This update includes a quality-of-life improvement and a bug fix based on recent player feedback.

• The mission selection screen now automatically highlights the next available sub-mission. Previously, it always defaulted to the main chapter overview, which could make it seem as if progress wasn't being saved.
• The 'End Turn' button is now correctly highlighted when it becomes the only valid action for a player (for example, after placing a tile when no stocks are available to purchase).

Thank you for your feedback! Please continue to report any bugs or share your thoughts so they can be addressed. Email: oilsheikgame@gmail.com Discord: https://discord.gg/zQC4H3RbZ7

[ 2025-07-27 16:15:49 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello everyone! I'm thrilled to announce that a major update has just gone live, adding a core pillar of brand-new content to the game: Puzzles and Missions!

Puzzles

Inspired by chess puzzles, these offer a fresh challenge compared to standard AI matches. Puzzles feature:

• Pre-set starting conditions on the board.
• Specific objectives to achieve within a limited number of turns.
• A focus on finding optimal strategies and solutions efficiency is key!

Missions

Missions are similar in structure to Puzzles but emphasize thematic scenarios and often involve competing against AI opponents of varying difficulty levels to meet specific goals.

Star Rating System

Both Missions and Puzzles use a 0-to-3 star reward system:

• 0 Stars: Objective failed.
• 1 Star: Objective met (generally achievable).
• 2-3 Stars: Awarded for exceeding the basic objective, often requiring more optimized play and presenting a significant challenge depending on the specific mission or puzzle.

These additions aim to bring more variety, replayability, and engaging challenges to the game!

What's Next?

Over the next two months, I'll be dedicated to further improving these new modes, adding a significant amount of new Puzzle and Mission content, and diligently fixing any bugs that arise. The road to the full Q3 release is busy, but exciting!

Feedback & Community (Readme)

Your feedback is invaluable! If you encounter bugs, have suggestions, or want to discuss the game, please join the official Discord server: https://discord.gg/zQC4H3RbZ7 Your input helps shape the game and make it the best it can be for the full release.

Important Note on Pricing & Early Access

Now is a great time to add the game to your library if you haven't already! The game is currently free during this development phase. With the planned full release in Q3, the game will transition to a paid title with a small price tag. However, anyone who has the game in their Steam library before the full release launch will keep it forever, completely free. Grab it now while you can!

Technical Side Notes

Video Resolution

• The game currently defaults to 1920x1080 Windowed mode, as this provides the most consistent experience with the current UI layout.
• You can press F11 to toggle between Windowed and Fullscreen Windowed modes.
• The game is primarily designed and tested for 16:9 and 16:10 aspect ratios (like 1920x1080, 2560x1440 and so on). Most resolutions matching these ratios should work well.
• Ultrawide monitor support (e.g., 21:9) is not yet implemented. In Fullscreen Windowed mode on these monitors, the game view will likely be cropped at the top and bottom, as letterboxing (black bars) is not currently active.
• As a potential workaround for fullscreen on ultrawide displays, you could try setting your monitor's resolution in Windows to a standard 16:9 or 16:10 resolution (like 2560x1440 or 1920x1080) before launching the game. This isn't ideal but might provide a temporary solution until dedicated support is added.

Input Methods

• The game is primarily designed and intended to be played with a mouse.
• Several keyboard shortcuts have been added for actions like quickly selecting companies for trading.
• While basic keyboard-only and gamepad support exists, allowing the game to be technically played without a mouse, these input methods are considered experimental. They haven't undergone extensive testing beyond my own, so behavior might not always be perfect. Feedback on these alternative input methods is welcome via Discord!

Thanks for playing and testing! I look forward to hearing your thoughts on the new content.

[ 2025-04-25 14:08:44 CET ] [ Original post ]

• Cursor Hotspot: Adjusted the cursor hotspot for improved accuracy and feel.
• Tutorial Save: The game will now correctly and immediately save your progress upon completing the tutorial.
• Merger Window Crash: Fixed a bug that caused the merger window to close unexpectedly, preventing further gameplay.
• Tutorial Tile Bug: Resolved an issue in the tutorial where a tile was being distributed twice, halting progress.
• Stock UI value: Corrected a display error, the "increment per tile" value in the stock UI now displays the correct value.

[ 2025-03-07 02:00:28 CET ] [ Original post ]

I'm thrilled to announce the release of the February Update for Oil Sheik! This update focuses on laying a solid foundation for the future, with improvements to core gameplay, player experience, and a peek at what's coming next.

Key Additions & Improvements:

• New Player Tutorial: I've implemented a basic tutorial to guide new players through the core mechanics of Oil Sheik. This will ensure a smoother learning curve and allow players to quickly grasp the playstyle.
• Revamped AI Opponents: The AI has received a significant overhaul. AI opponents now utilize multiple, dynamic investment strategies, adapting their tactics based on the evolving game state.
  • The "Very Easy" AI difficulty has been tuned to provide a more accessible experience for players practicing mergers or aiming for high scores.
  • "Medium" and "Advanced" AI difficulties now offer a significantly more challenging and strategic experience. I plan further AI improvements for future updates.
• Player Customization: Express yourself with new customization options! Players can now personalize their experience with selectable card backs and profile pictures. A selection of initial options is available, and I have implemented a test of the in-game shop, with low placeholder prices in exchange for in-game currency, awarded with every game played.
• Expanded Input Support: Oil Sheik now features full support for keyboard and controller inputs, in addition to the existing mouse/touchpad controls. I've personally spent over 50 hours testing to ensure a smooth and responsive experience across all supported input methods. I encourage players to report any encountered issues. This is a key step towards my goal of full Steam Input integration and Steam Deck support in the near future.

Tariff Wars (Game Mode) Adjustments:

• Ronald Dump Tweet Frequency: The frequency of random tweet events from Ronald Dump has been reduced to approximately 8% per turn, resulting in a less disruptive flow of gameplay. The probabilities for positive (10% per turn) and negative (20% per turn) dividend effects remain unchanged.

Other Notable Changes:

• Visual Updates: Company icons and various UI elements have been refreshed for improved visual clarity and appeal.
• Steam Cloud Synchronization: Game progress and player statistics are now seamlessly synced with Steam Cloud, ensuring data persistence across devices.
• Steam P2P Networking Preparation: Significant progress has been made on the underlying code to support Steam P2P networking. While originally slated for this update, additional testing is required to ensure a stable and reliable experience. P2P networking remains my top development priority and will be available in the next update. (End of March 2025)
• Improved Card Distribution: The algorithm for card distribution has been refined to ensure a more randomized and balanced tile pool for players.
• Extensive Bug Fixes and Improvements: Over 100 individual tasks, including hotfixes, bug fixes, and animation improvements, have been addressed to enhance overall game stability and performance.

Looking Ahead:

My top priority continues to be the implementation of P2P networking. Beyond that, I am committed to expanding Oil Sheik with exciting new features and gameplay mechanics. I'm excited to begin introducing these additions now that the core game systems are robust and (hopefully) reliable. I appreciate your continued support and feedback as I continue to develop Oil Sheik! Cheers steamhappysteamhappysteamhappysteamhappysteamhappy

[ 2025-03-03 18:35:36 CET ] [ Original post ]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDxGwTp2-Cg

OIL SHEIK - TRADE WARS Event, Patch Notes

Achievements (new):

• Agent Orange - "Defeat Ronald Dump"
• A giant D.O.U.G.E - [Hidden] (Be investigated by the D.O.U.G.E by creating a special merger composition..)

Ronald Dump is messing with the economy in Oil Sheik. Companies are affected by Trade Wars! PLACEMENT CHANGES:

• US Fracking Inc is always the first company to appear on the board.

MERGER CHANGES:

• Takeovers can no longer be declined! Even if the deal is atrociously bad.
• If US Fracking Inc takes over either Maple Leaf Oil or Mehican Inc. hazards are introduced: There's a 50% chance a converted tile increases the stock price of the acquiring company at double its effect. At the same time there's a high chance that the takeover offer to the shareholders of Maple Leaf and Mehican is up to 25% worse. (different for each player, random number between 0% and 25% worse)
• China Oil joins the competition by offering up to 50% bonus on mergers with Russian Oil & Gas.
• Ronald Dump, as a player, is excluded from all those hazards. Good or bad.
• Investing in general becomes more risky and volatile: At the end of a round there's a random chance to either: 1) Double ALL dividend income, 2) Having to hand over ALL your dividends to Ronald Dump as a 25% Tariff on your stock portfolio 3) Get Lucky and go under the radar, unpunished

As trade wars emerge over the next weeks, even more companies are potentially drawn in if people play & enjoy the event.

[ 2025-02-06 17:03:33 CET ] [ Original post ]

January

The January update brings us more visual improvements like added particle systems and animations. On top of that it also includes gameplay improvements that target the early game. The first few turns, when there isn't a lot of stuff on the board, should now play quicker, with automated reinvestment of dividend payments.

• Global Leaderboards have been added to the game.
• More audio and visual hints have been added to make behind the scenes calculations less opaque.

A lot of not directly visible changes have been made. The game system has been further improved towards a client/server structure and messaging system, opening up the road for multiplayer content. Internal testing of Steam's P2P networking will begin in February.

February

My biggest focus of the February update is going to be an in-game tutorial. It will replace the mediocre YouTube tutorial which is currently the only help new players get. [previewyoutube=ja21s8uzSXM;leftthumb][/previewyoutube] The following features are planned to also make it in the February Update:

• Add more different card backs and make them available in game as either rank rewards, level rewards
• Support for Input other than the mouse (Controller, Keyboard)
• Switch between full-screen and windowed mode
• Launch a shop that allows players to buy profile pictures for in-game currency.
• Smarter AI opponents
• Anything players come up with, and let me know of, what they'd think should be in the game.

As you can see there's a lot of stuff planned. I'm a solo indie developer, so keep that in mind. I'll try my best to add as many features I can.

[ 2025-01-28 17:59:21 CET ] [ Original post ]

A lot of stuff has happened in the development of Oil Sheik in 2024. After releasing an early prototype in February the game has seen some more polishing. The game is not where I want it to be just yet, but we're one step closer. I will make a different announcement about what's going to be in the next patch. Multiplayer is definitely gonna be in it though.

So, what's new?

Changes - A large amount of UI elements have been visually improved. - New animations have been added to support the visual feel of game actions. - More visual guidelines to highlight when there's still cash to invest before ending the turn. - Your own investment data is now more highlighted compared to elements of other players. - Stocks can now be traded more easily with the help of a slider per company. - Players can now sell the entire portfolio with one button so make trading simpler overall. - Placing a token on the board is now possible by either clicking on the board or the card in the player's hand. (interacting with the board was not possible in the previous version of the game) - AI opponents take significantly less time between turns Bugfixes - Music and effects volume are now properly stored between game sessions. - Fixed a bug that prevented the game to return back to the main menu screen after completing or abandoning a game. - The transaction log can now be closed by clicking anywhere on the screen. - Fixed several audio bugs, that sometimes prevented certain effects to be played. - Some strings have been fixed And much more smaller bugfixes. Some new ideas have emerged that will be addressed in a future development patch. But we're one step closer to a release candidate, which will most likely happen in the 1st quarter of 2025. Bugs will constantly be fixed when discovered or reported. Development is still ongoing and feedback is needed. If you enjoy playing the game please tell your friends about it and share it on social media.

[ 2024-12-25 14:42:55 CET ] [ Original post ]