Laboratory goals content report

It's goals content report time, with many players now finished with the new goal set released alongside last week's laboratory themed update.

Usually I power straight into the prizes provided by the quest, but in this case we have to discuss the structure of the goals themselves. For a start the first of the fresh appliances was available to purchase prior to completing any of the goal steps. This is not unheard of, although it does usually mean within a few hours that Storm8 hastily attach a padlock and apologise for making an uncharacteristic error.

On this occasion there was no such admittance of guilt, with the game's developers seeing a chemistry theme as the ideal excuse to mix things up. And that they most certainly did. In addition to the Food Lab Oven being available from the off, it didn't require any construction. This all set off my Storm8 cock-up sirens, but it turned out that both of the new parts were reserved for the second cooker, the Food Lab Stove.

More on that later, but what of the little circles indicating progression through the main strand of the goals?

Step 6 of laboratory goals including progression bar

Many players will recognise this as a staple of most other Storm8 titles, but I'm just about experienced enough to remember that the progression bar was actually present in quests in the early days of Restaurant Story. It's good to see it back as it is beneficial in giving an idea of the overall strides being made - hopefully it isn't a one-off guest appearance.

On to the general format, and it has not changed for a long while. Indeed I can recall asking the game's developers to shake things up multiple times, but with the style of the goals not altering significantly for so long I'd given up hope.

However this quest did rattle the cage. The most notable difference was the need to cook particular recipes in more than one step. To some this may be tiresome, but for me it was a really interesting twist. It added a new dimension in that there were cases where you could make a dish involved in the next stage ahead of time, and simply serve it up to critical acclaim upon reaching that point.

Nevertheless this change of tact did mean a tougher challenge. The camping goals in July required 118 recipes to be prepared in total, whereas this latest task necessitates 165 cooks - a 40% increase. Some might say that's unfair, but I've really enjoyed the change in format. The goals are not exactly difficult to complete within the time limit anyway (for higher level players at least) so a slight increase in difficulty level doesn't do much harm. Plus you're going to end up setting yourself the target of mastering the foods anyway so might as well get a head start!

Finally, there was also a greater emphasis on community involvement, with visits to other diners and item requests from neighbours featuring twice each, as opposed to the standard one. The item requests are often the places where players are really slowed down, so this is likely to have been as much of a stumbling block as the greater amount of cooking action.

Let's turn to some of the content then, starting with the dishes lurking on the no-need-to-build Food Lab Oven.

Food Lab Oven recipes

Some admirable alliteration applied here - there really should be 100 gems on offer to anyone who can say Polar Powder Puffs 10 times fast!

Talking of alliteration, let's have a resplendent recipe ratings review...

Polar Powder Puffs
Profit	XP gain	Portions	Profit per plate	Availability	Rating
5	2	2	8	5	3.8

Constellation Cupcakes
Profit	XP gain	Portions	Profit per plate	Availability	Rating
2	3	3	7	5	3.2

Nuclear Nachos
Profit	XP gain	Portions	Profit per plate	Availability	Rating
3	2	2	10	5	3.3

I take that back - these three are less resplendent and more revolting. The numbers are not at all appealing, with only the profit per plate scores providing a break from the yellow and orange. And to add insult to injury the stats of all three dishes have been applied before, and in all cases more than once.

In fact the figures for the Nuclear Nachos have been utilised three times previously, making this the fourth recipe in the game of 6 hour length with 1,430 coins profit, 500 portions and 67 XP. I realise that at this point some durations are getting rather busy (there are 68 dishes of 6 hour length alone!) but I don't think it's asking for much for each recipe to be unique, even if only in one of the main factors.

I'm leaving those dishes behind, and will instead take a peek at two of the floor decorations unlocked in the goals. The Lab Coat Hanger and Rainbow Veggie Garden are each unlocked in 'sidestep' tasks, with both worthy prizes. The hanger is the latest themed coat rack to be introduced, and is perfect as a subtle inclusion in any lab based setting. I can definitely envisage myself using it in a future science hub.

The garden is less easy to integrate into a lab environment, mostly because it is so colourful! I don't think it has to be used for a laboratory theme - any outdoor area will benefit from it's splendour, and the rickety fence makes a nice change. However the sparkles are something we could do without. Unless of course these are genetically modified veggies with the modification being the application of some shine...

Back to the recipe hunt, and the Food Lab Stove needs to be built using 6 Steel, 4 Stainless Steel Screws and 4 Tempered Glass. The latter two are both new parts.

Stainless Steel Screw and Tempered Glass

On the face of it two new parts for one appliance sounds like hard work, but I found that since this was the second new cooker, it was possible to gather up a decent number of both through gift exchanges before even unlocking the Food Lab Stove. It's interesting that both of these parts are relatively generic - following on from the likes of the Wood Glue and Grill Gear we seem to be getting a few along those lines which will hopefully be reused in the future, much like the Steel in this instance.

Once you get the Food Lab Stove constructed, there are another three new recipes awaiting.

Food Lab Stove recipes

The Newtonian Beef Broth is so wonderfully named. I can just imagine lapping up a bowl of it on a cold and dark night! That's enough thinking about winter though, let's have them ratings...

Elemental Escargot
Profit	XP gain	Portions	Profit per plate	Availability	Rating
3	3	3	7	5	3.5

Newtonian Beef Broth
Profit	XP gain	Portions	Profit per plate	Availability	Rating
2	4	2	10	5	3.6

CoFe2 Compound Cake
Profit	XP gain	Portions	Profit per plate	Availability	Rating
4	3	3	10	5	4.5

Things aren't much better with this trio when we look at the numbers. However the Elemental Escargot and Newtonian Beef Broth are both unique statistically, so we've got that to celebrate I guess. The CoFe2 Compound Cake isn't invited to the party though, with the Patriot Pops (July Oven) holding the exact same numbers. At least the cake does get into the yellow on the overall rating, even if that's not exactly much to get excited about.

Maybe we will get excited about the final goal prize. Upon completing all the steps, you'll find yourself the proud owner of a Food Lab. This 4x4 floor decoration unfortunately costs 64 gems to buy again, although given the novel appearance of this piece you're probably fine with one.

I think this is a great item. It's much like so many other large decorations where you have customers perched on stools at a table in front of the main concocting station. But yet it's so different. It's flasks everywhere you look as substitutes for glasses, and the bright colours make this a fun item. I particularly like how the professor is taking notes on his clipboard as a girl tastes a luminous yellow creation.

 Laboratory theme

 17/08/16 Goals
 17/08/16 Goals update
 10/08/16 First update

The fun outlook does have its drawbacks though. Up until now I've been thinking about how I may put the laboratory stuff from the last fortnight into practice for Halloween, and this decoration just doesn't fit. It's not got the creepiness and rugged look that is much needed for Halloween (see the Lab Experiment!) which means some real creativity will be needed. It's scary to think that it's little over a month until we reach October and get set for Halloween!

That's it then. At times in the past I've commented on goal themes not really being suitable as they don't have much depth to them, but the laboratory theme certainly ticks that box. Two weeks of updates demonstrates that, and I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot of players find great ways to place the stuff from these updates come October 31st. The change in goal structure was also welcomed by me, with it being not just refreshing but satisfying to see that Storm8 still have enough interest in what is now an ageing game to see fit to shake up the quests. I hope to see more variety in the coming months!