Booth: A Dystopian Adventure news & patch notes

Hi, Lately I've been receiving an increased amount of questions regarding not being able to run "Booth" on a Mac. I studied the problem and found that it was due to newer MacOS having a stricter security policy with downloaded software and "Booth" being a game made with a pretty old version of GameMaker. To solve the "Booth Is Damaged and Can’t Be Opened. You Should Move It To The Trash." problem, follow these steps: 1. Open "Booth.app" once either through Steam or directly from local files (and the above warning message will show). 2. Open your Mac's "System Settings" and find the "Privacy & Security" tab. Inside it you can find a section appeared talking about "Booth" (like the image below). 3. Click "Open Anyway" and "Booth" should run successfully from now on. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/31467339/3ce8691aeb791347f4f72a8f52b6d939b65f53cb.png Hope this helps! Love from Iden, GP

Dear Players, I can't believe it's been 4 years and here's the long overdue Elodie's illustration! Until now, Booth has sold over 12k copies worldwide and has reached 300 reviews. Thank you so much! While they are not huge numbers, few indie titles on the niche side can achieve that. I'm more than grateful Booth can be one of them. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/31467339/a75ee1bdd56a6bdf5e4962299929683d36c5cadd.png It has become such an emotional moment as I redrew Elodie after 4 years, and the sense of time flying by was only strengthened by how much my drawing skill has improved. :) For a long time, I didn't realize how much I love the characters in Booth, but now I do. I would really like a chance to revisit them again in the future. Lastly, a little bonus throwback: when Booth was first released, it was still called "Booth" not "Booth: A Dystopian Adventure." I changed the name for searchability but honestly, I like the simplicity of "Booth." And yeah, we were actually New and Trending for a while. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/31467339/29899a1dd2392550f86afde41c3ac420a7fe5b21.png

Development Update

A couple of months ago, I started working on the controller support for Booth, but since Booth was designed to be played with mouse and keyboard, adding a comfortable controller support basically means rewriting most of the logic. Considering how much work it is and my immediate need to survive as a full-time indie game developer, I had to suspend that task and shift my focus to making a new game. Apologies if anyone was waiting for that update to play. I can't promise when it will come out but I highly recommend playing Booth with mouse and keyboard if possible.

You can wishlist my new game now! It will be out next year.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2775160/ Thank you and Happy 4th Anniversary! Love from Iden, Guanpeng

Changelist

• Fixed a crash (before a specific ending) caused by the last update.
• Fixed the food ordering text spacing problem in English and Russian.

The current version has not been extensively tested, so if you run into any problems, please let me know in the comments here, on Twitter @cguanpeng, or through the Discord channel. Thank you!

Wrapping this year up with this last update, see you soon in 2024!

Changelist

• Added Traditional Chinese Localization.
• Minor text modification.

Coming Next

• Steam Deck support.
• Full controller support.
• Some quality of life improvements.

This version has not been extensively tested, so if you run into any problems, please let me know in the comments here, on Twitter @cguanpeng, or through the Discord channel. Thank you!

After 2 years, I finally have the chance to come back and work on Booth again! To begin with, this is mainly an engine update and no new feature is added. This version has not been extensively tested, so if you run into any problems, please let me know in the comments here, on Twitter @cguanpeng, or through the Discord channel. Thank you!

Changelist

• Updated the GameMaker Studio 2 engine to the GameMaker LTS version.
• Fixed some bad code to improve stability.
• Fixed fullscreen switching bug on Mac.
• Fixed a minor bug of the swimming minigame.
• Adjusted the difficulty of the swimming minigame.

Dear Players, One year ago Booth was released and it was a such a good ride from there, thanks to you! :) Now I have a few things to share.

1. Booth's Original Soundtrack is now partly available on Youtube.

For best experience, please listen to them after you've beaten the game. Five of the most requested tracks are picked, enjoy! (You can buy the full album on Steam.) One of them:

2. Recommending some great content creators.

Some told me that it's extra fun to watch someone else play Booth, even if you already knew the story. So I tried, and it was! ; )

3. Brand new save system.

In the latest update the save system was renewed and you can now restart from a previous day without needing to beat the game first. Also, now you will have 3 save slots to use. One for each restaurant, maybe? {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/31467339/8dc283b79c6f33aa9b128fb93ce37210ace3f3a1.png

4. About follow-up content of Booth.

I know many of you are expecting DLCs, but for me Booth is already complete in its current form. However, if I do want to expand on it, I might just go make an entirely different game based on Booth's worldview, like (spoiler alert) an escape room game happening during the time Katja was arrested. Since I'm still a part-time developer, I can't make any promises here, sadly. But just bare in mind that if it ever happens, it's going to be a whole new game.

5. Next game from me?

My next game, which I've been making for the past year with 3 friends, will be revealed later this year. I'm also working on a solo project but there's not much to share right now. You can follow me on twitter for latest news: https://twitter.com/cguanpeng That's all from me. As always, thank you all for reading, and supporting. Happy 1st Anniversary! Love from Iden, Guanpeng {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/31467339/0395c78c89e543393e22eda2f8e985ce50379077.png

Hi there, The Japanese localization is now available! The Japanese localization has always been an important milestone for me, not just because Booth was developed while I'm studying and later working in Japan, but also the earliest players who tried Booth and told me that they like it were those Japanese players who came to my shabby booth at TokyoSandbox and BitSummit back in 2018. I've kept them waiting for too long, and now I hope they can find it worth the wait. The Japanese translation is done by my friends Kenichi Yonetsu and Asami Nogawa. It's months of hard work, so thank them a million! Love from Iden, Guanpeng

Dear Players, It's a joy to draw Chan in another dimension. How do you like it? Apparently she wants to celebrate the 2021 Lunar New Year together, or does she? :) {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/31467339/2e656611ba403662cde9108b025e201a94fbe855.png Looking at the calendar, I can't believe the 1st anniversary of Booth is just 5 months away. I'm planning some new updates for it but I really can't say for sure because I'm still working on the game alone in my free time, but still, stay tuned! Thanks again for all the love and support. Love from Iden, Guanpeng

Dear Players, Trading cards, badges, emoticons, and profile backgrounds of Booth are now available! Each trading card also comes with a (famous) line from that character. Hope you enjoy collecting them! :) Also, a late Happy Thankstarving & Merry Christmas! Love from Iden, Guanpeng {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/31467339/2c70329421ca0f3df60005a087538aa81df57c8a.png

Hi there, After months of hard work, the very first new language version of Booth is now available! As a solo indie developer, this will not be possible without the translation done by the following Russian players, who are so generous and passionate about Booth that they volunteered their help: Andrei Makeev Danila Chelnokov Maksim Savin Oleg Demyanenko (listed in alphabetical order) Thank them a million! In fact, it’s especially exciting for me to release a Russian version of Booth, because its aesthetics, like you may guess, is largely inspired by the USSR style, and I did pay a tribute to Russia in the game (see if you can find it). So yes, I can’t wait for all those potential players in Russia to experience Booth, and hopefully they can enjoy it without any obstacles in the way. Cheers! :) Love from Iden, Guanpeng

Dear Players, To celebrate Booth being officially selected to showcase at Tokyo Game Show 2020, Booth will be 20% off during TGS (09/24~09/28). This is the highest discount so far, so don't miss out. :) Also, thanks to a group of amazing volunteers, Booth will have Russian, French, and Japanese language support in the near future! If you want to help translate Booth into more languages, you're most welcomed to join our official Discord channel. Thank you! Love from Iden, Guanpeng

Hi, As the screenshot below shows, a new difficulty mode has been added in v.1.2.1. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/31467339/bbd885c26b9c2db11599191ee12f4aeb5e0cf18e.png With this mode selected, players will be able to skip the inspection task gameplay from Day 1. This enables them to experience the story as a visual novel to some extent. However, as such gameplay is designed to be an important part of Booth, it is highly recommended that you only skip some of the days or after you found it to be too repetitive. One more announcement is about the English localization of Booth. As some reviews pointed out, it is indeed not written by a native speaker and still needs a lot of polishing. Luckily, a few days ago a player with professional skills approached me and offered to help proofread and revise the localization. Hopefully we can get it done as soon as possible so that no more players will have to have their immersion broken by typos or poor English. As the developer of Booth, I know there will always be people who don't enjoy the game. But at the same time, I also consider it my responsibility to make the game as accessible as possible in its technical aspects. I will continue working on relevant issues and hope that more potential players can enjoy the game because of those improvements. As always, thank you! :) Love from Iden, Guanpeng

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. The game window is bugged and I can't move my mouse to the right place.

Try restarting the game. If it doesn't work, you can join our Official Discord to report, and we'll help fix it.

Q2. The game crashed with a Win32 warning.

Try updating your graphics card's driver to the latest version.

Q3. I'm using a widescreen (such as 2560 x 1080) and can't click the options in the title room.

Press to call out the setting menu and turn off the fullscreen.

Q4. It keeps saying that the apples and pears are wrong, why?

You forgot to sterilize them.

Q5. The start work button is gone. Where is it?

Did you just receive a new piece of equipment? You will have to bring it with you to the room with the conveyor belt. If it's another situation, please join our Official Discord to report, and we'll help solve it.

Q6. I just can't get S rank on a specific day. Is it a bug?

There're already players who got S rank on all days, so probably not. But do try restarting the game to get all parameters refreshed if it does seem bugged. (We're currently looking into this issue.)

Q7. Some tasks are too difficult. What can I do?

Try making good use of the rules, instead of just following them.

Q8. What do the coffins mean?

Hint: pay attention to what your supervisor said. Also referring to John Dickson Carr's The Three Coffins since we are trying to escape the locked-room.

Q9. I want to discuss about the game!

Feel free to join our Official Discord! It's a lot of fun talking to other players (and the dev). Trust me.

Q10. Will there be a Colorblind Mode?

Yes, we will definitely work on that and let you know in future updates. Stay tuned!

Q11. Is there a way to help Katja?

The fate of Katja will be hinted after the Tuland ending if you asked DEES to help her.

Q12. What does the postcard mean?

As it says, check all the letters you received for information, which you can do in the game loading room.

Q13. I want to see more about the story/characters of Booth. Will there be any DLCs?

It depends a lot on how well Booth sells. But, I love the characters and want to write more about them, and I do feel there's room for a free DLC or two. So again, stay tuned if you're insterested.

Content Updates

For Old Players:

Since the update on July 30th (v.1.1.8), there're two 'new' contents put back in the game. (They were mistakenly taken out in previous versions, sorry.) They are: 1) the booth tour on Day 1, right after you got off the airship. 2) the scene after you dialed the postcard phone number.

For All Players:

Below are some future updates we are currently thinking about: 1) Colorblind Mode. 2) There will be at least one mini-game on Gameboi that you can play. 3) The ability to rewrite your progress without losing the access to future days in new game plus. 4) Assist Mode for players who do not want to do tasks at all. (Done in v.1.2.1.) 5) Endless Mode for players who love doing tasks. (Also Leaderboards maybe?) Lastly, thank you all for the reviews and support! :) Love from Iden, Guanpeng

Dear Players, Yes. Booth is OUT on July 22, 2020. Thank you all for the long wait! :) You can grab it now with a discount or, if you're a Humble subscriber, get it in August's Humble Choice. When I wrote down the first line of code, never in the world would I know that it'd take a whole three years to finish. But no doubt, amazing things have happened just as much as the unforeseeable difficulties. I'm forever grateful for everyone who has helped and supported Booth along the way. Even though it is never perfect as my first attempt to make a commercial game, I am confident to say that I've made as few compromises as possible in delivering its content and meaning. I hope you can enjoy playing Booth, and I'm looking forward the most to those of you being able to experience it in positive, personal ways that go far beyond my imagination. Love from Iden, Guanpeng P. S. Join our Official Discord to discuss Booth & future games by Undercurrent Games.