Captain of Industry News

v0.6.4
* Added map-data-cache feature that speeds up game loads by around 2x (more speedup for weaker CPUs).
- New Haven map load went from 12 to 7 sec, Armageddon from 30 to 15 sec (on i9-13900 CPU).
- This was achieved by loading cached map data instead of generating terrain from scratch.
- Map cache is created and saved on the first game load so speedup will be only noticeable on subsequent loads.
- All games that share the same map version will share its cache.
- At most 5 map caches are stored at one time.
- This feature can be disabled with --disable-map-cache launch option.
- This change also reduces the probability of game crashes due to high CPU load on systems that are sensitive to this.
* Improved saving algorithm of terrain tile data, reducing raw save file size by ~2x. The effect on final compressed file size is smaller, around 15% savings.
- This change resulted in significant memory and time savings during saves and made map cache smaller and faster to load.
- Map data cache of the Armageddon map went from 160 MB to 66 MB (before compression).
- This change also reduces the chance of encountering out-of-memory errors during game saving when the system is low on memory.
* Settlements can now have custom surfaces which cover the original paths.
* Game speed is now saved.
* Spam-clicking the start game button no longer makes the in-game escape menu unclickable.
* Fog now renders properly for liquid evaporators and vehicle particles.
* FPS limit was removed from the loading screen to eliminate idle time where the game is waiting for the next step but the renderer is also waiting for the next frame due to the FPS cap.
* Improved visuals of dust particles on terrain and behind vehicles.
* Vehicle dust and exhaust particles now do not spawn when the camera is too far from them.
* Vehicles now spray water instead of dust during rain.
* Dust behind vehicles is now emitted even on concrete surfaces in small amounts.
* Fixed excessive dust emitted when the mega excavator was turning in-place.

Map editor
* Optimized the "Writing generated data" step which used to take up to 60 seconds on large maps, now it’s nearly instant (speedup of over 1000x).
* Fixed missing reference list of noise functions.
* Fixed error window that did not show errors when first displayed.

* Single-copied lifts now go back to the first construction phase if placed down while holding Ctrl.
* Custom surfaces can no longer be placed under water.
* Fixed a rare terrain generation issue during game load that could result in map being loaded as brand new without any terrain modifications.
* Improved bush textures to make them more visible against grass.
* Slightly increased sun shadows intensity.
* Added checksum save file verification before loading a game to detect externally corrupted files.
* Further work-arounds for saving issues on mac when playing via CrossOver.
* Fixed arithmetic overflows that could occur with extreme settings of terrain features in the map editor.
* Fixed rare path-finding when the goal was hard to reach and exactly at 10 tiles height difference.
* Fixed jitter on fluid cargo module pipes.
* Fixed camera rendering distance when loading its position from a saved slot.
* Fixed ocean rendering that could have cracks where it was possible to see under the ocean.
* Fixed a rare vehicle depot state where it believed that vehicle should be upgraded but vehicle itself did not intend to be upgraded.
* Fixed that pressing Enter on the main screen kept opening new window instances.
* Windows no longer accept input when in fade-out transition.
* Fixed farm popup that was showing locked crops.
* Fixed tree harvester that could be showing "no tree to harvest" when out of fuel.
* Fixed rare issues with inability to instantiate Audio Manager.
* Fixed glass on highest greenhouse tier.
* Fixed smoke particles that were showing square artifacts in rainy weather.

* Added a workaround for Mac users using CrossOver who were experiencing `IOException: Success` on game save. Bug was reported to the CrossOver team.
* Step limit of the vehicle path finder now scales with its internal job queue size. This helps to restore logistics quicker when it gets overwhelmed.
* Added console command `set_max_steps_per_tick_for_vehicle_path_finder` that allows manually increasing the PF processing throughput (only for extreme players).
* Vehicle navigation jobs now show more info about where they go.
* Additional fix to the You Shall Not Pass map back-start to have immediate access to trees.
* Leveling designations now show colors correctly on designations not ready to be fulfilled.
* Fixed sandstone non-corner edges.
* Fixed surface vertical faces to show correct surface type.
* Fixed ocean coastline that was sometimes jagged.
* Fixed blast furnace 2 preview that was all white.

* Improved You Shall Not Pass map backdoor-start by providing access to trees.
* Tree saplings can be now shredded into biomass.
* Game can no longer be exited when (auto)save is in progress.
* Contract profit increase (difficulty setting) is now properly applied.
* Fixed save file writing procedure that could in rare circumstances result in incompletely written save files.
* Added checksums to all game save and map files.
* Saving was made more robust by checking checksums of written files and displaying errors when any issue is detected.
* Save file overwrite only happens when the new save was successfully written and checksum was verified. If checksum check fails, both new and old files are kept and an error message is displayed.
* Save files that fail to be fully written (e.g. due to insufficient disk space) are now deleted.
* Fixed a rare save issue when tile surface command was in queue to be executed.
* Fixed issue where an excavator could not find a path to an unfulfilled designation in tight space that should have been accessible.
* Trucks should no longer return back to mines when partially loaded, they will unload completely first.
* Improved stuck vehicle notification to trigger sooner.
* Further improved vehicle recovery logic to prevent vehicles crawling on cliffs.
* Fixed settlements that kept giving unity bonuses even when supply of household goods was stopped.
* Fixed incorrect total stats for health and unity.
* Trucks no longer load more than their capacity when clearing surfaces.
* Fixed issue where truck replacing a surface would override a previous surface that was not cleared yet, making the original surface products lost.
* Trucks now don’t get a surface placement job if the surface costs more than what they have.
* Fixed case where storage would not provide products to upgrade another storage that was connected to it.
* Storage truck export is now not disabled if it gets connected to an unbuilt storage.
* Fixed vehicles refueling from storages that are set to import.
* Product notification settings are now copied when cloning a config for the Ore sorter.
* The "Cannot deliver" notification is now cleared right after the truck gets cleared.
* Ship order buttons were moved to the top of the world map settlement window.
* Fixed issues when regenerating an area outside of map in the map editor.
* Fixed tree harvester visual issues when cutting trees on a slope.
* Fixed ready-to-fulfill check for leveling designations based on the job that is asking, to match mining and dumping designations logic.

* Improved operation of the Ore sorter to not get stuck by a single resource.
- Sorter no longer accepts deliveries that contain products which have full output buffers.
- Sorter will continue to sort other materials even if some output buffers are full.
* Added a new command line argument that can limit maximum used threads for the terrain generation.
- This can be used as a work-around when games are unable to load or getting stuck on terrain generation.
- Use `--terrain-gen-threads 1` in Launch Options on Steam to enable this (you can also try different values such as 2 or 4).
* Added `clear_all_goals_permanently` console command that can be used to permanently delete all current and future goals.
* Any obsolete goals are now removed after game load.
* Improved stuck vehicle auto-recovery behavior.
* Fixed trucks that would never mark excavators unreachable if those trucks were never idle before.
* Improved surfaces and decals rendering to remove artifacts, seams, and blurriness.
* Vehicles now ride properly on custom surfaces, instead of on the terrain below them.
* Fixed rendering of loose material pile on overfilled trucks.
* Pushed fog clipping plane back to fix fog rendering on AMD GPUs.
* Fixed issues related to transports that span more than 127 height units.
* Fixed resource bars that would get into bad state when all resource bars were disabled.
* Reduced power consumption of conveyor lifts from 4 kW per height-delta to 2 + 2 kW * delta.
* Conveyor lifts now properly recompute their internal buffer on flip to never be a bottleneck.
* Flip of conveyor lifts on hover is now disabled when the inspector is open to prevent double-flip.
* Fixed conveyor lift highlight on flip.