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PC Building Simulator – a console update (addendum)

HELLO PC BUILDERS!

As alluded to in various replies and comments, we’ve been working on bringing another console update to all platforms, today we’re covering some of the focal points for the upcoming patch and, as before, a rough release date – Q4 2021

For information on the last update and the road it came in on, check out the previous blog post here.

FIXES AND IMPROVEMENTS

Top of the list of focal points, we’re working on addressing several prominent issues reported or discovered following the previous mega update. This time around we’ve also been able to expand our testing on console variant models by securing additional units for QA. Additionally, we’d like to offer a special thanks to the players we’ve spoken to over the last few months regarding reproduction steps for more complex issues.

DUST REMOVAL:

Currently, jobs involving dust removal can lead to issues with objective completion tracking, particularly when attempted on high performance console models. Whilst players can typically finish the objective with a workaround – removing and reinserting the PC’s power supply – in our next update this will only require virtual canned air as Uncle Tim intended.

NINTENDO SWITCH – JOB GENERATION:

For fans on the Switch, we’ve continued to adjust the game for the platform – particularly addressing optimisation issues around job creation. In this patch we’ve done some significant tinkering to the way random PCs are generated, reducing overhead and leading to same or better results even with the introduction of new parts mentioned further down.

XBOX – GDK VS UWP:

Last on the list of technical callouts in today’s blog, power users may be aware of Microsoft’s moves to shift support from UWP applications in favour of their more advanced GDK platform for supporting games on Xbox and the Windows Store.

On Xbox and Windows Store, PC Building Simulator is currently made as a ‘Play Anywhere’ title using UWP so these changes have led us to do a couple of things. Firstly we’ll be updating the UWP version of the game which players currently have installed. This will address as many issues as possible from dust removal to some of the elements leading to instability. It also aims to let players with limited bandwidth continue to enjoy the game without forcing them through a large download.


Finally, we’re investigating re-releasing the game using GDK which grants us a greater degree of support from the team at Microsoft going forward. We’ve also found that it solves a number of stability issues in our current testing. New players and players who reinstall the game after patch day will get this version of the game if it goes to final release. It’s worth mentioning here that a key consideration for us throughout testing is that players’ existing saves work seamlessly with both versions.

NEW PARTS PARITY

Our secondary focal point has been bringing the latest parts from our next PC version to all console platforms, as before this requires a round of additional art optimisation for players to see expected performance. This time we’re adding just over 100 additional parts including the latest AMD RX 6000 series graphics cards so, to borrow popular words of the hour, ‘please look forward to it’.

GET THE LATEST NEWS!

Looking for some pre-console-update consolation? Need a place to argue RGB vs Stealth builds? Working on an OptiPlex and debating which power supply to splice in? Hang out with us on all our official platforms here:

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