What a year it has been! Happy holidays & new year to all our fans. It has been a rollercoaster of a year, with a successful Kickstarter, a lot of development progression and a growing community! We can’t thank everybody enough for all your love and support and wish everyone a great new year.

Our team has taken a little bit of time off from our busy schedule over these holidays, so there is a little less to talk about than normal. December has seen us work on a new main menu, basic game settings, a much improved saving/loading menu, further work on the guest/staff AI and work on the improved in-game UI.

We finally got around to doing some much needed work on our main menu. As it is one of the first things the player will see, it is important that it conveys the same aesthetic as the rest of the game. It was also a good chance to refresh our knowledge of the Unity UI system before doing the visual work on the in-game UI. Below is a little gif of our first iteration, if you have any feedback please comment or mention it in our discord server



On top of our improved main menu, we added some basic settings that allows the player to adjust camera move/rotation speed, graphics quality, resolution/fullscreen modes and audio volumes.



We have now fixed nearly all of the bugs surrounding saving and loading and the system is functional, so our next public build should allow the player to save/load! We have also changed how the system works by allowing the player to name their save as is with most games.

We now have basic functionality with our AI systems, guests will check in, walk around and satisfy their needs by visiting bathrooms, restaurants etc. as needed. Without our new character models and animations it's hard to showcase any progress in this area. But we will hopefully be able to show something very soon!

We will also be putting out a new update to our alpha backers very soon with nearly all these changes present!

Thanks for checking out the update! Drop your thoughts below or hop onto Discord to chat with everyone.

Until next time & have a happy new year!

Hello, Magnates!

Another day, another devblog. We have finally settled into our usual rhythm of development and are charging through with adding more features and fixing bugs.

First off, we know there are a few people that want to buy the game so they can play the Alpha. We are still planning ways for our new fans to get ahold of the game, and we will hopefully have it available soon!

Remember the demo… well, the doors and windows weren't exactly aesthetically appealing, so we fixed them! More correctly, we are well on the way to fixing them. We have added a new door and window placement system, plus we'll be adding even more door and window models in the future with the ability to change colours and materials of different components. We are also beginning work on a system where players will be able to change the colour/material of furniture pieces to create even more variety for all of you.




We have added a way for players to paint entire walls and floors with a shortcut/hotkey instead of individually painting each segment. This comes with the new ability to snap furniture along walls instead of having to fidget around with matching the furnitures angle to the wall. Convenience!



Like all games, there are a lot of bugs that we have been dealing with. Bugs can take just as much time to squash as it does to develop new features. We have fixed many of the issues with saving & loading that people have noticed in our pre-alpha demo, as well as more fixes to wall & stair placement.

We are hard at work on improving our Guest AI; making sure they can make decisions, have priorities and even ignore some of their own needs. We are also adding more interaction points so guests can interact with more and more items and furniture within your hotel. Our first iteration of the guest AI system will be somewhat simple compared to our final implementation as we want to begin proper testing of how the guest will act/behave within a hotel, along with being able to test peripheral game systems and gameplay loops.

Ah, the backbone of the hotel -- or the broken bone… whatever it is, we are hard at work making new AI systems so the staff can work and interact with items and guests and even complete tasks. We also want to ensure that each staff member will vary and be independent from one another to create gameplay variety.

We have also started implementing vertical placement so you can place small items onto tables and other objects. For example, placing a plant pot onto a coffee table. This system will additionally be used for things like meals being placed onto tables by staff at a restaurant. Time to get creative and decorative!



Thanks for checking out the update! Drop your thoughts below or hop onto Discord to chat with everyone.

Until next time!

Hello, Magnates!

Welcome back to another devblog after the Kickstarter madness these past few weeks. We have been organising a refined work schedule to match our new capabilities, which has allowed us to ease our way back into a good development rhythm. Thanks again to everyone who helped make this project happen, whether that be by backing us directly on Kickstarter, sharing the project online, or just about any little thing that very clearly went a long way.

For those who missed out on backing us, don’t worry! We are working on a fair way to offer you early access to the game, but unfortunately this will not include any KS exclusives (as the name entails).

We are happy to welcome our new programmer. Brad will be helping us further develop our game systems and take Hotel Magnate to new heights.

Lastly, we want to give another shoutout to our excellent Hotel Helpers over on Discord who are doing an awesome job so we can focus on making the game.

Now, let's get into it!

If you are one of the backers who pledged towards one of the “Alpha” reward tiers, then you will be pleased to hear that you can access the pre-alpha demo by following the instructions below! We will be updating this demo periodically as improvements are made.

Existing Crytivo Account
1) Go to www.crytivo.com
2) Locate the game in your Games Library
3) Click on it, hit download
4) Enjoy!

If you do not have the game tied to your account (likely because you may have used a different email address to back the game), send an email to support at support@crytivo.com and we will verify your KS pledge and add it to your account.

Not Yet Registered on Crytivo
1) Go to www.crytivo.com
2) Simply enter the email address that you used for the Kickstarter in the sign-in section
3) Click Reset Password
4) Check your email for the password reset link
5) Log in with the new password
6) Locate the game in your Games Library
7) Click on it, hit download
8) Enjoy!

We are looking for any feedback from the early tests of our “Building Demo”, which will allow us to identify and fix any bugs that may pop up, add new features you request, and unlock some previously locked features as time goes on. If you have access to the demo, please provide any feedback and suggestions you may have by submitting a form from the link below.

http://hotel-magnate.com/support/

We ask that you check the known issues and FAQs before submitting a report to prevent the same issue being reported multiple times. Thanks!

Thanks to the awesome feedback already received from individuals who have tested the building demo, we have replicated and begun fixing a few problems like improving screen resolutions and scaling, resolving issues with saving and loading, and any weirdness caused by auto-painting rooms and floors. In addition to this, we are also adding in doors and windows that are far more aesthetically pleasing than the ones currently present in the demo.

Below is a sneak-peek at some brand new guest models that are currently being created. Guests alone will have over 400 different visual combinations planned for the Alpha as we will be able to change body shapes, clothing and colours. Get excited!



Before we go, don’t forget to chat with us and the community on Discord! We’ll be waiting!

Lots of love,

Bastion

We all want to attract high paying guests such as businessmen and executives and the best way to do this is to go straight to corporate.

Players can host annual corporate holidays, large conferences, weddings and more this gives the player an opportunity to attract the highest paying guests and get into their pockets. Some guests might like it so much they want to stay longer or even come back another time.

Be careful these are the highest paying guests and are hard to please, some won’t even be interested if you don’t have other certain facilities or even if the food is too cheap.


Hotel Magnate will include a challenging campaign mode that will have you start with a small hotel location and you will slowly expand your hotel empire across a wide range of locations.

You will start with the bare minimum and will have to grow your business from a shabby shack to a 5-star hotel or 2 stars... You will have many different options like building one massive hotel, building lots of little hotels or creating one massive hotel at a time and expanding that small investment into a multi-billion dollar franchise.

Remember each location is different, you must adapt each hotel to each location, guests and more. Failing to adapt to each location will cause your billion-dollar hotel empire to slowly crumble back to where it came.

Each decision you makes could have a long term effect on your hotel or franchise so be careful each choice could help expand the hotel to expand or make it fall to its knees.

Along with the campaign mode, you will be able to play in a free mode where you can build to your heart's content, either in a challenge mode where you will still have to balance your books or you can play unlimited where you won’t be held back by monetary limits.


We know there are more magnates out there! Please continue helping us to spread the word. Share the game with your friends or post about it on social media (Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, whatever you like!). And don't forget to hop into our Discord channel to suggest features and share your thoughts about the game. You’re all awesome!

Help us spread the word: Click here to tweet about this

Sign-up for future email updates: Sign-up here

❤ With love, Bastion Interactive Crew

After a lot of talks with our backers and community, we have decided to include a whole new reward tier called the attractions package! Backers of this tier will receive a Kickstarter exclusive Ferris Wheel and Rollercoaster for their guests to enjoy as well as attract new thrill-seeking guests looking for something different.



These attractions will help attract new guests and provide something else for your guests to do that is a little bit more exciting than lying by the pool or sitting at the bar!



All tiers above the attractions package will also receive the Ferris Wheel & Rollercoaster. If you have already backed a lower pledge you are able to adjust/upgrade your pledge to include the attractions package

If you havent already check out the page HERE

See you in the next post!

In our first 24 hours, we have hit $16,553! That is around 25% of our goal of $65,000 AUD. It’s been a crazy day, and we can’t thank you enough for your support, whether that be by pledging or even simply sharing our project with your friends. We are extremely humbled by everyone's show of love and hope the rest of the campaign can be just as successful!

It's still early days, though, so we can’t crack open the champagne just yet. All of the work leading up to the Kickstarter has been a madhouse, and we have only just begun to see how far the game can go. We are 100% committed to creating the Ultimate Hotel Simulator and keeping you updated throughout development. To ensure we achieve that outcome, we’re going to need your feedback! You can start right now by dropping your comments down below about what you like so far, as well as what you’d like to see. If you want to help out even more or stay in the loop, drop by our channel on Discord. That’s the best way to engage with us and the community!

If you don’t mind, please continue helping us to spread the word. Share the game with your friends or post about it on social media (Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, whatever you like!). You’re all awesome!

Help us spread the word: Click here to tweet about this

Check out our Kickstarter page: Here

It’s been a passion marathon and we’re finally ready to push this project to the forefront. Your support will give us the freedom to make this game the hotel tycoon we’ve all dreamed of with your feedback at hand. Swing by to grab an early discount and exclusive rewards for your support.




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEMVmGqhh78


Help us make Hotel Magnate a truly memorable experience with the never-before-seen level of customization freedom, facility management, hiring personnel, launching marketing campaigns, and building your reputation. This is indeed the game where your decisions matter!

Please share our campaign on Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, and anywhere in-between. Any help you can provide is greatly appreciated!

Good day, hotel managers!

We bid farewell to the month of May with a host of bug fixes and plenty of polish under our belt. In short, it’s been a month of improvement and refactoring that has done the overall quality and stability of the game a world of good. There’s still a long way to go, but we’re happy with where the project is at right now. Before we get to what we’ve been up to, let’s all welcome our new 3D modeller, Jess, who will be helping us spruce up our selection of furniture!

The addition of post-processing effects has smeared a noticeable layer of visual splendour upon the game. It has allowed us to tweak and improve everything from colour palettes to contrast. Shadows also received some love, making them a little sharper, but not quite yet in the quality zone we’re aiming for. Enough words, see for yourself in the comparison below. Watch those colours POP!





Someone left all of our furniture out in the garden. It presents a fine opportunity to capture an all-encompassing screenshot, though, so might as well take advantage of the situation.


We have been giving controls and usability a fair amount of brainpower this month, with the goal of simplifying gameplay and making everything as user-friendly as possible. The aim is to make the game easily playable with only one hand. This is achievable with the majority of systems, which is great, but there are some more complex elements that may require a bit more input. Why are we doing this? Simple: to ensure the game is accessible to all kinds of players.

We have been experimenting with sound! You’re going to get quite an earful when everything comes together.

Before you get too excited, we aren’t quite ready yet for the big crowdfunding push, but we’re well on our way. Our focus is on fixing all gameplay issues and an odd assortment of bugs before we launch the Kickstarter. We are hoping to hit the funding button within 2 months, but no promises. It’s gotta be as smooth as gravy before then.

Big thanks to all of you for being a part of the community! We can’t wait to show you more.

Feel free to ask us a few questions or have a chat over on our Discord server: https://discord.gg/h3mWKNF

Greetings, fellow hotel managers! Another month has seen its end, bringing improvements and progress galore. We have integrated the brand new building system, created more furniture and decoration variations, and enhanced our Guest AI with a whole new layer of complexity (including more dynamic and interesting behaviour).

Our Guest AI system is slowly coming together. One of these days, guests may actually start behaving like actual human beings. However, that does not necessarily mean they’ll act like ‘decent’ human beings. These are hotel guests we’re talking about, after all.

Anyway, the most recent update has added plenty more complexity to the system’s design to ensure we achieve highly-dynamic guest behaviour. This entails that every guest will have unique characteristics and behaviour, reacting to their environment and needs in different ways. Some may not like your house wine, for example, while others may wish to bathe in it. To each their own.

The building system has received quite a bit of spit and polish since our last update. If you can recall, we showcased the improved building system with simple lighting and colours that were a little darker than we liked. We have since corrected these issues by reintroducing the surrounding scenery and improving the texture colours for the walls, floors, and grass.



We have a new face around here! Our most recent hire is a great furniture artist who has already ramped up the production of furniture (they refused to make coffee, so we had to find them another job). They’ve created a range of new office and hotel lobby props that’ll spruce things up.





That’s all for now! Remember to check out our Discord channel here: https://discord.gg/h3mWKNF to chat with us and the community.

Good day, aspiring hotel managers!

We’re a little late on bringing you today’s update, but rest assured that this is only the case because we have been working diligently towards some major milestones. We are close to finalising our development roadmap for all of the good stuff to come, so you’ll soon be able to follow along more closely. While the team has really gotten into the swing of work and nurtured blissful comradery, we still face challenges as a result of how few of us there are. Therefore, we want to inform you that we are on the hunt for a talented 3D character and prop artist to liven up the game and another programmer to spread the technical load and speed things up.

If you know of anyone who fits the bill, or you’re quite the marvel yourself, please contact us at: admin@hotel-magnate.com

Now, time for a peek at what we’ve been doing!

The process of designing the visuals and functionality of guests and staff in the game is something we have been working hard on over the past month. To create enough NPC variety without breaking our art budget, we need to implement a dynamic system that randomises clothing, skin colour, facial features, and body types from a collection of assets. This saves time and precious resources while still offering a pretty fantastic result. Here’s an early concept drawing of a few guests and staff members that’ll help guide the final model designs:



Voilà! A big piece of the puzzle has finally been solved! Saving & loading is officially a thing, at least for the systems we have in place at the moment, like building/furniture placement. This is quite a substantial milestone, as we have had issues in the past with efficiently (and accurately) saving walls and floors.

More important UI work has been completed, such as the addition of simple tooltips to help players traverse the interface (like whether or not a button will bring about certain doom) and the initial designs for the various management screens. However, most of the work done on management screens admittedly had more to do with gameplay than visual design, but it’s still a great improvement over what we had before.

This one is still a bit of a work in progress, but we have, at the very least, designed a preliminary system for how a given room is perceived by guests and how it is ranked against other rooms. This will absolutely become far more elaborate as development continues, but it should suffice for now.

Essentially, a bedroom’s “real room value” can be rated up to 5 stars. This is determined by the room’s contents, like a 1-star room will at least need a bed, a 2-star will require a bed and a TV, and so on. Additionally, a part of these requirements for improving a room’s rating will be in the form of overall $$$ spent on it. This enforces that players will need to have sponged out a little more cash in addition to the furniture requirements to ensure the room is functionally better.

Once the room is ready, players will be able to market it in any way they see fit. If it’s barely worth 2 stars but you want to market it as a 4-star experience, go for it. However, most guests will call you out on your exaggerated definition and pricing, which will lower your hotel’s global rating. This system is still very much a work in progress, so please let us know your thoughts and suggestions. We appreciate all of your comments!

If you’d like to get in touch with us and join the community, ring the bell over on our Discord server at https://discord.gg/fYkJWWk. See you around!