Early Access V0.4 Devlog #7

☕ Brewing just got a lot more relaxing!

This update is all about keeping the coffee craft while cutting the repetitive clicking: grinding and whisking are now one smooth spin gesture, milk frothing is up and down mouse or joystick movement, hot chocolate gets its own melting mini game, and the day clock pauses while you focus on your latte art. The café and terrace also look cozier with soft drop shadows, three new Steam achievements are waiting for you (unlocked automatically if you already qualify) and a big batch of your reported bugs has been fixed, including customers getting stuck on their way out.

CURRENT GOAL: 300 reviews! ⭐ (we only need a few more..)

[p align="start"]Want to chat and suggest things directly? Join our Discord!

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⭐ NEW GAME ALERT! ⭐

Quickly before we continue on to the devlog, I'm proud to announce my new little project - "No Brakes Club": A retro multiplayer platformer for up to 10 players per round. It's now open to follow, wishlist and play the Demo for everyone and it would mean the world to me to continue getting support there just as I got all the love for Tailside! Check it out:

[dynamiclink href="https://store.steampowered.com/app/5032440/No_Brakes_Club/?curator_clanid=45187197"][/dynamiclink]

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If your reported issue or suggestion isn’t listed below, don’t worry, it’s already in our to do list, and we’re working through everything as quickly as possible.

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New:

• **Soft drop shadows. **Characters and objects now cast soft shadows, giving the cafe and terrace more depth and grounding everything in the scene.

• 3 new Steam achievements:

All plushies collected

Storyline completed

First trade

• Existing players get these automatically when they load their save, if they already qualify: all plushies collected, the story finished, or at least one trade item placed or in inventory.

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Coffee Making:

A big pass on brewing to keep the craft while cutting the repetitive clicking:

• Grinding and whisking are now one smooth gesture. Instead of clicking over and over, you hold and spin: spin the grinder and whisk the matcha or cream in continuous circles while a ring fills to the target.

• Milk frothing is now also driven by mouse and joystick movement instead of clicking up and down.

• Hot chocolate melting step. The cocoa now has a heat dial mini game so the melt reads as an actual process.

• The day clock pauses during latte art and the brewing mini games

• One less click per drink. The moka, milk heater, and cocoa now start automatically when you add the ingredient.

• Softer latte art brush that no longer shrinks as harshly while you move.

• Full controller support for the brewing mini games.

P.S. This might need a bit more adjustments and I'm open to any more suggestions to make the gameplay more comfortable for everyone!

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Fixes:

• Menu buttons can no longer be clicked during the opening animation or the language selection.

• The language selection screen can now be confirmed right away with a keyboard or controller.

• Fixed customers sometimes getting stuck on their way out, which could stop new customers from coming for the rest of the day.

• Fixed the cafe running out of orders while customers were still waiting at the counter.

• Fixed the game sometimes showing as still running in Steam after quitting from the in game menu.

• Fixed the language selection screen on first launch possibly getting stuck and leaving the main menu unusable.

• Fixed a possible freeze, followed by the game closing, during the tutorial with the cafe open.

• Saves with an invalid cafe level now repair themselves on load. No save deletion needed.

• Fixed plushies on the bed not being clickable in build mode.

• Fixed brewing station controller selection piling up and logging errors after the panel was opened many times.

• Fixed the low status bar pulse sometimes running twice at once or not coming back after reopening a panel.

• Fixed a rare case where a follow up dialogue could lose its ending action.

• Getting stuck next to fireplace fix.

• Reduced memory build up from translated text during long play sessions.

• Fewer leftover background tasks while brewing and when status bars are low.

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Meanwhile, If you already tried Tailside out, don’t forget to leave a review and feedback in Steam discussions section for further game improvements and new feature additions!

~Beans 💌