Learning Factory News

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If you're still wondering about what Learning Factory EDU is, it's very simple: this is a lightweight version of Learning Factory, adimed to teach the basics of scientific method for middle school children and their educators.

It will have 10 lessons, it will be out by the beginning of the fall and it will be totally free, thanks to the effort of Games for Change non-profit organization!

In this week's edition of LF EDU Dev Diaries we're talking with Kate, our learning materials designer, who sheds fome light on the actual learning part behind Learning Factory :)

A scientific fact: #LearningFactoryEDU dev diaries lasts just enough to keep you entertained while you're preparing that delicious snack for your cat! Check it out for yourself.

And if you prefer listening to watching, you can find the audio version here!

Let us know what you think and if you happen to be and educator interested in game based learning, contact us at [email protected], because we want show you the game as early as possible, get your feedback and include you in the credits!


[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!

Science is glorious! Things that were considered sorcery or plain miracles a couple of decades ago, are now applied everywhere!

But the science needs to be put to service of greater goals. Such as, for example - making Mars a thriving paradise for cats (and maybe humans, occasionally).

This is why Dr. Katz has introduced the access to time-bending techonlogies for all the engineers. Using the breakthrough feature our R&D Dept elegantly refers to as 'Pause' stops all the processes on the factory momentarily, while still allowing engineers to run around, collect resources, craft, build, rebuild and optimize!

It is important to underline, that working while time stopped is not considered overtime work and therefore is not additionally compencated. Not like engineers' work was compencated in the first place.

But KOTOVOD administration takes great care in their workers' efficiency, which is why it has also introduce Transporter Assemblers, which allows humans to spend less time on constructing those belts and more time on actual work, which is, as usual, pleasing cats.

Science be praised! Glory to KOTOVOD!

[h2]Version 0.9.29 Released[/h2]

• Game pause (finally!): stops all the processes on the factory, but allows you to move around, place and remove buildings and generally be the god of time bending;
  
• New building: Transporter Assembler. The machine for making machines! One step closer to reaching Singularity;
  
• New machinery: Cat Manipulator and Long Cat Manipulator - like a manipulator, but for cats. Like a Cat Splitter, but it's a manipulator;
  
• New cat outfits;
  
• Updated tiles for ground and the ocean;
  
• Lots of interface updates;
  
• Research Tree slightly re-balanced;
  
• In-game tasks slightly rebalanced;
  
• Performance optimization
  
• Bug fixes
  

[h2]Another Live-Stream This Friday[/h2]
We know it's a bit early, but since we've released a bunch of new features, we wanted to showcase and discuss them with you! That said, swing by our Twitch, YouTube or this very Steam page tomorrow, when we'll be live streaming Learning Factory!

[h3]This Friday, July 2, 8am PST / 11am EST / 5pm CET![/h3]
See you tomorrow!



[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!

Cats are truly mysterious creatures!

Thousands of years side by side with humans. Learning how to understand each other. Bringing Mars to life, side by side. And yet, we still know so little about them!

How do you like to call your cat companion? Mr Whiskers? Fluffytoes?

It has recently been discovered, that pre-historic cats (the ones allegedly came from Mars hundreds of thousands years ago), whose traces are now being discovered at various locations on Earth, have not been using names in a sense that we understand them. Instead, it is now believed that they were communicating telepathically within a shared mental field, every member of which was recognized by a unique pattern, assigned to each member of the field by their origin, fur color, style of napping and their taste for different kinds of snacks.

How would these names sound, were they translated into symbols recognized by humans? Well, apparently, before the invention of the Babyl Fish Chip, cats were trying to spell out their names while walking on human desktop keyboards. So if you've ever seen your cat 'accidentally' typing something like 'HGYUj767567uyhvcxdfguhij', then perhaps your furry friends were merely trying to properly introduce themselves.

In the light of this new discovery, more and more cats are starting to refer their names as 'human tags', taking pride in their relation to their legendary ancestors. They still feel fine about us continuing to use them. So don't worry, just keep that food bowl full, silly human!

[h2]Version 0.9.28 Released[/h2]

• You can now rename your cat researchers
  
• New cat researchers
  
• New accessories for cat researchers
  
• Performance optimization
  
• Bug fixes
  

[h2]Live-stream Today![/h2]
If you want to see the latest update in action, and/or share you thoughts about it, and/or ask any questions - feel free to join our bi-monthly live-stream this Friday, Jun 25!

You can watch it on the Steam page, or head to Twitch or YouTube, we'll be monitoring all 3 chat rooms. So,

[h3]This Friday, June 25, 8am PST / 11am EST / 5pm CET![/h3]


[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!

Hey everyone, and welcome to Steam Summer Sale! It's the first one for Learning Factory, so we thought we might as well let you know what's changed since the game emerged to Early Release this February:

[h2]What's New, Pussycat?[/h2]

• Freeplay Mode: a new game mode where you can set up a map of your dreams and build the factory of your dreams on it. You can share it with friends, too!
  
• Scenario Mode: Turn on or off specific researchers, cats, resources and goods, design your own map and then try and play it without bursting into tears (of joy? of despair? depends on you!)
  
• Mini-map: everyone loves mini-maps! But for those who don't, we've also added a maxi-map (available upon clicking on mini-map)
  
• Procedurally generated cat scientists: head to the Tavern and hire all kinds of whacko cat scientists to invent stuff for you! Featuring Lev Nikolaevich, Cozy Osbourne, Ms Whiskers and many others!
  
• Hoverboard (oh yeah!): Wroooooooom! As seen in the movies!
  
• Terraforming: dig out chunks of terrain and place it somewhere else! Plant some plants! Root out some roots! Hedge yourself with hedges! Become the architect of Mars!
  
• New buildings and Machine Learning Models: tremble before the power of the almighty Neural Networks and Deep Neural Networks! With their might, you'll be able to research all kinds of buildings, including the amazing 'Brosnan' Pier!
  
• New animations, new graphics, bug fixes, performance optimization and sooooooo much more stuff to make you comfy, so you could concentrate on building factories and making cats happy!
  

[h2]Catty Anniversary![/h2]
It's been a year since we've first presented the game on Steam Festival and... we've been busy, here's with what:

[h3]June 2020[/h3]


[h3]June 2021[/h3]


[h2]Live-stream This Friday![/h2]
If the game's been sitting on your wishlist for a while, come to our bi-monthly live-stream this Friday, see the game in action, ask the questions and hesitate no more! This games is totally awesome (as told by our moms).

Join us on the Steam page, or head to Twitch or YouTube, we'll be monitoring all 3 chat rooms. So,

[h3]This Friday, June 25, 8am PST / 11am EST / 5pm CET![/h3]


We hope to see you there! And no matter what, please do not forget: we're NOT controlled by a group of overly intelligent cats, it's plain fake news! Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.




[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!

Hey everyone!

Here's a suggestion for an easy watch/listen this Sunday: watch our pilot episode of developer diaries for Learning Factory EDU, which is being designed right now, to help teaching STEM through scientific method at middle schools:

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Making a dedicated version of one of our games to fit into school curriculum is a mind-bending task for us, since we're not teachers. That's why we'll be inviting more educators who are using games in classrooms, to talk about how the future can be changed for the better in a playful way ˆ_ˆ

This time, our guest is Maria Plotkina from a friendly startup called Geek Teachers - this merry bunch of geeky educators is helping us design the curriculum for Learning Factory EDU.



We'll be releasing a new version of these diaries on a weekly basis. Subscribe to our newsletter to learn more about how games are revolutionizing education at this very moment! There's a podcast version of dev diaries there, too, if you prefer easy listening to easy watching :)

[h3]I want more games in education, how can I help?[/h3]
Do you know a teacher who's using games for education? Or maybe you are such a teacher yourself? Or maybe you are only about to experiment with games in your classroom?

In any of those cases, don't hesitate to contact us in the comments, via email, on Discord or whereever! We're actively looking for educators for play testing and more guests for our podcast!


[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!