Hi friend!🥰

If you celebrated, we want to wish you a happy belated Easter!🌼 It's time for another update on Cat Cafe Manager 2: Big City Bliss.

https://psteamproxy.yuanyoumao.com/app/3109590/Cat_Cafe_Manager_2_Big_City_Bliss/

We've got quite a bit to dive into, so let's cut right to the chase in this April newsletter. But first, let's roll in the cake, light the candles, and start awkwardly singing, because... 

The first installment of Cat Cafe Manager was released on April 14th, 2022, debuting as our team’s very first game. Back then, we were still a very small team! Roost Games has been steadily growing ever since, and we’re so grateful that we get to continue working on this IP with such a dedicated, tight-knit crew. Hip hip hooray! 🥳

By the end of last month, our beta testing period (for Kickstarter backers in the Beta Cat tier and above) came to a conclusion. All the comments, bug reports, survey answers, and recordings we received are invaluable to us and will help tremendously in making Cat Cafe Manager 2 the best it can be.🫶

It was super encouraging to see how warm the overall response was! We received a lot of enthusiasm, particularly about the cat adoption feature🐱, the introduction of two brand-new characters👋, and the general art style🎨. Our next step is to organize all the survey information we received, and use it to improve as we continue development of the game. 🙏 
🧁As a little treat, we’d like to share a peek behind the curtain of the beta test we ran. Check out an impression of the gameplay our beta testers got to try below!

❗Please remember that this is still very early game development footage - none of it is final.❗

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZnpPQIhjf0&t

Some actors do not care for money or fame - they work for kibbles and ear scratches. Some have a better work ethic than others, though. Tommy🐈‍⬛ and Vosje🐈, who are extremely professional dev team cats, were hired to record their beautiful meows for our game, with... mixed results.🫢

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyq6oGgYwA4

🎧As our sound designer, Sonya was tasked with collecting cat sounds to implement in the game. Below, she explains how she approached this fun task:

~~~
🎤Over the past few weeks, I’ve spent quite some time recording the most important voice actors in the game: cats!🐱 In CCM1, we only used human voices pretending to be cats (which, admittedly, made for some hilarious recording sessions). For CCM2, however, we decided to make a blend of both human and cat sounds. We made this choice because it’s great to have the realism of actual cats, while still being able to create funny and dramatic sounds using human voices.

Recording cats is a challenge in itself.😮‍💨 It’s a bit like trying to work with a musician who keeps running away from you, or who suddenly delivers the most amazing solo right after you stop recording.🤦‍♀️ I found that the best way to go about it is to capture much more material than I need, and then be very critical during the audio selection process. Either way, this aspect of my job has been a great excuse to spend some quality time with cats!
~~~

😸If you have any tips for us on how to capture the best purrs and meows, make sure to let us know below!

In Cat Cafe Manager 2, it's impossible to run your cafe all by yourself. To grow and improve, you need your entrepreneurial friends. Fortunately, they're always willing to lend a helping hand!🙋

For example, what should you do if you'd like to expand your cafe and build a cozy tea corner?🫖 Easy! You head over to your buddy Rusty at his hardware store - he might even bring a hammer and build you your new annex himself!💪 In desperate need of a cat bed that matches your new wallpaper? No problemo. Visit your friend Carla-Lalla at the Pet Emporium to pick out the cutest one she sells.✨

Left-to-right: Rusty (Hardware) -> Arwel (Recipes) -> Kavya (Furniture)

Left-to-right: Carla-Lalla (Cat Essentials) -> Mateo, Who Doesn't Have Official Art Yet (Still a Surprise...)

Lead artist Carmen took a crack at creating concept art for a bunch of shops you'll be able to go to. Which one are you most excited about so far?🤩 

Speaking of shops...👀

Since we’re aiming for a city filled with lots of different small businesses, we want to avoid constant loading screens whenever you enter a building. Instead, we're designing a more seamless (and much cooler) way to transition gameplay from outside to inside.🩷 With dynamic lighting, smooth fade transitions, and some snazzy camera work, even something as simple as walking into your friend’s shop becomes fun and immersive!🚶‍♀️

In the video below, tech artist Tim gives you a little work-in-progress sneak peek of this new entrance system in action. Again, please be aware that this is early gameplay footage still subject to change.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3rBynaOKYE

As you can see, there's plenty of stuff happening behind the scenes, and we can't wait to show you more in the next update! Until then, feel free to connect with us through our socials (Discord[discord.gg], BlueSky[bsky.app], Instagram,[www.instagram.com] Reddit, TikTok[www.tiktok.com] & YouTube) and please wishlist CCM2 if you haven't done so yet! Thank you so much! 🙏

https://psteamproxy.yuanyoumao.com/app/3109590/Cat_Cafe_Manager_2_Big_City_Bliss

We wish you a wonderful second half of April!🐇☀️

Let's talk more soon!
- Claire
(and the rest of Roost Games🪺)

Connect with us:

💜Discord[discord.com]

💙BlueSky[bsky.app]

❤️Instagram[www.instagram.com]

🧡Reddit

💛TikTok[www.tiktok.com]

💚Newsletter[catcafemanager.com]