Megaquarium News

Hello all, I've been delighted by the response to the release of Megaquarium's latest DLC: Deep Freeze last month.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2574770/Megaquarium_Deep_Freeze__Deluxe_Expansion/

But today I'm here for a different reason. I'd like to ask you to consider nominating Megaquarium for Steam's 'Labor of Love' award. Thank you!

[h3]Quality of life update incoming[/h3]
In other news, I've been working on a QOL update for you all based on the feedback I've received since Deep Freeze's release.

There's been a tonne of good ideas coming from the community, but I've focused on the things mentioned by the most players that I could add in a reasonable time-frame.

The headline new feature will be the ability to sort the staff management table!



You'll be able to sort by status, zone, highest skill and accessory. You'll also be able to reset the order back to the default (the order staff were hired), by clicking the button again.

There'll also be some bug fixes, balance changes and a few other things too. Watch this space!

Until next time,
Tim Twice Circled

Hello all! Just a quick post from me to promote a Steam Festival that, as players of Megaquarium, you might be interested in.



Cosy Quest is an event dedicated to cosy games. As the cold nights draw in (at least in the Northern Hemisphere) it's nice to have a few games you can relax with after a tough day.

You can check it out here:

https://store.steampowered.com/sale/CozyQuest2023


Until next time,
Tim TwiceCircled

[h3]v4.0.19 Changelog - 14/11/2023[/h3]

• Fixed bug: breeding objective in level 2 of Freshwater Frenzy campaign not appearing correctly unless Deep Freeze DLC is also installed.
  
• Fixed bug: Missing string after Emperor Penguin trade on level 4 of Deep Freeze campaign.
  

[h3]v4.0.18 Changelog - 10/11/2023[/h3]

• Fixed bug: 'Sandbox Trials - Completionist' achievement unlocked at Rank 12 rather than Rank 13 when Deep Freeze DLC was active making it possible to miss the achievement.
  
• UX: Improved consistency of paint and theme names in non-English languages.
  
• Fixed bug: Updated latin name of Oriental Sweetlips.
  
• Fixed bug: Corrected Chinese translation of 'Roach' thanks to player feedback.
  

[h3]v4.0.17 Changelog - 30/10/2023[/h3]

• Balance: Pacific Walrus no longer 'requires skill'. Also shoaler requirement reduced to 2, but +4 prestige for having 3.
  
• Fixed bug: Fish swimming upside-down.
  
• Fixed bug: 'Broken camera'
  
• Fixed bug: Abyssal objective in sandbox mode for Goblin Shark and Phantom Jelly could sometimes be impossible.
  
• Fixed bug: If the Air Conditioning was exactly twice air volume, it did not cause ice floes to form.
  
• Fixed bug: 'Limited Veteran' achievement counted spawn and eggs towards its goal.
  
• Fixed bug: Reinstated 'Other Inverts' menu category to allow some mods to appear again.
  
• Fixed bug: Improved many Chinese animal names in Deep Freeze.
  
• Fixed bug: Updated latin name of Half and Half Chromis.
  

[h3]v4.0.16 Changelog[/h3]

• Fixed bug: Some Showcase and Family Poster objectives in sandbox mode were not updating/generated correctly.
  
• Fixed bug: Frozen paint 2 was not unlocked at the beginning of 3. Sulasi.
  
• Fixed bug: Sponge Pellet was not unlocked at the beginning of 5. Piramillo.
  
• Fixed bug: Research window was not showing the latest available research projects under certain circumstances.
  
• Fixed bug: Breeding egg and fry positions were not updating correctly when moved between tanks of different substrate heights.
  

[h3]v4.0.15 Changelog[/h3]

• Fixed bug: Octopus Costume was invisible!
  

[h3]v4.0.14 Changelog[/h3]

• UI: Improved legibility of temperature icons.
  
• Tutorial: Added an extra sub-objective to 3. Sulasi, when breeding Adélies to avoid confusion between Pebble Substrate and Pebble Pile.
  
• Feature: Added latin names to Chinese version of the game.
  
• Balance: Reduced max size of phantom jelly to 250.
  
• Fixed bug: Breeding tooltip, information about at what rank a type of aquascaping becomes available was incorrect under certain conditions.
  
• Fixed bug: Latin name of fish-eating anemone was incorrect.
  
• Fixed bug: Growth tooltip of Phantom Jelly was incorrect.
  
• Fixed bug: New message indicator could be incorrect if you levelled up staff from other UI.
  
• Fixed bug: Staff level up message would not be generated sometimes if you switched the setting mid-game.
  
• Fixed bug: outlined version of pebble icon was incorrect.
  
• Fixed bug: flyers now take up half the water capacity in the tank as described in their tooltips.
  
• Fixed bug: added missing wall to 3. Sulasi
  

[h3]v4.0.13 Changelog[/h3]

• Fixed bug: when you pick up polar tank with an emperor penguin egg in it where most AC is connected via compressors.
  
• Fixed bug: Land animals starting on land did not have the right animation for the first frame after place/load.
  
• Fixed bug: Prevented addition of custom substrate to kreisel tank.
  

[h3]v4.0.12 Changelog[/h3]

• Fixed bug: an animal in the final level could be sold stopping a later objective from being completed.
  

[h3]v4.0.11 Changelog[/h3]

• Fixed bug: mod animals outside level's ranks caused a no progress bug.
  
• Fixed bug: duck egg appeared underground.
  
• Fixed bug: Sandbox menu went slightly offscreen on Mac.
  
• Fixed bug: When Architect's Collection is disabled in sandbox mode, some exclusive objectives would still appear.
  

The latest expansion for Megaquarium: Deep Freeze, is out now!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2574770/Megaquarium_Deep_Freeze__Deluxe_Expansion/

I've tried to pull out all the stops on this one. I really hope you enjoy it!

If you're a day-1 buyer, please consider leaving a review on the DLC's store page, once you've had a chance to check it out.

DLCs don't tend to get many reviews and it can be really helpful for prospective players to hear other players' thoughts on them. ːsteamthumbsupː

One final request: The game has gone through rigorous testing but if you notice any bugs while playing, please let me know via the Steam forums.

[h2]New achievements[/h2]
To celebrate the launch, I've added two new sandbox achievements to the game:

Sandbox Trials - Limited Veteran - In Sandbox mode, have 80 different species of animals in your aquarium using the Limited Supply preset on hard difficulty or higher.

Sandbox Trials - Quick Start Veteran - In Sandbox mode, reach 10,000 Prestige using the Quick Start preset on hard difficulty or higher.

The theme of this pair of achievements is to give veteran players something to reach for in Sandbox mode especially when playing with one or more DLCs. Good luck!

[h2]v4.0 Update[/h2]
The game has also got a significant update alongside the launch of the expansion. For a more in-depth look at some of the new features check out last week's post:

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/600480/view/3705957146504027925

This time around I have a full changelog to share with you (see below). This is of course in addition to all the brand new mechanics and features within Deep Freeze itself!

Thanks and enjoy!

Tim Twice Circled

[h3]Changelog[/h3]

• Feature: You can now toggle each DLC individually during Sandbox setup. Rank up levels will be adjusted accordingly.
  
• Feature: You can toggle on/off care requirements and equipment breakdowns in Sandbox mode.
  
• Feature: Added 'Passive Mode' preset to Sandbox. (Same as Creator mode but has care requirements and breakdowns switched off)
  
• Feature: Basic Divider is now available in base game.
  
• Feature: You can press Page Up/Page Down to levitate in first person mode. You fall back to earth if you move.
  
• Feature: Added latin names for every official animal. Hover over the (i) or the animal portrait to find it.
  
• Feature: U-Shaped tank is now extendable.
  
• Feature: Every object's rank is now shown within it's description (hover over the (i)).
  
• Balance: Staff start with 15 skill at level 1 and gain 30% every level.
  
• Balance: Lemon Shark max size reduced to 75
  
• Balance: Copperband Butterflyfish now eats Live Mysis.
  
• Balance: Clownfish now worth +2 Prestige if with an anemone.
  
• Balance: Prestige reduction for animals with large aquascaping/land requirements
  
• Balance: Prestige increase for combinations of the following factors: large size, greedy, skill required, live food and expensive food.
  
• Balance: Starfish moved from Other Inverts to Echinoderms
  
• Balance: Jellyfish moved from Other Inverts to Jellyfish
  
• Balance: Leopard Clam moved from Anemones, Gorgonians and Clams to Bivalves.
  
• Balance: Capped positive prestige from cheap vending machine and gift shop sales to 6 prestige points.
  
• Balance: Improved flexibility of many sandbox objects to work better when playing on 'limited supply' and 'everything available' presets.
  
• Balance: You are not offered breeding objectives in sandbox if you cannot currently unlock the 'light' required (if any).
  
• Balance: U-shaped tank is now unlocked when you start Carbon City level.
  
• Balance: Large tunnel tank can now support lights.
  
• UI: Level up staff on the management window and their individual staff window.
  
• UI: Option to disable staff level up messages.
  
• UI: Schedule multiple talks at single podium.
  
• UI: Added 'Not in aquarium' toggle which has the same effect of count=0 in the search.
  
• UI: Added range highlight on hover.
  
• UI: New 'enclosed' paperclip icon for messages that have objects inside.
  
• UI: Search by rank, ecology, science and prestige.
  
• UI: 'Skill required' icon is now incorporated into the task icon.
  
• UI: Hide warnings now hides all warnings, even deadly ones.
  
• UI: Reduce maximum search text.
  
• UI: Stop control characters in input boxes.
  
• UI: You can now see if a supplement needs doing today (0/1) or has already been given (1/1).
  
• UI: Breeding parents are stated on Breeder icon at all times.
  
• Graphics: Added shoaling/grouping behaviour to many animals across base game and all DLCs.
  
• Graphics: Reduced water wave in 1st person mode.
  
• Graphics: Improved animals transition between land and water.
  
• Graphics: Fixed minor issues with sponge, broom and mic headset animations.
  
• Fixed bug: You cannot set vending machine and gift shop prices negative.
  
• Fixed bug: Water continued to ripple when paused via entering menu.
  
• Fixed bug: Highlight flickers when hovering near the edge of an object.
  
• Fixed bug: Green Pellet Dispenser was called Greens Pellet Dispenser.
  
• Fixed bug: Hovering over a zone button in the zone menu and pressing escape caused all the zones to remain shown.
  
• Fixed bug: You are no longer offered tanks as "aquascaping" for breeding purposes by Emmanuel Tosh.
  
• Fixed bug: Game froze if you removed the last empty tile within 20 tiles of a guest.
  
• Fixed bug: Podium contribution to ecology/science income estimate is more accurate.
  
• Fixed bug: OSX resolution changes made by editing global.data take effect first time now.
  
• Fixed bug: in some resolutions, the main menu would not return to the centre after it moved to the left at least once.
  
• Fixed bug: if an animal eats another animal when it's been hungry for at least a day, the health loss is not reset correctly.
  
• Fixed bug: staff portrait would sometimes be invisible in zoning menu.
  
• Fixed bug: level file name was shown when first saving after starting a new level.
  
• Optimisation: Animal ledger was updating even when closed under some circumstances.
  
• Optimisation: Sped up sandbox objective generation.
  

The latest expansion for Megaquarium: Deep Freeze, is coming out next week on the 18th October!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2574770/Megaquarium_Deep_Freeze__Deluxe_Expansion/

In this post we're going to check out some of the improvements that will be added to the base game alongside the new DLC's release. These improvements affect all players, whether or not they own any of the DLCs. ːsteamthumbsupː

[h3]Staff improvements[/h3]
For starters, it'll be possible to level up your staff directly from the staff management window.



A single click and bam - levelled up!

By default you can continue to level up your staff via the message log as well. However, you can toggle this off and do all your levelling up in the staff window if you like. Very useful in big aquariums!

Next we have a balance change. Currently all staff skills start at 10 and increase 10 every time you level them up. This is simple and easy to understand but leads to a bit of a strange improvement graph. At level 2, they are twice as quick, then gain another 50% at level 3. From there on it's diminishing returns.

This has made the first couple of level-ups much more important than subsequent ones, which I think is a missed opportunity.



With the new update, skills will start at 15 and improve by 30% each level. This makes every single level up important.

In addition levelling all the way to 10 now rewards you with a base skill of 159 (+60% compared to current build). This should go some way to alleviating feeding bottlenecks in huge aquariums.

Salaries will adjust for the changes in skill, so it won't change the economic balance of the game.

[h3]Shoaling animations[/h3]
This one has been on players' request list for a long time! Some animals will now form groups in the tank.



This is a purely aesthetic change. I'm really pleased with the variation it creates in the display. As an added bonus I've made animals with the 'wingman' tag follow a large animal in the tank, just like symbiotic pilotfish do in the wild!

[h3]Improved podium UI and balance[/h3]
You will be able to schedule different talks on different days at a single podium thanks to its updated UI.



In addition I've tweaked the simulation/balance a bit: The more valuable the talk, the higher the skill required to give it. Any staff can attempt any talk but if they are not skilled they will take a lot longer to give the talk.

What's more, guests will get bored and wander off mid-talk, leading to less points. On the flip-side, skilled talkers will complete talks in less time while generating their full value.

[h3]Basic divider[/h3]
Since the release of the Architect's Collection I've come to rely on dividers (half walls) to create soft divides in the aquarium. I've decided to make the basic divider part of the vanilla game while all the fancy ones still remain part of the Architect's Collection.



[h3]Skill level/task icon combined[/h3]
The 'requires skill' icon will appear on top of the task icons, rather than separately. This small change makes it easy to grasp all the important info without looking in multiple places.



[h3]Passive mode[/h3]
This is quite big news! Passive mode is a new sandbox preset which turns off care requirements and equipment breakdowns. You can build an aquarium almost like you're painting a picture.

It's up to you whether you let guests in or if it's a private creation for your eyes only!

[h3]Latin names[/h3]
Ever wanted to pin down the exact species featured in the game? All official animals will have their latin name listed when you hover over their (i) icon.

[h3]Range highlight[/h3]
The range of an object will be highlighted by hovering over it e.g. Tanks, vending machines, seating, toilets, posters. This can be very helpful when planning your aquarium layout!



Believe it or not, there are still many more improvements I didn't get a chance to mention. Discover them all when the update goes live next week!

Until next time,

Tim Twice Circled