Exciting times are coming! It’s been a wild 6 months since our appearance at Next Fest, where some large projects which had been in progress for some time could be finished, like the new User Interface and Menus throughout the entire game. In this development update, I'll go into some of the major work we’ve completed during this period and what we're currently working on. [h1]New Menu System[/h1] In the previous update, we showed the then-new InfoPanel using the new UI system. After a lot of work, which took a lot longer than expected, this new system is now used for (almost) all UI in the game, and accordingly, there is a new Menu system to navigate the game! [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/41153285/c49d56e8863dae7d8e2ed10eb135bf13f3401083.png[/img] The main menu has been simplified to be more familiar like similar games, with options to start a new game, resume an existing save, and change the game settings. You’ll also find the game’s credits and documentation here. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/41153285/9b4cc163cd19b963dbab1485027b2465fa0eae86.png[/img] The New Game menu has also been redesigned entirely. You can now actually configure the start time / date and duration of the event, along with many other options. At the moment, only Sandbox games are included in the game, but for Career and Scenario mode, options will be fairly similar, and the menu can be reused. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/41153285/c5222e1675e48b8a5ebe76e38b01fd68650c98d1.png[/img] Loading one of your Sandbox games has also been improved, allowing you to select which save file for a festival you want to load. The UI is also ready for when event recurrence is added, which will allow you to have a yearly-recurring event! [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/41153285/670ec759cf9f6b56a1b48aa5b6b0723d4c4aadf7.png[/img] An entirely new setup for the Settings menus has been added, along with entirely new sets of options, which are discussed below. These are still being added, for example Gameplay settings haven’t been transferred yet. [h1]Updated Game UI[/h1] [h2]Main Screen[/h2] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/41153285/cf249a8ef9a888407a8cfb898936b2620da4e124.png[/img] After already redesigning the Info Panel, the entire main game UI has now been added. A lot more statistics have been added to the Status bar, info layers can now be accessed from the Camera bar, notifications remain in view until dismissed, and the Plots can now be filtered by category and searched by text. While most old features have been transferred, there are still some minor bugs in, and features missing from, the new main screen. Some of these might come back and instead are moved elsewhere. [h2]Event Control Center Panel[/h2] Instead of trying to fit all the information the game has for you in a single screen, you can now use the Event Control Center Panel to gain detailed information about your event, its finances, and all objects and characters present on your event site. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/41153285/4d412cb49a2a659dc618af5930038af1863dd916.png[/img] For example, all hiring of crew is now done from the “Crew” panel. You also have to fire crew members individually, by selecting them and clicking the “Fire” button in the Character Info Panel. [h1]Settings & Input[/h1] Finally, you are able to view the keybindings for the game from the Settings menu, which is now accessible both while in-game and from the main menu. Initial support for rebinding (keyboard) controls has also been added, but is still in a very early state, and might not register all inputs properly. As the game progresses, more keybindings (and controls for other input devices) will be added to the game, allowing you to control the game just the way you like. Also, we’ve added a set of sliders which can be used to configure the volume of the various audio elements in the game. Each type of audio can be set individually, and you can additionally set a volume for each stage, which will be used for its performances. [h1]Audio Sound FX[/h1] A new system has been created which will be used to play sounds for individual objects, like construction sounds which play while a site crew member is performing construction on an objects, or visitors who will cheer when the performance their watching starts, ends, or at random moments during the performance. While the currently included effects are fairly basic, I’ll be adding more (higher quality) samples once I can find some really good ones. Also, more sounds for the different types of interactions between visitors and objects should be added, as currently only the above mentioned performances and construction are present.