Walk of Life News

[p]A small update, mostly featuring bugfixes.[/p][p]Changelog:[/p]

• [p]More clarity in the Location Info Box! Now showing score information and more![/p]
• [p]Stocks should now recover faster after a Economic Meltdown global event.[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug where after pressing Deposit in the bank the Info Box would display some weird text.[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug where stock prices were not correctly saved, which could cause weird behavior after loading a game.[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug where the Senior Role would not receive their pension after rejoining an online game.[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug where the host in an online game could have different scoring outcomes than clients.[/p]
• [p]Avatars are now correctly stored in save games.[/p]
• [p]Fixed it so text better fits Role Cards and the Scoring Machine in languages other than English.[/p]
• [p]Fixed some missing localization strings.[/p]

[p]Ahoy![/p][p]We're back with another content update! There are plenty of new things to keep an eye out with the new patch, but here are a few highlights!

Before we get started: we'll be taking down the demo today. We feel it has served its purpose and the gap between the game and the demo has gotten too big with newer versions for it to be an honest taste of the game.[/p][p]Now onto the new stuff![/p][h3]New Role - The Senior[/h3][p][/p][p]The Senior may be a bit past the prime of their life, but this old slugger still has a couple of tricks up their sleeves. What the Senior lacks in movement speed and work efficiency, they make up for with pension checks that arrive every couple of rounds! Try the unique Complain action in various locations to make the most of the Senior's grumpy old energy![/p][h3]Education System Revamp[/h3][p][/p][p]The education system was feeling a little lackluster, so we've added a new mechanic to spice things up. Upon finishing a tier of education, you'll receive a diploma which you can use to choose between one of two unique traits. These traits have various effects, ranging from increased movement speed to reducing the attribute loss from eating at Clucker's. If you don't feel like selecting either of the traits offered, you can always pawn the diploma, but keep in mind that other players could buy it themselves![/p][h3]New Global Event - Economic Crash[/h3][p][/p][p]When the economic crash global event begins, several effects take place. First, every player loses their job. Secondly, the job office will only offer jobs from tiers 1 and 2. Thirdly, the prices of everything at the Mall and Clucker's will go up and stocks will plummet. Finally, a soup kitchen will be available in the Park to offer players in need free food, but keep in mind that the queue is quite long![/p][h3]New Job Perks[/h3][p][/p][p]Some of the workplaces that were missing a perk have received one. Working at Moo Moo Mart will allow you to nab one free lottery ticket per round, the Mall has a lost and found box you can rummage through, and the Academy has a complimentary coffee for the staff. Try out the new perks and discover new strategies! Lost and found meta incoming?[/p][h3]New Score Screen[/h3][p][/p][p]Finally, the score screen has received an overhaul and is now presented in the style of a game show! Say hello to your new, omnipotent late-night host![/p][p]There's a bunch of other changes which you can find in the notes below! Now get out there and have some fun!
[/p][h2]PATCH NOTES
[/h2]

• [p]New Role: The Senior! Collect your pension, yell at clouds and complain about the taste of the water at Cluckers.[/p]
• [p]Role Update: Adventurer! Level up to get new Traits.[/p]
• [p]New Global Event: Economic Crash. We're gonna party like it's late 2008.[/p]
• [p]New Education System. Completing a course line allows you to now choose a new Trait to boost your play.[/p]
• [p]New Job Traits. Getting a job at the Academy, Moo Moo Mart or the Mall now rewards you with sweet traits, making those locations extra enticing to work at.[/p]
• [p]New Score Screen! I'm not going to lie, it looks pretty awesome.[/p]
• [p]Bot update: Bot now interacts with Pets, Global Events, Transports[/p]
• [p]Added thematic decorations to the Location UI.[/p]
• [p]We now show a nice visual when you get a new Trait.[/p]
• [p]Game now remembers your avatar choices from previous games.[/p]
• [p]Reduced clutter of Location UI.[/p]
• [p]Updated localization for all languages.[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug with the clock not syncing correctly sometimes when rejoining an online game.[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug where the first time you entered a location, if you were unemployed and the game was not in 16:9 aspect ratio or in windowed mode you could trigger a bug by hovering over the edge of the screen, over the clock.[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug where you could join an empty online game shortly after the owner left the lobby. This would cause all sorts of problems if you then tried to play that game.[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug where the game could freeze in online after the event cards.[/p]
• [p]Now correctly syncing location panel scroll view state in online games.[/p]
• [p]Score for quests reduced[/p]
• [p]Higher tiers of education require furniture[/p]
• [p]Flash sale discount increased[/p]

[p]Howdy![/p][p]Three blogs? In one week? Is this some sort of ablogalypse? No! We're just excited to tell you what's coming up! Today we'll be revealing the next role you'll be getting your hands on:[/p][h3]The Senior![/h3][p][/p][p]Out of the first five roles that were visible within the game, we've received the most requests from people that just can't wait to get their grubby hands all over the senior. This wrinkly old maverick may be a bit past the primetime of life, but they've still got some tricks up their sleeves. [/p][p]The senior is the first role in the game that sports a notable downside. The senior moves slow. Real slow. Choosing your pathing for each round is going to require some planning, or you'll end up finding yourself running out the clock without having eaten for the round. The senior is also not much for working, as work takes a lot more time than it does for the young whippersnappers.[/p][h3]Pension Checks[/h3][p][/p][p]Thankfully, the Senior has a rather enormous ace up their sleeve in the form of Pension Checks, which will arrive every two rounds. These checks are absolutely huge and will feel like you're practically winning the lottery on a regular basis. Since working is not a great use of your time, these huge pension checks can help you interact with systems such as education, pets, the stock market and buying furniture without having to spend time working.[/p][h3]Complaining[/h3][p]The Senior also has access to a new action called Complain, which has unique effects based on where its used. If you complain at the Landlady, you will reduce your next rent payment, but if you complain at the job office, you'll permanently increase the cash granted from your pension checks! The senior can only complain once per round, and can't complain in the some location two rounds in a row. Try to find the best places to complain each round to get the most out of the role![/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]The senior is being released with an experimental stamp as we think it's a little undercooked compared to the other roles, but we hope you have fun with it regardless. There are some wrinkles we won't be ironing out, as the senior would cease to be a senior if we did, but let us know what you think when the patch drops, which will be any day now![/p][p]Until next time![/p]

[p]Back with another blog for the blog combo! Work on the next content update is well under way and we just HAD to tell you guys what we've been cooking. You are our favorites, after all.[/p][p]Global Events are a feature we really enjoy as a way to spice games up and make them distinct from one another. There aren't too many of them in the game right now, so we've decided to put two game-changers in with the next patch, which is just around the corner.[/p][p]Let's take a look![/p][h3]The Tourist Invasion[/h3][p][/p][p]Oh no! A cruise ship has landed in Calicornia, bringing a horde of annoying tourists with it![/p][p]The tourist invasion global event brings legions of obnoxious tourists to town that will visit new locations every round, blocking them off for players to use. This could spell disaster if they block off a key location you need to access at a crucial time, such as the job office after you lose your job or the bank when you need to withdraw some cash.[/p][p]This event is meant to throw a spanner in the players' plans and force them to adapt to a new strategy if a location they desperately need is closed off. We also like it thematically, as many of us know first hand just how annoying it can be when tourists start to discover your favorite locations in town.[/p][p]As with all global events, the tourists will be represented on the map itself with tiny tourists standing in front of the location snapping pictures, but also in the form of the cruise ship itself! [/p][p] [/p][p]The gang at Porcelain Fortress is located in Iceland, so annoying tourists were a pretty easy source of inspiration. Speaking of easy sources of inspiration, here's another one that we could design from first hand experience![/p][h3]Economic Crash[/h3][p][/p][p]The economy has crashed! Stocks are plummeting! Jobs are at risk! Prices are up![/p][p]During the Economic Crash global event, every single player will lose their job! This might not sound like a big deal, as applying for a job in Walk of Life is trivial, however, the jobs available in the job office will be limited to tier 1 and tier 2 jobs only! That means as a CEO you might have to go back to flipping burgers, at least temporarily.[/p][p]In addition, prices of stock will drop dramatically and prices will increase in locations such as Clucker's and the Gym. If you can't afford Clucker's, don't panic! There'll be a soup kitchen in the park to keep you sated until things get better! The line is a little long, though...[/p][p]
[/p][p]That's it for now! No more soup for you! [/p][p]See you in the next blog![/p]

[p]Hello again![/p][p]We hope all of you are enjoying zooming around Calicornia in the transportation options we introduced in our last update, as well as investing unwisely in the Stock Market to see your hard-earned money disappear to appease the bankers. We're aware that the new systems require a bit of tuning and we'll be making some fixes to them in the next days.[/p][p]But we're not here to tell you about some tweaks to existing systems - yawn-o-rama, am I right?[/p][p]We're here to tell you about some of the new stuff we're working on! Specifically a system that we feel is a bit undercooked at the moment. Raw, even, and not in a "this dude is raw!" sort of way, but more of a "this chicken is raw and I'm going to die" sort of way.
[/p][p][/p][p]So far, the education system has mostly been a gating mechanic to unlock more advanced jobs and to gain score at the end of the game. The system is boring, shallow, and doesn't offer any interesting choices.[/p][p][/p][p]To spice things up, we will be introducing diploma courses in our next update — a new feature for each school tier that will give you different benefits, but will not impact your scoring or access to jobs. The different schools of education will also be shifted into different chambers, where you will have access to each education tier as well as the diploma courses you can take.[/p][p][/p][p]Completing each education tier will reward you with a diploma from that school which you can use to purchase access to a special diploma course. Each school will have two diploma courses, randomly set up at the start of each game, that you can select between, as these courses will cost you the diploma. If you’re not interested in completing these courses, you can always head to the pawn shop and pawn your diploma for some extra cash, but this will allow other players to purchase your diploma and use it to enter a course themselves![/p][p][/p][p]So why bother with these diploma courses if they don’t offer any score or further your education? Well, each one will offer you a special trait that will benefit you in the game, be it extra salary, decreased attribute hits for working, or decreasing the time it takes to manage your beloved pet to name a few. [/p][p]We have also added requirements to the more advanced school tiers, where in addition to completing the preceding school to start the next one, you will also need to have certain things in your home to participate in the more advanced classes. A computer is required for the 2nd tier of education, and a computer and the home library is required for the 3rd tier of education. How annoyingly immersive![/p][p]This is just a preview of one of the things dropping with the next update, so stay tuned! Until next time, you can wonder about where you will encounter the following action:

[/p][p]See you again, sooner than you'd prefer![/p]