dotAGE News

Hello Elder!

Just a small update to signal that 0.0021 is now on the main branch, so enjoy your better starts, and the cool new colors for Highly Fertile terrains! (Just as a heads up, it will say "experimental" in the title screen, but that is untrue, ignore that for now)



Hope this solves the peskier bugs, but do let me know if it does not!

Also, do not worry if you see a new locked tech below Theater... I am working on finding out what that is!

Have fun
- Michele

V 1.0.0.0021

Balance

• Starting food generation now takes into account the starting reachable area, making sure you get a minimum amount of food inside it (not for the Captain)
  
• Reduced maximum Mastery Level from 20 to 10 (I'm trying to find a humanly reachable value)
  

UX

• Added Seasonal tile colors for Highly Fertile terrains
  
• Super Fast Mode will now also skip Elder visions (this will make it harder to see them appearing, of course)
  

Bugfixes

• Fixed Mastery Level hint when you complete your first Hard or Harder game not appearing anymore
  
• Fixed actions not being cleared correctly when a building becomes abandoned
  
• Fixed rare bug where some patterns could cause a Healer to get stuck on load due to its building being abandoned
  
• Fixed map generation sometimes not generating enough reachable Mountain tiles
  
• Fixed multiple workers being able to be assigned at some buildings that allowed only one to be assigned.
  
• Fixed a rare bug with season change blocking the game in some maps
  
• Fixed challenge mode UI acting weirdly if you change elder (note that if you saw 1/0 it means you did not unlock it for that Elder yet, it was an error)
  
• Fixed a few localization errors
  

System

• Minor performance optimizations
  
• Added unique game versioning to handle further addition of mechanics
  

Have fun!
- Michele

Hello Elder!

Hope you are having fun with the game! This has been a very busy week for me, with all that is happening inside and outside the game. While I sort everything out, I am happy to be able to dedicate some time to the game!

[h2]What is the plan?[/h2]
For now, the plan is to make some small changes to make the experience better, and then I'll start working on Controller Support and to get the game Steam Deck Verified. I am reading all the suggestions and I saw some pretty cool ones, but keep in mind that time is a scarce resource (just as Pip turns), so I need to prioritize.
Here is what I am focusing on at the moment (apart from bugfixes and small changes)!

[h2]The Doomsday[/h2]
As you may have seen from an earlier update this week, I am working on a new mechanic that is designed to make the game shorter, *if* you are playing good. t will first appear in the experimental branch and we will test it there a bit!

[h2]Overcrowding[/h2]
I see that many of you are making... way too many Pips! That was not intended, as I underestimated your willingness to handle the complexity of having 100+ or even 200+ Pips at once. I am working on a mechanic that will make it less optimal to make so many Pips, and that one will too appear in the experimental branch.

[h2]Soft locks?[/h2]
If you encountered some bug that does not let you pass the turn, know that the experimental branch now has more fixes tied to them (they are increasingly rare, so it should not happen for the most part!). If you still encounter one, do send it to me!

[h2]Balance?[/h2]
I know that some buildings and resources need a lift, I am collecting feedback and will act on it, but this will take some time since the balance can be really delicate!

[h2]Content creators![/h2]
I have a small warning to make if you are a content creator: it has been brought to my attention that some content creator are receiving copyright claims tied to the music of dotAGE. If this happens to you with new content, or old content, please dispute the claim as being fair use and it will be lifted basically immediately. If you have any issue, do send the link to your content to me and I'll shove it into their support mail to get it fixed! I am working with them to get this changed altogether.



Here is the changelog for the current Experimental branch

V 1.0.0.0021 EXPERIMENTAL

Balance

• Starting food generation now takes into account the starting reachable area, making sure you get a minimum amount of food inside it (not for the Captain)
  
• Reduced maximum Mastery Level from 20 to 10 (I'm trying to find a humanly reachable value)
  

UX

• Added Seasonal tile colors for Highly Fertile terrains
  
• Super Fast Mode will now also skip Elder visions (this will make it harder to see them appearing, of course)
  

Bugfixes

• Fixed Mastery Level hint when you complete your first Hard or Harder game not appearing anymore
  
• Fixed actions not being cleared correctly when a building becomes abandoned
  
• Fixed rare bug where some patterns could cause a Healer to get stuck on load due to its building being abandoned
  
• Fixed map generation sometimes not generating enough reachable Mountain tiles
  
• Fixed multiple workers being able to be assigned at some buildings that allowed only one to be assigned.
  
• Fixed a rare bug with season change blocking the game in some maps
  
• Fixed challenge mode UI acting weirdly if you change elder (note that if you saw 1/0 it means you did not unlock it for that Elder yet, it was an error)
  
• Fixed a few localization errors
  

System

• Minor performance optimizations
  
• Added unique game versioning to handle further addition of mechanics
  

Have fun!
- Michele

Hello Elders!

I wanted to thank you all we just reached the Overwhelmingly Positive rating on Steam, which is *unreal*!

Thank you so much for your trust and enthusiasm, when I made this game I did not expect it to sell, and never in my wildest dreams I would have thought it could reach such heights!

Nine years of work, iterating, polishing, scrapping, redoing, obsessing on the design and art, and doing a lot of detective work to catch bugs...

I wanted to make a good game, and I am laterally overwhelmed at the reception. You made this great achievement possible and I want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart!

Let's go!

Hello Elders!

While we discuss suggestions in the forum and the Discord, I am prioritizing and working on the bugs that appear. Keep them coming! The experimental branch is turning out to be pretty useful for this, so I'll keep working on it and, when I deem it stable enough, the build is moved to the main branch. Which is happening now, by the way.

This should avoid big bugs introduced with updates (as a solo dev, it's pretty hard to keep everything in check), as long as some people remain on the experimental branch. Be a brave player and stay there to have faster iterations and help me avoid issues!

This update has several nice fixes for some edge cases that could soft lock the game. Let me know if you still experience one.

I also made some small changes that were fast for me to do and slightly improve the game.

I am now working on a mechanic that can shorten too long runs if you snowball, and also working on the slowdowns at high population counts. Also, I did not expect people to make upwards to 1200 Pips in a single game (yes, somebody did that, no, I don't suggest to do that), so you can expect that I'll change something about that.

Also, the Golden Prophecy has appeared, which lists what will happen in the real world around us as dotAGE becomes more and more successful. Do help in making that a reality, if you will! I challenge you to win with *no food*, i.e. you cannot have *any Pip or animail* eat any food. Can you do that? :)




V 1.0.0.0020

UX

• Buildings that take animals as input will now prioritize the closest animal they find to avoid some slow downs
  

Balance

• Removed Strong Cold from the pool of Mini-Risk events as it was too strong
  
• Randolph: Mini-events won't have a random level anymore
  

Bugfixes

• Fixed bug with loading buildings with actions assigned even if no Pip is assigned
  
• Fixed triggering multiple Graveyard actions at the same time softlocking the game in specific circumstances
  
• Fixed Shaman's building sometimes not being selected on load as the correct building
  
• Fixed some late-game techs being wrong and spawning wrong UI elements
  
• Fixed confirm button not being clickable on some setups in the exchanges UI
  
• Fixed 'Kiss out of Nowhere' event still being able to use a children as the kiss-giver
  
• Fixed a rare bug with some buildings changing slot inside the tree if you researched them at that time
  
• Fixed Randolph sprite being that of Matus on end score
  
• Fixed bug with some transform event teasing they would give you some resources even if you had not unlocked them yet, and actually giving zero of said resources. Consider this a fraud.
  
• Fixed a few localization errors
  

Hello Elders!

While you enjoy the game, I am hard at work with the bugfixing, but I am also reading all the suggestions you are bringing forth in the Discussion forum, and in the Discord server!

By the way, while working today, I had a weird vision... let me show you what I saw:



The dates are unclear, and who knows if this is what will actually happen? I do know that I got a Steam Deck in my hands however, so hopefully the prophecy continues as foretold!

In the meantime, if you get stuck remember to enter the Experimental branch where you will find some bugfixes and small changes, and we will also use that branch to test new mechanics and/or changes.

Have fun!
- Michele