Well Constructor Plus fans, it is that time of year again when the Slob is busy trying to get the ice off his chip cooker, and the Professor is at it trying to invent a new more efficient method for heating his home. A time when we tell ourselves we are not going to eat our weight in Christmas food, but do so anyway because it is just too enticing. Oh, and of course that also means a time when the Steam Winter Sale is in full swing. That means for the duration of the sale we are happy to say that you may purchase Constructor Plus at 50% off its original price! Why not give the gift of hoodlums and mask-wearing psychopaths? Use the handy widget below to get started!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/898800/Constructor_Plus/
We have to say to all our fans that we appreciate the reception we have received for Constructor Plus across each platform we support. It has been an immensely busy year for us folk at System 3 as we rolled out each version of the game. For some platforms this meant more time taken (Xbox One certification *grumble grumble*) but in the end we believe the proof is in the Christmas pudding as the saying goes… So thank you for your continued support, and most of all thank you for your patience and wonderful feedback.
On the topic of feedback what good would this be without a new update for the game? We are happy to say that we do in fact have a new update for everyone to try out but unlike our earlier update we will be trialling it as a public beta branch. This means that whilst we believe there are no serious issues, we do not want to leave you with an unplayable build just before the holiday period! We would also greatly appreciate feedback on the changes. You will need to opt-in to this branch by following these steps:
1. Right-click Constructor Plus in your Steam Library. A pop-up should appear.
2. Click “Properties”. A new window will open.
3. In the new window look at the top and you will see several tabs. Look for the tab that says “BETAS” and click on it. You will open the tab in the same window.
4. Look for a drop-down box and click on it. The drop-down should contain a new branch called s3public_beta. Click on it and your Steam client should begin downloading the new update.
5. If you wish to revert to the previous build repeat the above steps up until Step 4. In Step 4 instead of selecting s3public_beta please select “NONE – Opt out of all beta programs”. The previous build should begin downloading.
If there are any fans who speak other languages and wish to translate the above steps to their language please do so.
In addition, we must make clear one point regarding multiplayer:
The public beta build is NOT compatible with the default public release so if you opt-in and want to play with your friends please copy the above instructions on how to access the public beta and show it to them. Otherwise, if they attempt to join your lobby with the wrong build they will be rejected, and that is not very festive now is it?
What will the update do for me?
In our latest update we wanted to address as many concerns as possible without making too many knee-jerk reactions regarding certain other things such as multiplayer balance. The reason for this is that in this update we will be trialling several different changes related to multiplayer. Below we will quickly outline some of these changes.
a. The host may now save a multiplayer game in progress. This game may then be loaded as a custom game. If a player is no longer able to play the game but the others wish to continue, they may do so, and an AI will handle the unfilled slot. There is always the option to load the save at a later date if a player that was not present is now present. Network games are also automatically saved based on the host's autosave frequency but the host may also initiate a quick save by pressing J. The shortcut for quick-saving can be remapped in key configuration.
Town Designer saves may also be loaded. This means that the host player can design towns for each player (try to make them balanced and not so one-sided!) and then load that saved design as a custom level. This particular feature we believe works well but there may be intermittent issues and hence if you encounter issues with the saving or loading of games please let us know.
Finally, we must explain briefly how this will work. When the host starts a multiplayer game and they want to load a saved game they will need to click “Custom game”. They will then be shown a list of Network or Designer saves that they may pick. Once they pick a save the lobby will be created and other people may join or be invited by the host depending on the lobby privacy settings. Once everyone is in the lobby, the game can be started by the host and the process of transmitting the relevant data will begin. The host will load into the game but there will be a delay as other players are loaded in and initialised. If the game looks frozen do not be alarmed this is part of the process. Once everyone is loaded in the game will begin and you can have at each other. After you have had enough, the host may save the game for another time.
b. Host options in the GAMEPLAY options menu will be transmitted to other players and set. These cannot be modified during the game. However, if the host changes the settings and loads the save these will be set to the new values.
Remember: The host must go to the options menu and set these values before creating a lobby.
Currently, we transmit the following settings:
1. Attack AI Teams – Toggles AI between attacking only human teams or attacking both human and AI teams.
2. Council Mission Status – Toggles whether or not Council Missions will ever appear. Useful if you want to play a different multiplayer mode other than War Mode, but do not want to have to deal with council missions.
3. AI Build Speed – Decides how quickly the AI places new buildings and the effectiveness of their work teams. This may be set from 50% up to 600%.
4. Build on Enemy Estates – Sets whether or not the AI will build on enemy estates as well as its own.
c. Right-click pop-up now displays the player’s currently set Steam profile username. For example, if you were to right-click on a building owned by Constructor Plus, it would display Constructor Plus.
Once again we must point out that these changes may have quirks or other unforeseen issues so please let us know if something does not seem correct. Please note that we are aware of an issue where if the host player is behind other players in terms of resource unlocks, that when the new game is loaded the players who are ahead may have certain items locked again. This should correct itself by simply building something else. We must investigate this further as to how we can resolve it without breaking something else so please bear with us.
What else is new?
We’ve also taken the time to add in some new changes that we hope improves the feel of the game for all our fans. Of note is the addition of a much-wanted option to disable council complaints. This option functions in multiplayer as stated above and will use the host’s own value. In single-player this may be toggled on and off during the game and you can use it to decide when you want more missions from the council. Please note that this will only affect classic mode, and the final six mission types in the “Play Game” missions. Council missions are not present in any other type of mission.
Other quality of life improvements include the addition of more information to the right-click status display when right-clicking on homes, greater visibility on unlocks and many other useful changes. See patch notes below for the entire list of changes.
We are also happy to announce that the Simplified Chinese localisation is also live in this update. We thank the fans who were patiently waiting for this localisation. Do let us know if there any issues with the translation and we will correct them in a future update.
Right, well, with the festivities in motion and the weekend almost upon us we do not want to keep you here too long. We’d like to finish by wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and/or Happy Holiday, and a very Constructor-y new year!
Constructor Plus Christmas Update Notes
QUALITY OF LIFE IMPROVEMENTS
- Constructor Plus now supports Simplified Chinese text and trophies have been updated accordingly for fans using this localisation.
- Host may now save multiplayer games in progress.
- Host may autosave games in progress in a multiplayer game. Press J (default shortcut but may also be remapped) to initiate an autosave. Network saves made this way are located in the Autonetwork category of saves when starting a custom game.
- Host settings from Gameplay Options for Attack AI Teams, Build Speed, Build on Enemy Estates, and Council missions now apply to multiplayer games and will be transmitted to other players.
- Players may now issue attack orders for an entire work team with only the foreman selected rather than needing to select an entire team.
- Added player name to house info in multiplayer.
- Added team name to right-click status of houses.
- Added option to disable council missions during classic modes. This is found in options menu.
- Added F11 and F12 group key presses.
- Added tenant level info to right-click house info if not ideal tenant.
- Added display of installed gadgets to right-click house info display. This displays the remaining strength of the internal gadget and if it is set to be automatically replaced (requires computer installed) then the number will display in green. This follows a similar convention to room upgrades.
- If a tenant is set to auto-replace, his name is shown in green in the info popup.
- Added L/R neighbour buttons to HQ, Edit Gadgets, Gadget factory & Undes screens to designate that players may use < and > (default key bind) to switch between properties without leaving the screen.
- Allow visibility of non-residential buildings yet to be unlocked in Estate agent.
- Added Skyscraper info display when selecting buildings.
- Added Monument info display when selecting buildings
- Right-clicking will select and scroll to an undesirable rather than the building in Undesirable View mode.
- Left-clicking will instead scroll to the undesirable building in Undesirable View mode.
- Player now receives appropriate warning if trying to convert workers to tenants if only one worker is present in the headquarters.
- Shortcut keys are now displayed for changing house types on Estate Agent screen.
- Added flashing text during network game initialisation so that player's know the game is still connecting everyone.
MISCELLANEOUS CHANGES AND FIXES
- Fixed custom game level variable initialisation in client machines.
- Fixed instance where certain external gadgets would not correctly be refunded if demolished before being delivered.
- Fixed retail units giving monthly rent once taken over in Chump Change.
- Fixed crash when selecting your own undesirable just as he finishes his task.
- Fixed right click when no Undesirable houses exist in Undesirable screen.
- Fixed French text for maison Tudor.
- Corrected French translation of Russian Connection.
- Game no longer crashes when re-selecting other characters during foreman building destroy.
- Selecting a different character whilst performing a character specific action will now correctly exit the mode or cancel the action.
- Too many garden objects in queue no longer cause overflow and prevent delivery of previously designated gadgets.
- Menu now slides completely off screen after load menu.
- Only one tenant will return to HQ to be counted after house sold if more than one tenant from same house is out in the world.
- Thief stealing weapon locks on to gangster even if he is dancing. Handy if you want to steal a weapon from a gangster whilst he is distracted.
- Stealing a gangster's weapon no longer interferes with knocked out or arrested state causing the gangster to become frozen in place.
- All save types are now visible on Load Game screen rather than requiring end user to click to scroll through list of save types.
- Shortcut keys are now displayed for changing house types on Estate Agent screen.
- Replaced Homebase movie.
- Replaced Nero's Palace, Corn Palace, White House, Aliiolani Hale & Philadelphia City Hall sprites.
- Improved unlock logic for network games upon loading a custom game.
We will evaluate all feedback regarding this build and if no serious issues are detected internally or by our fans we will then make this build live on the public branch. The public beta branch will be removed at this point, and when we are ready to trial a new update that might have far-reaching consequences for which we cannot hope to test all situations, we will gladly organise a new public beta branch.
- System 3
