Some (a lot) of suggestions from a newbie player with no DLC

[Aarlauna Rose]

Hello Devs :) First off, thank you so much for your hard work on this game. I've always loved cooking games, but most of them are for mobile and are unabashedly pay to play, so this game is exactly what I've always wanted! There are so many things I love about this game, and I can already see myself spending hours upon hours playing it.

But, as this is the feedback/suggestions section, I have some observations that I'd like to pass along to you. Full disclosure: I'm a new player, so some of these might not apply, since I just haven't figured out all the game mechanics. I also don't own any of the DLC, but I'm hoping to save up the money soon.

1. Cutting - This... is probably the worst, honestly. It's an exercise in frustration. Part of the problem is the measuring system, which I'll go over more later, but also the fact that figuring out how to cut things is largely a guessing game, and often buggy (for example, having a 70g piece of pumpkin, and trying to trim it to 50g, which is impossible). On a related note, not being able to use the freeze items perk in sandbox mode is incredibly annoying. I don't know a single cook or chef who doesn't hold items steady when cutting, and since I usually use sandbox mode to practice recipes, it seems counter-intuitive. Being able to manipulate items while holding the knife/cutting would also be a huge benefit.

2. Measuring - As an American, I find suddenly getting forced into the metric system extremely difficult, especially since I'm terrible at math. I understand the reasoning behind the choice, but having an option to use fractions instead of weight would be a huge relief, and would easily cut down on my rage quitting by at least 40%. On a similar note, I think having a kitchen scale that you can buy from the store might also be a good idea, just for a bit of added convenience. I don't have any issues with the spice measuring system, and the only complaint I have about the liquids is how difficult it is to get smaller amounts. I'd suggest maybe measuring spoons/cups to help with the fine tuning.

3. Menu Management - This is also one thing that greatly decreases my enjoyment in the game. The random three recipes forced on the player is more like Russian roulette or pick your poison. If we absolutely have to pick a new item, it would be nice to at least be able to choose what that item is, including choosing a dish upgrade in place of a new item. Being able to remove items from the menu would also be nice, since I've definitely had more than a few cases of buyer's remorse.

4. Random Small Improvements -

Co-op play, mostly to help with prep and make the game more dynamic and challenging. A note, I'd personally prefer an option to invite friends specifically, since I hate playing with strangers.

Improved timers, the current set up is a bit confusing and frustrating. Maybe an option to manually put in the time?

No more counting pasta, please. I avoid all pasta dishes like the plague because of this. Perhaps the scale idea would help with this problem?

A way to carry lots of stuff from the pantry, like a basket or something. It eats a lot of time going back and forth.

Fast restock perk instead of manually buying one item at a time from the store. This is especially annoying when buying things like stock and sour cream.

More TV screens, specifically by the stove and the fryers. Also, the ability to use the screen like you do the laptop, so you don't have to go back and forth.

A spice rack for saving space and convenience by the stove and prep areas.

5. Wishlist -

A Spotify/Pandora plugin for the radio. I honestly have no idea how realistic this wish is, but it would be so nice to just sign in with Spotify and listen to my own playlists without just running it in the background.

No menu/pause music option. This is really jarring, especially when I have Spotify up, since I usually play classical music to keep things less stressful in career mode. (on that note, the classical music station offered in the game is fine, except my stress always rises when Hall of the Mountain King plays, which is why I use my own playlist now)

More precise plating for screenshots, and because presentation matters. It really bugs me to send out plates that look like I just dumped things on a plate. I also never use the screenshot function for this reason.

Hygiene matters- it seems a bit pointless to have a cleaning option when it doesn't really seem to matter. The first time that the game said there was going to be an 'inspection', I assumed that meant health inspection, but it meant a food critic (???).

Time to learn a recipe/recipe tutorials. It's really difficult to learn a new recipe on the fly in career mode, especially if you had it forced on you. The option to spend some time practicing it after choosing it would be super helpful.

Special requests/allergies/dietary restrictions. This is a huge ask, I know, but I'd love to see a bit of extra challenge with this system. Swap out meats for tofu or other protein substitutes, remember to use non-dairy cheese, don't put onions anywhere near that order! Cross contamination would also be a cool integration, but I would be happy without that feature. It would force players to improvise and accommodate, and add even more realism.

Mod support- no lie, I'm huge on modding. I mod everything until it breaks. There's so much potential in this game for new recipes, tools, challenges, customization, etc. Modding a game adds an incredible amount of longevity. Just look at Skyrim as an example. The game came out in 2011 and is still one of the most popular games, due in large part to the modding community.

That's about it, sorry for the novel. I genuinely love this game, and that's why I took the time to write this out in detail. I'm sure that a lot of these things have been brought up before, but it certainly doesn't hurt to see that these are still things that people want. Thank you again to the devs, and I'm looking forward to a lot more time playing!