Learning Factory News

What cats really want? Why do they moan in front of a closed door but immediately lose interest in it once it's open? Why would they sometimes burst into sudden rage, destroying furniture and wallpapers all over the place? We don't know all the answers, but science has just come one step closer to finding it out! Alas, it now seems to be facing a closed door. Dr. Katz, chief scientific officer of KOTOVOD Cat Learning Factory, sent out this message announcing a brand new type of research facilities -- the Clusters.

"We haev built kluster corez to collect oll kindz of data about catz. Sadly, wes dont haev dataz to analyze yet. But someday we willz. What a tiem to be aliv!"

What a time indeed! Someday, cluster cores will become the main interface for operating with data from various cat facilities of the factory. But for now they are available for every KOTOVOD engineer to build and admire. Apparently, that's all they do at the moment. The Factory's scientists also claim that watching those cores for prolonged periods of time is great for soothing nerves. Rumors about them being able to damage one's retina are just silly rumors, according to our brightest minds. Still, HR department required us to mention that corporate health insurance policy does not cover damage from watching cluster cores. Or any damage, actually.

In other news, please try not to miss the next special issue of KOTOVOD Worker, dedicated to this year's Programmers Day. Our scientists are planning to shed some lights about how clusters process the data about cats.

[h2]Version 0.6.2 Released![/h2]

[h3]Gameplay[/h3]

• Cluster cores are now available for building. Only one cluster core per factory is available at the moment. In the future, they will be your centers for processing data and machine learning, but now they just sit there looking pretty
  
• Wires, on the other hand, are finally working. You can use them to connect relevant buildings (such as stores, data extractors and labs) to the cluster core. These buildings are also stacking, when placed close to each other
  
• Introducing storage units! A new convenient instrument to facilitate your logistics. And yes, they also stack with each other
  

[h3]Graphics[/h3]

• Transporter looks even cooler now, or so we hope
  

[h3]Interface[/h3]

• Information about raw data and data features can now be viewed at a cluster core
  

[h2]More Engineers Required[/h2]
We want YOU at KOTOVOD! Your participation in our Alpha program will help us create a more bright and enlightened future for cats and humans! Please use the information below to join our ranks:

To play the Alpha, please join our Discord server or sign up for Email list

And of course, don't forget to add Learning Factory to your Wishlist (check out the button on the right of this page!)

Learning Factory's Public Roadmap

It is with great excitement that Vladislav, chief engineer of KOTOVOD, make his final preparations to the glorious event of today. Since the dawn of times human beings dreamt of flying in the sky, like birds... But what about cats? According to chief scientific officer, Dr. Katz, our feline friends were too aiming for the stars all this time!

"Oh yes catz luve lookin at skiez since the dawn of time. For examplz do you see that cloud that looks like fish? Any catz is ablez to tell you that is very delicious oh yes I wud gnaw upon thiz giant juicy fish all day lonk... Sorry, where wuz i? Ah yes, the sun and the moon als look liek giant yarn ballz very pritty!"

The Learning Factory of KOTOVOD is all about cat learning, but for cats there's no learning without comfort. According to the recent discoveries by our brilliant scientists, cats in stress are 74.5% less effective in studying, while also becoming 154% more prone to destroying your furniture and soiling shoes.

That is why KOTOVOD's scientists have come up with a revolutionary new way of carrying cats around the factory. Enter the magnificent MagLev transporter! This complicated device provides a comfortable and stress-free experience of magnetic levitation, according to lab tests. No cats were harmed during these tests (several dozens of mice might have been eaten though)

Field tests of MagLev transporters are about to commence today, when a brand new Alpha build of Learning Factory becomes available to all KOTOVOD engineers! Please make sure to update and lock away your working shoes. Just in case.

[h2]Alpha Update Released (0.6.1)[/h2]



[h3]Gameplay[/h3]

• Players can now pick items off the transporter line at any point
  
• The Monument no longer spends time on processing articles, they go straight to research
  
• Cats would sometimes buy more than one item at once
  

[h3]Graphics[/h3]

• Our cats can now enjoy the comfort and luxury of magnetic gravitation platforms, helping them travel around the Factory
  
• Transporters now connect to each other, yay to science!
  
• Updated looks of selected buildings (can you find all of them?)
  

[h2]More Engineers Required[/h2]
We want YOU at KOTOVOD! Your participation in our Alpha program will help us create a more bright and enlightened future for cats and humans! Please use the information below to join our ranks:

To play the Alpha, please join our Discord server or sign up for Email list

And of course, don't forget to add Learning Factory to your Wishlist (check out the button on the right of this page!)

Learning Factory's Public Roadmap

Please wear your safety cat at all times. Until next week!

Chief operating engineer Ivan is looking smart and humbled, wearing a suit and a smile. And yet, he cannot hide his inner shining of pride. At last, his professional love child, the mighty KOTOVOD, is re-opening its doors! It has been closed for decades, with cats all over the world left idle and misunderstood by their human companions. Well, this era of frustration is coming to an end!

The KOTOVOD was conceived and constructed back in the socialist era. The scientists of that time have had a theory that cats were actually sentient beings, which brought them to creating an ambitious project: a scientific factory which would help humans understand what their cats really want and what they have to say.

After the Union collapsed, the factory fell into oblivion. But thanks to cutting edge technology, humanity was given a second chance to finally find a common tongue with their furry friends! Old machines are empowered by modern science: cats’ needs and desires are analysed by a complicated machine learning algorithm that helps build a better factory for a brighter feline future.

Chief scientific officer, Dr. Katz, was not available for an interview, being heads down busy with his scientific endeavours in his office. He did send a short note to commemorate the glorious day: «Iz going az planned. Iz going good. Sorry kant haz interviewz, very bizi doing reserch wit my hooman fingerz (not cat paws haha). Kalculating very stronk. Oh, iz that a mouze?..»

[h2]Learning Factory: Alpha Is Live![/h2]

Chief engineer Ivan, on the other hand, was more than glad to elaborate on his hard work:

«Today we are about to launch the next module of the factory into action. Am I worried? Of course not, we're professionals! Besides, it's an alpha-version, so something definitely might go wring. Like that infamous case with canned food... poor Vlad has been having nightmares ever since, his body hair turned purple, what a mess... Oh well! We are running accident-free for almost 3 days now and I have a good feeling about this one!»

An admirable optimism of a true engineer! We were authorized by KOTOVOD's administration to publish a list of vital new features, available at the factory in this alpha-version:

[h3]Gameplay[/h3]

• Players can now build multiple cat shops at their factories
  
• Refined shops' mechanics: 4 goods can be sold simultaneously in each shop, with an option to assign individual price for each goods type
  
• Introducing the Research Tree
  
• Certain resource types (money, raw data, data features and articles) are now displayed in virtual format and no longer appear as objects on the game's map
  
• Introducing optical fibers that will help join certain production chains into clusters. NB: they don't actually work in this first version, but they still look neat
  
• New cat generating algorithm (NB: again, not very functional yet, but pretty)
  
• Each building now has a different demolishing time. That said, one won't be able to accidentally destroy a brand new show with one click anymore, and deleting useless transporter tiles is faster and easier than ever before
  
• Destroying element sources (such as piles of iron or apple trees) now gives a larger amount of respective elements
  

[h3]Interface & Graphics[/h3]

• UI has been reworked in many ways. Still, there are a lot of placeholder items at this stage, so if something is not working, then maybe it's not supposed to, yet
  
• Crafting queue is now available in the inventory
  
• Quick saving the game with a 'Ctrl+S' keyboard shortcut is now available
  
• New and improved hot keys: press 'T' to open the Research Tree or use 'Esc' to close all windows
  
• The first animated piece of machinery: basic manipulator is now capable of visually manipulating objects:
  

[h2]How to Join?[/h2]
KOTOVOD is hiring! The corridors of KOTOVOD are humming with power once again, yet there’s so much more to do! We need more engineers to fine tune and test our catting-edge technologies.

To play the Alpha, please join our Discord server or sign up for Email list

And of course, don't forget to add Learning Factory to your Wishlist (check out the button on the right of this page!)

Learning Factory's Public Roadmap

The revolution in cat science is just around the corner!

Hello all,

Ivan and Oleg are now playing the current state of the game and fixing bugs LIVE. Ask us anything and join Discord https://discord.gg/W8KhjSf

P.S. Drop a message in a chat and we'll show Ivan's huge cat!

Hello all,

Join the broadcast and ask us anything about plans or game design concepts itself. Join our Discord: https://discord.gg/W8KhjSf