Major QOL Update - v0.8.5 [BIG MAPS]

Pre Alpha v0.8.5 Release Notes

Hey everyone!

This is a major QOL and performance update. There are a lot of fixes and QOL features I want to get out the door now instead of waiting until the big updates are completed.

I've increased the playable map size by 25x . I've been play testing my game a lot and realized the small map area is just dumb/frustrating. This update will not have any limits, but the next major update will likely limit the demo to a certain population size, or something similar.

This update is save breaking, but not blueprint breaking. You will need to export blueprints from the previous version of the game, then import them to this version if you want to transfer your buildings. This can be done in any of the blueprint menus (must press comma key to unlock)

Besides all the updates, some major features I've been working on that are coming in the future include money management, city management, more sophisticated demand logic, overlays, terrain height, and possibly Undo/CTRL-Z (it's tricky)

On to the updates! (points below)

Feature Updates

• Medium density residential zoning
  
• Increased map size (25x bigger)
  
• Items can be placed on roofs
  
• Added interaction sounds
  
• Custom zone widths for auto grow zones
  
• Terrain GUI now has color customization box
  
• More blueprints
  
• Improved demand logic a bit
  
• Small plants output with terrain generation
  

QOL Updates

• Fixed blueprint rotation issues when driveway is in corner of building
  
• Added mouse hover guide lines when placing road
  
• Added terrain grid (optional)
  
• Added edge scrolling (optional)
  
• Outdoor room walls no longer draw one floor above the active floor
  
• Added option menu access to main GUI (gear icon)
  
• Most outdoor plants will randomize rotation for variety
  
• Improved object sorting in the object GUI
  
• Deleted dish washer tab in object GUI, moved to kitchen sinks
  
• Removed highway from micro mode
  
• Removed redundant pool tiles in the object GUI
  
• Big / Huge tree shadows now draw over everything
  
• Color preview immediately updates items in the object GUI on mouse hover, before color option is chosen
  
• Zone tiles no longer draw when placing objects (since it discolors the grass)
  
• All rooms placed will now default to white walls/wood floors
  
• Improved tooltips
  
• Goals now also act as a light tutorial (steps and icon output)
  
• Can now nudge huge tiles (outdoor signs, really big trees)
  
• Fences now rotate in the object GUI
  
• Blueprint building density filter is now locked when goal has not been met
  
• ESC now closes the unit / building UI
  
• Prevented grass boarders from outputting on driveways that draw in the road area
  
• Driveway colors are less randomized and now match the driveways in the road area
  
• Improved unit UI text coloring
  
• Default zone grass is now the shortest/simplest type
  
• Night time passes by faster
  
• Thick grass outputs with all roads now
  
• Removed building/room requirement for City Parks
  
• Huge glass windows will output less for residential single family homes
  
• Improved construction animation
  
• Added subtle value (brightness) adjustment to outdoor plants/trees
  

Performance Updates

• GPU Bottleneck Resolved: 20x-30x FPS increase
  
• Significantly reduced RAM memory usage
  
• Significantly reduced save file size (~50%) and save/load times (~90%)
  
• Duplicating floor no longer causes lag spike
  
• Fixed lag spike when placing/deleting room
  
• Moving large blueprint previews around the map is much faster now
  

Crash Fixes

• Fixed occasional crash when copying item colors
  
• Fixed crash caused by units pathing to building removed from market after it started pathing
  

Bug Fixes

• Fixed pathing bug that may have gotten units stuck in rare cases
  
• Fixed grass tiles not being set to black when loading a micro mode save
  
• Fixed green highlight sometimes not being removed when moving/nudging items
  
• Fixed inability to mouse-hold-move wild objects (items placed outside of zones)
  
• Fixed fences deleting when expanding or deleting zone tiles
  
• Fixed bad window and door lighting when camera is rotated
  
• Fixed object outputting on first click when SHIFT is held (i.e. selection box placement)
  
• When object GUI is filtered after clicking on room, clicking color swatch no longer removes this filter
  
• Fixed CTRL copy item selection not working on floors/walls
  
• Fixed inability to close blueprint menus when clicking on icon
  
• Fixed trunks of huge tree assets animating from the breeze
  
• Fixed GUI icon previews outputting wrong color for some assets
  
• Fixed potato plant's bad pixel colors
  
• Fixed bug that prevented zone deletion if zone was not connected to road
  
• Fixed big tree sprite preview jumping around when rotating
  
• Fixed GUI selecting first color option when rotating item
  
• Prevented copy tool from copying traffic lights
  
• Fixed lack of error output when placing room outside of zone
  
• Fixed zone boarders not drawing when they should be
  
• Fixed inability to SHIFT replace big and huge objects
  
• Fixed tree shadows not moving with the breeze
  
• When placing buildings on the market, right clicking now inactivates the icon
  
• Fixed sprite preview lighting not matching its location's lighting
  
• Fixed some exterior wall (door frames) outputting wrong color
  
• Fixed roofs outputting wrong tile when adjacent to outdoor room
  
• Fixed CTRL copy object picker sometimes updates to the incorrect internal action state, causing item placement issues
  
• Fixed object placement info and internal action state being reset when clicking wall mode icon
  
• Fixed A-E color icons disappearing when screen is resized
  
• Fixed building status not immediately showing when clicking FOR SALE icon (when placing buildings on the market)
  
• Fixed right click inactivating blueprint icons when GUI is still open
  
• Fixed time bar not outputting when mouse is hovering (not moving) over the box
  
• Fixed potato mode windows not outputting properly
  
• Fixed parking lots not outputting from constructed zones
  
• Fixed fountains not being deleted on zone demolish
  
• Fixed fountains not animating from blueprint output
  
• Fixed blueprints replacing fountain with tree when randomizing
  
• Fixed placing road not deleting wild objects
  
• Fixed buildings under construction outputting finished roofs on camera rotation