Learning Factory News

Hey factory workers!

Do you know what Learning Factory and black holes have in common? The game is sucking out our time and attention, just like a black hole is consuming the very fiber of the Universe around it. But most importantly: black holes are very heavy and condensed - the same way as Learning Factory is becoming a more complex and concentrated game with each update. Especially now, when the 1.0 release is just around the corner. Here, let us show you!

A question that we asked ourselves more than once in these diaries: what is Catopia? The answer is out there, but it is so deep and intricate, that human minds of the first half of the XXI century cannot contemplate it. Cats of the future know what Catopia is, but they wouldn't bother explaining it to inferior food bringers (that would be us, fellow human reader).

All we know is whenever cats’ needs are met, they reach a superior state of being in total satisfaction, and start feeling a sudden urge to make other cats happier (which is not what cats normally do). So don't bother yourself with what is Catopia, and focus on how can you spread it around the Universe!



Apparently, it implies building and equipping an expeditionary space ship (codenamed ‘Catopia Ark’), and send a mission to the stars and other feline worlds, where your enlightened cats will teach their bretheren the secret of living in abundance.



The ship will consist of several blocks. Each needs to be researched and built separately, and then packed with goods and crew members:



Building one of those ships will be the formal ending of the game, but it's not the story finale, it's just the base for it: we've got some ideas on how to expand it. And of course, the final story comics is still to be drawn - those who played games in the 90s know that no decent game ends without a cartoon or comics in the end!

But generally, it's safe to say, that after this update is released, Learning Factory will be a complete game, one that you can play from the tutorial to the credits! Hooray? Hooray indeed!

Let's make some noise to celebrate: another big leap for us towards the release is giving voice to Dr. Katz. It wasn't part of the initial development plan, to be honest, but we experimented internally with AI-generated voice, and decided that it suits the game very well, while also helping highlight key events.

So we have partnered with the very talented actor Ali Gohar, who has done a great job impersonating a mad feline scientist:

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

These takes above are work in progress, though at least some of them will likely make it into the game. Our main reference was one very famous classic sci-fi character. Could you guess who it was? Let us know your best guess in the comments!

Speaking of content: some minor changes and new mechanics will continue emerging in the game - it's time for some fine tuning! In the last update, for example, we've added a bunch of new recipes and finally introduced the map-wide grid for more convenient building placement:



We also introduced a short-ranged teleport for items (known as Telemanipulator):



…along with an upgrade for Cat Gate that allows you to get rid of unused items, donating it to random cats of the Universe:



More perky little stuff like that will likely appear in the game, but it's not going to happen before we're done with re-renderig buildings and updating the game's interface. The latter will also make a partial appear in the upcoming update, here's a little teaser for you:



A (technical) story finale, new interface, and some voiceover - Learning Factory is making a huge leap towards its final form this December!

Stay tuned next week for the last major Learning Factory update of the year. We’ll return to you with the next edition of these diaries in 2024, to recap all the wonderful changes that happened at Learning Factory in the past year. Happy Holidays! Come celebrate this epic year in video games industry with us on our Discord server!

Bugs happen! But we'll keep working on making Learning Factory digital pest-free for you! Enjoy this small yet handy bug fix.

Hey factory workers!

At this stage of development, it's safe to say: if we release a modest update, that means something really big is in the works. We wish we could share more details with you, but this'll have to wait until next time, alas!

As for today, there's lots of new stuff and improvements here and there, check them out:

[h2]v0.24.160 Released![/h2]
[h3]Gameplay[/h3]

• Added another default recipe for Land Digger
  
• Added another default recipe for Dredge
  
• Added another default recipe for Laser Collider
  
• Added another default High Quality (++) Cotton recipe for Cotton Gin
  
• Decreased Copper costs for producing Batteries and Laser Pointers
  
• Cat researchers in the Tavern can sometimes be hired for Milk instead of Catnip Juice
  
• ML Capacity mechanics slightly rebalanced
  
• Rafts were renamed into Bridges (because they don't look like rafts anymore)
  
• Multitool upgrade is divided into two independent parts: working speed upgrade and manual operations on area upgrade; both become available sooner, and cost less
  
• Fertilizer Sprinkler working baseline increased from 100 to 250 units of Fertilizers
  

[h3]Graphics && Sounds[/h3]

• Rope Maker re-rendered
  
• Science Lab re-rendered
  
• Sounds updated
  

[h3]QoL && Interface[/h3]

• Added a lense showing map grid
  
• Wiki articles for items now show the recipes which require that item
  
• Pressing 'Ctrl' + 'Z' cancels current crafting queue
  
• Added an option to search projects on the Research Tree by ML Capacity
  
• Improved tutorial
  
• The panel on top of the screen now displays the amount of recently satisfied cats
  
• Added an option to hide button hints in Gameplay options
  
• UI/UX improvements
  
• Lengthy numbers are now separated to facilitate perception. You can select the separation symbol in Gameplay Settings
  

[h3]Techie Stuff[/h3]

• Improved transitions between the Wiki and the Research Tree
  
• Performance optimization
  
• Bug fixes (kudos to poseidontsunami11 & seakten)
  

A friendly reminder: you can always chat with us directly on our Discord server. We're using Discord for work, so you'll find many of us there most of the time, don't be a stranger!

An even friendlier reminder: don't forget about our collection of items in Steam Points Shop! Sergei the artist makes wonderful factory art to be observed from above, but his works' magic really shows at close-up perspective:



https://store.steampowered.com/app/1150090/Learning_Factory

Don't forget to follow Learning Factory on Steam to get the news about new updates as soon as they're out there



[h2]How to Get More Involved[/h2]

Going to Early Access is but the first step to glory (and eternal cat happiness). Wanna be part of what happens next? Head to this blog post and learn how to help make the game even more awesome!

[h2]Share Your Gameplay and Become Part of KOTOVOD History[/h2]
Learning Factory needs your help! Record a 10 or more minutes of you playing the game, share a video using any way you see fit, write your name into Learning Factory credits and get a promo cat! Make history here

Hey engineers,

This update brings you not one but two teleportation devices! Use them wisely, enjoy other improvements and tweaks, and let us know what you think of them:

[h2]v0.24.157 Released![/h2]

[h3]New buildings && Gameplay[/h3]

• New building: Telemanipulator - teleports items in short range. You can change the distance of teleportation by clicking on it. The further the distance, the more time teleportation takes
  
• New upgrade for Cat Gate: Item Donation Portal allows you to send surplus items to random cats in need all over the Universe. However, you won't make any money out of it. Or anything at all, really
  
• Increased efficiency of the crafting speed upgrade for Compost Machine
  
• Added an alternate base crafting recipe for Compost Machine
  
• Tunnels can be placed on Lava Rafts now
  
• Increased efficiency of High Quality (++) Fish recipe in the Fish Maker
  
• Increased efficiency for certain deals in Trade Ports
  
• Vertical Cable can now be placed on Rafts
  
• Added a new secret achievement
  
• Catopia points requirement for some MIlestones decreased
  
• More cumulative stats
  

[h3]Graphics && Sound[/h3]

• Added a sound effect for Hoverboard
  
• Added Holidays decorations
  
• Concrete Maker re-rendered
  
• Claw Sharpener Maker re-rendered
  

[h3]QoL && Interface[/h3]

• Pressing 'Ctrl' + click while adding a research project to research queue places this research to the start of the queue
  
• When hovering on a Blueprint that lacks resources for crafting, a recipe is displayed
  
• New tabs added to Stats menu
  
• Added a lens for displaying tile fertility
  
• Added a lens for displaying Veins and Trade ports
  
• CVs from aspiring cat researchers can be leafed through
  
• CVs from researchers do not appear when there's more than 10 pending candidates
  
• If a CV from a researcher is ignored for 2 hours, it is revoked by the applicant
  
• Improved tooltips
  
• Polish translation via Chat-GPT
  

[h3]Techie Stuff[/h3]

• Updated engine version
  
• Game saving speed optimized
  
• Bug fixes (special thanks to MurpigThe3rd)
  

A friendly reminder: you can always chat with us directly on our Discord server. We're using Discord for work, so you'll find many of us there most of the time, don't be a stranger!

An even friendlier reminder: don't forget about our collection of items in Steam Points Shop! Sergei the artist makes wonderful factory art to be observed from above, but his works' magic really shows at close-up perspective:



https://store.steampowered.com/app/1150090/Learning_Factory

Don't forget to follow Learning Factory on Steam to get the news about new updates as soon as they're out there



[h2]How to Get More Involved[/h2]

Going to Early Access is but the first step to glory (and eternal cat happiness). Wanna be part of what happens next? Head to this blog post and learn how to help make the game even more awesome!

[h2]Share Your Gameplay and Become Part of KOTOVOD History[/h2]
Learning Factory needs your help! Record a 10 or more minutes of you playing the game, share a video using any way you see fit, write your name into Learning Factory credits and get a promo cat! Make history here

Hey engineers!

We found ourselves in a situation a couple of days ago: apparently, all the game’s mechanics are in place. Of course, there’s still a lot to do in UI/UX, QoL (and other fancy game dev abbreviations), and tons of tasks in the art department. There’s one big part of the game to be shaped and implemented (more on that below), but the big stuff is in place!

If you thought that means there won't be new content, you've probably joined us just recently: those following us these years know that we're adding new stuff to our games all the time.

It's just at this stage of the game all of our own ideas are pretty much there, so we're relying on stuff based on the feedback from our community. Take this bunch of brand new engineer's little helpers:



The names are self-explanatory (hopefully). According to our players, those become extremely handy in the late stages of the game, when factory-building gets real.

These beautiful creatures will help you in further de-spaghettifying your Factory:



If you have an idea for a building of your own (or just want to chat with us and like-minded devs), we're happy to lend you our eyes and ears on our Discord server!

The last couple updates brought lots of smaller alterations here and there, which change the game quite a lot. Perhaps, one of the most prominent experiments of the month was re-balancing our terraforming system. As you might know, tiles differ not only by visuals, but also by efficiency/fertility level. It influences the rate of growth for plants, as well as the work of certain buildings.

For example, if you'd place a Fishing Spot, you can hover upon a tile in its’ operating area to spot the difference:



Previously, the way to maximize the efficiency of tiles was to replace them with handcrafted tiles. A side effect of that was that some players would fill the whole map with those tiles. While we're totally ok with such style of play, we'd like the players to experiment some more, trying to overcome the natural obstacles of the landscape - at least, in the early stages of the game.

Hence the experiment: researching terraforming tiles now costs more than before (while the price of production of tiles themselves remains the same). At the same time, we've introduced another type of Fertilizer that helps maximize the efficiency of any tile, without changing its type. It becomes available early in the game, giving you the opportunity to maximize your tile-based production before you delve into intense terraforming. And, as always, your feedback on this risky enterprise of ours is very welcome!

While we're speaking about tiles: we have re-rendered some stuff (again; will do much more), including, but not limited to, the Rafts:



And look at those juicy red mutant Apple Trees from Mars (along with Fertilizer Sprinkler in action):



We've improved the tutorial. We've added chatGPT-made translations (in addition to commuity-made translations) for unofficial languages. We've added some sounds for cats and their surroundings. We've made a whole new section in the Statistics tab, where the data is displayed in the form of tables:



Heck, we made dozens of changes here and there, big and small! Our patch notes are becoming longer with each update we release. All these efforts serve but one purpose: achieving Catopia. And it is closer than it seems.

[h3]How to Catopia[/h3]

We have started contemplating Catopia almost a year ago. It was the goal of the game from the very beginning but we could not decide what it is, exactly. Until recently, that is.

Catopia milestone can already be reached on the Research Tree, and provide a nice bonus for those who make it. However, the endgame part of Learning Factory is still in development.

But today we're proud to announce, that we have recently agreed on the mechanics, along with the genral concept for establishing the perfect cat society! And it will emerge in the game sooner than you might think.

In the meantime, here's a little teaser image (that we have randomly found on the web to use as an internal reference):



If it hardly makes sense or does not look epic enough, our only advice: just you wait!

[h3]What's Next?[/h3]

Catopia, apparently! But wait, there's more! Our artist Sergei has freed up some time to make Learning Factory UI shine! Here are some sketches:







Just to make clear: those were already discarded, and won't make it into the final game. But it does instantly change the look of Learning Factory, don't you think?

And of course, next month there will be polishing, more polishing, and then some.

Hear the smell? It's the smell of the year 2024 coming our way. It's the smell of upcoming Learning Factory release! See you next month, and don't forget to pet your cat on a regular basis!