Hi everyone! My name is David Galindo and I’m the creator of the Cook, Serve, Delicious! series as well as the director on Cook Serve Forever. You can find me over on [url=https://bsky.app/profile/chubigans.bsky.social]Bluesky[/url] these days, so feel free to follow me there for updates on CSF and Cook, Serve, Delicious: Re-Mustard! When we first launched Cook Serve Forever it was my first time overseeing a large project without programming any part of it (we attempted a small experimental project, ChefSquad, that was a fun Twitch only game). I was wearing a ton of hats all at once, overseeing all the production pipelines, and as a result the gameplay didn’t get the attention that I normally give the CSD titles. As a result the game opened to mixed reviews. This was not acceptable to me. I had a lot of time to reflect on what I wanted my life to be- what direction I want to take my career, how involved I want to be, or if I just wanted to handle the managerial aspects forever. And that sounded truly terrible. And so, I decided to make the decision to throw away the entire codebase of Cook Serve Forever and start from scratch, going back to being the sole programmer I was in Cook, Serve, Delicious! 1 and 2. And let me tell you- it has been a blast getting back to programming. Being able to focus on the gameplay design and make huge strides in days that were taking us weeks previously was such a huge motivational push to keep going, as there were certainly days that I felt like I wasn’t sure it was all going to come together. A little over one year later, I’m excited to reveal the new gameplay dynamics of Cook Serve Forever, with the first update coming next month in November! [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/42251747/00691618509f07fc855ed66ea249f9ef8d54157f.png[/img] [b]Keeping the Dynamics[/b] When I first started re-designing the game, I had no idea what direction to take the game. Since we were starting over, should I make it more like CSD? Or maybe a rhythm game? A strategy game? Ultimately, I realized that the core fundamentals of the game- a chill, relaxed cooking game that perhaps had a larger ceiling to get more difficult as the game progresses through the story- was the right one to pursue. CSF is a very different type of cooking game- you’re cooking one dish at a time, utilizing button prompts for each type of cooking action you want to do. Chopping will take sixteen hits of L1, while Stirring will have you holding down R1 while tapping the face buttons in a circular motion. What’s unique about this game- the one key element that sets it apart from the original EA release and other cooking games- is that CSF allows you to do both preps at once. Utilizing a split gamepad or keyboard control layout, you can chop onions on the left side of the gamepad/keyboard while grilling with the right side. While you’re holding down a patty with A you can grate cheese with L2. It’s very much like playing a piano, and as you get more familiar with all 15+ prep functions you’ll get faster and faster, clearing goals and earning holographic stickers for each level. Here’s a first look at the gameplay in action to give you a better idea of how this works: [previewyoutube=71kYgPgxWyo;full][/previewyoutube] [b]Progression[/b] I have found that the gameplay is a lot more challenging and fun to play- getting better and better at levels opens up the opportunity to have a new goal based system where you have to earn a certain amount of Good and Perfect orders to win the holo sticker, or just one of the goals for a regular sticker. But even if you don’t earn any goals, you can still progress to the next part of the story. I’ve completely changed the grind based nature of the game currently to a more linear path that serves the story, as ultimately CSF is a story based game and I wanted to give the player as much story as possible in a play session. No more grinding out levels over and over- you’ll be able to get a perfect clear on your first run in a level, should you be good enough to get both goals! As a result of the new gameplay and linear progression, I’ve realized that there was no way to import old saves into this new system, so you’ll need to create a new save for this update. I want to stress that it’s much faster and more fun to progress back to where the story currently ends now, and we’ll still have the original EA version available in a Steam branch should you still want to play that release. We will also have an unlock all levels in the options menu for the EA release that will be removed for v1.0. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/42251747/396f3c6e47a36a181b657ace8bba49ffa516fb75.png[/img] [b]Update Cadence[/b] Our first update will bring the game all the way up to the current story beat with the newly revised gameplay systems and game overhaul (I haven’t even mentioned all the bugs and issues that are remedied with this new build!) and will be released in November. Our second update will introduce the next large chapter of the game which we’re aiming for January. Finally, the last section of the game is targeting Feb/March of next year, with console releases and v1.0 releasing soon after that. I want to thank everyone for their patience- I’m happy to say that with this game I’m also building a backend system that allows us to use many of the features in this game with other future titles we’re making, so that production will be sped up quite considerably for games like Re-Mustard! Thanks again and I can’t wait for y’all to play this brand new game! [b]FAQ[/b] [i]Will I still keep my old achievements?[/i] Yes, all achievements will stay the same except for two: Hi-Five and Speedrun, which reference the old XP system that is no longer in the game. These may get changed into a new achievement or deleted entirely. [i]Will there be a demo?[/i] We plan on offering a new demo before our 1.0 release! [i]Do I really have to play through the entire game again if I already did so the first time? [/i] We will be adding an unlock feature in the options menu that allows you to unlock all levels should you desire- this will be removed in the second update in January. But I must stress that the game is dramatically different than it was before! [i]Is this a gamepad only game now?[/i] No, you can use keyboard of course! It does feel quite nice on the gamepad and Steam Deck however. [i]Is this Steam Deck compatible?[/i] The new release will be fully Steam Deck compatible. [i]What’s next?[/i] Right now we are 100% focused on finishing Cook Serve Forever, though in my off time I’m working on Re-Mustard docs and planning things that I can’t wait to share with you all next year! And after that, who knows…well I know, but I ain’t saying just yet. :D Thanks again y’all! -David [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/42251747/7f7a2f45bf6ede54aaf2015aafe067ea6ad26faf.png[/img]