Greetings writers! Update 2.0.0 - the biggest since launch! Featuring new publication types, order board system, dozens of perks, revamped Career mode and more.

Key Changes

• New publication type - Articles
• New publication type - Fanfiction
• New publication type - Advertising slogans
• New publication type - Text editing
• New publication type - Text translation
• New publication type - Fairy tales
• New publication type - Screenplays (film)
• New publication type - Video game scripts
• New publication type - Commercial scripts
• Added support for MacOS and Ubuntu
• New Order Board mechanic
• New Fatigue and Burnout mechanics
• New Publisher selection and Publisher trust systems
• Added 50+ perks and knowledge points system
• New perk: Slider memory
• Changed all round objectives in Career mode
• Added Level 7 to Career mode
• Added tutorial
• Added additional round objectives for each Career round
• Expanded post-round statistics in Career mode
• Balance and AI changes
• Animation performance improvements and more

Detailed Breakdown:

• New Publication Types
  • Articles
  • Fanfiction
  • Advertising slogans
  • Text editing
  • Text translations
  • Fairy tales
  • Screenplays (film)
  • Video game scripts
  • Commercial scripts
  
  Each publication type has unique writing mechanics! This significantly diversifies gameplay as players face new challenges with each format. For translations, you must identify the language and translate phrases.
  For slogans - identify products and target audiences.
  For fairy tales - compose stories based on client requirements.
  Articles feature three unique minigames! Like reconstructing sentence order:
  The update adds substantial new content. Note these works are now rated on a 3-star scale (different from books).
  
• Order Board
  You can now take on publication writing assignments. It's possible to accept multiple assignments at once this boosts your rewards but also demands better planning, since missing a deadline will result in a small penalty. The exciting part is that other players can take on assignments too. Plus, publishers have been introduced into the game. If you complete several jobs for the same publisher, youll unlock the ability to sell them any of your own works in the future.
• Publishers
  Few publishers will risk new writers initially. Build relationships by completing their orders to unlock new opportunities.
• Fatigue System
  Now, every time you work on a project, you accumulate fatigue. Once fatigue reaches 100%, your writing speed slows down, and there's a risk of burnout. Burnout means your character abandons the current project and refuses to start a new one for a while. Fatigue might be a minor issue early in the game, but in the late game, you can usually ignore it. This system adds strategic depth to how you plan and select orders, and introduces a layer of tension that keeps things interesting.
• Knowledge & Perks
  Knowledge unlocks perks. Earn Knowledge Points by: - Completing orders - Writing new combinations - Winning minigames against others
• Revamped Career Mode
  Thanks to new publication types, each round now feels truly unique. The victory conditions have been updated: Round 1: Qualification (only Articles and Fanfics available) Round 2: Max Prestige (Articles, Fanfics, plus Translations and Ads) Round 3: Screenwriter Showdown (only Screenwriting is allowed) and so on. Books are now unlocked starting from Round 4. Each round features unique additional goals for varied gameplay. Post-round personal statistics provide deeper insights.
  Now let's review our original roadmap:

  Planned Updates:

  
  
  • [spoiler] [strike]Secondary character name changes[/strike][/spoiler]
  • [strike]Additional round goals[/strike] (implemented in 2.0)
  • [spoiler][strike]Save anytime feature[/strike][/spoiler]
  • [strike]Slider setting memory[/strike] (now a perk)
  • [spoiler][strike]Endless mode[/strike][/spoiler]
  • [strike]Proper tutorial[/strike] (implemented)
  • [strike]Publisher mechanics[/strike] (implemented)
  • [strike]Contracts system[/strike] (replaced by Order Board)
  • [strike]Cover editing[/strike] (color customization available via perk)
  • [strike]Perk system[/strike] (implemented in 2.0)
  • [strike]200+ new stories[/strike] (~200 across new types)
  • [strike]Real-world events[/strike] (removed to reduce popups)
  • Sequels (not sure yet how to implement this properly) (2.0. Unfortunately the only item not fully realized)
  • [strike]Detailed statistics[/strike] (more detailed stats done in 2.0)

  Unplanned Additions:

  
  
  • [spoiler][strike]Battle Royale mode[/strike][/spoiler]
  • [spoiler][strike]Fatigue mechanics[/strike][/spoiler]
  Overall this update delivers substantial improvements - gameplay is more varied, progression feels organic, and systems interconnect meaningfully. Thank you all for your support!
  
  [ 2025-06-03 12:15:20 CET ] [ Original post ]

Greetings, writers! I am proud to announce the release of version 1.3.0. July was a hot month, and the game underwent numerous changes. During development, I accidentally placed all 24 characters on one level. This was a bug, but it gave birth to the idea of "Battle Royale," which Ive been working on this month. This mode turned out to be much better than the main game (in my opinion). The dynamics and sense of competition in "Battle Royale" feel just right, something I havent managed to fully capture in the main game yet. I also want to thank Valve for providing a free Steam Deck (Developer Kit). I plan to improve the game for this device. _____ Almost all changes were made based on feedback and forum posts. Thank you all for participating! steamthumbsup

Main Changes:

• "Battle Royale" Mode (what, is it 2017 again?).
  
• "Endless Game" Mode (as promised).
  
• The ability to save at any time.
• 4 new original tracks. Thanks to composer Andrey Romanov for the soundtrack!

Battle Royale

The rules are simple. Writers write a book on a given topic. When all writers finish writing their books, the worst writer is eliminated from the tournament. Then the topic changes, and the cycle starts again. The winner is the one who remains the last writer. The round ends when all writers finish their books.
Of course, its not that simple. This mode implements the Action Points (AP) mechanic. Research and editing cannot be exploited without limits. The cost of research or editing is 1 action point. The game includes a description of how to earn AP. When a player has no AP, they cannot edit their book. This mechanic forces players to plan their steps ahead. For example, if you spend all your AP right away, after a few rounds, you may run out of points, the book rating without editing will be lower, and the risk of being eliminated increases.
Various events have also been added. Sometimes the conditions of the rounds change, forcing you to change your approach to writing the book.
A statistics window has also been added for this mode:
In this mode, you need to write a book on a pre-selected topic. You cannot choose the topic yourself. This was done to create equal conditions for players and diversify the gameplay. It also forces the player to choose a genre for the topic rather than a topic for the genre, as it was in the main game. Relationships with the player play a greater role in "Battle Royale." For example, if an eliminated player has a good relationship with you, it increases the chance they will give you AP. Everything happens on one chart. Sometimes the chart turns into a complete mess, as it displays the progress of 24 players at once. In any case, the mode turned out to be interesting, and I hope you enjoy it.

Endless Mode

You can start the endless mode by selecting a new game or loading any of your saves and selecting "Upload Progress." (You can even load from saves where the game is not completed)
An option to continue the game in endless mode has also been added to the end game screen.
Endless mode has a customizable duration and an option to "add opponents." So you can play alone or with opponents. It might be worth adding some goals for endless mode, but I havent come up with anything yet. If you think there should be specific goals for endless mode, please write about it.

Saves

Since the game was made without a specific engine, such a basic function as manual saves didnt work "out of the box." I had to work a bit, but now you can save the game at any time (when no active windows are open). A brief list of work with saves:

• Added an autosave function every 6 minutes (autosave does not overwrite the main save file, a separate file is created for autosaves)
• Removed the function of overwriting the save when a round ends in the main game (this was done to give the player more control over saves and to allow them to load an earlier save if a round ends unsuccessfully)
• Added a modal window "Do you really want to exit..." when ending the game.
• Redesigned save logic. Now the game wont break if any extra file gets into the save folder.
• Previously, the save id was linked to the save file name. This was silly, so now the save name can be anything.
• Added indication of the game mode for saves.
• Steam Cloud.

Other Changes

• Character interactions are duplicated in the character information window.
  
• Added information on why an action might be unavailable.
  
• On the editing screen, if the "Edit" button is unavailable, a description of the reasons for unavailability has been added.
• Almost all buttons and icons on the main screen show what action they perform when hovered over.
• Auto-opening of the "Level" select when hovering was removed. Now you need to click on the select to open it.
• Added additional player colors for "Tournament" and "Battle Royale" modes.
• Added an event when other writers freeze your book (previously there was no event, and many didnt understand what was happening and why the book writing process stopped).
• Added an event when other writers team up to take away your prestige points (for "Tournament" mode).
• Fixed tooltips. Now it never goes off-screen.
• Fixed a situation where AI offered too small an amount during a duel.
• Changed the balance of "Level 1". Now the AI is not so tough.
• Added sound effects when the form validation fails (e.g., book title or main character name form).
• Added more allowable characters for the book. You can now use exclamation marks, parentheses, and other symbols.
• Added the ability to click on player images in the "Start Level" or "End Level" modal window. Now you can go to player profiles even before the game starts.
• Changed the logic of displaying typewriters in the store. Now when you open the "typewriters" tab, the most current generation of typewriters is displayed (not the generation of your used typewriter).
• Now, when performing basic actions (choosing an ending, editing, etc.), you get more prestige. The limit has changed from 100 to 200.
• Added luck dependence for the "Rock, Paper, Scissors" game.
• Added a border for the numbers inside the chart (for contrast).
• Replaced the achievement "Course Eater" (complete all courses) with "Last Hero" (win the Battle Royale). Im not a fan of adding new achievements with game updates (like Paradox Int. does, for example). I respect players who have already earned their platinum and forgotten about the game. So instead of adding a new achievement for Battle Royale, I decided to replace the least popular existing achievement.
  
  

Bugs

• Fixed character list display for Steam Deck.
• Fixed issue where the game would unpause after selecting an interaction with a character.
• Compressed music files. Some tracks were previously over 30 MB! This is unacceptable.

That's about it. I understand that the game has its flaws - it doesn't remember successful slider combinations, and it lacks depth in the late game. In future updates, I will focus on writing mechanics. Please continue to report bugs and errors. I think that by doing this
and this
, at least one error I missed will definitely slip through. I hope I'm wrong.

Planned Updates:

• [spoiler] [strike]Changing the names of secondary book characters.[/strike][/spoiler]
• Additional goals for each round.
• [spoiler] [strike]Saving at any time (this is not easy, believe me).[/strike][/spoiler]
• Remembering slider settings from previous books.
• [spoiler] [strike]Endless mode[/strike][/spoiler].
• A "normal" tutorial.
• Adding publisher mechanics and publisher tasks.
• Contracts.
• Editing book covers.
• Perk system.
• 200 more stories.
• More events, including real-world events. (Is this needed?)
• Sequels (still figuring out how to do this right).
• Hall of Fame, more detailed statistics.

Unplanned Updates:

• [spoiler][strike]Battle Royale.[/strike][/spoiler]

____________ Leave your feedback and suggestions for improving the game, thank you all!

[ 2024-08-02 00:23:29 CET ] [ Original post ]

1.2.3

• Fixed a bug where 5 players appear instead of four after moving to level 2
• Fixed a bug when the user gets to level -1, which does not exist at all

1.2.4

• Fixed an error "Javascript error on launch" when steam app is not visible in main process.

Fixed according discussion - https://steamcommunity.com/app/2745800/discussions/0/4410795103738052823

[ 2024-07-09 16:59:38 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hi everyone. Just fixed the bug "TypeError: r is not a function". It arose when, according to the chosen theme and genre, there are no prepared plots. It wasn't there before, the bug appeared after the release of version 1.2.0 "Characters" I'm sorry for that, I'll cover this functionality with tests. Thanks, @The Zealous Sea Cucumber for the help.

[ 2024-07-05 21:12:27 CET ] [ Original post ]

- fixed a bug when the name of the message author changes when opening a message - fixed a bug when pressing the space bar on the "Publish Book" screen does not publish a book - fixed issues with "Publish Book" screen for devices with 700px height resolution

[ 2024-07-05 00:48:13 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello, writers! I am excited to announce the release of version 1.2.0. This update doesn't bring any groundbreaking changes, but they were all necessary for creating more significant features in the future, such as sequels, character role selection, adding your own characters, and more. _____ Almost all changes were made based on feedback and forum messages. Thanks to everyone for participating! steamthumbsup Updates without events: 1.1.1: Fixed a bug that prevented spaces in book titles (in the plot selection windows) 1.1.2: Added an informational window before the game crashes (now at least the game shows something in case of an error!)

Major Changes:

• Added a character list for the book.
  
• Ability to edit the name of a secondary character. (Finally, you can change Mr. Smith to John Doe or just Bob.)
  
• Ability to edit the gender of a secondary character. (Relevant only for characters with potential romantic interests.)
• Highlighting character names in the text with different colors. (For better readability.)
  
• Ability to choose the main character's age. (For role-playing and fun.)
  
• Added 30 new comments from critics and readers (Comments about the character's age)
  
  
• Added descriptions for characters.
  
• Spelling and grammar corrections. (Fixed over 200 silly errors in the text.)

Reasons for These Changes:

[olist]

Players might forget who is who in the climax or ending selection screen. The character window serves as a reminder.

Characters feel more substantial.

The desire to create romantic pairs of any gender.

The same story can feel different depending on how players envision their secondary characters.

You can name an elven prince Joe and a beautiful girl Chris. It's just fun. [/olist]

Minor Changes:

• Reduced the book publication window (there were issues on wide-screen devices).
• Removed unnecessary information from the editor selection window.
• Increased the time between events by 40% (events occurred too frequently)
• Added new characters, endings, and climaxes.

Bug Fixes:

• Fixed a bug when random age button ignored the minimum limit of 16 years. Thanks to the player with the nickname You're nuts for reporting the bug.
  
• Fixed a bug where the game would crash with this message:
  Thanks to the player with the nickname @PurpleDahlia for providing the save file.
• Fixed a bug where the game would crash with the message: dex_bundle.js:27253 TypeError: Cannot read properties of undefined (reading 'data') Thanks to the player with the nickname newu2012 for providing the logs.
  
• Fixed a bug where the course would disappear if not completed by the end of the round Thanks to the player with the nickname RedShirtKing for providing the information.

Planned Updates:

• [spoiler] [strike]Changing the names of secondary book characters.[/strike][/spoiler]
• Additional goals for each round.
• Saving at any time (this is not easy, believe me).
• Remembering slider settings from previous books.
• Endless mode.
• A "normal" tutorial.
• Adding publisher mechanics and publisher tasks.
• Contracts.
• Editing book covers.
• Perk system.
• 200 more stories.
• More events, including real-world events. (Is this needed?)
• Sequels (still figuring out how to do this right).
• Hall of Fame, more detailed statistics.

____________ Leave your feedback and suggestions for improving the game, thank you all!

[ 2024-07-03 05:23:01 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello everyone. I have finally beat Baldur Gate's 3, which means that we can continue to develop updates for Writer's Rush. Adding female protagonists, changing the difficulty, balance and UX - all this awaits you in update 1.1.0.
____________ Almost all changes were made based on reviews and forum posts. Thank you all for participating! steamthumbsup

Major changes:

• Adding female protagonists. (I had to edit all 300 stories, but it was worth it).
  
  
• Increased game timeline from 24 to 36 years old. (Each segment has become 2 years longer).
  
• Increased difficulty. Now only one character is guaranteed to get to the next level (previously 2 leading players). Also, the opponents have become more cunning and smarter.
• Adding a speed/quality slider.
  
• Adding the ability to import a character from another save.
  
• The number of blocked topics has been increased from 20 to 52.
  
• Changed the goal of the second round "Write the worst book" to "Earn maximum prestige" (many complained that the goal of the second round was stupid).
• Adding about 30 new avatars.
  
• Adding a "random" button when selecting a topic/genre/audience.

Small changes:

• Added information about the version of the game in the saves, a message about possible conflicts of versions.
• Adding a "read" button in the news about the success of another author's book.
• A more visual representation of leadership at levels 3, 4 and 5.
• Added the ability to edit the title of the book while choosing the beginning/climax or ending.
  
• The division the volume slider settings into "music volume" and "sound volume".
• Editing the text of the tutorial.
• The "comedy" genre has been removed. (It was always blocked anyway and misled the player).
• Information about "if you don't finish the book before the end of the round, it will be lost" has been added. (The players were very angry when their book disappeared without explanation).
• UX improvement when choosing an avatar or when selecting an editor.
• The price change for editors.
  

Future updates:

• Changing the names of minor characters in the book.
• Additional goals for each round.
• Saving at any time (it's not that easy, believe me).
• Memorizing slider settings from previous books.
• Endless mode.
• "Normal" training.
• Adding publisher mechanics and tasks from the publisher.
• Contracts.
• Editing book covers.
• The perk system.
• 200 more stories.
• More events, including those from the real world. (Is it necessary?).
• Sequels (I don't know how to do it right yet).
• Hall of Fame, more detailed statistics.

____________ Leave your feedback and tips for improving the game, thank you all! PS. Mixed reviews? Come on, I tried my best. Come on, write a positive one. Pleeeese. steamhappy

[ 2024-06-16 21:58:31 CET ] [ Original post ]

- fixed bug at lvl1 (planning/plot selection loop) - fixed bug when steam language is ignored - fixed balance issues

[ 2024-01-25 09:12:37 CET ] [ Original post ]