can i ask sth why you want to delete real file? if do the save in same will not rewrite? or you mean difference to start new game or start a load file because i had an issue with this but i think you can have for new file a default saved files with values. I think defsave.default_data does this check inside lua of defsave is written. If i am wrong maybe @Pkeod that wrote it can tell us a solution. Thanks
Because player can delete save file) I mean if for whatever reason he wants to do it, he can. And after deletion the file is empty but left on the player’s computer like garbage.
I will try solutions from @britzl and report what worked. And default_data is for initialization of empty loaded file (like not existing in a first place), but i want to delete file)
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ah so you want complete deletion when the player give such order through game. 
you are advanced me still do the save and load at news sim to work, you even thought deletion by player. Ok keep up the good work I liked this you mention for music too. Thanks
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Rebecca Black - Friday playing in the distance
Hello guys and welcome to yet another devpost.
Save system
Back to the last blogpost’ topic. Thanks to @britzl advice i managed to delete deleted save files from players computer) Also i finally completed the system, at least in version 1.0. Spend several days trying to load everything properly and it was a nightmare at some points 
But not it works fine)
Geography
One of the topics which was brought on that big play session: players mostly do not know geography and for them it’s very hard to find countries on maps and corresponding zoos. On the other hand i don’t any have problems with it and it looks like a survival bias error. Cause i don’t even thought about it.
So i will probably include another option to show some help labels on the map. One of the easiest will be zoo labels. It is easy to add label to zoo .go object, but when map is zoomed out and zoos are close together, all labels can turn into mess. I will probably turn off labels in that case or make them transparent, but it still an issue.
Also i can label countries, but there is even bigger problem: some countries are very small and it will be misleading to have the same font size for labels on all countries - some will just overlap. And the same problem on zoomed out case.
What do you guys think about it? Maybe there are some other ways to approach this problem. At any case that’s all for today. I have some great news, but i can’t talk about them right now 
. Till next week.
4 Likes
Kalispera @russelkgd I think that you should put labels on when the map is zoom out . So player see where is and go there where wants and zoom in. Thanks
Friday, again! Today i have for you some development progress and big announcement.
Geography
I made first attempt to create zoo names on map. When zoo is isolated it works fine: it nicely fade in and out. But when other zoos are near, they all are mixed together and i do not know how to approach this. I can see only one solution - to show zoo names if player hover mouse on zoo icon.
Here is in action:
Look at this mess 
For now i will probably leave it as is and return to it with fresh ideas or maybe completely remove this option.
Check click
@Denis_Makhortov wrote to me with proposed optimization options for his Check_click extension. I have tested them and can say that they really worked). Load time was decreased almost by 50% with some space optimization as well. You can check it here ImageTransparencyCalculator - Check sprite on click
Announcement time
First of all Zoo Economy Steam page is finally available. You can already add game to your wishlist and i encourage you to do that 
. Even if you do not like the game it can help me to get more coverage in the store.
Also i would like to announce that Zoo Economy is coming to Early Access this fall. Specific date, roadmap and other details will come shortly, so stay tuned. A lot of things left to do and even more after entering Early Access.
That’s all for today. See you next week maybe with even bigger news.
8 Likes
Wow, awesome progress! Congrats on launching your Steam page.
I think that not showing the zoo names until they are hovered over (or even clicked on) wouldn’t be an issue at all. If you want to show some names, maybe you could just show the names of a few ‘big zoos’ worldwide and leave the rest as just icons. This is what sites like Google Maps do for search results – a few popular results might show their names, but most will just be ‘result’ place markers.
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Thanks)
I think it’s a great idea to show “big zoos”, i will defenetly try it. Maybe also show only “distant” zoos and zoos which are near each other only show when hover. But it will probably create not great UX for the player.
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Hello and welcome again to another dev diary.
My animals
Small changes were made to the look of the animal detailed view. Mating calendar was remade to show more clearly in which months this animal specie can get pregnant. Also it got bigger) Currently unused Encyclopedia button was removed and new free space was used to move down some elements. And it should look better than before. Maybe in the future Encyclopedia button will return but in way of small button with info icon, we’ll see.
Before
After
Breeding Calendar
I’ve been busy rebuilding Breeding menu and My Zoo menu. For better understanding when animals can breed i’ve added calendar where player can see which animal in which month can breed. It kinda similar to the calendar from My animals, but here will be all animals (if player has at least one male and one female animal of this specie)
It seems i will need to add filter to the calendar, to show “some” animals. But this task for another time.
Also i looked into the code i have written for breeding system and i do not know how it worked all that time). For example i messed up with Golden Eagle and it could not breed 
. There was also some other errors, but i fixed them all (hopefully). In any case that’s all for today.
6 Likes
Kalispera @russelkgd I think you should not let encyclopedia out because game like your that has info usualy to players like to read things and info about the animals or zoos , as is a game come from reality.
Thanks keep up the good work and come vote to my poll when you have time 
No no, Encyclopedia still exists and player can access it from Pause menu and Main menu. I just removed button from this screen)
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Hello and welcome to quick development update.
Campaign
This week i was reorganizing game’s documentation, tables and content. During this process i decided that i need to change “first” non-tutorial mission in the Campaign. That’s lead to adding two new missions to a total of 11 missions. Of course it’s not the final number, and some of this missions has only idea and text description and they are not payable in the game. And even some of them are based on mechanics which are not in the game)
Except two tutorials missions all missions based on real life events and that’s why seeking for an idea for one mission i found idea for another one. Mission can be based on construction of the biggest Aquarium in Europe or on black bear cub saved from wildfire and who became a “living symbol” of U.S. Forest Service campaign for preventing wildfires.
Players Profile
While preparing for Steam integration i also decided to finally create players profile to track campaign progress and unlocked achievements. It will be also used to unlock achievements and maybe to store some additional data. I again have no clear opinion on to lock campaign missions or not. By locking i mean that if player didn’t finish mission 4, he can’t start any further missions 5,6,7 etc.
And that’s it. Til’ next week 
4 Likes
Looks nice, mang! I would probably change “grownup” to “mature”
2 Likes
Thanks. Yes, i suppose it would be better change to “mature”
Yep. It’s friday again. I missed last friday, because i was busy with other stuff and nothing new or at least nothing new that i can speak of was up. At any case, let’s go.
New demo
I would like to announce that new and free demo will be available during Steam Autumn Festival, starting from October 7. And after that, links to the “old” demo, posted here will be deleted, as its no longer represent current game status.
New content
In anticipation of new demo and release in early access i have been adding more content to the game. Right now, 30 zoos and 37 animals are ready and 3 more animals left to add. Big expansions with birds and water creatures will be added later.
My zoo update
My Zoo menu wasn’t very informative and to get basic details you have to go in submenus. I have updated this menu and, yes, i can admit that it looks too “heavy” right now. So this will be fixed in next redesign . More details, more icons, more clear buttons naming and template for future “Research” update.
Before
After
Rating update
Zoos rating was created as one “entity” and player can only see this number and position in Global rating. So this was addressed also. Rating was splitted into sub ratings: Animals, Conservation, Capacity, Research. And total ratings its just a combination of all this ratings. Basically you can guess how this ratings are calculated from their naming. Conservation -> more endangered animals more rating, Animals -> more animals more rating, etc. To represent this changes, rating menu was also redesigned.
Before
After
Finances
I finally created Finances menu, where player can see how income and spending are calculated. Later player can loan money and take part in various marketing programs. Also here he can set spending for maintenance (decrease chances of animal escape) and for medical (decrease chances of animal getting ill)
That’s all. See you next time. 
7 Likes
Kalispera @russelkgd in the last one with finances where you say total sum will do calculation of income and expenses yes? and give the amount? + or - yes? thanks keep up the good work
Kalispera I mean at " total sum is added " is there a calculation of + and - to see player what left for him every month? thanks
The player will get total sum, which consists of income and spending. So if spending is more than income, the total sum will be subtracted from current player’s money. Otherwise it will be added.
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Happy friday evening everyone 
New animals
Someone on twitter said that we have wrong image for Hamadryas Baboon and he was right) So we have to redrawn that one. Also we draw new animals: Meerkat, Emu, Ili pika, Ring tailed lemur, Asian small-clawed otter, Snow Leopard and Asian water monitor.
Finances
Work continues on the finances menu. Right now i m working on ‘Marketing’ part. Here player can take part in various marketing strategies to attract more people to the zoo. Campaign missions will have specific strategies and for sandbox they will be just generated. For example a collaboration between airline and zoo, like animals will be painted on planes or used in advertisement. So player is paying some amount per month and get increase, for example, of +5% of overall zoo income. Or make lion a mascot of some company and this lion will get x2 income. I hope to finish it next week
Sounds
We are also working on brand new sounds for almost all aspects of the game, from transitions to notifications sounds.
That’s all. This week was full of internal staff and management, so see you next week.
6 Likes