dotAGE News

Please note: this update had a small bug on the hosptial fix that broke fishermen, should be fine now, I hotfixed it! In case you are here for that, please update the game and it should be fine

QoL

• Controller: you can now open the Research Tree while hovering the build menu
  
• Japanese font changes to be more readable and prettier
  

Bugfixing

• Fixed Hospital producing too much due to some error in optimizing 2-tile distances
  
• Fixed default language not being loaded correctly anymore
  
• Fixed being able to upgrade to a Quarry even if not on mountains
  
• Fixed achievement "Heaven or Hell" using the wrong localization key
  
• Fixed Agepedia description sometimes messing up during tutorials
  
• Fixed a null reference on trying to pulse unpulsable items on the top-right
  
• Controller: fixed a rare occourrence where the memories panel would get stuck when using a controller
  
• Minor visual fixes
  
• Minor localization fixes
  

Hello Elders!

Time indeed does really fly when you are having fun (or you are too old)! DotAGE celebrates its first birthday on the 4th of October, one year from the Steam release! Happy birthday dotAGE!

To celebrate this important milestone (and the fact that my leg is finally working fine), and to thank you for your support for this year, a new update is now live!

I'm pushing this a couple of days earlier as it has a (very small) in-game celebration, which you can see if you play on the 4th of October!



Now, let's take a look at what this update has to offer!

[h2]A new VIP is in town![/h2]

The Merchant joins the cast of Very Special Pips that can interact with the village, with three new fun events tied to his appearance! The Merchant comes from somewhere far, and always brings some interesting trades to the village, it's a good way to get some extra resources, and even resources you cannot produce in your current village!
If he's content with what you do, he might even want to join the village!



[h2]A life of quality![/h2]
As anticipated in the last experimental news, several new QoL options are now in the game, some of which have been requested for a while! I'm happy to have finally added them to the game too!

Here are some highlights:

• Advanced Building Mode option: place the Bivouac anywhere, build even if requirements are not met yet, and place building blueprints outside of the village
  
• Upgrade with right click
  
• Replant All Plants & Repair All Buildings buttons
  
• Icons to show what research section (i.e. tab) you are currently using, and whether you have completed it
  
• Improved Pip-Picking function
  
• Improved Controller support
  
• Many new hotkeys to speed things up, like building selection and popup opening/closing
  
• Copy Building & Copy Action keys for quicker handling of larger villages
  
• Copper Bar does not look anymore like bacon when you are hungry
  
• More information in the Agepedia
  
• Although the game already runs quite well, in this version a lot of work went into optimizing the game for low-end devices as a direct consequence of working on a certain small console, so you will find it a lot snappier, especially with large villages and many Pips!
  

Check the complete changelog below for more!


[h2]New localizations![/h2]
Thanks to the help of some super fans, the game now has Russian localization!
In addition, the game now can be played in Japanese, thanks to the work of Masaru Funahashi!
Last but not least, the game is now fully playable in Spanish thanks to the help of a great group of fans!

We will do a few tweaks to the localizations, but you can try them out and they should work fine for the most part, as always, let us know if you have any feedback about the localization in this thread here.


And now, for the big reveal...

[h2]The game is coming to the Nintendo Switch!!![/h2]
A dream come true! While working on the Steam version these last months, I also on the side worked on a Switch version, and we (me and my friend Nintendo) just announced that it will be live on the 24th of October!
Now you can play dotAGE from the comfort of your bed or sofa, making it even harder to put it down (sorry about that)!

Check out the game's eShop page here!

Now then, let's go get a real cake to celebrate! And you, you have fun while I eat that!
- Michele




V 1.4.0

Content

• Added new Memory: The Merchant, with a new VIP and three new events!
  
• Added a special celebration mode if you play the game on its birthday, on the 4th of October!
  
• Added Japanese localization
  
• Added Russian localization
  
• Added Spanish localization
  

Balance: General

• Pavements are now built first thing when placing a combo pavement & building
  
• Upgrade: You can now Upgrade buildings directly skipping tiers in-between
  

Balance: Events

• Mini-events can now appear post-Apocalypse
  
• Flower Lover: Max level from 4 to 5
  
• Personal Garden: Max level from 4 to 5
  
• Wild Expansion: Tiles reduced from T*1 to 1
  
• Territorial Expansion: Tiles reduced from T*2 to T*0.5
  
• Wild Critters: Tiles for Hares reduced from T*2 to T*0.5
  
• All otheer animal spawn events: Tiles reduced from T*1 to T*0.5
  
• Invasive Carrots: Now a Nature event instead of a Heat event
  
• Bird / FIsh / Beast Migration: Max level from 2 to 4, value from 1 to T*1
  

QoL

• Advanced: Added new "Allow Building Everywhere" option in the settings. This allows placing the Bivoauc anywhere, building even if requirements are not met yet, and placing building blueprints outside of the village.
  
• Upgrade: After an Upgrade, buildings will mantain their active/inactive status (i.e. springs won't be turned off)
  
• Upgrade: Workers will now keep being assigned to upgraded buildings
  
• Upgrade: You can now Upgrade a building by right clicking on it
  
• Global action: Replant All Plants
  
• Global action: Repair All Buildings
  
• Research: Added icon that shows whether we researched everything in that tab
  
• Research: Added icon that shows in which tab you are currently researching something
  
• Controls: Pip-Select (Shift) now requires a left click instead of a right click, and you can no longer click on buildigns while performing it
  
• Controls: Pip-Force (Ctrl) to pick patients will now allow picking only Pips that are assigned to simple actions, to avoid confusion
  
• Controls: Pip-Pick (Alt) revised to use the same UX of Pip-Select, thus making Pip picking easier to perform
  
• Controls: When performing Pip-picking, Pips will move so to avoid being grouped together
  
• Controls: You can now press Escape to abort Pip-picking
  
• Controls: You can now zoom during the pass-turn time
  
• Controls: Spacebar will now trigger the event roll
  
• Hotkeys: Added hotkey to open Agepedia
  
• Hotkeys: Added hotkey to open Village Recap
  
• Hotkeys: You can now use TAB to cycle tabs (changed default binding)
  
• Hotkeys: Pressing a hotkey again will now close the corresponding menu, if open
  
• Hotkeys: Added hotkeys to select building type (1,2,3,etc), and building subtype instead if the menu is already open
  
• Hotkeys: Added hotkeys to navigate tabs (1,2,3,etc). Works for research tabs, prophecy pages, and Agepedia tabs.
  
• Hotkeys: Added new hotkey to copy a building blueprint
  
• Hotkeys: Added new hotkey to select an action as "contextual", allowing it to be copied on other buildings
  
• Choices: Added a button to go back to the village during a Choice event to view the village's status
  
• Accessibility: Added grid options to show the underlying grid on the map, with two values for thickness
  
• UI: When building a pavement alongside a building, the build action will show that on hover
  
• UI: Building stages left on buildings now better reflect the current amount of turns
  
• UI: Set in-game UI size to roughly 80% of the older size
  
• UI: Memories screen now shows icons when you have something to unlock out of screen
  
• UI: Agepedia access is now the last button among building side actions
  
• UI: Agepedia back button moved above
  
• UI: Improved resource UI spacing
  
• UI: improved feedback when buildings produce on pass turn
  
• UI: Redrawn the Copper Bar so it looks less like bacon when players are hungry
  
• UI: Creatures and Building Variations now tell how they work when you unlock them to avoid confusion for new players
  
• Hints: Added a "hint" small icons when right clicking will send you to hints
  
• Hints: Added new hint to explain advanced Pip controls
  
• Hints: Improved visual clarity of various hints
  
• Hints: Unavailable hints are now hidden
  
• Hints: Overpipulation hint and UI now appear 5 Pips before you reach the threshold
  
• Localization: Improved non-English language font rendering
  
• Settings: Reordered settings
  
• Controller: Improved animation when opening radial building menu
  
• Controller: Improved following cursor when moving on the grid
  
• Controller: Camera movement is 2x as fast
  
• Controller: Miscellaneous minor improvements to streamline the experience
  
• Agepedia: Ailments will now list the resources that can cure them
  
• Agepedia: Buildings now list how much Knowledge is needed to research them
  
• Agepedia: Added new tooltips to several Agepedia items
  
• Agepedia: Added button to toggle showing descriptions in Agepedia
  
• Agepedia: Added scrollbar to Agepedia description
  
• Agepedia: Agepedia now lists alternative buildings
  
• Agepedia: Herd buildings now list what food is eaten
  
• Agepedia: Ailments and Conditions now list what events can add them
  
• Agepedia: Buildings that can be upgraded now list what they can be upgraded into
  

System

• Huge performance improvements!
  
• Upgraded engine from 2022.3.15f to 2022.3.34f
  
• Huge optimization work (thanks Switch!)
  
• Moved all data to Addressables
  

Bugfixes

• Fixed BlueBerries being able to spawn where they would be abandoned
  
• Fixed profile reset not resetting hint unlocks
  
• Various fixes to Alt-pick aborting
  
• Fixed arrows on production not being shown anymore at pass turn
  
• Fixed color of WIP structure on load, and signposts not being shown
  
• Fixed output resources not being shown when using a controller on the first hovered tile after a building is selected for build
  
• Fixed some tooltips not appearing anymore
  
• Fixed roads disappearing on load or remaining on new game
  
• Fixed Escape button often opening the Pause menu when you just wanted to close a menu instead
  
• Fixed bug with trying to Pip-pick for a Cure action when only self-curing Pips are available
  
• Fixed trying to cure using Pip-force sometimes picking Pips that were already being cured elsewhere
  
• Fixed hovering on map still being available while performing Pip-only actions
  
• Fixed shift-clicking on Pips not being removed when you stop holding shift
  
• Fixed Tier 2 Hunters blocking after a few uses if they think they found a hare but haven't
  
• Fixed not being able to click on a hint after search if there is only one instance
  
• Fixed force-hold not working on Build actions
  
• Fixed research instances sometimes not appearing until clicking on them
  
• Fixed Magnanery giving back Seeds when dismantled
  
• Fixed duration of baloons during cutscene at default speeed being too fast
  
• Fixed skipping the animated score addition delaying too much the appearance of the highscores screen
  
• Fixed Ice House and Ice Maker wrongly showing that they produce water
  
• Fixed upgrades sometimes showing zero turns instead of one
  
• Fixed search input detecting inputs on other game items
  
• Fixed highscores showing experimental version scores
  
• Fixed research arrows sometimes being generated in wrong positions
  
• Fixed being able to build outside of the village borders if you first removed signposts
  
• Controller: Fixed UI sometimes getting stuck during tutorial
  
• Controller: Fixed game log UI not closing on each pass turn
  
• Controller: Fixed not being able to focus on different items in the prophecy
  
• Controller: Fixed bonuses not appearing when you hover the first time after selecting a building
  
• Various localization fixes
  
• Various minor UI scaling fixes
  
• Various UI consistency fixes
  

Hello Elders!

I am back to work! We went a bit to the beach, and I even managed to swim a bit in the sea... ah how I missed that!
I hope everything is going great for you all! My leg is still a bit iffy, but I am almost at the end of the rehabilitation and apart from having a bit of a Crippled ailment, it works fine, and will get healed soon!

Anyways, I am here with some news, and a new Experimental build starting today!

[h2]Elder on my couch?[/h2]

While working on the Steam version, I silently worked on a console version too, which made me delve into even more optimization (due to a certain small console...) and improved controller support, resulting in an even snappier dotAGE! I now brought all the optimizations to the Steam version too, and you can try it now on experimental!

Actually, since *a lot* changed to optimize away most stuff, even if I tested it for many nights I would be very grateful if you gave me some feedback, especially if you encounter any bug!

[h2]There is no such a thing as too much quality of life[/h2]

Now, to sweeten the deal, in the new experimental version you will also find new Quality of Life improvements (with more being worked on!), some of which have been requested by advanced players to improve their planning, reduce late-game attrition, and increase overall the enjoyment of the game. Shall we take a look?

Advanced building mode
You can now enable a special "Build Everywhere" option in the Game settings which will allow you to:

• Place the starting Bivoauc anywhere you want instead of close to initial food.
  
• Place and build buildings in positions where they normally cannot be placed as they would become abandoned or produce zero, allowing you to build regardless of requirements.
  
• Place building blueprints
• outside* of village limits (but you cannot build them until they become reachable!)
  

This will be huge for some players that want to have more freedom in their planning!



Copy building blueprints
A handy tool indeed! You can now hold the "Copy Building" button to copy any blueprint on the map instead of having to find it!



Copy contextual action
Sometimes, you have many buildings you want to act on, and having to right click on each of them becomes tedious, so here comes a new functionality! By holding the "Copy Action" button while selecting an action in the right-click menu, you can copy it and then click on other buildings to perform it on each of them! Let's save you some clicks!



Visual Grids
For those that prefer to see the underlying grid, I added options to show it!
It does give the game a cool we-are-a-strategy-game-sir feeling, doesn't it?

This is not all, as I am working on even more items these days, and take a look at the Experimental thread here for the changelog on what is available as of now!


[h2]New localizations incoming![/h2]

Thanks to the hard work of fans, Experimental version now has a complete Russian localization! If you are a Russian speaker, do check it out and tell us what you think, either on Discord or on the Steam forums!
More localizations are being worked on, so keep an eye out for more news!

[h2]What now?[/h2]
I am going to complete the console version so you can expect some cool news about that soon. :)
In the meantime, I will also add that I have started work on the DLC because I just couldn't help myself as I wanted to test some ideas... it will take quite some work, but I am already testing some cool ideas and can't wait to show you! But I'm keeping everything a secret for now :D

Until then, have fun!
- Michele

Took a short pause from not working to do some QoL changes, as my hands need to do some coding or they become restless. Back to not working!
Have fun
- Michele

V 1.3.3

QoL

• Building plans are now kept in-between saves so you can prepare a better plan before going to bed at 2 A.M
  
• All tasks can now be performed below existing buildings. The terrain changing might destroy the building on top if the requirement is not met anymore
  
• Tasks can now be performed on tiles with ruined buildings / depleted plants even when off-season
  
• Bourgeoise becoming VIPs are demoted to commoners to avoid them requiring special food (Cats were already commoners)
  

Bugfixes

• Fixed numbers above 1000 in the resources pool not appearing correctly as "1k"
  
• Fixed side-UI sometimes messing up spacing and hiding some items behind others
  
• Fixed overflow Knowledge points disappearing if you did not use them and then added some points through work in the same turn
  
• Fixed "Body Heat" counting buildings that are not yet built
  
• Fixed "Lovely Glades" counting planned buildings
  
• Localization fixes
  

Balance

• Randolph: Deadly events cannot appear anymore when failing simple risk events, and Deadly predictions are forced to select a Deadly event
  

Bugfixes

• Fixed some events being able to hit Tasks erroneously
  
• Fixed removing pavements in Randolph games not working on original pavements
  
• Fixed post end-game triggering some fake events that could block the game
  
• Fixed some tasks being re-set when a Watcher is being asked to perform another task but they are in the middle of the first task
  
• Fixed clearing burnging forests sometimes not removing the added danger correctly
  
• Localization fixes