Learning Factory News

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!

Another 2 weeks, another Learning Factory update! This one is especially rich with Splitters, but there's also a nice selection of ambient and cat sounds, among other cool things:

[h2]v0.24.156 Released![/h2]

[h3]New Buildings && Upgrades[/h3]

• New building: Priority Splitter is an upgrade for Reverse Splitter. It will send items to selected output, until it's clogged, in which case the items will be sent through other exit (suggested by squibs)
  
• New building: Fertilizer Sprinkler is spreading Fertilizers around the plants in its operational area (suggested by Trichouette)
  
• New building: Balanced Merger is an upgrade for X-Switcher, it unites two streams of Transporters into one
  
• New building: Selective Item Manipulator (and its' cousin, Long Selective Item Manipulator) is an upgrade for the Item Splitter, and it grabs any item of your choosing
  

[h3]Gameplay[/h3]

• New map preset for the Freeplay mode
  
• Minor changes on the Campaign mode main map
  
• A little bonus is now waiting those who make it to the Catopia milestone
  
• Added a system of recommendations on the Research Tree, along with special quests rewarded building prototypes, for completing research projects
  
• When making price predictions, Machine Learning models now consider cats' Loyalty and Hype level at the moment of a cat's arrival
  

[h3]Graphics && Sound[/h3]

• Cats make meow when they say text phrases or shop in Stores
  
• There are now several types of ambient sounds (for fields, forests, production, ocean, underground, and lava) and a dedicated slider for controlling them
  
• Updated story comic page shown upon completing the Tutorial
  

[h3]QoL && Interface[/h3]

• Improved interface for Zeppelins, Docks and Routes, made transfer between them easier, Docks now show Routes they're part of
  
• Statistics window now has a new tab with tables, including cumulative data
  
• Themed events (Halloween, the Holidays, Programmer's Day and Lunar New Year) can be manually turned on in the Settings
  
• Minor changes in the Wiki
  
• Improved Tutorial
  
• Added an option to sort researcher cats by the highest skill (suggested by MaxFire)
  
• Added chatGPT-made translations to the Italian, Spanish, Korean, and Japanese languages
  
• Updated fonts for all languages
  
• Route searching improved
  
• Tooltips improved
  

[h3]Techie Stuff[/h3]

• UI/UX fixes
  
• Bug fixes (kudos to Trichouette, Pumpkin, Bleachin, MaxFire, CaptainAjax, Hagnk, bloom16night)
  

[h3]Re: Factory[/h3]
In this section, we're reacting to your bug reports and feedback sent through the in-game report form:

Re: Mambo Q: There's no sound since the last update!
A: We've tested this issue on our Linux machines, and haven't found anything yet. We need more data to hopefully reproduce it in the future...

Re: Bleachin Q: Using the laser collider. Adding gems+ to the row to make gems ++, with it at the top of the list, showed the gems+ in the created part of the crafted from 2 gems row and pushed them out as being made
A: In late game, some buildings are capable of crafting items and then use them for crafting higher quality items. To prevent this from happening, you can pause a recipe by clicking respective buttons in the recipes' list.

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