The main feature development work for the next build is now done, and now it's time for testing and polishing. There's still a few extra UI features that are planned but pending (like officer list filtering), but the build is on track for next week. The past week has seen the implementation of the demands system. Demands, as opposed to vitals, are material needs that officers develop as their prestige and experience grows. Redshirts only demand a low salary, but graduates and masters demand a furnished room. For example:
Providing a room is done by assigning a new kind of bed to the officer, which fills the delimiting area, and automatically changes ownership of all objects:
Not catering to all of the demands of an officer can give them negative feelings:
This is a stacking negative feeling that goes down faster the less fulfilled the demands of an officer are. If you let it go down too much, officers can even go on strike:
Striking officers will refuse to work and will randomly break objects around them, but are otherwise fully abled. The will still satisfy their vital needs and will participate in combat. Having expert officers in your station will be a balance act, between making sure you can provide to their needs and wages, and how expendable labour is for you. Max has also prepared new decorations. Some of them will have gameplay purpose and become a specific demand from your most experienced officers:
Some others, well, we now have exploding space rugs.