Alfie's Awesome Automations is Out Now!

Greetings Researchers!

We're happy to bring you our very first major content update, 'Alfie's Awesome Automations'!

This update focuses on automation in the game. We decided to work on this aspect of the game for a few reasons:

• It gives a new progression goal for players to automate and optimise their farms.
  
• It is an important part of base management, and contributes to overall QOL of the game by reducing repetition of tedious work.
  
• Alfie's Shop exterior was already added the game, but with a placeholder to prevent entry as it did not make it for the initial release. Now, all existing buildings in the game can be entered.
  

[h2]Automation Features[/h2]

[h3]Farming: Sprinklers, Sun Lamps! 💧☀️[/h3]
Three tiers of sprinklers and sun lamps can be unlocked, covering a 3x3, 5x5, and 7x7 area. Sprinklers and Sun Lamps can be stacked to make use of the same tile.


[h3]Ranching: Auto-Collectors, Bell Tool 🔔[/h3]
Auto-Collectors can be placed on the farm, and collect both creature drops and produce from adjacent pens.

The Bell Tool can be purchased for easier management of creatures. Ring the bell using Right Click to make creature followers go back to their pens. Ring the bell using Left Click to make all followers go back to their pens. The Bell only works in the Farm area, where pens are located.



[h3]Crafting: Bait Press and Feed Crafter 📦[/h3]
We've heard feedback from several players, saying that crafting from the inventory can get tedious after some time when clicking through the menus. After considering several options, we decided to add two items: Bait Press and Feed Crafter, which can quickly craft some of the oft-required items. These crafters also pull from adjacent chests - one of the things we've heard players want to see!



[h3]Resource Gathering: Fish Nets and Auto-Tappers 🐟🌳[/h3]
The Fish Net can yield certain items every 3-5 days when placed in water with bait. It usually yield mollusks, shells, and other items but can sometimes yield fish. We balanced it this way so that Fish Nets don't diminish the purpose of some creatures that help with getting fish.

The Auto-Tapper works on Fir trees and Maple trees, getting tapped materials every 4 and 10 days respectively:
- Resin from Fir trees
- Maple Syrup from Maple trees

In the end, this scene looks very Stardew-esque. While I tried to add new things (e.g. Lily Pads that can be placed in water), this resource-gathering mechanic is just so simple and intuitive that I didn't change it much. I hope players will enjoy it regardless!

[h3]Decor Sets and Items 🪑[/h3]
We've added some decor sets and items, along with some rotateable furniture (Chairs and Lily Pads to start with).


[h2]Full v0.3 Patch Notes[/h2]
We've also added a bunch of other content, fixed bugs, and made some balancing changes to the game. They can be found in the full v0.3 Patch Notes here.

[h2]Research Story is on Sale until July 13![/h2]
During the Steam Summer Sale, Research Story is 10% off!

Thank you to everyone who has supported the game in one way or another. You've been an important part of the development of Research Story and I'm excited to continue building the game with you! If you have any questions, suggestions, or comments, I'll be here to read them.

[h2]What's next 📝[/h2]
I'll be spending some time on the outstanding bugs (I know there are some bugs that have persisted for a few patches, I'll be looking at them again ;; ). Along with that, I'll be cleaning up the code base, which may not translate to new things immediately but will be good for the game in the long term. It'll also mean starting to implement localisation (specifics TBA).

Once I feel more ready to tackle the next content patch, I'll share more about it! I'm thinking of working on NPCs next. As usual, I'll keep in touch using Mini-Devlogs and on our Discord!

Happy Researching!
- Miki