Week 14 — A Smoother Trip

This week’s playtest follow-up gives you more control over the pace of each trip and makes everyday ship management easier.

What changed

• Set your own pace. You can now pause the simulation, play at normal speed, or move things along at double speed using the new controls. The selected speed is highlighted, and closing the pause menu or resolving a passenger’s panic prompt restores your previous setting. That gives you a little more room to think when things get busy, or a quicker journey when everything is under control.
• Choose what the kitchen keeps cooking. Instead of assigning a recipe to each meal slot, you now select the dishes you want prepared automatically. The captain cycles through your choices as space becomes available. The kitchen menu also separates meals ready to serve from the automatic cooking selection, making it easier to see what passengers can eat right now.
• Conversations no longer stop work from across the ship. The captain now keeps moving and working while a passenger approaches to chat, stopping once they are close enough. Another fix keeps the captain from floating above the floor after a conversation interrupts cooking. Preparing dinner and being sociable should now fit together more smoothly.
• Priorities and facilities are easier to read. Repair settings now show their percentage thresholds beside the sliders, and automatic repairs begin when a facility falls below the selected value. The facilities menu also received layout and scrolling improvements, making its information easier to browse.
• Trip preparation is clearer. The planning screen now labels your remaining funds explicitly, and the first trip skips the upgrade step. Smaller layout adjustments also give the trip controls and challenges menu a little more breathing room.

The week went into corrections from last week’s first playtest. There were no additional playtests this time, so these changes still need another round of feedback from people playing the game.

Next week

• Continue working through the remaining playtest fixes.
• Try to arrange another playtest and see how the revised controls and menus feel.