Hey everyone!

Back again with another Community Gazette! If you've been following development closely—especially on the public test branch—you probably already know that we’re reaching the final stage of the base game rebuild.

We’ve just wrapped up work on the final core system: public transportation, which builds on the transportation & rating revamp. It’s the last major content piece before we move into the polish and balance phase. With this, the main gameplay loop we've been designing is finally complete.

And that means we’re almost ready to ship something special to the main branch: a massive, unexpected update we’re calling "Echoes of the Community". It wasn’t even on the roadmap, but here it comes.


Originally, the goal for this update was pretty straightforward: take public transportation out of the research tree, let players buy buses, subways, and taxis, and set up schedules. Done and done.

But… if you know me a little by now, you’ll probably guess what happened next. I just couldn’t help myself, I had to add more details to the system, even though I knew we were already running behind schedule.. This update already started to feel like a second early access launch, so I wanted to rework this system to be more fun to manage, not just something you check off once and forget.

So it’s grown, maybe a little more than planned, but I think in a good way. Here’s what you’ll find in the new public transportation system:

You’ll now need to buy, sell, and maintain your public transportation vehicles. That includes taxis, buses, subway trains, and wagons, each with their own stats and quirks. Just like walkways, you’ll need to get licenses from the city before you can run these services, but there’s a catch… which ties into a new dynamic with the townsfolk. More on that in a second.

Vehicles now have condition ratings—from Brand New to Like New, Fair, and Bad—and these affect everything: price, upkeep, even how often they break down. You’ll also deal with maintenance intervals, fuel costs, and yes, even vehicle mileage, which tracks how many round trips each vehicle makes between the casino and the city.

Higher mileage means lower resale value and more wear and tear—but also a cheaper price up front. Whether you invest in shiny new subway cars or pick up a few well-worn buses to get started is entirely up to you.

Just like items and rooms in your casino, transportation vehicles need maintenance, but they do it in their own way. Each one has a maintenance interval (how many rounds it lasts) and a maintenance cost when it’s time to service it. These numbers depend on the vehicle’s base stats, its condition, and a little RNG from the dealer you bought it from.

If that sounds like a lot to micromanage, don’t worry. The idea is that, instead of constantly doing research, you'll be tinkering with different elements to expand your transportation capacity and automate tasks. Then, you'll revisit these aspects over time to keep improving. That's why you’ll now be able to contract mechanics as Agents to automate the process. Which brings us to…

We’re adding a new type of professional to the game: Agents. These are freelancers you can contract temporarily for specific roles and tasks. Unlike your regular employees and contractor workers, they operate outside your business and come with different perks and limits.

For now, the Agent system includes:

• Drivers
  
• Train Operators
  
• Mechanics
  
• Lawyers (Will be moved to this)

You’ll need drivers and operators to actually run your public transport vehicles. They also work as part of the scheduling system, hire one for mornings, and they’ll cover that shift hours automatically. Want full-day service? You’ll need two, but that also means faster mileage, more wear, and higher costs.

In future updates, more agent types will be introduced. Think detectives (for spying on rival casinos in the Rivalry update), or art dealers to track down rare pieces in the Luxury Amenities update.

Your casino isn’t the only thing growing. Every bus, taxi, or subway line leads to the city, and the city’s going to matter more than ever.

To get licenses, you’ll need to build relationships with the townsfolk, especially if you want to run something like a subway line. The more you grow your public transportation network, the more important those connections become.

And this ties into the bigger picture: the city system will eventually connect to upcoming updates like Go Global, Rivalry, Catastrophes, and Advanced Logistics. This is just the start.

Once this update hits the Public Test Branch, we’ll begin the polishing and balancing process. After that, everything gets pushed to the main branch as a complete rebuild of the base game, and we shift into full-on content updates.

The polishing tasks are much smaller and quicker to complete. I’ve always been the kind of person who prefers to get the big heavy lifts out of the way early, and now it finally feels like the construction is done and we’re moving on to interior design. This is the fun part.

Here’s what’s coming in the final polish update:

• Redesigned townsfolk quests and decision UI
  
• Balancing of the main game loop values
  
• Final implementation of missing AI behaviors (e.g., animations for the hood hair dryer, cigar lounge ashtrays)
  
• Audio remastering
  
• New UX for negotiations
  
• Tutorial improvements
  
• Visual & audio effect polish
  
• Some key quality-of-life UI upgrades (with more in the QOL patch after Nightlife)

I truly believe this rebuilt version of the game feels like a second early access launch, and it’s going to give us a strong foundation for all the content that’s coming next. Once polish is complete, we’re heading full speed into expansions, features, and chaos.

Thanks for being part of this wild ride and helping shape this unique, deep, and sometimes delightfully chaotic simulation.

See you in the next Gazette, Cheers!