APICO News

Apis 0.15

Hey Beekeepers!

Just some fixes on a few different bits!

We currently have about 1400 people in the playtest, but only a tiny proportion of that are testing Multiplayer! If you can, please try and get your friends to play with you as we need all the help we can get to test this with a large amount of players before going live when we release next year. We are adding everyone who requests access to the playtest so you can get your friends to come and join you!!

[h2]Changes[/h2]

Added an "online" tooltip in the corner of the game when playing MP so you can check your internet connection according to the game
Changed the 4th gate to need Bohemian instead of Empress so it can be accessed quicker (arguably an easier bee)
Wax Canisters now explicitly state they are produced by Worker Bees
Changed ellraisers dialogue in-game because no one trusts him
Removed the "drowning" teleport because too many people report it as a bug - if you somehow get stuck on deep water then you're stuck for now soz, better keep a boat/bench/bed on you until I add a "respawn" button!

[h2]Bug Fixes[/h2]

Fixed an issue where menu objects placed by friends (hives, machines etc) would get teleported to 0,0 when the host saved
Fixed an issue where tiles/carpets placed or removed by friends didn't save correctly when the host saved
Fixed Beenjamin's hint button text being clipped
Fixed accessibility menu text being clipped
Fixed bee book showing the "book complete" notification when you needed 1 more bee if you have discovered the glitched bee
Fixed random seeds not showing the undiscovered state in the bee book

Apis 0.14

Hey Playtesters!!

Just a few bug fixes while I push some MP logging updates so I can debug a few things, don't mind me! If you're a Beta Tester 0.14 will be a bit delayed but you can still get the changes by playing the Playtest if you like!

[h2]Changes[/h2]

Added some more logs to the MP stuff on the client-side
Tweaked some MP socket parameters

[h2]Bug Fixes[/h2]

Fixed NPC shop menu UI "moving" from the menu sprite when the player moves
Fixed Multiplayer Host menu having incorrectly aligned text (related to above)
Fixed "unread" bee species' not showing as orange dots
Fixed Nan's Bookshelf progress text being offset from the menu
Fixed Nan's Dresser not working properly (honestly Nan why does your stuff suck)
Fixed Predictor GUI showing English names for species in other languages
Fixed Pondshine recipe being in the wrong place
Fixed discovery popup saying "action44" instead of "Learn more!"
Fixed bee/flower book text label for claim not being middle-aligned
Fixed prioritising highlighting UI on open settings menus over any open menus behind the settings menu
Fixed book notifications beeing super needy and not disappearing

APICO Playtest!

Hey Beekeepers!

So - it is time! I have now pressed the big green button to turn on the Playtest, so if you have requested access you should now get access ( i don't know how long it takes to process dont @ me). This playtest will run until this Sunday (28th November)

If you request access today don't worry, I'll release the rest of you into the Playtest tomorrow!

Rather than do it in batches I thought we'd just go for the full stress test and grant all 1000+ people access who are waiting - chances are not all these people will be playing, and definitely not at the same time so should be a good test!

Some things to note before we get started though...

[h2]It's just me![/h2]
In case somehow you missed this, it's just me working on the code development of this game! We haven't got a team of clever network engineers on hand to put out any fires - it's just me, in my pants, staring at Digital Ocean's dashboard and wondering why the fuck I agreed to adding this feature.

When the server inevitably crashes or has to go offline for changes please be patient! I will post any "maintenance" stuff in Guilded as it happens.

[h2]This is the full game![/h2]
Like the last playtest this is the actual full final finished game!! All features and functionality that we want in the finished game are in here.

The only additions since the last playtest if you played that is a shit tonne of fixes/bugs, achievements were added and all the localisation languages were added. For achievements, unfortunately you can't see the full list of achievements cos the game isn't out, and apparently getting an achievement in the Playtest DOESN'T carry over to the full game - so just worth noting. Also modding is deactivated from this version.

As it's the actual full game we're not really looking for any major feature suggestions or feedback on the overall game as that ship has sailed! What we're focusing on here is making super MP is stable and picking up any bugs found on the way.

For bugs, please use either the Guilded Forums or our Bug Report Form:
https://forms.gle/9v1T9q1DnkdLvDJ79

[h2]Disconnection[/h2]
You can get disconnected for two reasons, each showing you a message saying as much before restarting the game.

1. Disconnected From Host - self explanatory, your host either lost connected, closed the game, or "kicked" you from the game.

2. Disconnected From Server - this means that either you connection timed out from the server, i.e. we didn't hear from you for 60s so the server killed your socket, OR you haven't received any callback from the server in 20s.

Every time you click something or move something you are sending a message to the server which relays to your friend, and every 5s you send a "heartbeat" to the server - so if you get disconnected from the server then chances are your internet connection was lost for too long and couldn't be reconnected.

[h2]Hosting[/h2]
To host a game just click the magic "Host" button! You'll be given a code (also shown in-game so you don't need to remember it) and then told to pick a world to host. That's all you have to do! Once your world loads you can give people your code.

Currently you can have 3 different players join your world - for release we're probably capping this at 2 (host + 1 friend) but while we're stress testing might as well open the flood gates eh?

[h2]Joining[/h2]
To join a game enter your friends host code into the join screen and press the magic "Join" button! While we download your world from your friend and pass it on to you you'll have the opportunity to give yourself a name and customise your character.

Your player progress is tied to your friend who is hosting, but is seperate from the actual hosts progress. IF you want to reset your own personal progress you can use the "Reset Progress" button in the MP menu.

I think thats everything for now! If you want to come chat with other players or find people to play with

you can join our Guilded @ https://apico.buzz/guilded - we have some voice channels for APICO players too if you need!

We'll be doing our stream on Wednesday but instead of working on Feed The Beasts we'll instead be doing some MP testing / fixing and let people join our game or something fun like that!

Love, Ell

Apis 0.13

Hey Beekeepers!

Nothing too exciting here, some clean up for the console port stuff and a few gameplay tweaks, as well as some locale fixes.

There's also a few new modding API methods added and some fixes, enjoy!

[h2]Changes[/h2]

Removed signs from console build
Increased menu button hitbox size
Increased effective range of heaters and coolers from 56px to 100px to match the smoker
Beehives now show a radius when the menu is open (and highlighted) - like arctic/blazing/empress do but without the color
Removed in-game FPS and version counter
Change xbox controls visual to match modern xbox controllers
Updated playstation controller visuals so its not in the 2000s
Add switch controller visual in controls menu for os_switch
Removed Pondshine in a Bottle from the demo build

[h2]Bug Fixes[/h2]

Fixed JP having wrong order when English chars used within sentances
Fixed some languages using the wrong menu label
Fixed "Claim" text not centered correctly
Fixed Beesknees hint having the wrong latin names
Fixed beehive production arrow not being the right
Various fixes for console builds
Fixed backpacks being trashable and sellable

[h2]Modding[/h2]

Added api_draw_slots() which re-runs all slot rendering for a given menu
Added api_slot_redraw() which re-runs the slot rendering for a specific slot
Added api_slot_item_id() which returns the slot item as a special item id, i.e. a common bee would be bee:common, a filled frame would be frame:filled.
Added api_add_slot_to_menu() which lets you try and add the contents of a slot to a given menu (doesn't check validation)
Added api_slot_validate() which lets you check if a given item+stats combination can be added to a given slot, useful for the above method
Added api_inst_exists() which lets you check if an instance exists (nb: returns false if instance is "deactivated" offscreen too)
Added api_get_mouse_inst() which returns the actual mouse instance
Fixed the custom script_draw parameter not working for menu objects
Fixed > 6 tier 5 bees going off the page (also remember you can specify tiers now!)

[h2]Modding Docs[/h2]

Added entries for the above methods added
Updated the Instance Properties page to include "rx" and "ry" - new properties on menus, slots, and gui that return the relative position with the camera included (saving you doing x - camera.x etc)

You'll be able to save the bees together online in APICO

APICO is an upcoming casual wholesome game about saving the bees, breeding them and building up your own beekeeping dream and the developer recently revealed online multiplayer support.

Read the full article here: https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2021/11/youll-be-able-to-save-the-bees-together-online-in-apico