Learning Factory News

This week brought a whole bunch of exciting news to KOTOVOD Learning Factory! Ever since our management, in their eternal wisdom, has announced that R&D dept. is hiring new staff, the sales have skyrocketed, and so has the amount of data.

This calls in for introducing more powerful ML Models. Please meet Neural Network Model machine along with its genius cousin, Deep Neural Network Model machine:





These cutting edge technologies will help improve the data science at the Factory, for better customer service (and more money to fund our research!)

As if it wasn't enough, the first seeds of the I.L.L.U.M.I.N.A.T.I. brand new Hedges were delivered on Mars! These marvels of genetic engineering magically stop growing at some point, which not only makes them perfect decorations, but also helps withhold the legendary aggressive growth of Martian plants.

As if that wasn't enough too, KOTOVOD engineers now have access to advanced tools for factory building, which will allow more precision in designing your Learning Factories.

What are you waiting for, engineers? Go build some awesome stuff! We'll be in touch.

[h2]Version 0.9.27 Released[/h2]

• Scenario editor: you can now create all kinds of maps with different parameters
  
• Neural Networks! A brand new machine learning model in the game. It helps optimize the prices in stores, like Regressions do, but does so in a way more efficient way. Also, they look gorgeous
  
• Hedges: a new plant to help make your Factory look nicer and/or withhold the aggressive grows of other Martian plants. Why don't hedges grow and multiply though? That's a mystery, let us know if you have any ideas!
  
• Bug fixes
  
• EPIC HUGE MONSTROUS PERFORMANCE OPTIMIZAAAAAAAATION (the devs were very deliberate about writing it this way)
  
• And a brand new achievement!
  

[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!

Friday is upon us! Kick back, tune up to our channels and let's enjoy some Learning Factory!

We'll be going live in about an hour: 8am PST / 11am EST / 5pm CET! Join us on Twitch, YouTube and on our Steam page.

See you soon!


[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

Wow, what a week, so many news! But first, let's get the reuglar things out of the way:

[h2]Hotfix 0.9.26 Released[/h2]

1. Bug fixes
   
2. Performance optimization
   
3. Added ability to lock buildings, preventing accidental removal
   

[h2]Live stream with devs this Friday[/h2]
We'll post a separate announcement tomorrow, but you know the drill: 8am PST / 11am EST / 5pm CET! On Twitch, YouTube and on our Steam page. Can't wait to see you there!



[h2]Presenting Learning Factory EDU[/h2]
Learning Factory has been named one of the winners of the STEM Your Game Challenge, organized by leading non-profit gaming organization Games For Change.

Which, in short, means one big thing: we will be developing a special educational version of our game, tailored to help teaching STEM through the power of scientific method, which is, in the words of great physicist Richard Feynman, “a key to science”.

[h3]What is Learning Factory EDU?[/h3]

• Modified, lightweight version of the main game, in which players/learners must find out, what cats really want;
  
• Includes 10 pre-made lessons, based on an innovative educational method “Phenomenon-based learning” which is validated by Finnish schools;
  
• Aims to teach children about production, automation, data, and the essence of scientific approach for solving problems;
  
• Co-designed with teachers (see below);
  
• Comes with a lesson-planning guide for teachers and a workbook for learners;
  
• It will be totally free

If you happen to be an educator yourself, or if you know a teacher who can use some new (fun and free) educational tool, please subscribe to our blog and newsletter or contact us in any other way: we're looking for as much feedack as possible, to make a really quality educational game!

We'll post more details about Learning Factory EDU in the upcoming weeks. And naturally, it will benefit the main game as well ;) Stay tuned to learn, how!


[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

Since KOTOVOD administration issued a call for more cat researchers at the factory, thousands of cat scientists have applied their CVs, and hundreds of them landed the job. Congratulations to them! Of course, not all the researchers hired by our HR dept. are skilled enough to perform certain researches, but they are still welcome to join because of how cute they are... That is, if the Factory is generating enough money, but that is a problem to be solved by our tireless engineers.

Still, even incompetent scientists are contributing to everyone's work! In fact, research has become so effective that certain engineers started experiencing confusion when planning their daily tasks. In his eternal wisdom, Dr. Katz decided to personally resolve this issue by offering random requests to be completed at the Factory. Since KOTOVOD is a democratic institution, these tasks will be completely optional, of course. Hard labor 24/7 is still mandatory for all engineers, though.

In other news, fishing by hand is legal again on Mars territory! Due to the delicacy of Martian biorobot fish species (kindly provided by the I.L.L.U.M.I.N.A.T.I.), it was previously considered unwise to try catching that fish with a tool as crude as fishing rod. But KOTOVOD population of cat residents is growing by day, and they must have their munchies, so every fish counts! Go catch some, engineer (if and when you don't have work stuff to do, which is unlikely)!

Here's how Mars fish looks like when being caught:



(Please don't feel sorry for it: you know that those fish are not actual fish, don't you?)

All is well at Learning Factory. Glory to science! Glory to KOTOVOD!

[h2]Version 0.9.25 Released[/h2]

• In Tavern, there's a chance of spawning a cat with a perk that allows them taking data from Data Storage. If such cat is involved in a research project for which it has sufficient skills, that project speed is boosted
  
• A Data Storage now spawns on Campaign map; in Freeplay Mode, one is also added to player's inventory
  
• Small tasks with rewards are now given out, to make sure engineers are never idle
  
• Fishing by hand now animated
  
• UI improvements
  
• Performance optimization
  
• Bug fixes
  

[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

Even with the never-ending flow of cat customers, KOTOVOD campus is overflooded with excited cat faces these days! The rumors of Dr. Katz's glorious work have spreaded throughout the Solar System and cat researchers from all planets are flocking to the Learning Factory, seeking to become KOTOVOD's next researcher.

Steady salaries, a comfortable Dormitory and all "Fish'n'Cheats" one can eat - those are the perks not available for human personnel, but every cat scientist will get them at their fullest! Of course, that means working 24/7, but the goal - building a better future for cats - is worth the cost. Besides, cat scientists are known to be capable of performing scientific researches even while sleeping.

The future is bright for KOTOVOD and cats all over the Universe! Glory to science!

[h2]Version 0.9.24 Released[/h2]

• New research mechanics: research speed now depends on cat scientists, employed to work on the Factory
  
• Each scientist has a dedicated set of skills in one or more research categories. In turn, each research has a complexity level. The research rate depends on whether or researchers' skills exceed the level of complexity
  
• Dormitory for hosting new researchers in the Monument
  
• Tons of new cat art
  
• Dr Katz has his own dedicated lab now
  
• 5 new achievements
  
• Fishing (no animation yet, though)
  
• Research queue: select more distant research project and all the previous researches will be scheduled automatically
  
• Researches can be put on hold (for accumulating money)
  
• Performance optimization
  
• UI fixes
  
• Bug fixes
  

If you have questions on the new research system, don't hesitate to join us during tomorrow's live stream event, where we will clear out any possible misunderstandings!

See you 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