uFactory News

The Manufacturing Health Update includes a new promotional scenario and a big in-game UI revamp.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020, Lucid Silence Games is donating all proceeds from the sale of uFactory during the months of April and May 2020 to the American Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders. In addition, we're releasing the Respirators promotional factory scenario to give a hands-on demonstration how vital N95 masks are manufactured.



Enhancements:
-Added option to restart scenario from in-game
-Added promotional scenario category
-Added Manufacturing Health promotional scenario
-Added promotional highlight banner to main menu
-Revamped tools menu:
-Now in bottom-left corner
-Build tool is always open
-Build categories now arranged by end product
-Build categories can be opened or toggle unfolded
-All tools (destroy, move/rotate, duplicate, empty belt) now have area modes
-Added Simple Belt tool, allowing drag-placement with proper lane handling
-Moved mechanical arm to outside of category, with its own hotkey



Compatibility:
-Should generally be compatible with 0.4.x saves

Hi everyone! Here's some new information about upcoming updates and features!

First off, we've redesigned the primary tool UI in-game. Now, it'll be on the bottom left, and the build categories will always be present (so you don't have to click to open the build menu first). On top of that, each category will also have the option of unfolding horizontally so the machines within are only a single-click away. We're also re-arranging the build categories to match the processes they apply to, rather than the somewhat arbitrary categories of the past. The smart belt tool mentioned in the last dev log and the mechanical arm will no longer be in any category moving forward, but directly on the toolbar itself.

All of the additional tools (destroy, move, clone, empty belt) now have optional area modes as well. So, you can move in a group:



And you can also copy a group (if you can afford it):



There's more coming, but we'll detail that in the next dev log. Stay tuned!

Hi everyone! Just a brief progress update for uFactory's next version: The focus is on improving usability and reducing the number of clicks necessary to build and revise your factory!

The first thing that needed overhauling was the build tool. So, a full refactor was performed, and now the code for building everything is completely centralized, which makes maintaining it much easier and removes any possible differences in the feel of placement between tools. In addition to the under-the-hood maintenance, we gave it a bit more power, with a few new abilities:

[h3]Added click-and-drag area placement for all machines:[/h3]


[h3]Added conveyor belt click-and-drag path placement:[/h3]


There's also work being done on a UI overhaul for the in-game tools, so hopefully everything should be much more accessible and easier to use with the next update!

Until next time,
-Lucid Silence Games

Hi everyone! We know it's been a while since the last update, but we've been hard at work fixing bugs you've reported and fundamentally changing the way the game works to provide a more balanced, intuitive, and fun experience.

The core change has been the removal of time limits on all levels. With this comes a conversion from hard export limits to rate-based export limits. So now, you have to maintain a solid export rate, and holding production up to the level of some of the side objectives is mighty tricky. But there's plenty of incentive to try because...

We added a new online statistics feature. Now, (once enough players have beaten them to provide a baseline), you'll be able to see how well you stack up to other players in three categories: (1) overall score, (2) time taken, and (3) number of machines used. Can you do better than everyone else?

We've also rebalanced the entire economy of the game (if that sounds exhausting, you don't know the half of it. See the title of this update for more information). This will prevent the infamous aluminum get-rich-quick scheme that some players used to max out the license plate scenario.

Then, there's the new content! We released two new scenarios: (1) The Pigmentation Station. In this scenario, you'll need to make the paint used in so many other scenarios. You'll also have to manufacture the can to put it in, and seal it up for export. (2) Back to School II. If you thought making pencils was tricky, try making the cardboard box they come in, the erasers, the ferrules, the graphite leads, and even the glue to put them all together. In our biggest scenario yet, you're given only the rawest of materials to make a pencil empire.

On top of all that, we made some heavy revisions to the loan system. Without the time limits, we could make loans run longer and have lower payments. Also, when you can't afford your payment, it doesn't take it anyway and make you go negative anymore; instead, the interest will compound, and your monthly payments will increase moving forward. Make sure to pay off those loans!

Finally, we've fixed dozens of bugs reported by the community. We'd like to give a big thanks to everyone who posted in the Steam Discussions, in our Discord channel, and through the in-game feedback tool (F8). We've replied to most of you to let you know that the bugs you've reported have been fixed.

On a related note, for all players who haven't already, we'd really appreciate it if you would take the time to write a Steam Review for uFactory. Good or bad, we'd love to hear what you think, what you like, what you don't like, where you think we could improve; and more reviews mean more visibility for a fledgling indie studio with zero marketing budget. The more people see the game, the bigger our community grows, the faster we can pump out new content for everyone! So, another big thank you to everyone who has already written a review!

We'd like to thank everyone for supporting our little indie factory game. We've still got a lot of cool stuff coming up, and we're hoping to release smaller, more frequent updates moving forward, but it's your enjoyment and passion for the game that make it worth developing. So, thank you to everyone who bought and played uFactory, our first ever commercial game.

Also, just a heads-up: The next major content update will come with a price increase. So, get it now while it's still cheap!

And, one final note... we have a Twitter poll up about which area to focus on for the next big update... weigh in if you're interested:
https://twitter.com/uFactoryGame/status/1200607245240864769?s=20

The Exhaustive Update adds rate-based objectives, two new scenarios, and incorporates lots of user feedback to improve the overall gameplay experience.



Enhancements:
-Removed all time limits on the factories. Main objectives are now rate-based rather than total-based.
-Added high-speed time simulation mode, which will simulate your factory as fast as your PC can handle
-Added alert for when a machine receives incomplete input
-Added online stat comparisons so you can see how you perform compared to other players in the results screen.
-Added raw rubber processing
-Added glue manufacturing process
-Added pencil box printing/assembling process
-Added paint can manufacturing process
-Added paint mixing process
-Added "Pigmentation Station" so the other scenarios don't run out of paint
-Added "Back to School II", the hardest scenario yet
-Removed unnecessary processes from converter machine option lists
-Added some optional decorative items to be placed in factories
-Revamped most of the in-game manual to make sure everything is more legible
-Changed Hall-Heroult process to reuse cryolite as a flux while needing replacement carbon nodes
-Updated loan repayment: If you can't afford the payment, then it doesn't take it out of your bank account, but the interest on the remaining loan compounds.



Bug fixes:
-Numerous consistency fixes for different time scales
-Fixed exponential-priced crate exports
-Fixed an error that prevented some save files from loading
-Cleaned up camera turning, especially at low frame rates
-Fixed major bug that prevented pipes from working at all if they just connected two adapters on neighboring tiles
-Fixed bug that prevented a building placed on a pre-existing pipe from connecting
-Fixed bug preventing destruction of liquid buffer tank
-Fixed name of liquid buffer tank
-Fixed bug preventing progression upon scenario completion
-Fixed the giant beer bottle bug! It might still happen when you place a desperately needed mechanical arm, but it will fix itself when that arm puts down the bottle.
-Fixed bug preventing mechanical arm configuration until the game was unpaused
-Fixed bug that allowed the duplicate tool to create more than one object in the same space
-Fixed bug that prevented loans from being saved

Balance:
-Overhauled pricing of all resources
-Overhauled all mission objectives and scoring
-Toned down the motion blur
-Increased interest rates for new loans based on what you already owe

Compatibility:
-Previously saved factories will not load due to the revamp of factory objectives