An Update!

This is an update to an existing mechanic! I’m going to share a bit about our new expanded construction mechanic that will really let you customize and expand your shelter. If you haven’t seen Part 1, you can check it out here!

Shelter Construction

In Part 1 I talked about the ways that kennel placement and layout factor in to a player’s TTR experience. Essentially, players are trying to maximize space as a resource while accommodating individual dog compatibilities. Since then we’ve expanded this mechanic to let you build your shelter up, room by room!

When the player reaches the third stage of the game and takes over the brand new, but unfinished shelter, they will gain access to shelter construction. There was only enough money initially to build the basics. A lobby for dog intake and adoptions, a medical room, a supply room, and space for some kennels. There is even a bit of land behind the shelter already zoned for expansion when the player has the funds!

Kennels

Just like before though, the player’s first order of business is to build some long-term kennels for the dogs arriving at the shelter. And already you can see there is a bit more variety than before at this stage!

Players have access to the kennel footprints shown in the last post, but now they come in 3 distinct tiers. Players can progress from using the cheapest kennels available to the nicest K9 suites that money can buy! More expensive kennels offer passive benefits like reduced cleanliness loss, and passive happiness boosts.

We’re also experimenting with unique kennels for special situations! ‘Dog Run’ kennels let you save floor space and give the dogs outside access for a nice happiness boost!

But the player won’t have the cash for those fancy kennels at the start, and that’s okay! A big conceptual aspect of this push for us was giving the player options in terms of how they use space as a resource. They will likely need to do both eventually, but now players can choose whether spend their money expanding the shelter, or improving it.

Let’s talk a bit more about the improvement approach first. The core of this mechanic is the kennels but we are exploring some other shelter-related upgrades. Maybe we will talk more about those in a future update, but in the meantime I want to talk about kennel upgrade slots!

So, in addition to building and upgrading different tiers of kennels, some of those kennels also have upgrade slots. Players can purchase these upgrades on a per-kennel basis to specialize their fancy kennels even further. Some of your dogs have a problem with stress? Get them some comfy cushions and a soothing radio to make sure they are nice and relaxed when they are up for adoption! New litter of puppies appear? Get some Small Dog Zone upgrades to increase how many puppies and small size dogs the kennel can hold! We won’t spoil all the potential upgrades yet, but they are a great way to specialize your kennels to get the most out of the space you have!

Rooms

So, we’ve talked about all the changes to the kennels, but what happens when you run out of room? Well, you build more! Rooms that is.

Players will be able to expand their shelter using room blueprints however they want! Build new wings to the shelter to organize dogs by size, breed, adoptability, or traits! To start players can build hallways, kennel rooms, and doors, but will also be able to place specialized rooms like supply rooms, medical rooms, break rooms, outdoor play-spaces, and more!

But what if you don’t like the default wallpaper and flooring? Well, you can customize that too! This is the first step we are exploring in letting players decorate their shelter a bit to really make it their own!

Expansions

So, now you’ve filled up the starting area with kennels and rooms but what the dogs just keep showing up! What are you going to do?

Well, there is plenty of empty land around the shelter. The city is even willing to give you a good price for it! When the player is ready, they can buy a new plot of land to build on. These expansions will be limited by expansion points that are doled out over the course of the game. Players can buy an adjacent plot of land to expand into with six times the starting area available. That’s a big shelter!

What’s Next?

Well, since Part 1 we’ve made a lot of progress! We’ve really honed in on the mechanics we want to represent with the construction system. Our goal moving forward is to refine and expand content for the existing mechanics. We want to make sure we have a good coverage of room blueprints and customization options as well as making sure the editor is smooth and easy to use.

So, do you have any ideas you definitely want to see as decor, shelter upgrades, or kennel upgrades? We would love to hear what you’re most excited about!

-Tanner

Kennel Construction

This week I’m showing off the early stages of a feature we have been excited about for a long time, and that’s Kennel Construction! After you finish the introductory portion of the game, where you’ve been playing both in your garage and in a temporary shelter space, you’ll move to the newly finished city shelter! Only… It’s not so finished.

The city ran out of funding before they could totally finish the shelter, so you will need to expand it as you go. The basics are there. A lobby and show kennels to facilitate adoptions, a medical room to treat the dogs, and a utility room for supplies. But there is no where for the dogs to stay long term!

Therefore, the first order of business will usually be to build enough kennels to house all the dogs that you arrived with, as well as enough space to handle the next few new arrivals. But what kind of kennels to build?

Kinds of Kennels

This is where it starts to get interesting. There are 4 kennel layouts available to build and each one has a different capacity, a different footprint, or a different cost. The 1×1 Kennel is the most basic version. It’s the cheapest, but only holds 1 dog. The 2×1 and 1×2 Kennels cost 50% more than the 1×1 Kennel but hold 2 dogs. And finally, the 2×2 Kennel holds 4 dogs and costs twice as much as the 1×1 Kennel.

That may make it seem like bigger is better. But there is a fixed space to build in so, tiling the different kennels together to support all the dogs in your shelter and staying under budget quickly becomes a challenge. In addition, each of your dogs have their own preferences and personalities and may not get along in the same kennel together, not to mention their food preferences should match up.

And all of these factors are why we are so excited about this feature. It emphasizes a core element of the game, the uniqueness and personality of each dog, while providing players options to meet the challenges of caring for them. These factors will also ripple out in some of the hardest decisions in the game. When you’re overcrowded or under funded, space becomes a critical element to consider, and one that players have some measure of control. Maybe they will realize they can reorganize the shelter a bit to make room or that they can sell some extra kennels in a tight spot to make it to tomorrow.

What’s Ahead?

Now that we have the most basic implementation, we can start to improve the mechanic based on what works! The first item on that list is to improve the editor.

There are two aspects of the editor that are priorities for improvement. First is the build window. We need to streamline the process for representing the shelter layout so the player understands where they are building a kennel. The second is utilities to support upgrades to individual kennels. The player will be able to build improved versions of kennels or add special improvements to different parts of the shelter.

Takeaways

This time, I think the takeaway is that the best mechanics are ones that reinforce and build upon the existing mechanics. Part of what we’ve been doing with our refactoring is reconsidering what the core loop of the game is and how we can emphasize the parts of the game that work the best. The main reason that anyone is going to be interested in To The Rescue is likely to the be the dogs.

They are our central mechanic. The player should care about individual dogs, enjoy watching them interact, and want to save them. An adoption isn’t exciting if you aren’t happy for the dog, and the euthanasia doesn’t matter if the player doesn’t fell like the dogs are sympathetic and realistic.

Kennel construction reinforces this in spades and it gives the player more agency, which has been a concern of ours for a while. Development time and resources are limited, so identifying important central and supporting mechanics and boosting them is important.

What kinds of upgrades and options would you like to see in the Kennel Construction mechanic?

-Tanner