Dev Log Update: Awe Bars and Coffee Shops

This Week:

A lot of systems have been added and modified this week ready for the next alpha test coming near the end of the month.

Firstly, information stands are gone. Their ability to multiply the awe of relics around them has now been given to fakes. Fakes now have a much more important role to play throughout a game, not just in the early stages. When your park is thriving you will now probably think twice about selling a fake that's boosting your epic relics.

We've finally added the curse system. Relics have always had mystical and cursed connotations (e.g Tutankhamun) and we wanted to reflect that in the game. Now, relics have a chance of being cursed or blessed. These curses and blessings vary wildly from making guests hungry and thirsty to turning them into money or cloning them. We wanted the curses/blessings to add another variation to gameplay: do you sell that epic relic that's turning all of your guests into litter? Or do you just keep that janitor close by? The curses/blessings won't significantly alter your game-plan, but they are nice wrinkles during a level.

A guest being cloned: visuals subject to change

The next system we've changed is how awe works. Previously, awe was spread out across all path tiles around the relic. This created some odd situations where a common relic facing one tile could appear to have a lot of awe, while an epic relic spread out over 5 path tiles looked pathetic in comparison. Now, every relic has a facing direction and all of the awe is distributed on the facing tiles. This also gives more freedom when placing relics, because players can now have relics back to back of different themes without incurring a penalty.

A relic with set facing directions

Another system we've implemented and modified is the cheque system. If guests get awed enough to donate more than 6 times, they will write a very generous cheque to the museum. The system still needs to be balanced but it's a satisfying feeling to see cheques coming in from happy guests. 

In terms of models, the basic stalls have finally had a make-over, the burger, drink, coffee and lemonade stands now have better models ready for the alpha:

We've also given the donation stand some ambient occlusion and a touch up:

Whats Next:

• Start making the Dawn of Civilisation relics
• Review the thief system and try to make it more fun
• Balance and refine the event system 
• Create hotkeys to see important environmental information 

In Other News:

• In case you haven't seen Zhatt's mention of us in Tycoon News here's the link!
• We're getting the game ready for an alpha test near the end of the month, if you want to take part, email us at mojoboxgames@gmail.com
• A really big thank you to Dudelsac for becoming a mod on our subreddit and making the whole place look and feel a lot nicer!