What's next for the Idol Manager beta
over 5 years ago – Fri, Mar 22, 2019 at 11:43:38 PM

We're getting ready to roll out the March update next week, but in the meantime, we wanted to give our backers a quick preview of what we're working on and what we have planned for the next few months.

The next beta update will release March 30. With that update, we'll also be expanding the beta program to include everyone who backed the Kickstarter to receive a copy of Idol Manager.  This means that if you were part of the $15 student tier (or part of the early-bird tier), you'll be able to play the beta once the update rolls out next week on March 30. (You'll receive an email with a beta key and instructions for how to download the beta once the update is live.)

March

The March update focuses on interactions with your idols, giving you more opportunities to spend time with individual idols to improve your relationships with them and learn more about them.  Spending time with an idol could mean anything from banter around the office to going out on a date.  Your interactions with each idol will gradually build up a profile of details and information about them.

The March update will also be the first update to include official Linux support!  The sharp-eyed among you might have noticed several weeks ago that we silently rolled out a version of the beta to Steam Linux users several weeks ago, and after doing internal testing we're now at the point where we're able to officially support it.

April

The April update will focus on how idols interact with each other.  Each idol's relationships with other idols will be tracked as part of the idol profile that is being added in the March update.

One of the features of the April update will be cliques.  Cliques will form based on idols' age and the date that they joined the organization: idols will be more likely to be friends if they're a similar age and joined as part of the same audition group.

Conflicts and other random events can trigger as a result of idol relationships.

Idol relationships will have direct impacts on gameplay.  For example, an idol who is getting bullied will suffer a mental stamina drain, while an idol who has a good relationship with a senpai who's good at dance will be able to train that skill faster.

May

In May, we'll be rolling out the first form of mod support in the form of an editor for events and substories.  Other modding features will be added later, as we're prioritizing work on the core game over features like mod support that were part of Kickstarter stretch goals, but we've already developed an editor that we've been using internally to create the events and substories you already see in the game, and we'd like to put this tool in your hands to see what you're able to do with it!

We also have lots of other smaller features that we're working on, so as usual, be sure to read the patch notes with each update for a more detailed at what's being added, including new gameplay features, quality-of-life improvements, balance changes, and more content in the form of new events and substories.  We'll have more details when the upcoming update releases on March 30. See you next week!

Idol Manager beta update #4: Female player character, stylist and dressing room
almost 6 years ago – Thu, Feb 28, 2019 at 03:26:44 PM

The February update for Idol Manager is now live! If you joined the beta program by backing the game through Backerkit or buying the game on itch.io, to manually update you can head over to the game's itch.io page to download the latest version.

If you run into any bugs, or have suggestions or feature requests for things you'd like to see us add to the game, the best way to let us know is via the beta community forum. Thank you to the many players who have already stopped by during the beta to report bugs or suggest new features!

Here's what's new in Idol Manager Beta #4:

Features

Updated save system

You can now manually save the game via the pause menu, and load individual save files. (The game still auto-saves every 10 seconds, labeled as [auto] when you go to load a save.) Manually creating a save file allows you to start a new game without losing progress on your old playthrough.

New staffer added: Stylist

Stylists work in dressing rooms. Similar to how coaches can raise an idol's "dance" or "vocal" stat through training, stylists can improve idols' visual parameters  (cute, cool, sexy, pretty). Unlike dance and vocal practice, sending an idol to the stylist costs no stamina, but "styling" takes x4 longer than "dance" or "vocal" training.

You can manually assign stylists to raise a specific visual parameter, or select the "highest stat" or "lowest stat" option to have them automatically choose the highest stat or lowest stat for the idol they are working with.

Female player character added

You can choose a male or female manager when starting a new game.

Improvements

Doctor changes:

• You can send an idol to a doctor to restore some of her physical or mental stamina 
• Doctors can automatically pick up injured and depressed idols for treatment
• Doctors reduce hiatus time more efficiently 
• Doctors automatically send idols on hiatus after treatment
• Salary for doctors is now twice as expensive as other staffers 

Singles changes:

• You now gain new fans by releasing singles 
• High buzz and fame increase sales
• There's a penalty to sales if formation's fame level is lower than usual (e.g. sales will be lower when an established group releases a single with a bunch of new idols)

Buzz:

• You don't gain passively gain new fans through high buzz anymore. (You can still lose fans if your buzz is too low.)
• Added a tooltip that shows how much buzz is added daily from your contracts, how quickly your buzz is decaying, and how much buzz you need to not lose neutral fans (positive fans need less buzz, negative fans need more buzz)
• Buzz decreases slower

Concerts:

• When adding a song to the playlist: single's center is automatically selected as the center for the concert performance
• When original center idol is centering her song at a concert, her minimum "skill value" is 80

Misc. changes:

• You can cancel an idol's hiatus by "paying" 30pt mental stamina. You can't cancel a hiatus if the idol is injured.
• Mental stamina can't be less than 0pt now 
• When idols are at 0 physical stamina, they used to spend 1 mental stamina point for each 1 physical stamina point. Now they spend 0.5 mental stamina for each 1 point of physical stamina they would have spent.
• Lowered stamina cost of higher level business proposals 
• Increased loan limits 
• Internet shows are cheaper and bring in more new fans
• Changed some daily activity upgrade requirements (e.g. give a concert in every country to upgrade Promotion to lvl 8) 
• Removed tooltip delays 

Bug fixes

• Fixed: idols not loading mid training 
• Fixed: staffers' auto training settings not loading 
• Fixed: New single release - Upgrades screen overflows Fame screen when there are too many upgrades or if you click too quickly 
• Fixed: Values in business proposals are rounded properly (no more x0.6969696969) 

Thank you to everyone who has supported Idol Manager so far! We look forward to hearing your feedback on the latest update in the beta community forum. Our next update will be focusing on the relationships system. We'll be making an announcement in early March to provide a more detailed roadmap for the future of Idol Manager's development.

Idol Manager beta update #3: Doctors, hiatuses, injuries, and depression
almost 6 years ago – Fri, Feb 01, 2019 at 01:32:17 AM

The January update for Idol Manager is now live. If you joined the beta program by backing the game through Backerkit or buying the game on itch.io, to manually update you can head over to the game's itch.io page to download the latest version (labeled "version 5").

If you encounter any bugs or have suggestions for features you'd like to see in the game, head over to the beta community forum and let us know!

Here's what's new in Idol Manager Beta #3:

Features

Injuries and depression

• When idol's physical stamina is low, there's a chance they get injured. When an idol's mental stamina is low, there's a chance they get depression.
• If an idol gets injured, all of her contracts get broken and you have to pay damages equal to whatever their liability was for that contract.
• Injured idols can't practice or get business proposals, and they can't appear in singles, shows, or concerts.
• Depressed idols can't practice, but can do all other activities. However, depressed idols have a x0.5 stat modifier penalty.

Hiatuses

•  You can put an idol on hiatus to restore her stamina.
•  Putting an idol on hiatus will break her contracts.
• Hiatus heals injured and depressed idols. Base recovery is 90 days for injury and 180 days for depression.
•  To send an idol on hiatus, click on her card in the idols tab and select "hiatus" from the context menu 

Doctors and doctor's room

• Doctors can be physicians (specializing in treating injury) or psychiatrists (specializing in treating depression)
• When doctors treat an injured or depressed idol, they reduce the amount of hiatus time needed for the idol to recovery. There's also a chance (based on the doctor's stats) that the idol will recovery immediately.

Improvements

All animation sprites have been updated (faces added, smoother animations, more detailed).

 Changes to business proposals:

•  There's now a parameter that is important for the proposal (cute, cool, funny, etc)
• You can pick one of 3 suggested idols for the job. Higher stat = more money, fame points etc, but you may want to assign someone who's less busy.
• Business contracts popup: click on the producer and click "Contracts" in the context menu. There you can see all your active contracts, including their weekly income/buzz/fame, how much stamina they're consuming, and how many weeks are left in the contract. You can also cancel business contracts from this screen (canceling contracts requires paying damages)

 Changes to new single creation:

• You can load formation from released singles - click the gear icon to choose a "preset" from among the singles you've already released.
•  You can put idols into formation by clicking on their cards instead of drag-and-dropping
• Click on an idol in the formation to remove her
• You can now return to the new single screen starting screen (with the title, genre, etc) after going to the formation screen

Idols now have context menus (click on an idol in the idols tab) where you can change their nickname, set auto practice options, or send them on hiatus.

Auto practice changes:

• Idols now have individual auto practice options: don't practice, default, only dance, only vocal
• There's a new auto practice policy that determines how many physical stamina points an idol needs to have to be picked up for an auto practice: 50, 20, 5, no limit. Idols will stop practicing after reaching the limit     
   

New game options:

Click the gear icon when starting a new game to disable intro, substories, or random events

Other misc. changes:

• You won't get idols with identical models in one audition 
• You will lose fans' opinion points if you cancel a popular show
• When you cancel a TV show, it will only be canceled after finishing the current season (12 episodes)

Bug fixes

• Fixed an issue where game wouldn't start properly on Windows if system language was set to Thai, Russian, or Swedish
• Fixed an issue where setting the salary policy to "auto" could cause the game to crash
• Fixed an issue where the game would become stuck on the event popup after selecting an option in a dating scandal that would idol's contracts
• Fixed an issue where concert value becoming too high would cause it to become negative

Idol Manager December update now live (beta #2)
almost 6 years ago – Mon, Dec 31, 2018 at 01:04:48 AM

The December update is now live! If you were a Kickstarter alpha backer, you can update the game via Steam, as per usual.  If you joined the beta program by backing the game through Backerkit or buying the game on itch.io, you can head over to the game's itch.io page to download the latest version (labeled "Version 4").

If you encounter any bugs or have suggestions for features you'd like to see in the game, head over to the beta community forum and let us know!  (The alpha forum will also remain open for alpha participants who would like to continue sharing their feedback there.)

Here's what's new in the December update:

Features

Dating scandals offer countless new ways for your idols to get in trouble, including blackmail. Your options for dealing with each dating scandal will vary depending on the severity of the scandal and how compromising the evidence is.

New event type: elections

Elections provide an opportunity for fans to support their favorite group member. The ballots to vote in the election are packaged with the CD for a Single release, and some fans have been known to buy multiple CDs to get extra ballots, making them a way to bring in more revenue and generate more hype. You can start planning an election if you have both a Single and a Concert in production, which will both become attached to that election. (If multiple singles are in production, you will be given an option of which single to attach the election to.)

During the attached concert, the election event provides a starting hype level that acts as a minimum hype level for the duration of that concert (hype will never drop below the starting threshold during the concert).  After the concert set list finishes, election results are announced, one by one, starting from rank #10 all the way up to rank #1.  Hearing election results can be both exciting and stressful for idols, and as each rank is announced, you'll be able to see idol reactions (which may be associated with a gain or loss of mental stamina).

Each time a rank is announced, you have the option to "swap the envelope" to fudge the election results.  Just be wary of getting caught!

Elections can be broadcast by live blog (level 1), web stream (level 2), local TV (level 3), or national TV (level 4). Unlock higher level broadcast options for future elections by completing a concert with the preceding level.  Higher level broadcasts cost more money and generate more fame points.

Elections have a 6-month cooldown before you can start the next one.

Improvements and gameplay changes

• Notification log (click the button on the bottom right to see history of your notifications)
  
• New idol traits added
  
• Singles' marketing options now don't affect fan opinions of the single, only sales
  
• Auditions: changed the way skill points are distributed. It is now possible to have idols that are, for example, really good at dancing but bad at everything else
  
• Staffer specializations (Coaches, Production staffers, Sales Managers) are indicated by tooltips:
  
• Production staffers do production tasks 25% faster
  
• Sales managers get business proposals 25% faster
  
• Coaches get a 20 point bonus to how much they can train idols over the normal amount for non-coach staffers (normal training limit is 10 times the staffer's current level). e.g. a level 4 Dance Choreographer can train idols up to 40 points, while a level Dance Coach can train up to 60 points.
  
• You will lose some fans every day when your buzz falls below 10% of current fame level
  
• You can now fire staffers by paying their severance package (equal to 12 months salary). You can still fire staffers using scandal points (firing staffers for scandals does not require you to pay their severance)
  
• You can now fire staffers for free if you hired them less than a month ago.
  
• Improved distribution of single sales (prevents one demographic from hoarding all of the CDs if you have fans in other demographics)
  
• New hotkey: Space or Enter during story/visual novel sections to skip
  
• New cheat: F2 to reset special event cooldowns
  

Bug fixes

• No more notification spam when training an idol with the "Tenacious" trait
  
• Fixed an issue where accumulating a very large number of research points sometimes caused time top stop
  
• Removed an exploit that allowed you to scam Fujimoto by inputting a large number for a bank loan and then switching to him
  
• Fixed a bug release popup showed "Weekly Budget" when triggered after a show release popup
  
• Fixed a bug that sometimes caused pushed idols to not load properly
  
• Fixed a bug that sometimes caused staffers to get negative research points if their level was too high
• Fixed a bug that sometimes caused idols to be duplicated in a single's formation when you rapidly clicked on them
  
• Fixed a an issue that sometimes caused a staffer to become "stuck" if they were working on a concert that got canceled

For a preview of what to expect in January and February, see the previous announcement post from earlier this month, which outlines some of the features we plan to add over the next few months.

The future of Idol Manager (previews for upcoming updates)
almost 6 years ago – Thu, Dec 20, 2018 at 12:55:15 AM

Where we are now

It's been five months since we first launched our alpha for Kickstarter backers, and last month we entered beta, opening the gates to the many of you who backed the game after our Kickstarter completed. The response we've gotten from our community during that time has been tremendously encouraging: we're glad to know that people are already enjoying the game, and your feedback and suggestions have already played an important role in helping us add many improvements to the game.

During the Kickstarter campaign, we listed "December 2018" as our expected ship date. While we're pleased with the pace we've been making progress on the game, we don't feel that the game is in a finished state yet -- there's lots more that we're planning to add in terms of new features and content. One of the huge benefits of your Kickstarter support has been the fact that we're now able to include more content than originally planned -- in addition to the stretch goals we met during the campaign to add new features to the game, there's also the simple fact that having a larger budget allows us to create more events and scenarios, add more music tracks, and have more graphics and illustrations to accompany random events in the game. The volume of feedback we're getting from testers is also allowing us to fine-tune the gameplay systems to make the game a smoother and more well-balanced experienced. We're obviously thrilled about having the time and budget to create a better and more polished game, but creating more content also takes more time, and it's just not possible for us to make the game bigger and better while also meeting our original release date.

We want to take the extra time and effort to make the game as good as it can be, rather than rushing it out to make a 2018 release date. The feedback from we've gotten from backers so far tells us that you feel the same way. While we're a bit disappointed we won't be releasing the full game this year, we believe that the improvements and additions we're making to the game will be worth the wait, and we're excited to share some of the features that we have planned coming up.

What's next

We've been updating the game every month since the original release of the alpha back in July, and we plan to continue a monthly update schedule until the game is complete. Here's what we have planned for the coming months:

December:

• Dating scandals: The December adds countless new ways for your idols to get into trouble with dating scandals. The methods you have for dealing with these scandals -- apology, denial, paying hush money, or finding some other way to cover up the incident -- will depend on the circumstances of the scandal.
• A new special event type: elections

January:

• New systems: injuries, depression, and hiatuses. All of these systems are related to stamina: physical injuries can result from low physical stamina, depression can result from low mental stamina, and putting an idol on hiatus gives her a chance to recuperate and recover stamina
• New staffers: doctor and stylist (and new rooms to accompany them)
• Various improvements for pixel art assets, e.g. all sprites will have faces now. For examples of some of the updated visuals, see the header on the itch.io page here
• Playable female manager

February:

New rooms: cafe and theater.  The cafe can be used as a passive income source, and idols can work there (at the cost of stamina) to earn more money.

Additionally, we're currently working on the following features, which will come some time during the coming months (shipping with one of the updates for December, January, or February):

• Updated save system, including new options for manual saves
• Sales charts, showing where your singles rank
• Award ceremonies
• Graduations: a way to fire idols with a forced early graduation, or a way for idols who have aged out of the program to leave on their own. Depending on her relationship with the organization (and the player), graduating idols may be able to recruit successors with similar stats.

Further on the horizon

In addition to the major features for each of these updates, we'll also be continually adding new content to the game with more substories, more random events, and more custom illustrations and graphics.

For the longer term, we're continuing to work on the relationships system, as well as balancing the gameplay for the late-game and finding effective ways to bridge the gap between the early game and late game.

We'll also begin adding events and substories designed in partnership with our Producer and CEO tier backers.  If you fall into one of these groups, you should have already received an email about this.  (If you didn't receive this email, be sure to check your spam filter, or message us directly.)

We'll have more details to share in the coming months as we continue to work on the game. Thank you for supporting Idol Manager!