Retroronto v043 November Update

Retroronto’s last update of the year is here, and it’s a big one! This month introduces several new gameplay systems that give players more ways to progress, earn, and explore beyond their daily grind. These new mechanics add depth and momentum to life in the city, helping Retroronto take another big step toward its full vision.

Alongside these updates come plenty of polish and behind-the-scenes improvements, ensuring smoother play and a more cohesive city experience overall. It’s been a busy stretch of development, but a satisfying one to close out the year with.

As development pauses briefly for the holidays, we’ll be taking time to rest, reflect, and plan what’s next for Retroronto heading into 2026. A huge thanks to everyone who’s followed along, shared feedback, or played the demo, your support has helped make this project what it is today!

🕹️ Play the demo: https://starspray-studios.itch.io/retroronto 📰 Read our devblog: https://www.starspraystudios.com/devblog/retroronto-report-13 📣 Join our Discord: https://discord.gg/KyCAE4YRaS

See you all next year, and thanks again for being part of the journey through Retroronto! CHANGES/FIXES: - Fixed a bug where buying sodas at LcMacs would give the player coffee instead

• Fixed a bug where some freezer items in stores couldn't be consumed

• Adjusted Energy UI to now dynamically scale based on the player's max Energy (in turn affected by the health stat)

• Fixed a bug where newspapers couldn't be bought or read

• Adjusted 'stickiness' of UI controls in character customization (for the 3rd time sheesh)

• Adjusted sorting orders of bench-presses in gym

• Resume items will not be consumed if the player doesn't get hired

• Paycheques have been adjusted to include the job level in the total score, multiplying the total

• Landmark Tasks now generate target arrows to their locations when task is active

• Landmark Tasks when finished now grant a smart stat

• Fixed a bug where the Commerce Court Landmark Place and Park place overlapped during the Landmark Task

• Fixed a bug where icons on the city map wouldn't scale up

• Fixed a Bug where the InputUI would say 'Talk' when interacting with Dogs, now they say 'Pet'

• Fixed a bug where the roommate NPC wouldn't generate after every subsequent visit to the basement apartment

• Fixed a bug where exiting fridges at homes with Esc would open the phone menu inadvertently

ADDITIONS: - Added a portion of a progression system, for Health, Smarts, and Charm stats for the player

• Added a Resume Menu when using the Library computer, that will show the player their stats.

• Manager dialogue will now check the player stats before hiring them

• When hired, Managers will give multiple choices for Work, Applying for Promotions, Quitting, and Leaving the conversation

• Managers can now promote the player based on their stats, increasing their job level and changing their job name

• Added new library bookshelf dialogue for explaining new stats system

• Added a book reading mechanic to raise Smarts stat, can get a book at one of the bookshelves in the Library

• Added a weight-lifting mechanic at a benchpress in the Gym to raise Health stat

• Talking to NPCs slowly grows Charm stat every 5 conversations

• Added basic Stat UI beside Energy UI

• Jobs now have job levels that multiply the player's pay, gained from promotions

• Libraries behave like stores when grabbing books, player needs to check book out with librarian before leaving

REMOVALS: - Library Computer no longer has holding mechanic