Everyone, 0.8.1 is here and it's one of the biggest updates we have ever released! Many months of work have all come together, and almost every part of Vitare has been updated - from a completely redesigned interface to a brand new journey for new players. So many of the changes have come straight from your feedback.

There's a lot to get through, so below we've covered the biggest changes first, with the full release notes at the end.

An Updated, New Look

The first thing you'll notice is how different everything looks! As Vitare has grown during our Beta and features built at different times ended up looking and behaving differently from one another. We've now rebuilt the entire user interface so that every panel, menu and button follows the same design language, look and feel.

Along the way we've added a huge number of quality of life improvements, and we'd love to hear what you think of them.

Getting Started / New Players

We've rethought how new players are introduced to Vitare. New players now begin a Getting Started journey which guides them through all of the core gameplay systems, one step at a time, and sets them on the path to owning their very first lot.

Existing players haven't been left out! The first time you play you'll be asked to set up your camera and shown around some of the new interface. If there are parts of the Getting Started journey you haven't tried yet, you can switch it on from Settings -> Preferences.

Saved Outfits & a Faster Persona Creator

Saved outfits are finally here! You can now save your looks in the Persona Creator and swap between them whenever you like, without losing the ones you already have.

We've also made the Persona Creator much more intuitive to use. Save your favourite colours and items so they're always close to hand, and click on any part of your persona to jump straight to it.

Exploring the World

The World Map has had a big overhaul to make it easier to find somewhere to go. The new Discover panel helps you find places, friends and other players, and World View gives you a top-down look at the whole world - complete with a land value heatmap if you're on the hunt for your next lot.

You told us Hot Lots and Top 25 were a little confusing, and we agree that they felt too similar, so we've merged them. Hot Lots now shows off the most popular and most hearted places in Vitare, and there's a new reason to aim for the top - the best lots in each category can now win a weekly V$ reward every Sunday night (UTC time)!

Room to Grow

One of the biggest pieces of feedback we've had was about how lots expand. Lots now sit at the very front of their plot, and when you upgrade, they grow out from the sides and the back rather than outwards from the middle. That makes planning a long term build far easier, and it has also allowed us to add streets and roads to every lot. There's more to come on this in future!

Looking for someone to share your home with? Lot owners can now advertise for a roommate, and anyone interested can respond straight from the world map.

Shop Mode on Any Lot

You can now open Shop Mode while visiting other players' lots, so if you spot something you love, you can buy it there and then and it'll go straight into your inventory. There's also a new Featured page showing the most popular items, along with anything that has dropped in price if you're looking for a bargain!

Vitare Plus Has Arrived

As we shared in our other blog post, Vitare Plus - our optional monthly subscription - is now live.

It was shaped by what you told us when we asked how Vitare should be supported. There are no pay-to-win mechanics or unfair advantages, so you won't get anything like faster skill speeds or higher money payouts from objects, and nothing has been taken away from free players. Vitare Plus is a way to support Vitare if you'd like to, with some extras to enhance how you play - such as more saved outfit slots, more lots and more roommates.

You can find out everything it includes or read more about why we're launching it in our Vitare Plus announcement.

And Plenty More

As always, there's a long list of smaller changes and fixes too. One we do want to call out relates to cooking meals. Now that cooking and baking have arrived, you can only Cook a Meal from the fridge on a lot you own or are a roommate on. We've done this to encourage hosting and exploring other players' lots. Though, Grab a snack is now available to everyone on any lot, whatever their skill level.

Edge scrolling has also arrived, so you can pan the camera by moving your mouse to the edge of the screen, and you can now join a friend to wherever they are straight from the Friends panel.

Thank you to everyone who has played, sent feedback and reported bugs - so much of this update came directly from you, and we can't wait to hear what you think!

Full Release Notes

User Interface

  • The entire user interface has been updated
  • Every feature and interface has been brought in-line to follow the same design language, look and feel
  • Many enhancements and new quality of life features throughout

Getting Started

  • New players will now be assigned a "Getting Started" journey which guides them through all of Vitare's core gameplay systems and on the path to lot ownership
  • Gameplay guides now exist and are accessible from the Settings menu, and players will be taken through them on their devices. You can opt in or out from Settings -> Preferences
  • Existing players will be asked to configure their camera on their first run, and taken through some of the new UI
  • Existing players can go into Settings -> Preferences to turn on the Getting Started guide if they haven't done some of the tasks within it

Persona Creator

  • You can now save your outfits, making it easier than ever to swap to a new look without losing existing ones. Free players get 1 saved outfit slot, subscribers get up to 5
  • Save your favourite colours to re-use throughout the Persona Creator, drag them into different colour slots on outfits and hair, and save your favourite items so they're easier to find
  • Click on any body part or piece of clothing to navigate directly to it in the Persona Creator

World Map

  • The Discovery Panel has been overhauled to make it easier to find places, friends and other players
  • World View gives a top-down view of the world alongside a land value heatmap
  • Categories have clear explanations of the benefits they offer to visitors
  • Map markers are now consistent and will show when lot owners or roommates are present
  • Hot Lots and Top 25 have been merged as they were too similar and confusing. Hot Lots remain and showcase the most popular and most hearted places. Top lots in each category will now be able to win a weekly V$ reward on Sundays!
  • Neighbourhood names are now visible on the world map terrain and integrated into the Discover Panel
  • For Sale properties are now also visible

Lots

  • Lot owners can now advertise if they're looking for a roommate in the Lot Management Panel. Anyone interested can respond to the advertisement from the world map
  • The Lot Management Panel now shows the category benefits so you know what each lot category offers
  • Lots are now at the very front of the grid square and expansions go from the sides and at the back, rather than expanding out centrally. This addresses feedback about lot upgrades so it's easier to expand your lot long term. It has also allowed us to add streets and roads to each lot - more to come for this in future

Shop Mode

  • You can now access Shop Mode on other players' lots - anything purchased goes into your inventory
  • New tools including an eyedropper for placing the same items and an off-grid button for free placement
  • New "Featured" page showing the most popular items, as well as items which have gone down in price if you're looking for a bargain!

Vitare Plus

  • Our optional monthly subscription, built with feedback from the community with no pay-to-win mechanics or unfair advantages (i.e. you won't get faster skill speeds, higher money payouts from objects, etc)
  • Acts as a way to support Vitare, for those who are interested, by offering benefits to enhance your gameplay
  • Provides more saved outfit slots, lot size upgrades, multi-lot ownership, more roommates, and custom chat colours
  • Learn more at vitaregame.com/membership or via a prompt in-game

General Improvements & Changes

  • Crafting lot speed increased from 1.1x to 1.2x, bringing it more in-line with other category types
  • To incentivise hosts and exploration, you can now only Cook Meal from the fridge on a lot you own or are a roommate on, following the arrival of cooking and baking. Grab a snack is now accessible to all skill levels on any lot
  • "Serve Meals..." for crafting has been removed from the fridge and is now exclusively on oven objects to initiate the crafting activity
  • Edge scrolling: move your mouse cursor to the edges to pan the game camera. Enable or disable it in Settings
  • Sound effects and music now default to 50% for new players
  • Invite a friend to your location from the Friends panel
  • Roommates can now pay to repair objects
  • Cost of object repairs adjusted slightly to incentivise players to call on other players with high Engineering skill
  • Money objects are now faster
  • Fix: Transparent lot thumbnail bug where some thumbnails captured nothing
  • Fix: Money daily object amounts in-game will now show correctly when they're updated