Sunday 28 January 2018

Winter fun at The Garlic Tree

It may be bitterly cold, but that doesn't mean we can't have some winter fun, right?! At my restaurant, The Garlic Tree, there's plenty of frosty merriment, largely thanks to the Chill Barista.

Outdoor refreshments at The Garlic Tree

Courtesy of this moustached chap you can take in the wintry surroundings whilst staying warm with a hot cup of coffee. You might even spot an Igloo inhabited by polar bears or Jack Frost bringing the snowmen to life! And then once you get hungry trudge on over to the Frosty Feast and Ice Bar. Here there are all manner of treats just waiting to be consumed, and the social scene is great.

Saturday 27 January 2018

Suggestions Box (Jan 2018)

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...

Saturday 20 January 2018

A parts probe

I'm embarrassed to say that it has now been 10 months since I last gave an overview of the most regularly utilised parts for building appliances. But that means there's lots of data to play with, so let's get straight into it!

Since that previous update there are 33 new appliances have been introduced to the game, with each and every one launched as part of a goal set. All but two of these cookers have called for a part not seen previously, with the exceptions being the Marquee Oven and La Mar Oven which needed only existing parts.

So that means a heck of a lot of information to piece together. To make things easier, I'm going to cast aside any part which has not been needed more than once in the past 10 months. Doing so leaves us with 13 parts to consider. That's still a fair few, but here's a neat table which hopefully gives us a feel for the parts landscape:

Thursday 18 January 2018

Glow party goals (in full)

Please note that this set of goals expired on Thursday 1st February 2018.

The latest update has us glowing and headed for the dancefloor. And it came with goals, which you can get all the details on here.

There are four floor decorations which can only be obtained by working through the numerous steps, and likewise two appliances and six recipes can be unlocked along the way. You've got the usual 15 days to work with, so that should mean an end date of Thursday 1st February.

Here is the complete list of steps:
Bonus goals: 'Get That Glow' (unlocks after Step 4):

Game update: 18/01/18

Let's get the party started!

Introduction to glow party themed goals

In particular get your glow sticks out! A glow party not the theme most players were probably anticipating, but it's the one we've got, with a range of new content released alongside a fresh set of goals. Here is the complete list of additions:

Tables:
  • Phosphorescent Table - 20,000 coins
Chairs:
  • Luminescent Chair - 19,000 coins
Floor decorations:
  • Glowing Jar Display - 21,000 coins
  • Party Hipster - locked by goal
  • Underglow Fountain - locked by goal
  • Glow Party - locked by goal
Wallpapers:
  • Glowing Bokeh - 8,000 coins
Floor tiles:
  • Illuminated Tiles - 9,000 coins
Appliances:
  • Glowing Oven - locked by goal
  • Glowing Drink Maker - locked by goal
Counters:
  • Fluorescent Counter - 22,000 coins

The fact of the matter is that Valentine's Day is just around the corner. But looking at past years, it is still a little too early for any lovey-dovey stuff, so perhaps this shouldn't be all that surprising. It's one of those random sorts of updates which can seem strange and out of place at any time of the year, essentially because it isn't tied into a particular season or occasion.

My analysis has to start with the Illuminated Tiles. Since you can purchase any flooring to complete the initial step of the quest I tend to opt for something other than the new release, since they can be so expensive. But with this floor tile I didn't bat an eyelid at the price. It is a beauty. A classic glowing square design which leaves no doubt in the mind as to what you should be going when standing on them - dance!

So many times I have had a dancefloor in my restaurant but no effective flooring to make it work. Having tried the likes of the Foam Mats and Ruby Red Mosaic with mixed results in the past, I can't wait to put together a scene which calls for a dancefloor.

Sadly the Glowing Bokeh wallpaper is less enticing to me. We have a black background upon which a vast number of love hearts of every colour imaginable have been scattered. Some have borders and some are semi-transparent, meaning that it really does look a mish-mash. Bokeh is a technical term used in photography for the section of an image which is blurred when the focus has been placed on another part of the image, and I suppose the transparency with some of those hearts is the connection. But in my view this is a messy wallpaper which lacks any coordination.

In complete contrast, the Glowing Jar Display is a sleek and precise floor decoration. It's 2x2 in size and consists of two black shelves occupied by glowing jars of red, blue and green. They feel like they have been placed very regimentally which does my perfectionist nature the world of good. This could be a really nice inclusion come Halloween for a potion-making set-up, and we've got enough related decor that it's doable.

The last three items which can bought in the market from the off are the new table, chair and counter. More often than not these three are connected by the same overall style, but that is not the case on this occasion. The Phosphorescent Table is a mouthful, but beyond that it's a groovy little number with changing tones of blue in concentric circles eventually giving a white centre to the tabletop. It has a futuristic feel to it which could make it a snug fit for ultra-modern layouts.

There's also something otherworldly about the Fluorescent Counter courtesy of the many glowing speckles. Any kind of magical theme would be a natural habitat, or even a space theme. I feel that this counter has been really well rendered, making excellent use of different shades of blue to give an effective finish.

Lastly there's the Luminescent Chair. The New Chair added in the previous update set a new bar for seating in the game, but I have to admit that this entry is another quality one. The stripes of white on the pink cushioning do a fantastic job of conveying depth and texture, leaving us with an attractive chair.

We do still have three floor decorations awaiting a verdict as well as two appliances and six recipes. But they are just going to have to be patient because we need to get through the goals to access them - you can get details of the accompanying quest in my dedicated post here.

Opening step of glow party themed goals

So does this update receive glowing reviews? I think it's on the way with some fine decor which excites and intrigues in equal measure. The key question when rating an update really is thus - how will I utilise any of the content in my place? And the answer this time is in plenty of ways. All we need now are some new dishes which have a statistical breakdown that makes them actually worth cooking!

Second New Year 2018 goals content report

With us all back into the daily grind the New Year celebrations now seem like another world away. So let's wrap up the party with a review of the batch of goals we received on the 2nd.

Introduction to second New Year 2018 goals

This was of course the second New Year based update for 2018, although unlike the first this one was a full 15 day effort and focused a little more on the aftermath, with everyone setting resolutions for the upcoming year.

Saturday 13 January 2018

RS2 News (Jan 2018)

It's time for my first monthly moan of 2018 on the topic of Restaurant Story 2. In fairness it's been a fairly active month in the sequel game, with two new cruise events and two batches of goals from Lani.

But we begin with the winter cruise event which kicked off just before my previous news post at the start of December. Although the content available via this challenge wasn't new, it was the first time it had featured in a cruise event, which is more than can be said for most of the cruises in recent times.

Yancy the Yeti was the special guest we were aiming to unlock, and I did so after a four gem spend on the final day to force a restock of Potatoes. Otherwise it was a reasonably comfortable one for me, although as has become customary the wait for Yancy to show his face was less comfortable. I tend to find that a new visitor appears very infrequently early on - that could be because there are now so many special guests, but it could also be an underlying issue in the game's mechanics.

Saturday 6 January 2018

Year in review 2017

It was a long and rocky journey but we reached the end of another year in Restaurant Story. There's been high points and low points, but as we head into 2018 the game is still chugging along, even if a few splutters can be heard.

The year began with four consecutive updates of the winter variety, which included the Winter Animals crate and two goal sets. The first of these came with only eight days on the clock, while the second afforded us 15 days. In both cases it was unprecedented - quests had always been stretched out over three or four weeks, giving us plenty of time to unlock all the hidden goodies and start work on mastering the new recipes.

Items from second winter goal set as shown on Storm8 Blog

It was the start of things to come. Every goal set since has provided at most 15 days for completion, with a few mini editions giving as little as five days. It's been a hugely significant change in the game's dynamic, with plenty of occasions throughout the last 12 months where players have been unable to finish a quest before the deadline. The shorter goals have laterally involved the focus being placed upon a particular appliance of yesteryear, with new recipes added and high demands in the accompanying tasks.

Tuesday 2 January 2018

Second New Year 2018 goals (in full)

Please note that this set of goals expired on Tuesday 16th January 2018.

We had one New Year themed goal set as we prepared to move into 2018, so why not another now that we're here?!

There are at least three floor decorations, two appliances and six recipes which can only be accessed by wading through the various tasks in the quest that has been included in the latest update, so waste no time and get your New Year off to a flier! You've got 15 days to reach the end, so expect the clipboard to vanish on Tuesday 16th January.

Here is the complete list of steps:
Bonus goals 'Full of Resolve' (unlocks after Step 4):

Game update: 02/01/18

Given that last week we received a small quest centred on New Year you could be forgiven for now thinking we're ringing in 2019. Why? Because we've got more New Year themed goals!

Introduction to second New Year 2018 goals

The party is going to be never-ending in our restaurants! There's a whole host of new content has been added to the game, with the list below providing the complete outline: