Oil Sheik news & patch notes

• The mission selection screen now automatically highlights the next available sub-mission. Previously, it always defaulted to the main chapter overview, which could make it seem as if progress wasn't being saved.
• The 'End Turn' button is now correctly highlighted when it becomes the only valid action for a player (for example, after placing a tile when no stocks are available to purchase).

Puzzles

• Pre-set starting conditions on the board.
• Specific objectives to achieve within a limited number of turns.
• A focus on finding optimal strategies and solutions – efficiency is key!

Missions

Star Rating System

• 0 Stars: Objective failed.
• 1 Star: Objective met (generally achievable).
• 2-3 Stars: Awarded for exceeding the basic objective, often requiring more optimized play and presenting a significant challenge depending on the specific mission or puzzle.

What's Next?

Feedback & Community (Readme)

Important Note on Pricing & Early Access

Technical Side Notes

Video Resolution

• The game currently defaults to 1920x1080 Windowed mode, as this provides the most consistent experience with the current UI layout.
• You can press F11 to toggle between Windowed and Fullscreen Windowed modes.
• The game is primarily designed and tested for 16:9 and 16:10 aspect ratios (like 1920x1080, 2560x1440 and so on). Most resolutions matching these ratios should work well.
• Ultrawide monitor support (e.g., 21:9) is not yet implemented. In Fullscreen Windowed mode on these monitors, the game view will likely be cropped at the top and bottom, as letterboxing (black bars) is not currently active.
• As a potential workaround for fullscreen on ultrawide displays, you could try setting your monitor's resolution in Windows to a standard 16:9 or 16:10 resolution (like 2560x1440 or 1920x1080) before launching the game. This isn't ideal but might provide a temporary solution until dedicated support is added.

Input Methods

• The game is primarily designed and intended to be played with a mouse.
• Several keyboard shortcuts have been added for actions like quickly selecting companies for trading.
• While basic keyboard-only and gamepad support exists, allowing the game to be technically played without a mouse, these input methods are considered experimental. They haven't undergone extensive testing beyond my own, so behavior might not always be perfect. Feedback on these alternative input methods is welcome via Discord!

• Cursor Hotspot: Adjusted the cursor hotspot for improved accuracy and feel.
• Tutorial Save: The game will now correctly and immediately save your progress upon completing the tutorial.
• Merger Window Crash: Fixed a bug that caused the merger window to close unexpectedly, preventing further gameplay.
• Tutorial Tile Bug: Resolved an issue in the tutorial where a tile was being distributed twice, halting progress.
• Stock UI value: Corrected a display error, the "increment per tile" value in the stock UI now displays the correct value.

Key Additions & Improvements:

• New Player Tutorial: I've implemented a basic tutorial to guide new players through the core mechanics of Oil Sheik. This will ensure a smoother learning curve and allow players to quickly grasp the playstyle.
• Revamped AI Opponents: The AI has received a significant overhaul. AI opponents now utilize multiple, dynamic investment strategies, adapting their tactics based on the evolving game state.
  • The "Very Easy" AI difficulty has been tuned to provide a more accessible experience for players practicing mergers or aiming for high scores.
  • "Medium" and "Advanced" AI difficulties now offer a significantly more challenging and strategic experience. I plan further AI improvements for future updates.
• Player Customization: Express yourself with new customization options! Players can now personalize their experience with selectable card backs and profile pictures. A selection of initial options is available, and I have implemented a test of the in-game shop, with low placeholder prices in exchange for in-game currency, awarded with every game played.
• Expanded Input Support: Oil Sheik now features full support for keyboard and controller inputs, in addition to the existing mouse/touchpad controls. I've personally spent over 50 hours testing to ensure a smooth and responsive experience across all supported input methods. I encourage players to report any encountered issues. This is a key step towards my goal of full Steam Input integration and Steam Deck support in the near future.

Tariff Wars (Game Mode) Adjustments:

• Ronald Dump Tweet Frequency: The frequency of random tweet events from Ronald Dump has been reduced to approximately 8% per turn, resulting in a less disruptive flow of gameplay. The probabilities for positive (10% per turn) and negative (20% per turn) dividend effects remain unchanged.

Other Notable Changes:

• Visual Updates: Company icons and various UI elements have been refreshed for improved visual clarity and appeal.
• Steam Cloud Synchronization: Game progress and player statistics are now seamlessly synced with Steam Cloud, ensuring data persistence across devices.
• Steam P2P Networking Preparation: Significant progress has been made on the underlying code to support Steam P2P networking. While originally slated for this update, additional testing is required to ensure a stable and reliable experience. P2P networking remains my top development priority and will be available in the next update. (End of March 2025)
• Improved Card Distribution: The algorithm for card distribution has been refined to ensure a more randomized and balanced tile pool for players.
• Extensive Bug Fixes and Improvements: Over 100 individual tasks, including hotfixes, bug fixes, and animation improvements, have been addressed to enhance overall game stability and performance.

Looking Ahead:

OIL SHEIK - TRADE WARS Event, Patch Notes

• Agent Orange - "Defeat Ronald Dump"
• A giant D.O.U.G.E - (Be investigated by the D.O.U.G.E by creating a special merger composition..)

• US Fracking Inc is always the first company to appear on the board.

• Takeovers can no longer be declined! Even if the deal is atrociously bad.
• If US Fracking Inc takes over either Maple Leaf Oil or Mehican Inc. hazards are introduced: There's a 50% chance a converted tile increases the stock price of the acquiring company at double its effect. At the same time there's a high chance that the takeover offer to the shareholders of Maple Leaf and Mehican is up to 25% worse. (different for each player, random number between 0% and 25% worse)
• China Oil joins the competition by offering up to 50% bonus on mergers with Russian Oil & Gas.
• Ronald Dump, as a player, is excluded from all those hazards. Good or bad.
• Investing in general becomes more risky and volatile: At the end of a round there's a random chance to either: 1) Double ALL dividend income, 2) Having to hand over ALL your dividends to Ronald Dump as a 25% Tariff on your stock portfolio 3) Get Lucky and go under the radar, unpunished

January

• Global Leaderboards have been added to the game.
• More audio and visual hints have been added to make behind the scenes calculations less opaque.

February

• Add more different card backs and make them available in game as either rank rewards, level rewards
• Support for Input other than the mouse (Controller, Keyboard)
• Switch between full-screen and windowed mode
• Launch a shop that allows players to buy profile pictures for in-game currency.
• Smarter AI opponents
• Anything players come up with, and let me know of, what they'd think should be in the game.

So, what's new?