
Telescope now triggers every 3 spins (instead of every 4 spins)
Wanted Poster now affects Thieves whether they're destroyed or not (it still won't multiply a negative value)
Wanted Poster Essence now gives a 2.5x multiplier (instead of a 2x multiplier)
Watering Can Essence now makes Seeds give 20 more coins (instead of 25 more coins)
Bear now gives 40 coins for each Honey it destroys (instead of 35 coins)
Bee now gives an additional coin for each Flower, Beehive, or Honey it's adjacent to
Billionaire now gives 39 coins when destroyed (instead of 35 coins)
Dame now gives 40 coins for each Martini she destroys (instead of 35 coins)
Dove now has its permanent bonus increased by 1 coin for each destruction prevention (instead of 2 coins)
Hooligan now gives 6 coins for each symbol he destroys
Robin Hood now gives 25 coins every 4 spins (instead of 29 coins)
Spirit now gives 6 coins each spin (instead of 4 coins each spin)
Tomb now has a 6% chance of adding a Spirit (instead of a 5% chance)
Tomb now adds 4 Spirits when destroyed (instead of 5 Spirits)
The above balance changes were made for the following reasons:
Adoption Papers Essence is very hard to trigger while also keeping a player's symbol inventory uncluttered. In Content Patch #10 I listed its effect with other Essences (such as Lunchbox) as being "relatively easy to obtain." This was a lapse in judgement on my part as I wasn't taking into account the fact that many food symbols could be easily added and then destroyed by various other symbols. Since this isn't the case for animal symbols, the amount of coins given has been increased accordingly.
Cardboard Box, while not win-guaranteeing, is a very powerful item when the player has a clear "build plan" in mind on higher floors. I often found myself on Floor 15 runs ending the game with more Removal Tokens than I knew what to do with. The frequency at which this item gives out Removal Tokens has been slightly reduced for these reasons, but I'm keeping an eye on adjusting it further if necessary.
Credit Card's effect initially triggered once every 10 spins since I was afraid lower values would slow the game down too much. However, after seeing other players use the item, I've noticed the actual "slowdown" to be miniscule compared to items such as Swapping Device and Oil Can (still mulling over solutions to the slowdown those items cause). I've changed the trigger frequency to 7 spins to bring the power level to what you'd expect out of a Very Rare item.
Cursed Katana's change may seem like a nerf, but it's intended to be a buff. Most players won't consider taking Cursed Katana over other items if they don't already have a Ninja anyway. With this in mind, Ninjas remaining Uncommon actually makes it easier to find Ninjas if the player has increased rarity odds from symbols such as Rabbit Fluff, or from being at a later rent payment.
Devil's Deal Essence being an "in case of emergency, break essence" item feels true to the flavor of it, but needed to be at least half as powerful as it was is due to the lack of downsides associated with it.
Flush and Flush Essence are difficult to trigger, so the rewards gained from doing so have been increased. Funnily enough, we're getting close to the amount Flush gave when triggered (100 coins) when Luck be a Landlord's first demo was released. Keep in mind that the symbol pool was much smaller back then and the suit symbols didn't have any effects or synergies other than Joker. That's just something I found interesting (and you probably did too if you've read this far).
Grave Robber had its destroy chance increased by 16% as there are almost never any instances where the player wants to have an Urn, Big Urn, or Tomb without destroying it (except maybe a Tomb + Conveyor Belt combo). I also like the flavor of having the chance of destruction for a Spirit-themed item be 66%.
Lockpick hasn't been modified since Launch Hotfix #3 (before any Content Patches were released!), but at the time, it had its destruction chance increased from 20% to 30% to decrease the number of times a run was lost simply due to the item not triggering. This change is being done for the same reason.
Lockpick Essence now guarantees that a Lockbox, Safe, Treasure Chest, or Mega Chest will be destroyed as it felt a little strange when compared to the effects of other Essences. This change will also remove any confusion as to why a player can have Lockpick and Lockpick Essence and still not have a Lockbox, Safe, Treasure Chest, or Mega Chest be destroyed (by the way, it's because both items roll their random checks individually, the percentages aren't additive).
Looting Glove Essence, while able to give a very large amount of coins when triggering off of a Mega Chest, was still a bit less powerful for its payoff when triggering off of something like a Void Fruit or Present. Its multiplier has been increased by 0.5x to raise the "floor" of how many coins this Essence can give.
Swear Jar Essence was a bit lacking for how difficult it was to destroy, so its threshold and coins given when destroyed have been increased to reflect the difficulty of triggering the item.
Telescope was originally given a different trigger frequency from Protractor so that the items wouldn't clash if their trigger frequencies were in sync. With item disabling, this is no longer an issue, and the infrequency in which Telescope appears in a run makes this buff not game-breaking overall.
Wanted Poster not caring about Thieves being destroyed for its multiplier is an incredibly minor change, but will come into effect if a Thief is buffed by Robin Hood, along with a few other rare instances.
Wanted Poster Essence wasn't quite powerful enough for the difficulty of its trigger requirement, so its multiplier has been slightly increased. I am considering adding Thieves to the symbols affected by the multiplier, but that would likely require more number tweaking.
Watering Can Essence was too powerful if the player went multiple spins without a Seed growing. I had many runs where I added a Seed to my inventory after picking up a Watering Can Essence and got 100 coins from the item. I'm keeping an eye on this one and it may be necessary to nerf it further.
Bear and Dame giving 40 coins for each symbol they destroy is more in-line with how hard an Uncommon + Rare or Rare + Rare symbol combo is to pull off. This also makes a build with Maxwell the Bear and Beehives more viable. Dame has the upside of buffing gem symbols, so her combo being Rare + Rare and giving the same amount as Bear's Uncommon + Rare combo is fine.
Billionaire was supposed to give 40 coins when destroyed instead of 35 coins, but he found a legal loophole that made him only have to give 39 coins when destroyed.
Bee was tested in a build where it gave out a 2.5x multiplier, but this was slightly too powerful in practice. Bee buffing itself when adjacent to Flowers, Beehives, and Honey was a good middle-ground that made the often overlooked symbol more viable.
Dove's destruction prevention effect was far easier to achieve than I initially evaluated. I went back and forth for a while on whether it needed a rarity change or value tweak, and eventually decided on the latter. Dove's effect can be very fun to play with so a change to Very Rare would make the game less fun overall. Even though the halving of its permanent bonus can easily be seen as a large nerf, I've found in practice that Doves can "powerful enough" after just one or two triggers in Content Patch #14.
Hooligan giving coins for the symbols he destroys is something many players are surprised he doesn't already do. This is one of the primary reasons that he now gives 6 coins per symbol destroyed, but "Spirit builds" needing a bit more of a buff is another (more on that in a bit).
Robin Hood was one of the most powerful Rare symbols in the game. He effectively gave 3.25 coins per spin and had numerous other upsides. The reduction in the amount he gives every 4 spins will only slightly nerf him as he still synergizes extremely well with numerous items, but this way he'll be a little less powerful on his own.
Spirits now give 6 coins every spin as they very much needed a buff. The symbol has been untouched since the very first public build of the game(!), so it's definitely time to re-evaluate the little blue wisps. Spirits are primarily useful for giving large amount of coins and then disappearing. However, when compared to other symbols of less rarity that do this, such as Wealthy Capsule, they come up short. Spirits gave 16 coins with a delay, meaning there are instances where a Spirit could be objectively worse than a Wealthy Capsule if, say, one needs 10 coins in 1 spin for a rent payment. I'm keeping an eye on if Spirits need to be buffed further, but in practice, a base value of 6 coins has brought the symbol to a power level that feels correct.
Tomb having its values tweaked reflect the changes to Spirits, primarily for flavor reasons (the recurring values of 6 and 4), but also proved to be a bit too powerful when adding 5 buffed Spirits when destroyed. The amount of coins gained from Spirits from a destroyed Tomb is actually still higher than it was previously, even with the amount of Spirits added having been reduced by 1.
Please let me know your thoughts either in the comments or on the official discord!
-Dan
Bug Fixes
Fixed a bug where the scroll bar and menu position would reset when updating settings in the options menu
Fixed a bug where the player could sometimes be offered 3 symbol choices while having Shattered Mirror
Fixed a bug where Comfy Pillow wouldn't trigger on a spin where Hex of Emptiness triggered
Fixed a bug where a specific pixel being clicked on the prompt for Credit Card or Credit Card Essence would cause a Reroll Token to be added as a symbol
Fixed a bug where Credit Card and Credit Card Essence weren't properly triggering if triggered on a spin where the player received Essence Tokens from an email
Fixed a bug where symbols added from Time Capsule didn't have their "Times Displayed" value increased (this was particularly noticeable for symbols that care about this value like Wine, Coal, or Snail)
Fixed a bug where symbols removed by Diver weren't affected by Lemon or Lemon Essence
Fixed a bug where Happy Hour Essence was having its value decreased by 2 instead of 1
Fixed a bug where Time Capsule couldn't add symbols destroyed in the same spin
Fixed a bug where Midas Bomb wasn't destroying adjacent items while in the top-left corner and other very specific circumstances were met
Fixed a bug where Midas Bomb wasn't destroying adjacent items if a symbol was added during a spin in the position where the Midas Bomb was destroyed
Fixed a bug where Chicken Coop wasn't applying its 3x transform/add multiplier to Eggs/Chickens under multiple circumstances
Fixed a bug where multiple copies of Brown Pepper didn't give the correct amount of coins
Fixed a bug where Pepper Essences could be destroyed without giving any coins
Fixed a bug where multiple destroyed copies of Devil's Deal wouldn't add Empty symbols properly
Fixed a bug where Frozen Pizza would trigger an additional time when reloading the game under specific circumstances
Fixed a bug where the game would crash if the Menu Speed was set to "Instant" while Guillotine Essence triggered
Fixed a bug where the game would crash if more than one tooltip was hovered over under very specific circumstances
Fixed a bug where the logging system would sometimes output irrelevant Godot data
Fixed the description for Happy Hour Essence being incorrect in every language except English
Fixed numerous instances of double spaces instead of single spaces in the Russian, French, Danish, LatAm-Spanish, and Polish translations
Fixed a pluralization typo in the French translation
[Modding] Fixed a bug where "rarity_mod" wasn't working properly under multiple circumstances
[Modding] Fixed a bug where "forced_rarities" wasn't working properly under multiple circumstances
[Modding] Fixed a bug where a "diff" applied to other symbols that was modified by "capsule_effect" would cause the game to crash
