Spring 2015 Update

The Spring 2015 update was released on the 13th of April 2015 for iOS players, with release still pending for all other platforms.

The Spring 2015 update introduced a new picture, Flower Shop, 11 new collections, and 70 new quests, making it one of the smallest content updates in the game's history.

Flower Shop
The Spring 2015 Update introduced a new picture to the game called Flower Shop. Flower Shop is the 7th picture in a row to be added to the game that does not reward combining elements. Instead the only rewards are items from 5 of the new collections introduced in the update as well as any collection items that are mode dependent*. There are currently 11 collections whose items are mode dependent*.

When you first unlock Flower Shop, only the first half of the first Flower Shop collection is available to win, but as you progress through the pictures scene progress level more of the 5 Flower Shop collection items open up as potential rewards. This means that when you first open Flower Shop, there is only 8 things in the pictures 'can be found' list (the 3 from the first Flower Shop collection plus 5 items from one of the mode dependent collections), all of which are are collection items. The most items available to win in Flower Shop is 30 (5 each from every Flower shop collection plus 5 items from one of the mode dependent collections), once Flower Shop is at Academician/Magister Level. The poor reward pool for Flower Shop, even at high levels, combined with the fact that all potential items are collection items, which the game rewards system is weighted against, means that receiving no rewards for playing Flower Shop is a common occurrence, even with strong luck talismans activated. Typically, when luck talismans are activated they increase the total number of rewards but they do so by increasing the number of combining elements rewarded more than the number of collection items rewarded. This reduces their effectiveness on pictures that do not reward combining elements.

Like many of the other new pictures that do not reward combining elements, the collection items that are rewarded in Flower Shop are for collections that require a large number of valuable combining elements to combine. But unlike some of the other new pictures that do not reward combining elements, the collections that can be gathered from playing Flower Shop do not have high value rewards when you combine them. Although the mode only collections do give high value rewards when combined and also have lower combining element requirements than many collections in the game, it is worth noting that they can be won by playing any picture in the right mode* and not just Flower Shop, such as pictures that require much less energy to play or those that reward items from useful collections.

The 5 Flower Shop and 11 mode dependent collections that can potentially be won by playing Flower Shop are listed below, along with their combining element requirements and rewards for combining:

*Note: The Spring 2015 update has not fixed the glitch in the game that is currently causing problems for the mode dependent collections, see the section on Glitches Not Fixed by the Spring 2015 Update for more details.

The Christmas2014 Christmas balls and Winter Street
As part of the Christmas 2014 update the picture Winter Street required special items called Christmas balls, in addition to energy points, for each play. The Christmas balls were removed from the game as part of the Spring 2015 update and Winter Street is now a regular picture that just requires energy points to play. The Christmas2014 collections that rewarded Christmas balls as rewards for combining them were also changed to reward regular game items such as Talismans and items to banish anomalies.

At the beginning of the Spring 2015 update, any remaining Christmas balls in a players inventory are converted into equal parts Fireflies, Ladybugs, Carrots and Cupid arrows, the 4 main special items needed to player the regular paid scenes in the game.

Winter Street Make-Over
In addition to becoming a normal picture that just requires energy points to play, the Winter Street picture itself has also been changed slightly. The Christmas Tree on the left hand side of the picture has been removed, as well as the Christmas decorations around the shop front and the presents located in the sleigh and elsewhere in the picture. The scene has also been changed from night time to day time. These changes make the picture less Christmas-centric and more of a general Winter scene.

Large Number Displays
The Spring 2015 changed how the game displays some large numbers on larger screens (e.g. iPad screens). In the case of the energy meter at the top of a players home desktop, the game now uses the symbol 'k' for energy numbers greater than 1000 when displaying the players current energy, but continues to write out the whole number when displaying the players maximum energy. The abbreviated number is not rounded, and so stays the same for all 1000 points, i.e. the meter will display 4K for energy points 4000-4999, meaning it is now difficult for a player to know exactly how much energy they have using the meter once they exceed 1000 energy points. In the picture below, the player currently has 5616 energy points out of a maximum 4195, which is displayed as 5k/4195. To see exactly how many energy points you have, you can use the top1000 list. Go to the friends section, and then go to the top1000 tab. In any category, press 'find me' to be brought to your own entry. Press on your avatar icon to bring up your stats, which will include your energy points in full. If you are not in the top1000 for any category, then press 'friends only' to display the rankings of you and your friends. Press 'find me' in any category and then press your avatar to see your stats. This change only effects the energy meter, the strength meter when visiting friends still displays the numbers greater than 1000 in full. In the case of combining element numbers in the Collections Section, the game now displays numbers greater than 99 as '+99' instead of displaying the total number the player has in their inventory. In the picture below, the player currently has 1482 Treble Clefs, 1000 Bass Clefs, 1036 Alto Clefs, and 1784 Sharps. To see exactly how many of a particular combining element you have, you can just press the box that shows the combining element requirements for that collection to bring up the detailed combining elements screen. The total number of each combining element in your inventory will be displayed. Alternatively, go to the Inventory Section of the game and select the 'different' tab. Here all your combining elements and how many of each you currently have are listed. In the case of tools when playing pictures or puzzles, the game now displays numbers greater than 99 as '+99' instead of displaying the total number the player has in their inventory. In the picture below, the player currently has 182 Seeker's Eyes, 603 Lanterns and 1932 Time Machines. To see how exactly how many of a particular tool you have, go to the Inventory Section of the game and select the 'Tools' tab. The total number of each tool in your inventory will be displayed. In the case of the tools, the game has always displayed numbers greater than 9 as '+9' on smaller screens (such as iPhones). But even on the smaller displays the numbers of combining elements in the collections tab and the amount of energy in the energy meter had always previously been written out in full. Note that now iPhones also display the new number formats seen on larger screen devices including showing the number of tools up to 99 and displays numbers greater than 99 as '+99', just like larger screen devices.

Experience Points earned while visiting glitch
The Spring 2015 update introduced a glitch to the game that drastically reduces the number of experience points a player earns while visiting friends. Prior to the update, players would earn 50 experience points and 50 coins for each picture/puzzle/award they charged on their friend's home desktop while visiting them. Players would also earn an additional 100 experience points and 100 coins (and potentially fireflies and/or ladybugs) for each friend they received a daily bonus for. Visiting friends was a great way to earn experience points as a result.

The Spring 2015 update has reduced the number of experience points earned for each picture/puzzle/award charge from 50 experience points to just 5 experience points. Players still receive 50 coins for each charge as well as the additional 100 experience points and 100 coins for any friend they receive a daily bonus for. But the 90% reduction in experience points earned per charge means that visiting friends is now a terrible way to earn experience points. This may negatively impact the number of players who visit their friends, as with slow servers during updates visiting is very time consuming. Players can still potentially win random collection items while visiting their friends, and these items are still ones that are considered valuable in the game, which will hopefully encourage people to continue to visit their friends.

Level Unlocking Glitch
Originally introduced by the Tavern Update, this glitch causes the game to change the requirements to unlock certain pictures. This means that players must reach higher game levels than expected to unlock these pictures.

This glitch causes the game level number stated at the beginning of the game to change to a higher number once the player reaches the original level. For example, for the Tavern picture itself a new player will see that they must reach level 55 to unlock Tavern. However, as soon as the player reaches level 55 the picture will not unlock and trigger the quest to open the picture. Instead the requirements to unlock Tavern will change to show level 62 instead of level 55. Once the player reaches level 62 the Tavern picture will unlock and they will be able to open it. Below are examples of some of the pictures currently experiencing this glitch, and the true game level a player will need to reach order to unlock those pictures:

Mode dependent items won a play early
Originally introduced by the Treasure Island Update, this glitch results in mode dependent items being won when playing a picture the game before the picture changes into the right mode for those items.

Some items in the game can only be found when playing (any) picture in a certain mode. For example, the items from the Venetian Masks collection can be won when playing a picture in Text mode. This glitch means that a player might win an item from the Venetian Masks collection in any mode, as long as the next mode in that picture is Text mode. The Venetian Masks items will also be available to win in the following play of the picture (in Text mode, which they are supposed to be won in) but players could potentially win an item from the Venetian Masks collection in any other mode (e.g. Night mode) as a result of the glitch.

You can tell which mode will come next in a picture by looking at the items won during the current play, as if any item from a mode dependent collection is won, then that mode will be the next mode in the picture.

Related

 * SS Home
 * Updates
 * Holiday Updates
 * Halloween Update
 * Christmas Update
 * Valentines Update
 * Tavern Update
 * Treasure Island Update
 * Halloween Update 2014
 * Christmas Update 2014
 * Valentines Update 2015
 * List of Pictures
 * Flower Shop
 * Quests
 * Collections
 * Artefacts
 * List of Artefacts