Suggestions Box (May 2016)

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.

You can share your own suggestions too via the comments. If I like them, I may even include them in the next instalment!

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

 #161: Overhaul the gift list

I've offered up plenty of suggestions involving the gift list being rejigged, and here's another which has been inspired by Jantiene Witzen.

The gift list is getting out of control. We've got a staggering 102 options to choose from now, and that means navigating through the list is becoming more cumbersome with every passing week. So we need a way to simplify the process of finding the right part or food, and better use of the category tabs could be the solution.

Gift list

Presently the tabs are arranged by the different meals of the day, a set-up which is obviously useless when the overwhelming majority of the gifts are parts (and let's face it, who uses it for food either?!) This should be overhauled, with new categories covering the likes of the old basic parts, seasonal parts, knobs(!), currently popular parts, and of course food. This would preserve my fingers for a little longer amid the endless scrolling!

 #162: Allow restaurant to be hidden

I'm a perfectionist. Therefore it's only natural that when I come to redecorate I feel very exposed due to the messy nature my restaurant gets in during the transition. This is something I'm feeling particularly sensitive about at the moment what with the Mad Chemist and Lab Assistant's tale currently in motion.

So let's see an option to go into hidden mode, in which the only person who can view your diner is you yourself. For everyone else there would just be a message to say that the restaurant is 'closed for refurbishment', or even better a massive velvet cloth draped over the whole thing waiting to be pulled away for the big reveal!

This way I can redecorate in peace and not worry about getting the job done quickly. It's pernickety stuff but that's what I'm all about...

 #163: Allow access to locked recipes for a fee

Some of the credit for this next one has to go to Shayne Raulerson whose recent comment gave me a brainwave. The way that recipes in goals work is that when an appliance is unlocked the first recipe comes with it. But the other two tend to remain padlocked until you get to the specific goal that features them.

Recipe list with locked dishes

That's understandable in that it means you do unlock something new upon completion of every goal, but at the same time is frustrating if for some reason you are unable to get through the entirety of a quest. The end result is a padlock or two staring teasingly in your face whenever you view the concerned appliance's recipe list.

So I'd like to see the game's developers allow even expired goal dishes to be unlocked. It could be a small fee, even say a gem. That would still allow players to make a one gem profit from mastery and would provide Storm8 with another possible source of revenue as players look to master everything the game has to offer.

 #164: Provide clarity on update structure

I think it's about time Storm8 offered some clarity on the latest structure of updates. Last month we entered new territory by having to wait until the third Wednesday of the month for a fresh set of goals, and that caused much consternation and mild panic around the community. It appears that the same is going to be the case this month too.

So I recommend that the gamemakers let us know of their plans. It wouldn't be difficult for someone in-the-know to provide a brief comment about the shifting of the goal week via the Storm Forum or the Storm8 Blog and yet it would appease plenty of players.

 Previous Suggestion Box posts

 16/04/16 April 2016
 26/03/16 March 2016
 20/02/16 February 2016
 23/01/16 January 2016
 19/12/15 December 2015
 21/11/15 November 2015

Likewise the consistency of box updates in the distant past seems to have been long lost. Whether you love them or hate them (I reckon most of us are in the latter group!) there should at least be some better structure with them. Rather than releasing crates in consecutive updates and then going quiet for several, let's have a more consistent format which again is communicated to players. Good communication between the players and the game's developers is of great benefit to all parties.

 #165: Re-release old Olympic content

A massive thanks to Nibbles and Noms for sparking this entry. Way back in 2012 Storm8 released a special edition of the game, entitled 'Restaurant Story: World Games' to celebrate the London Olympics. There was lots of great content include, but none of it is still available to buy.

Title screen for 'Restaurant Story: World Games'

With the Rio Games now fast approaching I'm calling on the gamemakers to bring all that fine stuff back. Clearly some completely new updates to commemorate the 2016 event would be nice, but whether or not that transpires a re-release would delight the community. It's been long enough since it was all accessible that there's a whole new generation of players who would be all over the content.

And it holds special significance to me since the World Games edition was my first version of the game. At that time I had no idea what I was doing, and although I did gain access to both of the appliances which were available as part of the accompanying quest, I didn't fully complete the goals. A belated chance to buy the likes of the Summer Sport Podium and Panda Discus would be fantastic.