The second demo of Elven Revenue Service, version 1.2, is now available. Some of the changes are listed below, starting with this update's biggest new content: the Tavern Management System!

The Tavern Management System adds a new element to the business side of the game, enhancing the experience and offering more control to the player over their earnings. 

The main component of the Tavern Management System is the bar's inventory.  Players must ensure that the bar has adequate stock of three different beverage types on hand to sell: Beer, Wine, and Spirits/Liquor. Just as in reality, there are different kinds of beer, wine, and spirits of varying quality and complexity, with each container having its own set volume and price point. Players can influence the amount of money they earn at the end of each night in-game by choosing which variety of each type to put on special. This also ties into the Nightly Event system that already existed, as these events and how players handle them will shape the bar's attendance that night.

Players will also have the chance to do some prep before opening the bar each night. New beverages may be ordered from the distributor, either to replace something that's run out or merely to change up the special to encourage higher sales. The distributor always has at least one beverage from each category available, but may sometimes have more. There are even some beverages with limited availability that only come from Nightly Events! New varieties that have yet to be encountered will have a yellow marker, just to tip off players that these may be worth looking into. In the future, the different beverages a player encounters may be viewable through a Beverage Catalog, adding a collection aspect and access to the flavor text of each item. Still looking into this, so if you want to see it, speak up!

On to the proper patch notes:

• Added everything needed for the Tavern Management System: sprites for each item, interfaces and menus, tutorials/help windows, etc.
  • At present, there are 3-4 different beverages of each type, some rarer than others. The final game will include more.
  • Volume, cost, and selling prices for  each item are temporary, and will likely change in the future as the system is balanced further. The items are set so as to be almost impossible to consume in one night at present.
• Changes to Nightly Events to integrate them into the Tavern Management System. This includes one entirely new event to help demonstrate how rarer beverage varieties are obtained.
• Some of the demo's end points for certain routes were altered so as to ensure players actually encounter the Tavern Management System on each playthrough of the demo.
• A tooltip was added to certain choice menus to highlight exactly what the decision will entail, particularly if that decision will cost Gold. The split between "outside path" and "inside path" is also elaborated, to help players pursuing a certain character.
• Demo End screen was altered to include a link to the new mailing list. Consider subscribing when you make it there!
• Various typos and minor bugs fixed.