Newlife 0.6.5

Hello everyone, I hope you're all having a good summer so far, even if, like me,  you're stuck indoors most of the time.

Newlife 0.6.5 has been released. Early-access Patrons can find it in the creations section here. The changelog is below.

The previous version is now public. You can download it using the links on the right-hand side of the blog. The public version's changelog is here.

As usual, saved files & templates from older versions probably won't work with newer ones. 

For new players - just use one of the links to the right to get a zipfile containing Newlife. Once unzipped, you'll see a folder containing .jar and .exe files. Either one of these will run the game. 
For either version you'll need to have Java installed. A lot of programs use Java so you might well already have it. If the jar shows up as an unrecognised file type, then you probably don't. In that case you can get it from http://www.java.com/. 
The exe should tell you if you don't have the right version on your computer, but you'll still need to install java to run the game.
There's a guide for new players here which includes some troubleshooting tips for installation & downloading.

This release focuses on consequences for doing badly at work, alongside some new mechanics to make it easier to get in that situation.
 

Major changes & additions:

• Added a new scene where the PC may face consequences for bad work performance. As part of this, I've improved careers to support sacking and demotions. You can re-apply if you get fired, but only after a month and with a penalty at interview.
• You can now play office politics as your work activity when employed. This will improve your office-politics level which counts towards promotions and performance. You don't get skill increases from work when you do this, but office-politics increases faster than skills so it's a faster way to get promotions. However, events could temporarily disable the effect of office politics, and if your performance depends on it then you might find yourself in trouble at work. Getting demoted will drop your politics-points down to -5, so... try not to let that happen.

Minor changes:

• Updated the scene where your partner talks about your pregnancy to better handle cohabiting. Thanks to Saint Destiny for highlighting that this wasn't written well for that situation.
• Baby-crazy characters can no longer ask their partner to use protection when they aren't already pregnant.
• You can no longer exploit your friendship or relationship with the boss in consecutive scenes. So, if you do this to win a promotion then you can't the next time a promotion or trouble-at-work scene pops up. The aim of this change is to allow befriending/dating the boss to give some benefits at work without it being an overwhelming advantage that trivialises poor job performance.
• Added a potential new interview question if you're re-applying for a job you were fired from.
• Slacking off at work is now more effective at reducing stress, but no longer gives skill increases. It now gives a single “office politics point”, to reflect the time you spend getting to know your colleagues.
• Increased work performance penalties from many events, making it more likely that the PC will get in trouble the following week.
• Re-joining the company after leaving can now start you at higher than the entry-level job, though not necessarily as good a job as you held before. This won't happen if you were sacked or if you insulted the boss when quitting though.
• Added a small new random event that disables office-politics.
• The scene where you convince your boss to give you a promotion can now fire earlier (i.e. with a bigger difference between current and expected performance), especially for ambitious characters.
• Added a new action to the boss-persuasion scene where you exploit your connections at the office. This is available if you've been playing office-politics and should make it easier to get promotions earlier.
• It's now a bit easier in general to persuade your boss to give you a promotion. But beware, getting promoted into a position you're not ready for could land you in hot water at work!

Changes for user-submitted content:

• Added the addTempTrait(string,int) method to the player-character, allowing custom scene writers to apply temporary traits. See the context object reference documentation for details.

Bugfixes:

• Fixes to text issues. Thanks to Saint Destiny and NoName for reporting some of these.
• Fixed some omissions to the custom NPC documentation reported by Rigel.
• Fixed an amusing bug with the minidate setup reported by JulianR.Amazing and Revan54 that could lead to the same character appearing in the exlover minidate as both the PC's current partner and her ex.
• Fixed some places reported by NoName where lactation content was using outdated conditions and ignoring traits.
• The endgame scenes will no longer assume it's been more than one week since you started. Thanks to OrangeJuice for reporting this.
• Fixed an issue where the PC's partner had an incorrect reaction to a cuckoo baby. Thanks to Saint Destiny for flagging this up.
• Fixed a bug reported by Brobort where the PC wasn't being paid for street-prostitution.
• Fixed a bug reported by Secondarian where ending a marriage (presumably via the divorce custom scene or similar as this is not possible in 'vanilla' newlife) would force the PC to remain a housewife. Ending a relationship will now automatically switch housewives to the unemployed career.

Enjoy the new version, and let me know if you find any bugs!