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 ]