Aquatico
Getting started video for new players + status report on next update
Few weeks ago we've made and released a video called „Tips & Tricks“ with some suggestions and best practices to tackle mid to later game challenges in Aquatico. Since there are a number of fresh players coming into game, we've decided to make another video more focused on first couple of ingame years.
In this video we're covering the initial tasks you should be mindful in the early game. There are only a few possible „hardships“ that can hamper your advance in first couple of years, and in this video you can see several ways to help yourself get a good headstart. It's always tricky in early game because you tackle lack of resources and lack of manpower at the same time. However, start of the game also offers some opportunities that aren't present later, so the better you use these early opportunities, the easier it will be going forward.
You'll see all the details in the video itself, but some highlights for early game would be the following:
- Try planning ahead. When underwater colony is still small, you have a chance to set the stage for all subsequent development. Observe the grid view and determine where your future locations for extracting certain resources will be. Plan the pipeline system and be mindful that this system will eventually be very extensive. Note that certain buildings have bonuses when contructed near some other building
- If you're low on resources, and you can't yet produce everything you need, remember there are number of essential resources that can be scooped from the environment in early game – plastics, iron, stone, various advanced resources from dismantling derelicts on the seabed. If you decide to pick up a lot of these resources, make sure you have additional depots to store them
- To avoid severe worker/drone shortages in early stages of the game, try conducting as many upgrades to production buildings as you possibly can. These will significantly increase efficiency without the need to dramatically increase worker numbers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFiI0Fh2JqQ
Aquatico is a game where dozens of elements are interlinked, and you'd be surprised how big of a difference good foundations can have on longer playsessions. If you set up everything smoothly and efficiently, you'll always have enough time and resources to tackle advanced challenges that come later. And viceversa – unefficiently created basic layout can cause chained hickups later, and it is always harder to reorganize already existing colony then to try making it work from earliest stages.
When it comes to other things we've been working on – in about a week we'll be releasing second part of „community suggested“ improvements. In next update that will include the upgrade to research system that will allow for stacking of multiple researches in advace, additional Steam achievements linked to new content introduced after release, another batch of memory and graphics optimizations and more…
That's it from us on this fine Thursday. Have fun and see you next week with next update!
Update 1.200.1 – Batch of frequently requested improvements
As many of you already came to expect, another weekend is approaching, and we have yet another update ready for you.
For this occasion we’ve dived into list of improvements and suggestions that originated from our discussions with players. Next two updates will mostly contain your own suggestions, but few things are little bit more work so they will wait another week or so.
Anyways, back to today’s content – one of the biggest changes is relocating of your citizens. As your underwater colony expands and you create new workplaces, there is a need for people to change places of residence and have them live closer to their jobs. System that controlled this already existed, but based on you feedback it was insufficient. For that reason, relocation system has been reworked and this process will now be faster and more precise. It will allow your production chains to work more efficiently and adapt to any change better.
Another frequently asked change was the display of main resources on the main game screen. With changes made today, resources displayed on main HUD are grouped into categories, similar to how various “tools” items are shown under tools section. If you hover your mouse over each resource, you’ll see not only that specific resource, but several other that are similar or belong to the same frequently used category. Basically, every resource that you’ll need often (whether they are some resources needed for construction of building upgrades), will now be displayed on the main screen and there is no need to constantly open depot manifests to look for the current status of each individual resource.
From other update elements, few bugs with expedition system have been resolved and we’ve continued the optimization work on numerous building models.
CHANGELOG
- REVAMPED: Relocation of citizens – your people will now move between houses and places of residence in dependence of where they work, cutting travel time and making worker efficiency better
- TWEAKED: Tidal turbines will now accurately display movement in accordance to tide movements
- IMPROVED: Frequently used resources are now displayed in groups on the main HUD making it easier to find and track them constantly
- FIXED: Expedition world map and local colony view are now properly separated avoiding errors in selections and navigation
- FIXED: Error where expedition mission objective wanted to remove too many batteries from stock is now corrected
- FIXED: A number of text errors corrected
- OPTIMIZED: Several additional object models optimized for better performance
Hope you’ll like the changes, and we’re off to second part of community suggested tweaks. That update you can expect in just over a week time!
Have a nice weekend!
Assistance for later game content - some tips & tricks
Greetings Sea Mayors!
Today we don't have an update, but while next batch of improvements is being worked at, there is something we wanted to cover a little bit.
From a large amount of data we received by players in recent months, we realized our players out there are employing s lot of very different tactics to complete goals in Aquatico. That is perfectly ok, we left the game open intentionally so players can use all sorts of tactics to advance through the game.
Looking at your playthroughs we also learned a lot about various possibilities, about what you prefer, like or dislike. And we also learned about several mechanics that some of you find more difficult then others
To address these difficulties, we tried to cover several tips & tricks in following video. They are related to mid and later game content, and to cover early game difficulties we'll be preparing another video concentrated at first couple of ingame years alone.
A few highlights among advices for later game content would revolve around a single point – plan ahead. Once your underwater city becomes extensive, number of challenges will increase, but if everything is properly set, you shouldn't be in too much trouble:
- While you'll probably have sufficient space to physically expnd your city on most maps, beware of how you expand. Some buildings have bonuses related to other buildings, resources are dependent on depot and warehouses locations… As your city grows, distances can become more troublesome and workers and drones spend more and more time going between larger distances. Place your depots strategically, relative to sources of produced gooda and places of consumption
- By later game, you'll be fully aware of your consumption, but when you expand production further, don't overdo it. Sometimes attempts to secure a very comfortable excess of some resource can lead to shortage of something else, or to a shortage of drones producing them
- When you build in upper domes section, be mindful that at one point you'll likely have a lot of independent domes. People will need to travel between them to use various amenities. It's unlikely you'll have everything in a single dome, so plan to buil a connections via cable car between domes
- Multiple underwater farms will likely be a necessity, and if that is the case, it is wise to randomize what farms are producing. More various food resources can open a path to more complex products, and amend the emerging needs for advanced food diversity later on
- As your city becomes bigger, your pipeline system will expand too. Creating an automated repair building for pipelines is highly recommended
- There are also some options that you might not want to explore too early. For example, when you build an expedition house, expedition submarines become available. Each expedition you send will be a drain to your resources until they complete their task. Remember that before you commit to explore beyond your colony
- If you end up in trouble regarding any of your resources or production chains, don't forget you can always adjust your input/output by temporarily shutting down any building or reallocating production elsewhere
- When colony is large and contains dozens of buildings, remember you can paint each one individually, or paint all buildings of the same type in a certain manner. It helps finding your way around
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bveatbOBZSY
Hopefully, some of you will find this useful. We're looking forward to your continuous feedback!
Maintain your oxygen level and until next time!
Update 1.102.0 – Fine tuning, next volume
In the past week we’ve been focusing on feedback received since last major update, and decided to make numerous improvements, fixes and another run at additional optimizations.
Goal is to further smooth out experience our players are having and to improve how game runs and feels. Since Atlantis update was released, we closely monitored everything being said and done. Specific areas in need of enhancements were identified and today’s update is a piece of our answer to that need.
As all of our players are already aware, there are quite a few more updates in the pipeline, but we’ll keep trying to adhere to our schedule of frequent improvements, and avoid keeping you waiting for a long time.
One important note here is that the entire game engine has been switched to Visual studio 2022, and that will be significant in the future because it will allow us to conduct a more extensive long term updating plan for Aquatico.
In any case, below is the list of things we’ve prepared for this week:
CHANGELOG
- MODIFIED: Entire game has been transferred to Visual studio 2022
- OPTIMIZATION: Large optimization pass at drawing of scenery objects resulting in increased game performance
- ADDED: When waiting for any submarine, precise information on how long waiting will take place is now added to Trade port panel
- ADDED: Icon representing which building is damaged is now part of buildings overview panel
- CORRECTED: Citizen numbers are now leveled and displayed correctly when looking at expedition submarine or jobs board panel
- FIXED: Several hints on buildings overview panel corrected or improved
- FIXED: Numerous smaller text errors that could alter the meaning of specific information of text
- FIXED: Icons representing resources selection on Trade company panel are now all displayed properly
- FIXED: Arrows now work properly in log panel
- MODIFIED: For better description word “ship” has been replaced with “submarine” in numerous places
- MODIFIED: Main buttons on panels upgraded with added size and effects for easier read
Enjoy the weekend!
Another small update v 1.101.6
Another small update with some useful things: one QoL related fix, and an entire additional language – korean! Many thanks to awesome people from Discord that helped us prepare this language. Hope korean players will enjoy it!
CHANGELOG
- FIXED: Ressuply Expedition panel now contains the info on exact price of desired resupply
- ADDED: Full Korean localization
Unscheduled intervention – patch to version 1.101.5
Today we have a patch ready for all of you. With help of several players we’ve identified a few possible issues that could hamper your proper advancement in the game. List below contains what was corrected with this update. And another thanks to your continuous feedback and data provided to assist us resolving it!
CHANGELOG
- FIXED: Resolved a bug with stuck Atlantis campaign in case of restarting a new game after Atlantis campaign was already previously played (couldn’t move beyond sending drones segment)
- ADDED: Notification above building if entrance is obstructed
- FIXED: A number of typos in English language
- FIXED: Numerous text errors in various languages
Ironing out the last big content update – v1.101.0
A lot of things was added in recent content update, and you've reported a few things that needed extra attention. So, we've trid to be quick about it, and here is a small update that will help!
CHANGELOG
- IMPROVED: You can now select and manage different expeditions on the expedition map directly
- IMPROVED: Optimizations in several specific maps
- FIXED: Steam achievements are now turned off in Creative mode, because special game rules in that mode automatically unlocked most of them
- FIXED: Expedition submarine hint now works properly
- FIXED: Atlantis campaign objectives don’t remain hanging when game is restarted
- FIXED: At the end of Atlantis campaign, duplicated sound error is resolved
- FIXED: Few models corrections on Polar biome starting cutscene
Keep on playin’ !
Introducing multiple game modes + Atlantis storyline
Greetings Sea Mayors!
Today is a great day to finally release a second part of our major update for Aquatico. We’ve already announced s few major elements of this expansion, but complete package is now here!
Since we’re mostly talking about pure additional game content here, it took us a little bit longer to prepare and test everything, but we are excited to finally share everything we did in recent weeks and months. Crucial goal with today’s update was to expand the gameplay, add more value and replayability to your experience and also allow broader insight into overall backstory and goals you’re attempting to achieve in your underwater adventure.
Let us walk you through some of the highlights from today’s menu:
GAME MODES
When starting a new game, you’ll now have a selection of three different game modes. Each is different in terms of what is available and expected during gameplay.
Sandbox mode is pretty much the “regular” game mode familiar from previous game version (all game rules apply, resources have to be secured and managed for the success of your own colony, and all challenges are present).
Storyline mode is basically sandbox mode + Atlantis Project campaign (all game rules apply, resources have to be secured and managed for the success or your own colony, as well as for participation in construction of Atlantis Project, all challenges are present).
Creative mode is something completely different. It’s a mode that allows players to fully explore the lengths of their imagination by simply having an option to build the underwater vision unhampered by anything (game rules are modified, resources are infinite, people/drones replenished as needed, all researches and buildings are open, challenges and disasters are disabled).
ATLANTIS PROJECT CAMPAIGN
This is essentially a long quest chain that spans through the entire game. It is available only when starting a new game and selecting Storyline mode. Atlantis Project questline will become available the moment you research and build your Expedition house and get an option to explore global underwater map. On that map you’ll have access to start the Atlantis campaign with all of the missions it includes. Missions are manually accepted so you can execute them whenever you feel you’re ready. Before you accept these missions, make sure your logistics can support it without causing too much problems for your own colony.
Without spoiling too much, suffice to say that Atlantis Project is an incredible endeavor led jointly by all scattered underwater colonies. There are many such colonies created after chaos engulfed Earth surface, and underwater city player is building is only one such colony. Even your colony wasn’t the first attempt at this on your specific location (there are previous failed attempts that you can see from derelicts across the sea floor). Atlantis missions include separated objectives, introduce players to some specific new characters, add several unique researches and ultimately, if fully completed, brings the satisfaction of creating something capable of ensuring a lasting future of humanity.
To better explain what Atlantis is all about, we've made a short video with some additional details:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evLvYBLCOgE
In purely technical terms, today’s update also introduces new voiceovers, some new cutscenes, new sub-selections in buildings menu, refinement to recently added new biome maps and a new map, additional balancing tweaks and ofcourse a bunch of improvements to existing features as well as bugfixes…
CHANGELOG
- ADDED: 3 different game modes for new game: Sandbox, Storyline, Creative
- ADDED: Atlantis Project campaign system
- ADDED: New character portraits related to Atlantis missions
- ADDED: New voiceovers related to Atlantis missions
- ADDED: New global map location related to management of Atlantis Project objectives
- ADDED: New researches linked to progression and unlocking of Atlantis missions
- ADDED: Several new cutscenes
- ADDED: Additional new map in recently added Polar biome
- ADDED: Colony advisor character to assist in certain stages of the game
- ADDED: New separate tab for Energy production buildings only
- IMPROVED: Upgrade bonuses display info now has correct calculation and gives more precise information to player
- IMPROVED: Rebalancing of environment points requirements by individual citizens
- IMPROVED: Hotel building stats and useability tweaked
- IMPROVED: Intro cutscene on Polar biome map
- FIXED: Numerous text and language errors, as well as several reported visual glitches
We’d also like to mention that almost entire content for this update was crafted based on suggestions and feedback we received from players. Thank you for your continuous input, it really has been invaluable!
And naturally, all of the improvements released today aren’t the end. There are more things in the pipeline and updates will continue into the coming weeks and months!
Enjoy the update and until next time,
Stay well and keep monitoring your oxygen levels!
Digital Reef Games team
Next major update coming on Monday, April 3rd!
We've already been revealing bits and pieces on this upcoming update, but now we can confirm that this content update is coming on Monday, April 3rd. It took a little bit longer to prepare, test and integrate everything necessary, but we are nearly ready now.
Depending on your gaming preferences, after this update you'll have access to all game modes (Sandbox, Creative and Storyline), and all the tech needed for each of them to work properly. Note that certain game features will be locked to specific game mode and it won't be possible to change modes while already playing. Modes preset the conditions of a playsession so check all the information in advance and make sure to select what you want.
We can also announce that the game version with this update will be available during this weekend already, but only on separate Steam test branch. If anyone wants to get access immediately, you can reach out to us at Discord (https://discord.gg/Bhks9jYxBC ) and find out about the steps to access this separate branch. Everyone else will get access to this update in a few days, on April 3rd.
Besides these highlighted expansions, the next content update will also bring a lot of various improvements, bugfixes, tweaks and optimizations. By far the greatest majority of everything is created based on suggestions, reports and ideas we received from players. In that respect, all of you have our gratitude for helping us push Aquatico further. After the next update, this effort will continue!
In the end, to give you a little bit more details, we'd like to share a short video explaining one detail of the upcoming update – Creative mode.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCCwNgeLBR8
Have a nice weekend everyone!
Sneak peek into next major update
This week we don't have an actual update, mainly because a very large update is in preparation, so we don't want to interrupt our work on that beauty before everything is ready.
But we did want to share some details on the first important part of that update - so called "Creative" mode.
Many of you will recognize this from dozens of your suggestions we received in weeks following the game's release. So, since you wanted it so much, we've decided it really can be a very good addition to the game.
What exactly is the creative mode?
Well, the creative mode is one of three main game modes that will be unlocked with the next major update. All of these modes will be selectable when you start a new game. And creative mode sets a specific game conditions and rules. Basically, when playing in creative mode, challenges are turned off (shark attacks, pirate attacks, megalodons), your resources are infinite, and your citizens/drones will always be replenished to any needed number. In addition, the research tree will be fully completed and therefore, all buildings and options will be available from the first minute of your play-session,
Your only task will be to unleash your imagination to the full extent and build your own paradise beneath the waves. You'll have no limits, you can build anything anywhere and your only concern will be to make the wildest possible vision of your underwater city, unrestricted by any game rules, resource shortages or citizen happiness.
We're confident you'll have plenty of ideas what to create in this mode, and hopefully you'll share your creations with the other players too!
In other news - the second part of the incoming major update, Atlantis Project is entering final testing soon. Its introduction requires some changes to balancing variables, and since many players have wildly different ways to play Aquatico, it is necessary to find a fine balance for everyone.
We are hugely excited to bring you all these additions, and we're positive they will enhance your game experience significantly, both when using "serious" game mode with all the rules in place, and when using creative mode to construct your insane visions.
Until next time!
Keep an eye on your oxygen levels!