Update for Sept 2014: AI Opponents, Additional houses, Business changes & More!

Welcome back to another months update!

 So, as some of you may have seen by my Twitter updates, the game has been in playtesting for a couple of weeks with a few trusted people, I'm getting plenty of valuable feedback from them and it's helping me focus on what's important for the game.

 The game has undergone a fair amount of changes, businesses for example, make money much faster than before, this is to make way for another change, which is additional housing.

 These additional properties can't be entered, but play a major role in the game. Owning the houses will earn you rent, and also increase your companies influence over the area. Influence allows you to improve the area, increasing property values and rent. Only the player with the most influence can improve the area.

 The world map has also been improved some more, adding overlay options to let you see the influence of companies in areas, and also an info pane which tells you information about the area.
 

AI opponents have also been a big focus over the past month, there are now 3 AI opponents that start up alongside the player, using the same business system, so no cheaty AI here. The AI will earn money and buy properties to gain influence, just like a player would. There's still some work to be done, but the basics are already in place and working well.

 The original music from the game has been removed, and replaced with some music from V-Axys's new album, Heat.Wave.

 Auto-saving was also added, as what kind of game doesn't have auto-saving these days?

 Also water using some shiny GLSL shaders!
 
 I can walk on water, don't question it.

Keep up to date with further info by following me on Twitter, Tracking This Game on IndieDB, and visiting theofficial IRL Blog.

 Have some pretty cherry blossom trees to tide you over until next time!

Alpha release soon, some new features added!

Hello everyone!

 As the title suggests, we're getting close to the alpha release. As you may have noticed, I decided to switch it simply to Alpha rather than Pre-Alpha.

 A lot of stuff has happened since my last news update back in July, if you've been following me on Twitter (I know some of you are), then you'll have seen me tweet almost everyday about things I've been working on.

 The save/load system got updated in late July with all the new information that needed to be stored, such as business information, NPC data, inventories, owned property etc., they now all save and load correctly. 

 A speedometer along with the current speed limit of the road you are on has been added, although there's not much use for it yet, as there's no penalty for speeding, more just to see how fast you are actually going, easier to compare car speeds.

 The manual got updated, removing outdated info, and added a better introduction page, which tells you how you should start your game, and gives you the controls.

 Sounds have been added for colliding with objects, which means you no longer silently hit into objects at 191MPH.

 A 2nd business to own has been added, on top of the Video Game Retailer, you can now also manage a car garage business. Cars will periodically enter the garage with a job they want doing, you go to the shops computer to buy the parts which the cars need, then you go over to a car and fix it, earning yourself some profit in the meantime.

You can buy the parts you need using the shops computer.

I plan to make this a little more in-depth, and make it a little more varied in the future, but it does the job for now. More profitable jobs on the car take a larger chunk of your day however.

Cars can have varying jobs, affecting the time taken to fix them, and the amount of money received.

Before buying a business, you'll also receive some info about that business, to help you make your decision.

The map system has been completely re-done over the past 4 days, instead of simply overlaying a sprite on the screen, opening the world map will now show a scrollable/zoomable world map, which will allow me to create a much larger world, and allow you to navigate it easier.

 Zoomed in on what is currently "Room 3". Debug numbers at the top left show total number of properties owned in this area, and total that can be owned.

I am currently working on owning additional property. You can't enter these properties, but once you own them, they'll work in the background to earn you profit via rent. Also, owning properties will increase your companies influence in the area, something which will play a big role later on in the game.

The world map will also be updated to display company/government influence in areas of the world.

 A zoomed out view of what is currently the world.

Thanks for reading.

To be kept up to date on all the latest development news, follow me on Twitter, Track This Game, and check out the official IRL blog.

If you want to suggest something, or ask me any questions, just comment below, or post in the forums.

Some polls for you!

Hey,

One of the reasons I started this blog is so I can do posts like this, that aren't possible on IndieDB, or are at least more difficult to setup.

I'd like to ask you guys a series of questions, so I know how to handle some things in the game. Some of these I've been thinking about for a long time, but have been unable to decide how to handle it.

So here they are! You don't have to answer them all, just pick ones you want to have input on.

Should there be additional bills? (Insurance, electricity bills etc.)
	Yes
	No
pollcode.com free polls

Should cars be able to take damage?
	Yes
	No
pollcode.com free polls

Would you mainly play IRL on your own or in a network game with others?
	Singleplayer
	Multiplayer
	Equal amounts of both
pollcode.com free polls

Car Races or Time Trials, should they be a way to earn money?
	Yes, Both
	Yes, Races only
	Yes, Time Trials only
	No
pollcode.com free polls

What should happen when player needs get low?
	Game becomes harder to play (Slower walking speed etc.)
	Game ends. (Player character dies)
pollcode.com free polls

Fewer, detailed NPC's? Or many generic NPC's?
	I want a decent amount of detailed NPC's.
	I want a lot of NPC's, without much detail.
pollcode.com free polls

Driving Test, should it be required before you can drive in-game?
	Yes, an advanced/realistic driving course.
	Yes, a driving course that teaches you the basics.
	No, you should be able to drive straight away.
pollcode.com free polls

That's all, thanks for voting, I've been working hard on this game for almost 18 months, it's nice to get feedback to keep me motivated.

Until next time,
Oliver

More Multiplayer info and graphical updates

Welcome back to another update!

It's been a month this the last post, so here's what's new.

 I spent much of last month working on the AI, done a bit of optimizing so it's more friendly tolower-end hardware, and also the traffic is slightly more accurate, but there's 1 bug left which causes some problems with traffic reaching their destination, I'm sure I'll track it down soon.

 As you can see, I also spent a bit of time on the roads, adding little extra details here and there,and making them a bit more curved and less angular. Small changes, but I feel as though the game benefits a lot from it.

 The shops have been updated with a few new items as well, including a new bed, a cooker, a phone and more.

I also updated the HUD with tooltips, as people who had never played before had trouble understanding what the different buttons on the HUD did.

You can now go to a cooking appliance and replenish your hunger by interacting with it, I may make this a more involved process later, but for the moment, it does the job.

The network mode has received the most attention over this weekend, you can now travel across the entire map in network mode, weather is also synced across all players. Rain will now occur randomly, as will snow during the winter months. Some bugs related to the cars were also fixed, so the network mode is reasonably stable now.

Click for larger picture. Rain in multiplayer.

That's all for now, I'm working through a checklist of things I want in the pre-alpha, and progress ispretty good.

 Remember to follow me on Twitter and Track This Game to be kept up to date with all the latest info.

 Thanks,
Oliver