Perhaps the biggest talking point with this update was the inclusion of a number of items which have been available in Bakery Story for some time. Three of the floor decorations - the Movie Screen, Movie Stars and Velvet Rope - are all straight out of the sister game, while the Marquee Oven is of the same design as Bakery Story's Movie Night Oven.
Moreover, the three recipes on the Marquee Oven match those on the equivalent cooker in Bakery Story, but have different statistics. Since we're on the subject of the first appliance unlocked in the goals, let's have a closer look. You need 9 Metal Sheets, 9 Red Ribbons and 9 Colored Plastic to build it, with all three of these existing parts. As one of the traditional 'basic' parts, it's nice to see the Metal Sheet put in an appearance - this is it's first since the Fine Oven more than a year ago. The Red Ribbon and Colored Plastic have also waited some time for another outing.
In terms of the dishes, we have a trio of snacks for munching whilst the movie is on:
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| Marquee Oven recipes |
These are not exactly recipes you'd associate with a restaurant, but I suppose that was inevitable given that the theme isn't perfectly tied in with the restaurant business. I make the Theater Cake Pops the sixth pops food in the game, and in truth this is one that belongs in Bakery Story. At least on this occasion it is actually over there!
Appearance wise none of the trio inspire me, although the Chocolate Raisins are at least presented on a modern square plate with a fruity garnish.
Now let's have an overview of the recipe ratings:
| Chocolate Raisins | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Profit | XP gain | Portions | Profit per plate | Availability | Rating |
| 6 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 4.4 |
| Cream Cheese Pretzel | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Profit | XP gain | Portions | Profit per plate | Availability | Rating |
| 4 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 5 | 3.6 |
| Theater Cake Pops | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Profit | XP gain | Portions | Profit per plate | Availability | Rating |
| 8 | 1 | 4 | 10 | 5 | 5.2 |
A rainbow of colours here make it tricky to deduce at a glance whether these dishes are any good statistically. Ultimately each is limited in its ability to compete by a rubbish XP score. They're all placed in the bottom three of their respective duration, which is a damning fact considering the quantity of candidates in each of the time brackets.
Luckily the profit per plate numbers provide some positive news, with the higher than normal coins per plate trend continuing for a third goal set in a row. The Chocolate Raisins and Cream Cheese Pretzel both yield 5 coins per plate while the Theater Cake Pops provides 6 coins per plate.
Meanwhile the pops are also eye-catching when it comes to profit. It's 3,070 coins profit can only be beaten by the Smores and 9 Ball Cookies (both Basic Oven) in the 4 hour duration, That helps it to a respectable 5.2 rating overall, but that still only puts it 16th out of 106 efforts of 4 hour length. It is however the second best goal recipe in the duration of all time, with only the Tropical Kabob (Cruise Ship Stove) bettering it.
On we go, and there were three floor decorations available to unlock via the goals. The first came following the opening step, with two Theater Counters required to be bought. This counter is not a classic in my book. It's got a mahogany tone, but there's little texture to speak of. The way the legs are arranged give the impression that you're looking at a piano of some description, which is clearly not the intention. It also doesn't match up with the Theater Table or Theater Chair at all, so it's a thumbs down for this one.
Theatre themed updates
The Movie Screen fares better in my tough judging, with it's considerable height helping really convey the scale of the cinema. If I were super critical I'd say that it would have been nice to see some familiar characters depicted in the scene on-screen, such as Action Chef Lee or Phoebe. But nevertheless it's an impressive piece, and unless I'm forgetting something is the first 4x1 sized item in the history of the game.
The third floor decoration added with the goals is the final prize. The Open Air Theater depicts a couple in love, centred on a round stage which has curtained arches and columns in the background. It's a fancy item and will go well with some of the fine dining themed content we received last year. A negative is the scaling of it - the two bots are too small compared to a standard 1x1 bot decoration. A rethink from the gamemakers has been requested over on the Storm8 Forum, but thus far there's been no reconfiguration. For now I'm okay with this prize, but that will transform into total satisfaction if it is scaled up.
All that remains is the second appliance, the Theater Oven. This one is brand new to the Storm8 artillery, and again offers some condiments for moviegoers. The construction calls for 9 Motors, 9 Star Knobs and 9 Show Tickets, with the last of these a newcomer.
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| Show Tickets |
The Show Tickets wasn't initially available on the gift list, but was soon added. Given that it is only relevant for the second cooker, this didn't affect any players working on the goals, but it has been a regular release error of late, so the game's developers need to look into ensuring it doesn't happen again.
Enough moaning, let's look at the three recipes found on the Theater Oven:
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| Theater Oven recipes |
I like that the Buttered Popcorn is in a traditional red and white striped box rather than a bog standard bowl. This helps make it that bit more attractive, whereas the Red Candy Laces and Theater Hot Dog are rather dull and nondescript.
Here come the ratings:
| Buttered Popcorn | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Profit | XP gain | Portions | Profit per plate | Availability | Rating |
| 8 | 2 | 3 | 10 | 5 | 5.3 |
| Red Candy Laces | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Profit | XP gain | Portions | Profit per plate | Availability | Rating |
| 4 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 5 | 4.0 |
| Theater Hot Dog | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Profit | XP gain | Portions | Profit per plate | Availability | Rating |
| 3 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 5 | 3.3 |
Orange seems to be the colour that is prevailing here, which is never a good sign. But there is a hint of blue with the profit of the Buttered Popcorn. It doesn't quite reach the heights which the Theater Cake Pops did, but does manage to squeeze into the top 10 profit producers in the 85 strong 1 hour pool.
Meanwhile the XP numbers are not exactly earth-shattering, but they do at least not flirt with rock bottom as the Marquee Oven's dishes did. On the other hand the two appliances share the higher coins per plate phenomenon, and that again results in the profit per plate score being quality. However because we have had a few such recipes now across the last three goal sets, the popcorn is the only one out of all six which tops its duration.
The 3.7 coins profit per plate for the popcorn is the best in the 1 hour length, pipping the White Chocolate Berries (Romantic Stove) which had led the way since its release in February 2015. The others aren't duration leaders, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't be appreciative of the 5 coins per plate each one yields.
You may recall that I pointed out in the last goals content report that entries in the Recipe Hall of Fame could be affected by this spate of higher coins per plate foods. Well, the current incumbents live to fight another day, with only one actually suffering any damage. That was the Watermelon Lemonade which saw its profit per plate score drop from 8 to 7. That resulted in its overall rating falling too, but not enough to knock it off its perch.
I'm reasonably happy with this update, although must say that my pick of the additions (the Movie Stars and Velvet Rope) were already available prior to taking on the goals. The use of Bakery Story content sits perfectly well with me, especially considering that there is no shortage of stuff over there that could sit quite comfortably in Restaurant Story. We'll have to be on the lookout for any further crossovers in the coming weeks!
That's a wrap!
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