Woohoo! Beta 9 is here! 
First off - HUGE, HUGE, HUGE improvements to loading speed. My big save game file was taking over 9.5 minutes to load prior to beta 9. Now it loads in under a minute! Woo!! Also, things seem even faster now when transitioning from buildings/garages to the main map.
A couple annoying things were fixed: some of the previous new Employee animations - although awesome to look at - made the cash register serving time too long. This has been fixed with newer shorter animations. And now if a pedestrian is in the way of a delivery pallet, the delivery wonāt cancel! Hurray!
Parking Garages are pretty fun. They add a nice level of immersion, but also give you a way to get your caravan of cars off the streets! And now you can add a fleet of boats and a yacht. Itās a nice way to show off your wealth and have a quick, major boost to happiness by going inside! I still want to host a club party, but maybe that will come with the club update in the future Cool that weāre getting a taste of some more things that will be Gold DLC exclusive once the game transitions to Steam (the big yacht and parking garages)
Next, Coffee Makers, ovens, wardrobes and bookshelves! The Coffee machine perk was little too expensive previously, but this coffee maker fixes that! And up until now Iāve been decorating my home with the industrial items, so itās nice to have some more āhomeā looking decor! Plus, lots of existing items got new textures and designs including many/most of the AI business logos which really add to the immersion!
Soooo many more Persona Goals. Some are good goals for building your businesses, some are just fun. These will be attached to Steam Achievements, so that will be fun too! I enjoy little progress marks goals to hit while expanding my empire.
Speaking of the empire - the customers now demand things. They want you to upgrade your floors and walls (interior designer) as well as purchase a few items to make their experience better. With customized decor, music playing, and a few of the new booths or changing stations, you can make sure everyone stays happy and the money keeps flowing! Also, now if you āaccidentallyā hit them with your car, they donāt flip your car over, they just glitch out as you drive through them. Iām going to invent my own backstory for thisā¦itās because secretly this is the matrix and none of this is real - Uncle Fred is harvesting your good ideas for his own businesses.
Early game storyline has changed slightly, but like usual they are minor things that help guide the new players into the game. As a creature of habit, I keep trying to go to the old apartment, but I do think the new location makes more sense and is more centrally located for all the stuff you need to do. Speaking of the Uncle Fred storyline, it now takes you out to the end game and leaves a little tease for the future, maybe some DLC down the road?
Also, you can die of old age now, but you have to play for a LONG time for that to happen! The hospital is a whole hospital now with an interior and everything. Not only is this what you see when you pass out from exhaustion, thereās also a little bit more in there if you get far enough into the game!
Anyhoo, loving the update! Excited for the game to transition into Early Access!!
