Suggestions Box (Oct 2014)

Every month I list five things I'd like to see added, altered or abolished from the game. Because even though my long time of playing Restaurant Story clearly shows I love it, that doesn't mean it's perfect. Some of the ideas I'll air will be significant game changers while others will be low-key and irrelevant in the eyes of many of you readers.

In no particular order, here are this month's entries...

 #66: Allow counter selection for new food

Right now when food is served up, it lands on the oldest counter available. This inevitably leads to trouble if you want your food to be on a specific counter.

For example when the season is about to change and as a result my outdoor section is on the verge of a revamp, I'd rather not have mountains of food on the counters in the area. This is because these counters are likely to be stored, and thus income is lost. I tend to leave them out until clear, which means having an annoying mix of counters on the go simultaneously. The perfectionist in me recoils in horror!

 Previous Suggestion Box posts

 20/09/14 September 2014
 23/08/14 August 2014
 26/07/14 July 2014
 14/06/14 June 2014
 17/05/14 May 2014

The solution is simple - allow us to choose which counter to place new food on. It's not exactly a complicated concept, but would kill off a world of problems. We could even be able to add the food to existing stockpiles of the same dish, meaning there doesn't have to be an army of Roast Chicken ruling the restaurant.

 #67: Add themed columns

For a long time now, the centrepiece of the main section of The Garlic Tree has included four Wooden Pillars.

Main Section of The Garlic Tree with Wooden Pillars

I love the design of these columns, hence why they've been a mainstay of my place. But there are occasions when I would like to switch them out. Halloween is a prime example - as you can see above, the elegance and grandeur of the Wooden Pillars is incompatible with the seasonal surroundings which are all about rough finishes.

In addition to the Wooden Pillar we've got the Flower Column, Marble Column, Rose Column, Kelp Column and Modern Asian Column. That's a fair few, but only the Modern Asian Column has the darker tones I prefer for my main zone. TeamLava should strive to add some more columns, particularly for the big seasons.

A Halloween pillar could have spider webs creeping up it while a Christmas pillar could have pretty fairy lights wrapped around it. I'd pay a lot of gems for FOUR of those!

 #68: No erasing of half-complete wall posts

When I'm writing a post on a neighbour's wall, my big fingers sometimes manage to tap away from the keyboard and the text box. It sounds innocent enough, but when I then tap the text box to return to my partially completed post, the message vanishes! And I have to start over.

I'd like the game's developers to amend their code to allow unpublished wall posts to be saved until the wall window is dismissed. This would save on regular huffs of frustration on my part. It's not exactly a revolutionary suggestion, but they all add up!

 #69: Allow rotation of floor tiles

With only a few exceptions, tables, chairs, floor decorations, appliances and counters can all be rotated into at least two positions. The same cannot be said of flooring.

It would be nice if we could rotate floor tiles. Of course with plain flooring this is irrelevant, but any tile with an irregular pattern would benefit. Take the recently added Spider Stone as an example:

Foyer section of The Garlic Tree with Spider Stone floor tiles

The spider web on each floor tile is always positioned on the same corner, and the result with mass placement is that all of the webs are an equal distance apart and very much look orderly. I've never known spiders to be so regimental! Being able to rotate the tiles would allow us to create a novel layout of the flooring, and at times a more realistic appearance.

 #70: Add larger tables

I have to admit that this is a suggestion I've borrowed from the TeamLava Forum, but I think it's an excellent idea. Right now tables always take up a 1x1 space and can seat one customer only. The gamemakers should consider adding some larger tables, perhaps 2x1 or even 2x2 in size. This would allow more customers to sit together in a non-forced way.

Obviously we can do this at present, but it only works effectively with square tables, and even then there are an excessive number of table legs. Let's give our valued diner customers amble legroom!