Hello everyone!

What a huge week that's ending too quickly, perhaps too quickly? I would have liked to make more progress, but I had to take a day off to handle some personal matters, so I still have plenty on my plate!

The mod management system has been overhauled, at last! Now when you load a mod and start a new game, the game will automatically rate the mod. This way, you'll know if a mod is excellent and enhances your gaming experience. Or if a mod is good but might affect your gameplay experience. And the third rating, the lowest one, will warn you that this mod will likely harm your gaming experience.

On top of that, there are tooltips that will tell you what the mod changes. For instance, if it simply renames things - in which case, your gaming experience will only be better. Or if it adds new features, which may or may not improve your gameplay.

Basically, the algorithm is based on standard values. The more a mod deviates from these values, the lower its rating will be. So a mod that hands out tons of fans, for example, will get a poor rating, while a mod that adds elements to game engines will receive a good rating.

And for mod creators, it's really great because once you've created your mod and the game has validated it, it automatically gives you the mod's score. Super convenient, but there are still a few things missing on this front.

So I've made great progress on mod management, but as I was saying, for mod creators there's still something important missing. When you create a mod, it would be nice to know why it got a poor rating. At the moment, the game doesn't tell you this, but I plan to add it in the next RC. This way, you'll immediately know how to improve your mod to make it flawless. And in the long run, everyone will be happy.

Well... I didn't have time to finish this part about mods, so I couldn't work on human resources or anything else for that matter. But I'm planning to tackle this part during the coming week. And if I can give you more details, I also plan to revamp the automatic devkit sending feature, so you won't need to send them manually anymore, but with just one button click. Another minor but important change is the right panel that stays on the panel you've opened by default unless there's important information to show you.

Alright, I've still got work to do. I wish you all a fantastic, sunny weekend.
Xavier aka Binogure

Default version of the game, we want to make sure to have a chance to discover bugs and adjust the balancing, to give you the best game experience possible.

Access the Unstable branch on Steam by right clicking City Game Studio in your Steam library, and then select ‘Properties’. In the new window, select ‘Betas’. The Unstable branch should now be available for you to choose from.

Please leave any feedback you may have in the appropriate channel in our Discord, or in the subforum on Steam.

As always, remember to be considerate towards players not partaking in the Unstable, in case they want to avoid spoilers.

Please make sure to make backups of your save files before playing.

• Rework the game to work even if Steam is not detected. But mods won't get loaded

• Add a mod analyzer that adds meta data to the mod data to know what a mods change:
  • Platforms, custom platforms, digital store, competitor, competitor's games...
    
  • Add a seal of quality to all existing mods

Hello everyone!

Things are progressing well, and I'm happy to tell you that I've fixed the save file issue. Or at least isolated the problem.
This means I couldn't make progress on mods, but I'll tell you all about it right away!

As I mentioned at the beginning, I've improved the save file management. First, I optimized the save file size. Small save files have gone from 3 MB to less than 1 MB. Meanwhile, the larger ones, I'm talking about those over 15 MB, now take up less than 5 MB. And that's really great. By optimizing the save file size, I've also optimized the loading speed, but all of this comes at a cost. Creating a new save file takes more time. But since save creation is handled in threads, this is completely transparent to you.

Loading a game isn't much faster, but listing your save files is. In fact, I rewrote the save loading algorithm to make it more stable and faster. The old save management algorithm dated back to early access. With this new algorithm, you'll no longer be stuck in-game when you save. All of this has been fixed. And as a bonus, an error report is sent if a save cannot be completed. This will allow me to find the error and fix it. This error report includes the error code, file size, and the name of the file that caused the problem.

I've also reworked some of the game's icons to make it more modern. I hope you'll like these small changes.

Last week I told you that I needed to work on the mod rating system. Since I spent the week on save file management, I couldn't make progress on that topic. So, this week I'll spend my time improving mod support to give them ratings.

But unlike last week, I'll focus on this task, and only this task. If I manage to finish early, I'll work on the next item, which is reworking the human resources interface. But that's only if I have time to do it.

That's all from me, thank you for reading.
Have a great day!
Xavier aka Binogure

Default version of the game, we want to make sure to have a chance to discover bugs and adjust the balancing, to give you the best game experience possible.

Access the Unstable branch on Steam by right clicking City Game Studio in your Steam library, and then select ‘Properties’. In the new window, select ‘Betas’. The Unstable branch should now be available for you to choose from.

Please leave any feedback you may have in the appropriate channel in our Discord, or in the subforum on Steam.

As always, remember to be considerate towards players not partaking in the Unstable, in case they want to avoid spoilers.

Please make sure to make backups of your save files before playing.

• Rework some icons from the game

• Rework the savegame algorithm:
  • Always save the game when asked no matter what happen
    
  • When trying to close the game while saving, it's going to close the game anyway once it's been saved
    
  • Add double check when writing a new savegame
    
  • Add compression for some models (laargest ones)
• Rework the load algorithm, it's faster than it used to
  
• Rework the game load, the first part wasn't using threads, it does now

Hello everyone!

What an incredible week!
Not only was the v1.22 release extremely well received, but Fortune Avenue, which just launched, is also getting a great reception!
I won't hide it from you, I was super stressed about releasing a new game! But now I'm relieved because it's really being well received!

So I'll be able to continue my cruising rhythm of 50% on City Game Studio and 50% on Fortune Avenue. And yes, I'll spend even more time on City Game Studio, because I want to provide you with the best video game company simulation game. And I think with 91% positive reviews, I'm getting pretty close!

I still have plenty of work to do, so here's a quick update on the latest changes in the unstable version.

I've completely overhauled the mod management system. Loading is incredibly faster now. Not to mention the mod browsing page which has undergone an amazing facelift that makes it much more pleasing to the eye. For mod creators, it's night and day - the page for creating mods is more pleasant, and listing your creations is also easier.

On top of that, there's a layer of HTTP connection optimization. This prevents your machines from being overloaded when you haven't linked your game to Twitch, for example. And other important behind-the-scenes changes have taken place. All to make the game even more stable.

Next is continuing to work on mod management. The idea is that when you create a mod, the game assigns a score to your mod. The scale isn't established yet because I haven't defined all the criteria that determine the ratings. But the idea is to know if a mod makes the game imbalanced, or if it's a mod that will simply improve your gaming experience. The score will be automatically assigned when creating the mod, which will let everyone know if a mod is likely to harm your gaming experience or not.

Another thing I want to work on is the save system. Currently, there's a small group of people for whom saves don't work. And that bothers me tremendously. So I'll probably devote a large part of my time to fixing this bug as a priority, so they too can have a great gaming experience.

That's all from me, thank you for reading.
Have a great day!
Xavier aka Binogure

P.S:
Fortune Avenue is out, don't hesitate to grab it at a reduced price:
store.steampowered.com/app/1810050/Fortune_Avenue/?utm_source=cgsannonce

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1810050/Fortune_Avenue/?utm_source=cgs_annonce

Hello everyone!

FORTUNE AVENUE IS FINALLY HERE!. Yes, after months of development, I'm super happy to announce that Fortune Avenue is available today on Steam! For those who have been following me for a while, you know I've been talking about it since the 1.19.0 update of City Game Studio.

Fortune Avenue is my new baby! Imagine a revisited Monopoly with a bunch of mechanics that will make you love (or hate) your friends:

• A voting system to collectively decide on certain actions
  
• A helicopter that completely changes the game dynamics
  
• A Fortune Wheel to add that little chance factor that makes games unpredictable
  
• Special cards that can turn the situation around at any moment
  
• And many other surprises that I'll let you discover!

To celebrate the launch, Fortune Avenue is available with a 40% discount during the first 15 days! That brings the price down from $4.99 to just $2.99!

It's the perfect time for City Game Studio fans to discover my new project. And if you liked the way I've developed and improved City Game Studio over the years, know that I have the same plans for Fortune Avenue.

City Game Studio isn't being abandoned! As I announced previously, I'm still working on:

• Revamping studio furnishing with copyable templates
  
• Reducing console manufacturing costs based on sales volume

These features will arrive as planned. I just wanted to take the opportunity to tell you about Fortune Avenue, which is really close to my heart.

For those who might have missed it, I've just released v1.22 of City Game Studio, which has completely revised and fixed studio management! This update brings many improvements that will make your experience even more enjoyable.

I really wanted to thank you for your continued support. It's thanks to you that I can continue to create games like City Game Studio and now Fortune Avenue. Your feedback, suggestions, and passion are what motivate me to get up every morning (even when I have to fix a bug at 3 AM).

Don't hesitate to share your impressions of Fortune Avenue, and if you enjoy it, a small review would be greatly appreciated!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1810050/Fortune_Avenue/?utm_source=cgs_annonce

I wish you excellent games, whether managing your video game studios or bankrupting your friends on Fortune Avenue!

Xavier aka Binogure

P.S: For those who made it this far, the next update for City Game Studio will focus on better mod support! You'll be able to filter them more easily and improve their download experience. I'm working hard to offer you the best possible experience with mods!

Default version of the game, we want to make sure to have a chance to discover bugs and adjust the balancing, to give you the best game experience possible.

Access the Unstable branch on Steam by right clicking City Game Studio in your Steam library, and then select ‘Properties’. In the new window, select ‘Betas’. The Unstable branch should now be available for you to choose from.

Please leave any feedback you may have in the appropriate channel in our Discord, or in the subforum on Steam.

As always, remember to be considerate towards players not partaking in the Unstable, in case they want to avoid spoilers.

Please make sure to make backups of your save files before playing.

• Rework the mod loader algorithm
  
• Rework the mod creation panel (looks better)
  
• Rework the mod list (looks better and loads all the images now)

• Rework the HTTP requester, used by mods to load images. Remove the Thread dependency, so it's now crash-free.

• Do not try to connect when there's no need to open a connection

Hello everyone!

This is another small update, but one that optimizes code I wrote back in 2018. It's been quite a while and definitely deserved some attention.

From now on, adjusting the gauges during game creation will be much easier and consume significantly fewer resources.

There are also other changes such as two fixes for rare crashes that needed to be addressed!

I believe this completes version 1.22, and now I'll be focusing on v1.23!

Happy gaming to all!
Xavier aka Binogure

• Optimize the gauge setting panel
  
• Optimize the panel loading algorithm

• Fix an issue with the game over panel
  
• Fix an issue when canceling a game made by the studio director by selling all your studios (crash)

Hey folks,

Here a very short update, to fix a crash when you sell all the furnitures from a data center.

Xavier aka Binogure

• Salary wage raise computation error
  
• when selling a datacenter (or a studio with servers, it leads to a crash

Hey everyone!

Version 1.22 has been out for almost a week now, and frankly, the feedback has been excellent. The feature that lets you copy/paste studios is highly appreciated, even though it contained a small bug that I've now fixed!

And the rest too—having console manufacturing costs automatically adjust with the number of units sold, the new studio selection panel. In short, all these changes have been really well received, and so it's with pleasure that I bring you this update which fixes the few remaining bugs.

First of all, the studio selection panel wasn't working very well. Being able to deselect studios is important in some cases, and by default certain filters made this action a bit more difficult if you had a free studio. I stumbled upon this issue and made a fix.

A user provided me with several super useful pieces of feedback. One of them concerns game updates. For games that remained on the market for more than 15 years, publishing an update would kill sales. This was a very specific case, and I've made the process much smoother. From now on, the game will perform a more complex calculation for updates. So, when you load your game, sales might suddenly jump—don't worry, it's just the game automatically adjusting and "giving back" the sales you should have had.

That being said, two other fixes have been implemented. The first concerns an error that prevented the end-of-life table of a game from displaying, and the other bug caused the number of copies sold to become negative. These were simple display bugs that are now fixed.

So there you have it. I've gathered your feedback, and v1.23 will be enhanced with magnificent interface changes that will make the game even more enjoyable. As you know, I publish an update approximately every 3 months, which means that by summer you should have an update that addresses most of your feedback.

For example, when creating a console, being able to compare it with those present on the market, or being able to better manage employee schedules so that only designers work during the design phase, for instance. Or sorting employees by those who have just been hired, or being able to train employees directly from the employee panel.

In short, all of this, if I have time, will be part of v1.23, which is already full of great things. As a reminder, being able to list former games of the year, or game ports from the catalog. Showing a company recap or even thoroughly reviewing mod management. I haven't listed everything, but these are the main changes that should be included in v1.23.

Thank you all for reading,
I hope you're enjoying the new version of City Game Studio!

In the meantime, see you soon for the first RC of v1.23 (normally in a few days).

Xavier aka Binogure