APICO News

Well here we are gang! About a month later from when we first let you loose with the new Alpha, we're here with the first of 3 major content updates - the Frosty Update.

This has quite a lot of new bits and bobs, the main focus being around the new "polar" climate and climate control. There's also the beginnings of the character customisation system so you can finally play as yourself instead of me! (if you have any requests for hairstyles let us know :D)

This update also introduces fermentation, which lets you take water + honey to make mead, which can be further infused with spices to give it special properties, like making you able to run faster or see better at night!

There's also some more bees (of course) - in this update we introduce some special species you only find in certain places rather than through cross-breeding. This will lead to a few different things in future, like species NPCs give you, special quest reward bees, seasonal bees etc. We've also tried rebalancing the items you can sell to give more focus to bee produce + honey/mead.

Not much has changed with the NPCs as the next major content update is focused around NPCs and questing, but we have updated the shops!

As always, let us know any Bugs you find in our Bug Reports forum (over on Guilded), but otherwise we hope you enjoy! I'd recommend a new world if you can part ways with your old one, as a lot of content needs a fresh world!

• Added character customisation! You can now change your look and hair style and overall colours and all that good stuff when starting a new game (hell yeah!!!)
  
• Added the polar regions! This harsh frozen landscape is home to some very hardy bees..
  
• Added "snowing" weather in the polar regions, leaving a layer of snow you can gather with a spade
  
• Added 6 new bees! Some of these are "one-off" species not found by cross-breeding but by exploring (requires a new world)
  
• Added a "New Discovery" animation sequence when you find/breed a new species (who's that... bee!!!)
  
• Added 2 new flowers for the polar regions (no new flower mutations this update!)
  
• Added the Heater, an object that warms up the surrounding area to make it feel like a warmer climate - bought from Beenjamin
  
• Added the Cooler, an object that cools down the surrounding area to make it feel like a colder climate - bought from Beenjamin
  
• Added Rain Tanks, these store rainwater when it's raining, which you'll need to make mead!
  
• Added the Fermenter, which let's you combine all that golden honey you've been hoarding with water to make mead!
  
• Added the Bottler which let's you bottle mead, optionally infusing the mead with spices! Spiced mead has special effcts when drunk, different spices do different things! - bought from Skipper
  
• Added 3 different spices, each can be produce by a specific bee species, or bought from Skipper's specials item!
  
• Added 5 new quests to cover new mechanics - rain tanks, fermentation+bottling, heaters, coolers, and polar islands
  
• Added an introduction chapter to the flower book that explains cross pollination in more detail
  
• Added another type of light source, the Lamp, which can now be crafted
  

• Beetrix now sells sawdust and sawdust bricks
  
• Updated snowing icon, "polar" icon, and matching icons in the microscope
  
• Added an AoE circle to smokers so you can see what hives will be affected by it
  
• Hives now hide the second bee input slot when a queen is in the first bee input slot to try and aid in confusion of what is needed in a hive
  
• Added a tooltip on empty crate 'eye' slots to explain what they do
  
• Added boats to the map so you can see where ya left em!
  
• You can now hold and drag the mouse while holding shift to move items between menus (rather than having to click each time)
  
• Added a small 'E' icon next to the inventory to show you can toggle it
  
• Added slot numbers to the highlighted hotbar slot
  
• You can now hammer the Sir Sengir statue and move it where you want! (Will leave a glitched invisible solid block on old worlds but still works)
  

• Fixed flower buffs not applying correctly
  
• Fixed flower buffs not displaying on active queen trait cards
  
• Updated tooltip delay so the tooltip doesn't flicker when moving the mouse over the same thing
  
• Added missing flower 'placeholder' icon to the smoker flower input slot
  
• Fixed the "Hold 'Control' To Snap To Grid" tooltip being replaced with floor/carpet tooltips when placing on those things
  
• Fixed the smoker not automatically refuelling itself when the game is loaded
  
• Fixed smokers not actually having an area of effect and smoking every hive in the world
  
• Fixed input/output slots not having awhite "input/output" title in the tooltip
  
• Fixed NPCs not appearing on the map when the game loads if they're too far away
  
• Fixed issue with walls not showing the correct variant in some layouts
  
• Fixed canisters sometimes not resetting to "empty" when filling certain tanks
  
• Fixed there being no beehive at Beenjamins place
  
• Fixed not seeing an "out of reach" error on far away walls + tiles
  
• Fixed Nana not sitting on a bench and instead rising above the ground (ASCEND)
  
• Fixed missing @ symbol in "Picture Perfect" quest dialogue
  
• Fixed rain carrying over to a new world if it was raining in the last game you played
  
• Fixed tree taps having the wrong sprite in the swamps
  
• Fixed deep tiles not showing the correct tile sometimes
  
• Fixed the smoker quest missing a GIF
  

Heya!! Lot's of bits and bobs in this one and a few tweaks - mainly around bees and the bee book!

Note: The home screen says 2.3, but in-game says 2.2, ignore that it's just a typo you're on 2.3 I promise! ːsteamsadː

We've added back in the introductory chapters for the bee book that explain crossbreeding again as well as explain the traits and what they are. We forgot to add the intro chapter for flowers - whoops! We've also added the "special produce" for each species, a proper microscope unlocking panel to show you need to microscope 3 bees per species to get all trait info visible, and added in the conservation status, which tracks queens produced and bees rehabeelitator(ed?) to add to the overall species status.

The book stuff is a lil rough and ready but I got carried away with it (this was just supposed to be bug fixes)

This will be the last patch for the time being (unless I've bricked this one :disgust: ) so I can focus on all the new content for the Frosty update, so enjoy!!

• Prevented you being able to hammer the boat you're sailing in (why would u want to do this)
  
• Added an introductory chapter explaining how to discover bees to the bee book
  
• Added an introductory chapter explaining each of the bee "traits" to the bee book
  
• Added tier seperators to the bee book
  
• Added special produce infomation to the bee book, unlocked when you discover that produce
  
• Added a visual for the shiny variant of each species when you've come across it!
  
• Added conversation status to the bee book, effected by how many queens of that species you've bred or bees you've rehab'd (it's worth noting in a new game, all tier 3 bees will be already Thriving, but existing saves will have all species as Lost, sorreeee)
  
• Changed the bee species chapter icon to be coloured based on conversation level for quick progress viewing
  
• Added a proper trait "unlocking" progress bar for each species, 3 bees of the same species need to be microscoped to unlock trait info for a species
  
• Changed tooltips to only show after the mouse has been still for 1ms to prevent tooltip flicker as you move the mouse (One note on this is it still flickers when moving around while highlighting the same item, so sorry about that but we're working on it!)
  
• Updated a few items that shouldn't of had a sell value, namely Honeycomb, Propolis, and Glue (money balancing stuff will come into the Frosty Update when you can sell bottled honey and mead!)
  
• Reduced the amount of propolis generated by frames from 2-3 to 1-2 (what on earth would you need that much glue for)
  
• Changed the wording of the tooltips for the time of day icon slightly
  
• Updated minimap surface to be stored as a buffer so that Windows doesn't sometimes take ages to re-open the map
  
• Added the first debug machine, the Entity Tracker. You can spawn this in dev mode with /gimme debugger1. This tracks entity counts (funny that) - if you've been getting random FPS drops after a long period of time please spawn one and plonk it down when the FPS drops and let me know the craic!
  

• Updated a LOT of boundary boxes (the things that check collision + highlight) so placement should be less restrictive at times (like how sometimes a flower needs 500m of space around it)
  
• Fixed being able to place multiple items on the same tile when shift-placing
  
• Fixed "gml_Script_sc_Sawmill_alarm1 - variable unknown_object.item" issue when taking input items out the sawmill
  
• Fixed crate content preview not showing when shift-hovering over a crate (it's super cool pls try it out!!!)
  
• Fixed being able to click a bench while sailing
  
• Fixed being able to click a bed while sailing (how do you people find this stuff honestly)
  
• Fixed Squeezer tank GUI not moving with the menu
  
• Fixed being able to chop the Squeezer with an Axe
  
• Fixed not being able to pick a Squeezer back up (we were just trying the idea of a crafting roguelike where all actions had consequences clearly)
  
• Fixed the Squeezer not carrying on where it left off when save+quit then resuming
  
• Fixed buttons being able to be highlighted underneath a highlighted menu's buttons
  
• Fixed being able to place items through a menu into the slots behind it when not highlighted
  
• Fixed recipes that require frames using up all frames in your inventory
  
• Fixed tree taps making a magic "empty" white mylk liquid you could sell to hipsters for $7 a pop
  
• Fixed rehabs stopping working when offscreen when mid rehabing (thats a word now)
  
• Fixed beehive1_alarm1 crashing screens showing randomly
  
• Fixed Beenjamin selling a magic pink cube instead of the smoker
  
• Fixed quest "Smokey Eyes" having the wrong requirements
  
• Fixed the smoker crashing when no scent is provided
  
• Fixed beehives, clockwork machines, and tappers, having a flash of white on the lifespan bar when opening them
  
• Fixed bee particles not despawning properly when a hive ends
  
• Fixed the menu highlight line connection showing in Photo Mode
  
• Fixed objects having a highlight in Photo Mode
  
• Fixed being able to click stuff through open books
  
• Fixed file delete buttons not resizing with the screen size
  
• Fixed being able to click the bed/benches in the intro scene
  
• Fixed an issue where crafting benches would still show the contents of menus closed when moving too far away
  
• Fixed the boat depth issue so lilypads don't smack you in the face as you sail
  
• Prevented rain drops spawning on floor tiles and filling your house with water and making all your crates soggy
  
• Fixed the rain icon not showing when it starts raining if you're standing still
  

Damn who thought a game about bugs would have this many bugs...

This patch is bug fixes mostly and a few tweaks here and there - thanks again for all the reports!

I'll probably keep doing them throughout the week in big chunks and then this weekend I'll put up the update roadmaps and get cracking on new stuff.

• Added version number in-game for my own sanity
  
• Added 30 char limit to names
  
• Machines now automatically "discover" any output items without you needing to pick them up
  
• Using escape while a book is open will only close the book
  
• Using escape when nothing is open will open the settings menu
  
• Using escape when only the settings menu will toggle it back
  
• Item placement previews now show when highlighting over another object if there is an error (i.e. flower placement on lilypad)
  
• Moved error cursor more over to the right + down so the preview is clearer
  
• Updated the Honeyrose item to use the bigger variant
  
• Added rollover sound to button highlight
  
• Added ambience sounds to home screen
  

• Fixed shops crashing when trying to buy or sell something
  
• Fixed bee items being able to be middle clicked and merged into one super bee
  
• Fixed quests being able to be claimed when you haven't put in the hard work
  
• Fixed game not saving when quest is handed in
  
• Fixed quests that are supposed to give you 2 items only giving you one
  
• Fixed offscreen hives crashing the game when a mutation chance is rolled
  
• Fixed not being able to place edging tiles under already placed nature items
  
• Fixed placing tiles under trees "chopping" the tree with the tile item
  
• Fixed any other tiles apart from planks not having tooltips
  
• Fixed random shorelines in world generation (requires new world to see the fix)
  
• Fixed quest "Making Money" trying to unlock a quest that doesn't exist anymore when claimed
  
• Fixed "Unable to find instance index" with sc_notification_set() maybe?
  
• Fixed "Unable to find object index" with MOUSE_CLICK maybe?
  
• Fixed shop slots not showing the item info if it's too high level or too expensive
  
• Fixed being able to still interact with the world on the "bees in the cogs" error screen
  
• Fixed game not resizing until you move when you load a game and have resized the window while on the menu
  
• Fixed centered text function using the wrong position (new game labels + text, settings menu volumes, control mapping labels)
  
• Fixed scroll hotbar not working when highlighting the hotbar
  
• Fixed being able to place tiles underneath shrubs + rocks
  
• Fixed bees always showing the aggro bubble instead of the love bubble
  
• Rounded player inventory to prevent tearing on some displays (extra pixel line on left, none on right)
  
• Rounded UI items on home screens and settings/controls to prevent tearing on some displays (missing pixel on home buttons)
  
• Fixed library getting highlighted when highlighting the save/menu buttons
  
• Fixed notifications not updating position on screen resize
  

Thank you all for getting stuck in!!

For those who haven't played before, we hope you've been enjoying it
We've prioritized stuff that causes a crash or the white window popup error as those are more game breaking right now!!

• Fixed an issue where hammering an active hive would cause the game to crash when trying to render lighting
  
• Fixed .origin_x not set crash
  
• Fixed sort + middle click sort duping items for stacks of between 50-99 items
  
• Fixed being able to click the empty bee book + flower book slots before unlocking them
  
• Fixed NPCs movement going weird and getting "stuck", although you'll need to hammer and re-place them to get the fix
  
• Fixed an issue where the game wouldn't load the settings file properly, so the pre-load didn't work and music/sound options were not save. This means settings on other platforms will be reset the first time you play with this update [Windows]
  
• Fixed tooltips + some tooltip text (like day/money UI) having their outline 1px off on some graphics drivers [Windows]
  
• Fixed "trying to set a surface that does not exist" when hammering the floor [Windows]
  
• I've tried flooring the position of slot drawings, might fix the clipping some players are seeing? [Windows]
  
• Fixed an issue where the game would crash when trying to resize to 0px x 0px (when minimized) [Windows]
  

3 months later and the whole Javascript version of the game has been ported to GameMaker, and we're back where we were in January!

However, there's plenty of new tweaks and QoL stuff that's been added during the rebuild, so if you want to test it out this update is for you! If you've already played a lot of the existing Alpha there's not any new content in this build, so don't burn yourself out
I couldn't possibly fit in all the stuff that was changed or fixed compared to the old build, but I've done my best to list the more major changes you'll find below.

While playing the new Alpha, feel free to report any bugs or feedback in our Guilded Forums:

Feedback Thread

Bug Report Thread



[h2]Items[/h2]

• YOU CAN FINALLY PLACE STUFF WITHOUT EQUIPPING IT!!!
  
• You can also pick up tools and use them on stuff with the mouse without equipping them
  
• You can now drop stuff with right-click!!! high quality features here guys I know
  
• Items have a much larger pickup radius so you don't have to get as close to them
  
• Items will yeet themselves towards you when you're close to them, magnet style
  
• Cross-breeding
  
• Fixed various bees to quite working at the right time
  
• The predictor is easily craftable from the start to help understand the cross-breeding mechanics
  

[h2]Books[/h2]

• A bunch of quests have been made less wordy
  
• Notifications for quests open the quest book and scroll to the right chapter for you
  
• The bee book is introduced earlier so you don't need to get your first hybrid before getting it
  
• The predictor is introduced around the same time to make the first hybrid easier
  

[h2]Saves[/h2]

• Games take much quicker to load and save
  
• Floppy disk save icon is back in-game
• World generation is much quicker in general
  
• Game saves are pre-loaded on game start so if you pick the same save as the preloaded one it'll start the game instantly!
  

[h2]Town[/h2]

• You can hammer all the objects and tiles/walls in the town! Something, something great power great responsibility
  
• You can "pick up" npcs and bring them with you! Try not to lose them eh?
  

[h2]World[/h2]

• Highlighted objects are shown even behind other objects with a little ghosting effect
  
• Better shore generation around islands
  
• Better lighting in day/night
  
• Added sunrise + sunset glow to dawn/dusk to help emphasise those times
  
• Added water reflections, because shaders are freaking awesome
  
• Flowers now spread as seedlings that grow into flowers - introduces seeds earlier
  
• Flowers now don't spread into yo damn house
  

[h2]Critters[/h2]

• Birbs are no longer horrendously laggy or stupid
  
• Birbs can spawn in shallows now, but as lil seagulls!
  
• Birbs can be scared away by dropping sticks (as promised, finally the guide is no longer lying)
  

[h2]UI[/h2]

• You can now spam click slots and it doesn't sometimes magically lose items, what a treat
  
• Removed aspect ratio options - game fully resizes to the window whatever the size
  
• Removed scale options - same as above (displays over 1920 will go to 3x scale instead of 2x automatically)
  
• Menus now have lil open animations, cute!
  
• Preview tank amount without clicking into a menu
  
• Added back the move 'button', as an alternative to the move "bar"
  
• Inventory has number "labels" for the hotbar
  
• A lot better "error" states for the mouse hover or item usage, should be much clearer what you can and can't do (and why)
  

[h2]Bug Fixes[/h2]

• Many
  
• So gosh darn many oh my god every day new bugs
  

[h2]Bug Additions[/h2]

• Lots