Daily employment held importance in the original Dehoarder as one of two ways by which to earn money, and was the only way to earn money consistently. Since money plays a larger role in Dehoarder 2, jobs will be making a return in expanded fashion.
In the original Dehoarder, your character held an unspecified night shift job that paid a fixed $100 per day and advanced time to the next morning. This did the trick for the 48-hour compo game that Dehoarder was, though leaves a bit to be desired in the Character Development department of Dehoarder 2.
In Dehoarder 2, you will start out with no job. However, you will find that each newspaper holds a potential job that you can take on. Each job has different hours, different pay, and has differing effects on your mood, energy, and health levels. The better jobs require an upfront fee for training. Starting the day after you accept a job, on each day at the appointed start time, your character will automatically go to work, earn money, and return home.
This wound up feeling a lot like choosing a career path in The Sims. Unlike The Sims, though, you will not necessarily advance up a career ladder per se. Instead, each job has a “big break” that can occur under the right circumstances. The “big break” will propel your character several steps forward in career, will come with a sizable money bonus and substantial raise, and will help your character find purpose in life.
Your character will have good days and bad days at work. These will be influenced by both your mood and random chance. If you string enough bad days together, you will probably get fired. A run of good days may result in a bonus and will likely also contribute to the “big break” for the job.
As for the jobs themselves, right now there are 13: Supercenter Cashier, Call Center Operator, Fast Food Associate, Mail Room Clerk, Boutique Salesperson, Medical Billing Assistant, Beauty Technician, Information Technology Support, Paper Carrier, Casual Restaurant Server, Personal Care Assistant, Security Guard, and Real Estate Agent. In true Dehoarder “start from the bottom” fashion, many of these jobs are entry level positions, and all are based on real-world jobs. Also in the Dehoarder spirit, the company and job descriptions bitingly satirize, lampoon, and sensationalize their real-world parallels.
With the implementation of this system, there are very few core systems remaining to be developed. The main ones left are expansion of bin capacity, and the ability to buy and place furnishings. I’m hoping that I can implement these remaining systems this month, and then spend July polishing and preparing for my Greenlight push.