Apr 8, 2022

Galactic Ruler - Chris-BattleGoat

We'd like to say a big thank you to all the players who've asked questions and provided feedback during our Early Access for Galactic Ruler. Our recent FastTrack update made some big changes and it's time we brought the public builds up to the latest versions.

The colony system has gone through significant changes and diplomatic trades have been implemented. There are also more races to play now. Our tutorial system has also gotten significant updates to help players learn the game. Below is the full list of changes for public users.

Please note! Changes since the last public update are quite significant. savegames from the previous public build will not be compatible

Players who opt-in to the fasttrack branch have already seen these changes. Since our last public build, we've had 8 fasttrack builds so a lot has changed. This is a condensed list of the changes.

Core features

Tutorial chapters 1 and 2 content completed, chapter 3 in progress
--- Custom load screens added for tutorials
--- Help UI redesigned, work is ongoing for further improvements
Galaxy sizes reduced by half - may be increased again later in development
Added 5 more playable factions
--- Swarm, Rhydandite, Breel, Gulthian and Dicapse
Players can now select a starting force size of up to "massive" space fleet when setting up a new game. Affects all spacefaring regions.
Combat stats of space units and weapons platforms rebalanced
Redesign of colonization and exploitation mechanic
--- Empire planetary territory is now only on the homeworld. Taking territory creates a colony
--- Fixes to taking territory on non-breathable worlds
--- Some facilities renamed to reduce confusion, Space Dock is now Orbital Station
--- Engineers build Orbital Stations above worlds or Spaceports on planet
--- Engineer includes starting Finished Goods and starting military personnel to get more facilities online
--- Cannot place Orbital Stations on Asteroids (see Ore Harvester)
--- Colonies with a planet surface take ownership of their Orbital Station
--- Empire faction can interact with the units of its colonies
--- Resource inventory properly planet-bound
--- Colonies of colonies become colonies of the empire
New facility - Ore Harvester.
--- Set rally point on an asteroid to "mine" for Ore resources. Spawns 2 workers.
New facility - Orbital Station Launch Pad facility
--- If your Orbital Station is destroyed, build this on planet to launch a replacement
Game economy major rebalance, Power plants now require map resource deposits to exploit
Many tech tree updates
Beams are now a tech tree unlock. Once researched, some units can be refitted for beam weapons
Beacon mechanics improved
--- Systems with a beacon show a blue ring around the system status medallion
--- Drones no longer allowed to deploy beacons, only Survey Ships and Engineers
Units can be ordered to self destruct, capture crates, station in position.
Pirate faction influences and action archetypes updated

Updated AI build preference system for better mix of ships
Improved AI action request/response system
AIParams refactored AI Build sequence system
Updated pathing through neutral territory at system level

Diplomacy

Fixes to treaties system, updates to First Contact mechanic
Various new treaties added in Diplomacy with other regions.
Diplomacy between factions implemented, Merchant AI used to transfer traded
Added Orbital Storage facility for system level. Replaces Spaceport for planets with no surface. Trade of resource requires either a Spaceport or an Orbital Storage
Fixes to Diplomacy screens for interaction with colonies
Resource department allows for creating crates for transport

Multiplayer

Resolved MP Sync issue caused by use of tprand in AI map list scan
MP UI fixes
Steam Username better handling in MP lobby and for savegame naming
Better support for long messages in MP chat
Multiplayer chat word wraps properly, whisper @ function cleaned up
Steam player name cleanup now fixed for pre-Win10
Fixes to multiplayer sync on reload
Improved multiplayer stability

User Interface

Ability to switch to colony at system level added. More UI elements planned to make switching to your colony easier.
On Map Notifications now show on level up hex
Unit order sequence in lists updated
Rules of Engagement for space level implemented
Fixed next/previous space production location selector
Declare War menumap item opens popup instead of department
Fixed colony emblems
Tightened up information bleeds in UI
Clean up of right click options at system and galaxy
Button added to the system level UI, top left, to cycle through beacon locations.
Unit Orders list now has tooltips for order details (partially written, ongoing)
Planet type names shown, might create some mismatch types (work ongoing)
Various UI fixes and improvements

Visuals and Graphics

Size of system maps adjusted for more zoom out, Max zoom in increased (reset options to apply)
Added visual "bounce" effect when going up a level (visual improvement only)
Game Cursors updated (wait cursor, waypoint cursor, Build cursors, default choices and more)
Updated energy shield and Survey VFX
Space ballistic shot/hit updated, style and speed refactored
Fixes to visual effects for smoke and shots
Ballistic shot graphic colour at space level updated
Updated Command Unit and Radar Truck 3D models
Fixed FTL spin up effect. Adjusted growth model and maximum size
Faction emblems improved
Updated tree models and 3D Model Shader system better tree visuals
Fixes to background graphics, slider bar graphics when using GUI scaling
Fixed some models with wrong texture file type

Sound/Audio

Refactored Music Playback system
Replaced many music tracks, added many more, music almost completely redone
Sound and music default values adjusted
Updates to sound engine / track switch timing

Game Engine

Various additions to scripted events system condition checks to support tutorial objectives
Rebalanced planet scale sizes, add more variability to gas giant sizes and non-landable
Fixes for internal change of player counts related to updated colony model
Implemented faction edible resource (defines what they eat)
Fixed multi-threading issue on Random Number Generator
Improved performance for level change
Game performance improvements and optimizations
Improved galaxy procedural generation mechanic
Planet level procedural generation updated for better facility dispersion.
Improvements to Capture order system
Fixes to ownership when an orbital station is destroyed/captured
Improvements to galaxy generation - asteroid placement

General Fixes

Fixed missing Merchant Marine unit on planet (oops!)
Fixes to facility attack order, FTL order conflict with Formation move.
Cleaned up some GameTexture allocation memory leaks
Various newsitem and translation fixes
Combat system fixes
Fixed a variety of potential and actual crash issues
Fixed planet level direct combat attacks
Added stability in unit order processing
Name system fixes for cities/planets
Space facilities no longer need hex loyalty to use destroy command
Fixes to unit use of "attack facility" rules
Formation move ignored at galaxy level

We also recorded a livestream a few days ago that shows off a bunch of the newest features.
BattleGoat YouTube Livestream

Apr 8, 2022

Alpha 1.3.0.0

Hack and Slime - Odín

Saved items from previous versions are not compatible.

Changelog

The volume of the song of "Catacombs" has been increased.
Now the portals do not disappear when Coid dies.
Changes have been made at the levels of "The Catacombs" to improve the GamePlay.
Changes have been made at the "The Pit" level to improve the GamePlay.
A "Lorem Ipsum" has been deleted in the Summary of Missions when there are no active missions.
It has been corrected an error that generated an invincible skeleton after saving Fairon Maiden.
It has been corrected an error that did not allow to enter doors of the dungeon after returning for a portal.
An error has been corrected that prevented the loop playback of the song of the "Slime King".
An error has been corrected that towards the unopened chests disappear to the restart a dungeon.
It has been corrected an error that causes CORID to fall when leaving a portal if the portal is up.
The probability that barrels have exploded have been reduced.
Now the barrels and boxes have an improved generation of objects.
Now normal, gold and purple chests have an improved generation of objects.
Now CORID can not pick up coins until you are touching the ground.
A new character and its illustration in hack and slime "Don Peteton" has been added.
The initial conversation has been written to adapt better to the state of the game.
2 sound effects have been added for critical blows that are reproduced randomly.
It has been corrected an error related to passing the texts by pressing a single time the advance button.

Pending changes:

Add the equipment and smithing system.
Add window mode selector in the options menu.
Add different resolutions for window mode.
Add generation of saliva drops to the spider to notify its location.
Lots of bug fixes.

Apr 8, 2022

DD#64 We Stand Together

[Neolithic]To the End - orochi2k

Hello, everyone. Welcome to another week's developer's diary.

As always, the developer's diary will focus on the behind scenes stories. After all, all the almost-daily update details can be found in the update logs, and our "An Incomplete Chronicle."

So, let's begin with the situation in Shanghai. If you read the last week's April Fool's dark joke diary, you know the situation here is not beautiful. The city has been locked down for a month and the government is still firmly executing its Zero-COVID policy at the cost of people's daily life and the economy. Many have run out of food and other supplies. People post online to call for help only to find their posts disappeared momentarily. The good news is, as a cult prepares for the doomsday every day, I don't think many of us are affected much by the situation. The game is still updating without delay during the lockdown.

What people fear will control them.
They seek security while giving up freedom.
In the end, they shall lose both.

The lockdown also seems to have a limited impact on many rich people. They don't mind paying 10 times of food price. They still have stable income sources elsewhere. Some of them are even bragging on social media causing dramatic EMOTIONAL DAMAGE to those who are suffering.

Yes, the EMOTIONAL DAMAGE is something real in the game now.
Bragging about your wealth is one way to cause it on others. (No use on the undead.)
Life can be tough. But, let's not forget to make fun.
Just like this guy. :)

Call me heartless if you want. I have warned many since the beginning of March but only a few people that is not the game's player took my advice. Sorry but not sorry.

That's just about the Shanghai Lockdown. There are two more important events that happened this week.
The first one is something that I believe many people have learned about. That is the Bucha Massacre. Each time I recall the images and videos, I have to stop. It's just that astonishing. I don't know how that can happen in the 21st century. As one of my responses to such tragedy, I declared the price change in the Ukrainian regional store of Steam. The price has been set to almost as low as Steam allows me.
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1519140/view/3202629790219412037
I know that's not enough. No help at this point is enough for those who lost their lives will never come back. But, the good thing to be an indie game developer is, that I can do whatever I believe is the right thing to do. I can provide whatever help I can provide. And no government, no marketing data can stop me from that. I will stand with the Ukrainian people to the end of this war. That's almost like a tradition in NEOLITHIC by now. We are always involved in the history we live, trying to be on the right side. Some of us just forgot that.

When talking about history, another event that took place this week is that all previous versions of the games are now on Steam. They are this game's workshop items free of charge, accessible from the Dark Cloud Cyber Cafe. That's the entire 2 game worlds that exist before this one. That's the history of NEOLITHIC. (The second game's DLCs are still working in progress to be bought onto Steam.)
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2733876470
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2789020792

That's the history, now let's look into the future.
No matter what happens. Should that be COVID or the war, nothing can stop the evolution of NEOLITHIC as we are backing to the main story.

That's for this week. And we will try to make sure the world does not end next week. :)

Today's changelog:
#########Content##############
New enemy: Skeleton Cultist (They appear in the secret tunnel.)
They are using the same item drop list as normal skeletons for now. This will change.
New skill: Darkness

Apr 8, 2022

Update v2.10

Leaf Blower Revolution - Idle Game - cheesetor

The Sparking Milestone Update: v2.10

Dear leaf blowers,

the update has dropped right before the weekend. New content, QoL improvements, Bugfixes, you know the deal.

Season 4 will probably start on Thursday, April 21st, and will last 1 month. Season 4 will be separated into three different categories: PC, Mobile and Crossplay. Each category will be split into the Premium Leaderboard and the F2P Leaderboard. There will be no mixed leaderboard anymore. More info about this will be posted before season 4 starts.

Enough talk, here's the spoilerific changelog:

Crafted Leaves Fusion: Craft better leaves with fusion! Add 6 leaves of the same type into the fusion slots to create a new leaf for the next higher tier.
Crafted Leaves Transformation: change properties of crafted leaves
Tower/Pyramid Milestones
New leaf: Hematite Leaves
New energy: Electrical Energy (required for fusion shards/crafted leaves fusion)
New area: Spark Range
New shards: Ascension Shards (used to ascend sacred+ leaves), Fusion Shards (used to fuse sacred+ leaves), Transformation Shards (used to transform any crafted leaf property)
New recipes: Ascension Shards, Fusion Shards, Transformation Shards
New pets: Flamingoo, Sealo
Shovel only digs up resources that have been collected (per prestige)
Right-click now moves leaves between inventory/backpack (same as Shift+Left Click)
More Kokkaupunki quests if you have bought the Materials Pack
Added Dark Essence Quest(s) to Heikki
Added enemy shard drop value + enemy shard drop multiplier to craft vars (min: sacred)
Added options Salvage locked leaves + Reroll locked leaves (gameplay options)
Craft RNG Manipulator can be toggled
Added clear filter button to crafted leaves filter
Auto trade boost (gem upgrade)
More leaf achievements
Artifact description linebreaks added
Multi-Crit brewing: if crit chance is above 100%, there is a chance to multi-crit. For example, if the crit chance is 150%, the multi-crit chance is 50% (output * 2). Each successful multi-crit reduces the multi-crit chance by 100%. For example, if the crit chance is 250%, multi-crit chances are 150% -> 50% (output * 3).
Reroll crafted leaf props shortcut fixed
Offline seeds minimum value is 1 instead of 0
Boss timer upgrade (shows boss spawn timers in the area menu)
Ancient leaves can be auto-salvaged
Stats show single leaf rewards
Crafted Leaves can have more than 10 shards per leaf but only 10 shards max per property
More crafting properties: multi-critical brew chance, energy charge/s, energy charge/s%, relics damage%, BLC%, MLC%, Curses/s%, More Tower Floors%
Borb sprites updated up to Sacred
Lore added
Curses + Curses/s are now shown in stats
Offline Crunches/MLC only works after at least one Crunch/MLC. This will also fix some challenges where offline prestige rewards were bugged.
Borb Taxi End of Party should be fixed: The player will be teleported to the Home Garden after beating Bob for the first time. Subsequently, Borb Taxi should work on floor 100.