Hey! It’s been a short month for us due to Pre-Alpha 6 being a week late, but here’s Pre-Alpha 7 anyways!
As usual, grab it from the download link that you received back when you purchased the game. Use the key resender if you lost your download link.

The full change log is at the end of this post.

Devlog

Garret created a new Star Shape ride during the last art stream (which you can still watch here), and here it is done and in the game:

I’m really happy with how the animation turned out, especially with these physics-driven seat beams. I was also more careful with taking measurements for rotation speeds etc. from footage of real versions of this ride instead of eyeballing it (although my estimates weren’t too far off). I should go back and do the same for some older rides.

Pre-Alpha 7 Changelog:

- added Star Shape ride
- added deco builder categories
- added Ambient Occlusion (can be disabled in graphics settings)
- added some new deco objects, stone bench, new dirt path platforms
- added visualizations for the remaining person stat values
- added some more people outfits, hairstyles & hair color variation
- reduced people walking in circles on wide paths
- improved builder window loading times
- overall performance improvements
- fixed workmen dropping crates when loading savegame
- Linux: fixed decimal number input fields not working properly with a non-english locale
- Windows 10: fixed empty coaster/transport ride tabs when installing the game to C:/Program Files

Art Stream

Garret will catch up on the December art stream next week. Join us on his Twitch channel on Wednesday, 12pm PST to chat while watching new Parkitect art being created.

Time converter at worldtimebuddy.com

Devlog

It’s been a bit of a boring week for the devlog. Garret has been ill all week, but he’s better now.

I updated the game to use the latest Unity version, which as usual fixed some old issues we had in exchange for adding some new ones. Here are some of the more interesting glitches I encountered:

After a bit of work it’s running fine again now.

I also spent some time on internal tools, like this one that identifies some common problems with our audio setup:

And finally I tried an idea for getting the problem with people walking in circles on wide paths a bit under control:

It works alright on 2 and 3 tile wide paths, which seem to be the most common ones. On wider paths or big plazas it doesn’t work perfectly but reduces the problem. I think it’s a good tradeoff between an ideal solution and being performance friendly, but we’ll have to see what happens once everyone gets to play with it.

Pre-Alpha 6 is available now! Simply grab it from the download link that you received back when you purchased the game. Use the key resender if you lost your download link.

The full change log is at the end of this post.

We also have a Windows 64bit version available now (we already had a 64bit version for Linux, and Mac is universal).

Note: if you’re using any mods you should update them, as mods from Pre-Alpha 5 aren’t compatible anymore. Most mods should have been updated to make them compatible by now.

Devlog

Gordon has been very busy with Parkitect audio this week!
Here’s what he’s got to say:

Audio stuff! I know you’re as excited about sound as I am and I am VERY. EXCITED. Firstly, we have added over 200 new audio files specifically to deco items, so now we have 30 new decos that whomp and clank into place when built.
But the really exciting news is that after hearing me whine about how hard it is to get authentic carnival instrumentation, reddit user mikeymillsjr reached out and blew our minds. Mikey is a band organ enthusiast, and has got us access to an INCREDIBLE instrument/machine, a legitimate 1924 Wurlitzer 165 owned by fellow enthusiast Glenn Thomas. This thing is the real deal–an absolute work of art–and we couldn’t be happier to have access to such an amazing machine.

Not only do we now have access to a bunch of real-as-it-gets classic tunes from the early 20th century played from physical paper rolls–roughly half an hour of which will be available in this update–but the machine is equipped to accept MIDI data so we can actually get it to play original compositions as well, and it is all thanks to these two awesome guys. We seriously cannot thank you enough.

Community Update

The modding community made some exciting progress this week as well, specifically H-POPS started working on the first custom flat ride:

More progress has been made since that video, so it looks like there’ll be some cool stuff coming up soon :)

Pre-Alpha 6 Changelog:

- added Inverted Coaster
- added ride music
- added people <-> water interaction
- added saving color palettes, picking colors from existing objects, repainting existing objects
- added mod settings
- added sounds for: Bobsled Coaster, Vertical Drop Coaster
- added new background music
- added a couple hundred new build sound effects
- added attraction options: wait for half full, wait for full (+ Alpine Coaster can’t run without full cars anymore)
- added new rain
- guests can leave trains now before they reached the front of the station
- improved mechanics behaviour for maintaining/repairing rides with multiple stations
- improved blueprint builder preview performance (a lot)
- some AI improvements; most notably made employees return to their assigned zone if they’re outside of it
- improved track heightmarks: always keep them visible at unconnected track ends
- made sure windows don’t accidentally get lost behind menu bars
- Windows: moved savegames, blueprints and mods to “My Documents/Parkitect” folder; fixes issues on Windows 10
- Linux: should fix windows not rendering properly
- fixed terraforming tool being fiddly when raising/lowering large sections of terrain
- fixed delivery crates getting stacked so high that handymen couldn’t pick them up
- fixed objects not following cursor nicely when snapping to grid corners
- fixed guests being stuck on ride exit if exit isn’t connected to a path
- fixed changing attraction waiting time not working
- fixed bobsled trains derailing when loading the game
- fixed bobsled trains derailing when pausing the game
- fixed excessive bobsled car swing on non-tube tracks
- fixed parts of notification bar text entries/windows sometimes showing through tunnel entrances
- fixed scrolling the deco builder window using mouse wheel sometimes not working properly
- fixed path builder remove button sometimes acting unpredictable, especially when removing stairs
- fixed zone borders/park fences not rendering properly in loaded parks
- fixed file name input fields (for savegames, blueprints) allowing invalid characters
- fixed being able to select/delete underground objects while not in underground mode