Hi, welcome to the first devblog for Growth Plan! Excited to put out an update on the progress we’ve been making with the game so far, and show how much has changed over the past week of development!

(If you’re curious about previous progress, you’re encouraged to check out our Progress presentations from Sprint 2 and Sprint 3 to see what the state of the project was at that time!)

In these devblogs we’ll basically be giving a rundown of the major iterations made to the process, so that you can be up to date on what’s happening, and what to look out for in the new build! So, without further ado, let’s start that breaking stuff down, area by area:

General:

Grid-based movement is now supported by a tile outline, showing which tile the player is selecting, and which tile they’re moving towards. We found that players weren't exactly understanding where they were moving before they moved, so the outline was a way of fixing that, as well as making sure players knew they were moving on a grid, without disrupting the visuals of the game too much!

The Employee Manual in the Pause Menu has been updated with larger text (it was previously illegible, sorry!), and can now be flipped through in-game, for a more tactile feel. Agnos Logo has also been added to the Manual for maximum Agnos Effect(TM).

Main Menu/Outside:

New area added! We decided to create an in-universe “start menu” for the game, to remove some barrier to entry for players and make the whole experience a bit more grounded, which is one of the core tenets of our design philosophy for this project. Entering the uhh vague rainbow-texture (it'll be a door later, promise) starts the game proper.

Oh, and the Main Menu also has a special guest: the office overlay UI. It'll be gone soon from this area, so enjoy it while it lasts!

Newspapers

A prototype version of a graph representing Agnos Inc’s stonks has also been added to the newspaper, so the player can eventually see how much they're helping or hindering Agnos (at the moment it doesn’t update though, so apparently exponential growth is a myth).

Breakroom

Coworkers’ names now display correctly! You’ll no longer be stuck talking to only people named Sally for the whole game.

Separate coworkers now spawn on the correct days when entering the breakroom, along with updated visuals for each coworker to make them more recognisable. Say hello to the gang!

(album cover pending approval)

Onboarding Elevator

New area! Because we finally got level streaming working (yay!), we’ve given the player a forced tutorial interaction with HR (sorry not sorry) before they drop down to work on their first day.

Factory Area

Restricted Areas are now fully implemented, with prototype UI feedback displayed when entering them. Along with that, the Restricted Areas also expand as you continue to sabotage. Thrill as your bosses restrict your available movement space!

We’ve added some feedback to the puzzle UI to emphasise the player’s quota completion based on playtests. One bar is insufficient, two bars is meeting Quota, and three bars is exceeding Quota. We’ve also added these bars to the machines, so  a player can tell what their progress on a machine is at a glance.

Endings can now be reached! Try exiting through the elevator on Day 5 and you’ll be greeted with a wonderfully chipper “You’re fired” message!

• Alternatively, you could attempt the slow and painful (we know, working on it) process of reaching 100 Security Level by getting caught. Same result.

Visuals for Bark system have been revamped to print to screen instead of being rendered in-engine. This removes that awful grey stain they had before, and makes them legible even when zooming out.

Visual issue has been fixed where puzzles were clipping through factory walls.

Factory Exterior

Visual issue fixed where trees were hovering above the ground

All exterior Machines in the factory now affect the environment! We’ve added toggleable smoke stacks, and water pumping machines. Try turning on Machine 3 to see filthy water pour into the lake.