Guides

[Skylite]

I'll be postering several guides in this thread.

If you need any assistance with the workarounds, feel free to join the discord as we'll help you as much as we can.

Credits to Haunt for writing most of these guides out.

[Skylite]

General Information

Skill Tree Explanation
This one is posted for as long as the bug occurs that sometimes makes the Skill Tree explanations dissapear.

They are numbered in each skill tree from 1 to 11 going from left to right, and the letters a, b, and c refer to top row, middle row, bottom row for the tree.
Within the game the white bar means you can select both option a, b and c. Red bars mean you can only choose 1 of the options.

Handling
1b New Shoes - Walk 10% Faster for each 1 point up to 30%
2a Yeah, I Lift - Doubles bucket capacity if all 3 filled
2c Scooper Trooper - Each poop click picks up 2 if both 2 filled
3b Auto Scrubber - Once you start a wash can walk away if all 3 filled
4a Auto Scrubber Boost - Each point adds 25% faster speed up to 100%
4c Lead Foot - Scheduled Events take 10% less minutes per point up to 20%
5b Yeah, I Lift - Doubles water capacity again if all 5 filled
6a Professional Scritcher - Scritch play game 25% extra happy if both 2 filled
6b The Art Of Tug O’ War - Tug-Of-War play game 25% extra happy if both 2 filled
6c Fast Pitcher - Fetch play game 25% extra happy if both 2 filled
7b Outdoor Inclination - Unlocks allowing visitors to play with dogs as persuasion (costs minutes instead of reputation) if all 3 filled
8a Enrichment Activity - Increases the effectiveness of 7b with each point up to 4
8c Maximum Fun - The minutes used by 7b are reduced by 5 per point up to 3
9b Hypemaster - All happiness boosts are more effective by 60% per point up to 2
10a Work Hard - Adoptions take less minutes 10% per point up to 3
10c Play Hard - Minigames take less minutes 10% per point up to 3
11b Stay - Dogs don’t run away if unleash them outside of kennels/play areas if all 4 points are filled

Logistics
1b Matchmaker - Allows you to emphasize a wanted trait a dog has
2a Poetic Introduction - Each point increases effectiveness of 1b up to 8
2c Waste Not, Want Not - Changing dog food types in a kennel will return the old food automatically if both 2 filled
3a Tell Your Friends - Gain 1 rep per trait matched by dog during adoptions if all 4 filled
3c Onboarding - New Dogs are less neglected per point up to 4
4b Heartstrings - Donations increased by 5% per point up to 4
5a Worth It - Adoption Fees increased by 25 per point up to 4
5b Coupon Clipper - 10% discounted shop prices if all 4 filled
5c Probiotics - Wrong food to dog causes the extra poop to be lessened
6b Cost Cutter - Utility costs decreased by 2.5% per point up to 4
6c First Aid Certified - Dogs 20% less likely to get a negative trait if injured
7a Special Deal - Lets visitor get a dog cheaper (like persuade or play except it costs money instead of rep or minutes) if all 3 filled
7c Injection Training - Treating a disease also counts as prevention if both 2 filled
8a Competitive Phrasing - Effectiveness of 7a increases per point up to 4
8b Charm Pricing Reduces cost of 7a if all 3 filled
8c Best Day Ever! - Happiness decays 10% slower per point up to 2
9c Positive Reinforcement - Increases chance of positive trait event if both filled
10b Extended Hours - 15 minutes extra before closing time per point up to 4

Public Relations
1b Floofscrolling - Lets you click a thumbs up button in adopted dog pics on Barkbook and gain +1 rep per picture
2a Customer Service - Adoptions give an extra +2 rep if all 3 filled
2c Healthy Means Happy - If use all 4 vaccinations on a dog it gives +1 rep if both filled
3b Way With Words - Lets you persuade visitors to get a dog if both filled (costs rep to use)
4a Honest Intentions - Rep cost of 3b is less if both filled
4c Silver Tongue - Each point raises 3b effectiveness up to 4
5b Foster Media - Adoptions of Fostered dogs are 15% more likely per point up 2.
6a Foster Training - 1 extra simultaneous dog slot for all foster homes if both filled
6c Foster Retention - 1 extra dog accepted by each home before it stops being in network if both filled
7b Talent Scouting - 1 extra worker resume every day if both filled
8a Special Order - Unlocks the 4th and 5th leashes and aprons in the shop if all 3 filled
8c Town Clout - If don't like both of the 2 possible scheduled events you can now refresh once for new possibilities if both filled
9b Industry Connections - 1 extra grant option every week if all 3 filled
10a Good Publicity - Grants also give +1 rep if both filled
10c Fee Waivers - Grant money increased by 20% if all 4 filled
11b But Wait! There's More! - If all 5 filled 2 adoption actions allowed instead of just 1, but second half effective

Handiwork
1b Fresh Paint - Unlocks wall and floor customizing if both filled
2a Basic Play Space - Unlocks a play area if all 3 filled
2b Room Blueprints - Unlocks new room sizes if both 2 filled
2c Modular Kennels - Unlocks 2x1 and 2x2 kennels if all 3 filled
3a Advanced Play Space - Nicer and larger play areas unlocked if all 5 filled
3b Ergonomic Rugs - You move 30% faster in hallways if all 3 filled
3c Advanced Modular Kennels - Unlocks L and T kennels if all 4 filled
4c Dog Run Kennels - Unlocks kennels half in and half out of building to let dogs have a play area in kennel if all 3 filled
5b Reduce, Reuse, Recycle! - Demolishing returns 20% of the original construction cost per point up to 4
6a To-Do List - Workers move 5% faster per point up to 3
6c Metal Kennels - Allows building of better new kennels or upgrading old wood kennels if all 3 filled
7a Coffee Break - Helpers have 20% extra energy to do tasks before visit breakrooms if all 3 filled
7b Motivational Poster - Helpers can accept one extra type of task each if all 3 filled
7c Deluxe Kennels - Allows building of best new kennels or upgrading old metal kennels if all 4 filled
8a Comfy Couches - Each breakroom built can hold 3 workers instead of 2 if all 3 filled
Credits to Haunt for writing out the entire Skill Tree Explanation

[Skylite]

How do I

How do I use the playpen?
Take the dogs into the play area, release the dog with right click instead of left click.

Once the dog is running around inside the space pick up the tennis ball and have it as the focused item in your hands, then left click on the dog. One of three random play mini-games will initiate.

- In Tug-of-War the objective is not to pull the dog to your end or be pulled to the dogs end, but instead to keep the rope in between you two vibrating and taught for the entire session.
- In Scritch you need to find where the dog itches and scratch there and nowhere else until it suddenly itches somewhere else.
- In Fetch you toss the ball, the dog picks up and returns to you, you take out of its mouth while it resists and grrs at you. Repeat until time runs out.

If you stand relatively close to an obstacle, the ball will bounce back at you so the dog catches and retrieves faster so you can get more successful times completed in the same time.

How do I: Swap character
You don’t have to start a new game to swap you ingame appearance of your current game.
To change it, open the settings, open the gameplay tab. Here you’ll see the button “Swap Appearance”. You can also change your companions appearance.

[Skylite]

WORKAROUND

Workaround: Bugged Save file

Turn off Steam cloud backup for the game first! Otherwise files will just reset.

First close out the game engine completely.
Go to your save folder (replace Slot1 with Slot2 or Slot3 depending on which slot you want to fix.)

Win Explorer: C://Users/User/AppData/LocalLow/Little Rock Games LLC/To The Rescue/SaveData/Slot1
Mac Finder: ~/Library/?/ Little Rock Games LLC/To The Rescue/SaveData/Slot1
(Replace ? with either "Preferences" or "Application Support" as it varies on mac build.)

Once in that folder make a backup folder just in case. Do this by copying the entire Slot1 and pasting a new copy as Slot1_backup. (Example)
You can now experiment with time travel. The current day save will always be listed as Slot1 (or Slot2 / Slot 3 to match outer folder) copy that file name, then delete that file.
Now rename the most recent Day file. For example if your game had been on day 81 then you should see a bunch of Day1 through Day80 files and then a Slot1. After deleting Slot1 your Day80 is now ready to be renamed to the new Slot1.

Now re-open the game. It "should" let you play without the kennels being turned into a breakroom.
If the bug persists close again and go back an extra day using the same process. Repeat until you find a day's save that is actually clean and uncorrupted.

If lucky only a day or two may need to be removed. However extremes such as 15-20 days lost have been known on a really large file.

Workaround: Escpape/Sync Guide

Script times out fix (Typically found when can't even move):

Press escape. Wait for 1 second. Press escape again. Wait 1 second again. Use click action anywhere in the game window.

Loss of cursor device (ex: mouse) synch fix (Typically found when you can move but can't interact with people or items using the click action):

Check First: Check to make sure that you do not have either leash mode toggle locked on or the dog folder open. Assuming neither of these are the problem proceed with the synch fix.

Fix: Press escape. Take your cursor device and proceed to move it around the screen for 5-10 seconds. Re-orient the cursor so that it is visible over the Continue button and use click action. If the escape menu closes then you have resynched it, if not then continue the movement and try again a second time.

PS: If it will not synch at all then the last recourse is to go to the Controls and add a keyboard bind for every action that requires a cursor device interaction.

[CaliChaos]

Originally posted by Skylite:

How do I: Swap character
You don’t have to start a new game to swap you ingame appearance of your current game.
To change it, open the settings, open the gameplay tab. Here you’ll see the button “Swap Appearance”. You can also change your companions appearance.

I just recently picked up the game and just unlocked the little frog character - there is no place in any of the settings that allows you to actually play this character or switch appearance anymore.
I thought I just wasn't looking in the right spot, but the option is totally gone now.