Learning Factory News

After shooting with a grand update last month, we were making small steps, that, however, slowly turn Learning Factory in a very different, more polished and good-looking game. Below is the summary of what we've done within the last 30 days, along with a sneak peek of the next big feature we're currently working on.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h3]Terrain Redesign: Better Grass, Brighter Lava and Blue Mushrooms[/h3]
It seems that we've just updated a couple of tiles, but it was many hours for Sergei the artist, and it was totally worth it! Default surface biome now looks refreshed and so do underground tiles and lava:

Terrain as of May '22


Terrain now:


Ye olde underground level:


Epic new one:


Last but not least: last month we've mentioned mysterious holgraphic cubes that emerge here and there on Mars. The prophecies did not lie: the Cat Knowledge Archives (as they are formally known today) are now available to anyone upon starting new game. They are divided into 5 types, 1 per each research category (Logistics, Production, Science, Terraforming & Upgrades). Upon activation, an Archive adds certain amount of research points to any available or ongoing research project in respective category. But most importantly, they're very satisfying to activate:



That's not all Cat Archives serve for: in the future, they will play an important role in the game progression. Follow our updates to be the first one to know!

[h3]Up Next: Zeppelins![/h3]
This idea was born rather spontaneously, as a result of our friendly chat with players on Discord. We were talking about how it sometimes gets tiresome to build so many Transporter belts on a big map. The solution? Cat Zeppelins! They're not carrying cats around, but they sure help deliver goods between cargo docks.

It's not the fastest way (the video below is in 5X speed), but it saves space AND gives the game a somewhat steampunk vibe:



By the way, if you want to influence game development as well, you're very welcome to join our merry Discord bunch. We're discussing features with players all the time and share the latest work-in-progress news!

[h3]See You Soon![/h3]
Starting this week, most of our team is going away for long-awaited vacations. We're planning to generally stay as far as possible from our PCs, and closer to nature. We hope your summer is going to be tremendous, too! Go out and play, breathe in some fresh air and then come back to play more awesome games!

• Twitter
• Discord

P.S. If you want to keep an eye our progress closer, don't forget to follow Learning Factory on our Steam page and never miss an update again!




[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

The terraforming process of Mars is ongoing on so many levels - that, of course, includes things happening below the surface.

Thanks to advanced technological tools (courtesy of the I.L.L.U.M.I.N.A.T.I.), this process is mostly automated and unsupervised by human or feline observers - most likely, it's driven by machine learning models.

That results in all kinds of surprises! For one, just this week, the engineers operating under the ground have spotted tiny glowing blue mushrooms, emerging from deeper, uninhabited levels of Mars.



They look very pretty and help find a way in the dark, but the scientists of KOTOVOD Learning Factory urge Mars residents to not try to pick or consume them in any form. The side effects from eating those mushrooms are yet to be studied, but it is already known that they can make one's heels turn blue. Last but not least, their taste is just disgusting.

What other surprises does the future hold for KOTOVOD engineers? Subscribe to 'KOTOVOD Worker' to be the first one to know! Until we meet again!

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

[h3]v0.11.78 Released![/h3]

• Underground art improved with smoother and prettier visuals
  
• New interface sounds
  
• 1 new track in the soundtrack, this time - written by an acutal human being
  
• Bug fixes
  
• Performance optimization
  

Hey, let's discuss how you like all this stuff, shall we? Drop us a line:

• Twitter
• Discord

And 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

Ah, Steam Summer Sale! It's that time of the year again! Plants are blooming and the discounts are booming!

Time to shake that good ol' wishlist of yours!

Time to plunder your own bank account!

Time to get awesome games! Speaking of which:

[h3]Learning Factory is 30% off until July 7![/h3]

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

The game has changed quite a lot since the last Summer Sale and we've released a huge update just the last week! Time to sell some goodies to those kitties!

Get wild and have fun!


[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 friends! We've released a little update that not only eradicates certain bugs, but actually makes the game prettier! Check it out as soon as you can!

[h3]v0.11.77[/h3]

• Update grass visuals
  
• Research Tree structure slightly altered (reserving space for future awesome updates)
  
• Rafts are now available for crafting from the start, no need to research them
  
• Fixed a bug when the camera was zooming in and out when scrolling throught the inventory
  
• Other bug fixes
  

Don't forget to share your thoughts in the comments or on our Discord server!

Until we meet again!

This week marks 2 historic events that will change KOTOVOD Learning Factory both literally and metaphorically.

Since our Factory keeps introducing a more and more diverse array of goods, five major cat Trade Guilds have opened their branches on Mars, and are willing to get involved in exchanging goods for money, goods and other services ASAP.

Since the offices of Guilds' branches are based on various continents of Mars, a series of Trade Ports has been established, sending automated ships back and forth on a regular basis (because it is well known that cats hate swimming and water in general). The commerce is now expected to flourish, but only if KOTOVOD's engineers keep Guild bosses happy by providing goods.



The other sensational story of this week is somewhat connected to providing more goods, but it is much more significant at the same time! Ancient pillars of Cat Knowledge were considered lost since the first iteration of KOTOVOD, built back in the XX century, in the pre-terraforming era of Mars history. But thanks to the genius of Dr. Katz (and thousands of working hours of his human employees), they're now back on the map!

Each Cat Knowledge Archive contains priceless data about the history of ancient interstellar feline civilization that populated Mars before cats had to finally move to the good old Earth. Although we are not yet able to get to decipher the actual facts about that legendary era, even bits and pieces of Cat Knowledge can boost current research projects on the Factory, helping to diversify production, sell more goods, accumulate even more data about cats and, eventually, establish Catopia on Mars!

What a time to be alive! Now, to the weather forecast: meteorologists are sure that the mysterious fog that has been spotted over the oceans of Mars is completely harmless. All is good at KOTOVOD. Glory to science!

[h3]v0.11.76 Released![/h3]

• Trade Ports and Trade Routes now emerge on the edges of the map, allowing you to exchange goods with five feline Trade Guilds, each specializing on their own category of items (new game only)
• Speaking of the edges of the map, they're now decorated with beautiful (and totally not ominous) fog. We call it Fog of Peace internally, because there's no place for war in the world of Learning Factory
  
• Unlockable Territories are now available in campaign mode, too, previously they were present in Freeplay mode; (new game only)
• To make things more interesting, Cat Knowledge Archives now emerge on the map. They represent mysterious sources of data about cats, left on Mars by ancient interstellar cats from long time ago. Each Archive contains knowledge from one of five available types of research (Logistics, Production, Science, Terraforming and Upgrades). Upon activation, it adds research points to available and/or active research project, thus making those projects easier to complete. If don't have any research project in said research field, a Cat Knowledge Archive can't be activated until you do; (new game only)
• Campaign mode map is now 1.5 times bigger, time to go hiking! (new game only)
• In case you get cold while hiking, 2 new and fancy down coats are now available for purchase in customization menu
  
• And when you're really ready to roll, feel free to enable an option that allows you toggle the button that launches you onto Hoverboard or Jetboard
  
• Twitch integration! For broadcasting enthusiatst out there, we now have a generous array of options that will make your live streams look lively as ever (we're going to hell for all those stupid puns, aren't we?). Go check them out, and if you're only considering a career of broadcaster - Learning Factory is the perfect game to start (according to devs and their moms)
  
• When the map is zoomed out all the way up in the sky, those phrases that cat say in lines will still be occasionally visible. Remember how there's no place to escape when your cat yells in your house? That was our reference for this feature
  
• 2 new achievements
  
• UI fixes
  
• Bug fixes
  
• There's now an option to automatically sort goods of the same types in all the Stores that are selling them. We sincerely hope that it makes some of you happier
  

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

Hey, let's discuss how you like all this stuff, shall we? Drop us a line:

• Twitter
• Discord

And 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