Patch Notes v0.7.0 - “Work Smart”

Work Zones

• By default, each building starts with a predefined Work Zone
  
  • Player can flexibly create, modify, and delete Work Zones
    
  • There is no minimum or maximum size for the zones
  
  
• Work Zones function independently from each other, and so does their logistic setup
  
  • Basic logistic connections can’t be made across several zones
  
  
• Logistic Points have been removed, logistic employees will be directly assigned to zones instead
  
  • A logistic employee assigned to a zone will handle all logistic connections within the zone
  
  
• Work Zones have a subtle visual representation in the normal mode
  
  • Zones have a stronger visual representation in the new Work Zone mode
  
  
• Work Zones can be named individually, and be marked with one of 36 colors to choose from
  
• The logistics mode is now part of the Work Zone mode
  
• Players can choose between automatic and manual logistic connections for Work Zones
  
  • By default the logistics within a zone is set to automatic
  
  
• Every Work Zone that uses or provides goods requires a Courier Pallet

Automatic Logistics

• Automatic connections are active by default
  
  • Automatic connections can be deactivated in Work Zone mode -> Logistics
  
  
• Whenever players make changes to a workplace, its connections get updated
  
• The system will always use Courier Pallets as start and end point for a production line
  
• If additional inventories are placed within a zone, automatic logistics will try to consider those as intermediate storages for the production
  
  • Don’t forget to hire logistic employees on a Work Zone when placing shelves!
  
  
• If a Courier Pallet is placed in a Work Zone's Delivery Area, buy and sell orders will set accordingly
  
  • Buy orders for base materials will be made automatically, if possible
    
  • Sell orders for products will be made automatically, if possible
  
  
• Logistic employees will now attempt to clean up inventories
  
  • If a shelf contains items which are not required there, employees will try to restock them where needed within the Work Zone
    
  • If there's no need for these items, employees will place them in the Courier Pallet and create an outgoing request for couriers

Courier Pallets

• Courier Pallets can be purchased through the construction menu in the Storage category
  
• Players can place as many pallets as they want
  
• A Courier Pallet has 18 inventory slots
  
• Courier Pallet placed in a Delivery Area can be used to buy and sell items
  
  • Delivery Areas are marked by a white striped area on the ground
    
  • They are usually located at garage doors near the public street
  
  
• Courier Pallets can be served by logistics or by the Courier System
  
• Courier Pallets make use of a threshold system where limits are set for selling or transporting
  
  • 80% threshold on input means the courier will fill up to 80% of the reserved space
    
  • 80% threshold on output means the courier is allowed to take 80% away, but the last 20% are reserved for the Work Zone itself and must not be transferred
    
  • 80% threshold on sell orders means that everything above 80% can be sold
  
  
• Buying works with absolute numbers of stacks up until which the pallet will buy missing materials to restock those stacks
  
  • The company will only pay for the difference of restocked materials
  
  
• The pallet will add default settings for the Courier System based on the setup in the Work Zone
  
  • If an item is being consumed in a zone but not produced -> 100% input
    
  • If an item is being produced but not used in a zone -> 100% output
    
  • If an item is being produced and also consumed in a zone -> 50% output
    
  • If an item is set to buy -> it’s considered as if it were produced in the zone
    
  • If an item is set to sell -> it’s considered as if were consumed in the zone
  
  
• Players can manually change thresholds by activating an advanced mode. It's even possible to combine input and output settings.

Courier System

• The courier menu button can be found at the bottom bar of the HUD, left of the player inventory
  
  • It can also be accessed via the hotkey N
  
  
• It is possible to add, edit or remove courier routes through this system
  
• After a Courier Route is created, players can add waypoints by selecting the pallets on the map
  
  • A route needs at least 2 waypoints to work
    
  • A pallet can’t be added twice
    
  • The order of pallets can be changed afterwards
  
  
• Courier Pallets have an input and output. If a route has an input and an output for a specific item, it will be added to the route for transportation
  
  • Players can modify input/output settings for pallets to a certain degree
    
  • Otherwise input and output depends on the internal logistic setting of the Work Zone
  
  
• A courier can transport up to four different items
  
  • If there are more than four items to be transported, additional couriers can be hired
    
  • A route will display a warning in its overview, if necessary

Market Updates

• Market phases now need to be advanced manually (Freeplay only)
  
  • In order to advance a market phase, players need to accumulate a certain amount of sales for a product
    
  • If the required sales amount is reached, players can click a button to advance the market phase
    
  • Through manual market phase progress, the former phase duration got removed
  
  
• Market phase changes were rebalanced (Freeplay only)
  
  • A new market phase now is more challenging, expecting more additional features
    
  • Demands will increase with each market phase instead of being stable
    
  • The potential profit margin will increase over phases instead of dropping
  
  
• Product prices now depend on the expected feature values
  
  • Each product has a base price for each phase, while in Freeplay the product price modifier will affect only the base price
    
  • The base price will be increased for each feature point (0.1) added during the product design
    
  • This price bonus depends on the added features. Usually, it's 10G per 0.1 feature point
    
  • The price bonus can exceed the limit for the market appeal - the bar will then fill from right to left in a different color.
  
  
• Several products in the campaign have been updated to match the new general balancing

Balancing Update

• The duration of a day was changed from 15s to 20s
  
• Base crafting time has been increased from 10s to 20s
  
  • On one hand, we want to make crafting times easier to calculate, but this also mitigates the huge effect walking times of crafting employees had on production costs
    
  • Tier 2 crafting times have been increased from 4s to 12s
    
  • Machine-based crafting time is now 40s or 5 batches (8s each)
  
  
• Pick-up time got changed from 1s per inventory to 2s per inventory
  
• Many module recipes have been simplified, especially for the later game
  
• The amount of consumed and produced components have been reduced
  
• All modules should now yield a profit, even if the production efficiency is not maxed out
  
• Several properties of modules are now distributed more evenly throughout the tiers
  
  • Features points per field
    
  • Drawbacks per features
    
  • Production cost per feature
    
  • Sampling time per data point
  
  
• Cases now always have the same amount of slots,no matter what product they are used with
  
• Small cases can’t be used anymore for the first bots
  
• Tier and cost for the first small chassis have been reduced
  
• Stack sizes have been unified
  
  • 20 for all modules
    
  • 50 and 100 for base materials and components
  
  
• The amount of items that can be sold per component/module is now set to 2 stacks per week

Levels & Campaigns

• Level 1 - 3 have been completely reworked
  
• The new logistics and Work Zone mechanics are explained in levels 1 and 2
  
  • We recommend everyone play those two levels, even experienced players
  
  
• Level 3 is now an in-depth research and market tutorial
  
• Level 4 to 8 got minor adjustments to fit the new balancing
  
• The challenges "Module Mania" and "Chassis Parade" now have completely new ‘modules’ as the old recipes were changed
  
• All campaign levels got a new ‘season’ for their highscore
  
  • If you switch to game version 0.6, you can still play the old challenges with old highscores

New Conveyor Parts

• Overhead Transporter
  
  • A segment with the fixed length of 3, 4 or 6 tiles, of which 2 (start and end) are on ground level
    
  • Players, other belts and equipment can be placed underneath the overhead part
    
  • This makes it possible for belts to cross
  
  
• Automatic Storage System
  
  • This element takes items from a belt, machine, etc. and places them in an inventory (shelf)
    
  • No employees are required to operate it
    
  • The setup for this element is pretty much automatic
  
  
• Automatic Retrieval System
  
  • This element takes items from an inventory (shelf)
    
  • Players are able to define ratios to make sure that items arrive in the expected order at the end of a conveyor belt or machine
    
  • The system offers additional configurations to wait for a specific stock amount before starting to work, or the ability to skip items in a specific order sequence
  
  
• Freeplay maps now include Conveyor Hatches
  
  • Hatches are vents in a building wall
    
  • It is not possible to change position of hatches
    
  • Conveyor belt lines can be built through hatches instead of doors and gates

New Map & Products

• When starting a new game, players can now select a map to play on
  
• A second Freeplay map called ‘Silicon Summer’ was added
  
  • This is a bigger map with larger buildings and features a beach theme
  
  
• Freeplay now starts with two products instead of one
  
• With the new Cassette Player, we are introducing a new product type which is between the Calculator and the Small Game Devices
  
  • The Cassette Player requires fewer features
    
  • The average expected feature amount for each feature is higher than for other products on a similar level
    
  • The Cassette Player also replaces the Calculator as the product in level 2

New Machines

• Small Case Machine
  
  • Unlocked through milestone 5 during the Freeplay
    
  • Produces any type of small cases in a batch of 5 within 40 seconds
    
  • Does not require employees to operate
    
  • Can be connected to conveyor belts
  
  
• Metal Processing Machine
  
  • Unlocked through milestone 5 during the Freeplay
    
  • Can produce any metal component in a batch of 5 within 40 seconds
    
  • Does not require employees to operate
    
  • Can be connected to conveyor belts

Design Desk removed

• The Blueprint Designer can be accessed at any time using the button at the bottom of the screen, on the left of the player inventory
  
  • Players can also use the hotkey B to open the design view

• A Work Zone System to set up and organize workplaces for production.
  
• Work Zones will set up automatic logistics connections by default.
  
• A Courier System which handles transportation between Work Zones.
  
• A new, all-in-one pallet that can be used for buying, selling, as well as a storage or contact point for the Courier System.
  
• A dedicated delivery area where players can place pallets, instead of the previously used fixed Buy/Sell Zones.
  
• Updated game balancing – more specifically, recipes will be reworked in order to take the new game flow into account.
  
• The market will change, phases in Freeplay will be triggered manually.
  
• Product values will change according to the added features.

• Conveyor improvements, like an overhead segment, shelf connectors, and fixed wall hatches for conveyor belts.
  
• Two new machines: the Metal Processing Machine and the Case Welding Machine.
  
• Overhauled tutorial levels starting off the campaign.
  
• Market improvements, introducing a button to manually advance market phases and the possibility to create premium products for high price ranges.
  
• An additional Freeplay map set on a sunny beach.
  
• A new starter product for the Freeplay mode: the Cassette Player.

Patch Notes v0.6.5b

• It is now possible to see the modifiers for all Freeplay save games.
  
• Fixed an issue where it was not possible to load a Freeplay game without returning to the main menu first.
  
• The interface for loading and saving games should now be more intuitive to use.
  
• Fixed an issue with the Welfare Survival challenge that generated employees costing 50 000 G or more.
  

Patch Notes v0.6.5

Freeplay Modifier

• When starting a new Freeplay game you are now able to adjust modifiers that change the balancing and the behaviour of the Freeplay Mode.
  
• There are 5 difficulty presets that will set the modifiers to certain defaults:
  
  
• [Sandbox] disables achievements, no game over, all buildings unlocked
  
• [Easy] default setting, it’s easier than the current Freeplay
  
• [Medium] slightly more difficult than the current Freeplay
  
• [Hard] harsher balancing, but still quite doable
  
• [Challenge] hardest setting we would recommend
  
  
• Each option can also be changed manually. The game difficulty preset will then switch to ‘Custom’.
  
• The available options are:
  
  
• Starting Funds (Huge - Low)
  
• Equipment Costs (x0 - x2)
  
• Employee Hiring Costs (x0 - x2)
  
• Employee Wages (x0 - x1.5)
  
• Unlock All Buildings (yes/no)
  
• Bankruptcy Delay (disabled bankruptcy, 90 days, 30 days, instant)
  
• Phase Duration (x2 - x0.25)
  
• Product Prices (x1.5 - x0.8)
  
• Product Demand (x10 - x0.4)
  
• Randomness addition per Phase (1% - Max)
  
• Maximum Randomness (0% - 80%)
  
• Unlimited Phases (for Randomness)
  

Production Statistic Filters

• The production overview can now be filtered by base material, components, modules and products.
  
• You can search the statistics by item type name.
  
• There are filter buttons on production / consumption that will set a filter to the opposite side:
  
• clicking the filter button on an item on the production side will display only materials directly required for said item on the consumption side.
  
• clicking the filter button on an item on the consumption side will display only items on the production side that can be produced using said item.
  
• Produced and consumed numbers won’t exceed the theoretical maximum anymore. This happened due to rounding errors, since the average maxima are not even numbers.
  

Additional Settings

• Automatic pause when tabbing out of the game window
  
• Possibility to disable the advisor
  
• Added a tooltip delay setting
  
• The default of the camera behaviour can now be set (locked to player vs. free camera)
  

Bug Fixes

• Analysis desks should not display misleading icons anymore.
  

• Crafter and assembly tables now have a button that opens a weekly statistics overview.
  
• The stats displayed there cover the past week:
  
  • Produced units: displays how many modules/products have been crafted
    
  • Time distribution: shows the relative amount of time spent by the assigned employee
    
  • Values: gives an overview of the money spent and the value gained for that workplace

• There is now an overview for all produced and consumed items throughout your company.
  
• The panel can be opened with [P] or via the production overview button in the top right corner of the screen.
  
• The left side of the statistics display shows the amount you have produced during the past week.
  
  • This gives you an outlook on how much you could optimize your existing workplaces' output, for instance, by optimizing walk distances.
  
  
• The right side displays the amount of consumed materials (excluding sold and analyzed modules).
  
  • The maximum here shows the consumption of materials if every table's production capacity was maxed out.
  
  
  

• Data Point yields from analyzed modules have been rebalanced. The average amount of Data Points has been increased. Modules which are more difficult to produce will get a boost on Data Points you can generate from them.
  
• Analysis times have been rebalanced. You now generate Data Points faster by analyzing higher tier modules. Modules of the same tier that yield more data points may take longer to be analyzed, but the Data Point output per day is the same.

• Sometimes logistic employees would get stuck and stop their tasks because they couldn’t find a path. They continued being stuck even if the path to their destination was no longer blocked.
  
• There was an issue with the way logistics employees handled priorities. This should be fixed now.
  
• Fixed an issue where the robo advisor would tell the player that an employee has long walking times while the issue was that an inventory was full.

• Fixed an issue where decoration rewards for challenges would not get unlocked.
  
  • Completing any challenge will reward all missing decorations.
    
  • The reward list can be found here on our Official Good Company Wiki
  
  
• It is now possible to unlock more products in the Welfare Survival challenge.
  
  • Unlocking happens through earning Discovery Points like in Freeplay mode.
  
  
• We've approached fixing an issue where players can't progress in milestones, or markets did not progress. We hope we have this fixed but we can’t tell for sure yet, as the bug is hard to reproduce. Please let us know if this issue persists.

• Players can now upgrade crafting tables directly from the respective table panel.
  
• To upgrade a table, a module needs to be selected.
  
• Based on the selected module, the table will be upgraded to the next, faster table.
  
• The upgrade will cost the difference between the original table and the new one.
  
• Upgrading a table will cancel the crafter's current progress and restart it.
  
• Previously set logistics connections will remain active on the upgraded table.
  
• Upgrading tables will not be possible if the construction menu is not available.
  

• All workstations now have a quick hire button.
  
• A random employee will be hired and assigned to the selected table.
  
• Every table also has a quick fire button.
  
• This option will be unlocked once employee hiring is available.
  

• From time to time the advisor, Lumo, will pop-up on Monday mornings.
  
• The advisor informs you if there are potential basic problems in your company.
  
  • We will be considering expanding this feature with more tips in the future.
  
  
• If possible, the advisor will show you an example of the detected problem.
  
• There are 6 tips that can currently be triggered:
  
  • Not all Products are getting sold from the Outgoing Zone.
    
  • Production Employees are inefficient and have to walk too much.
    
  • Production Employees are missing Module/Component XYZ.
    
  • Not enough of Base Material XYZ being ordered in Incoming Zone.
    
  • Logistics connection isn’t served, because it is not in range of a Logistics Point.
    
  • Hint: Sell over-produced Modules/Components XYZ.

• While placing new equipment, the respective holograms now have an improved preview for where the object can be placed.
  
• All production and research times are now displayed as in-game days.
  
• Mouse confinement setting is now ‘off’ by default.
  
• Info browser now has tooltips for materials & modules.
  

• Inventory transfer times are now 1s (0.066 days), no matter how many materials are being transferred.
  
  • Previously it was 1s per different material/module/product.
  
  
• Metal Cases sampling time has been fixed. The base sampling time was too low:
  
  • 0.46s -> 1.46s (9.2s -> 29.2s on the first Analysis Table)
  
  
• Level 3 got re-balanced to provide a more steady income:
  
  • Calculator markets provide more income now.
    
  • Market requirements for Calculators and Pocket Computers were reduced.
  
  
• Markets for the ‘Welfare Survival’ challenge have been updated:
  
  • Removed markets beyond cleaning/transport bots.
    
  • All markets progress slightly slower.
    
  • All market requirements increase less drastically.
    
  • All markets have an increased profit amount.

• Calculation of camera bounds has been fixed. Previously, some unintentional camera behaviour could occur at the edges of some maps.
  
• Sometimes the mouse containment setting used wrong data to apply the containment. Now it should always fit the actual game window.
  
• Challenge completion achievement did not trigger properly (4/7 challenges done)
  
  • The next challenge you complete should reward all missing achievements.
  
  
• Fixed an issue where the game crashed when returning to the main menu.
  
• When sales for specific products were above 65 535 G the amount looped to 0 G.
  
  • Sales for a single product can now be ~16 000 000 G.
  
  
• Fixed an issue where the game would crash when switching modules on a crafting station.
  
• Fixed a UI-scaling issue with highscore tables making some buttons inaccessible.
  
• Blueprint Designer button is now gated properly depending on whether the Drafting Table is available.
  
• Hitbox issues, mainly with the chemistry table, have been fixed. The hitboxes should now behave more consistently
  

• Level 3, Milestone 8: the Metal Case (Tier 3) was counted as a viable module to complete the current task (reaching a production of 14 Tier 4 modules every week)
  
• Level 4, Milestone 7: the goal unit [produced/week] was wrong. It has been changed to display the correct unit [produced].
  
• Level 6, Milestone 1: progress counted 'total production', which was wrong. This has been corrected to 'weekly production'.
  
• Level 6, Milestone 5: progress counted 'Courier Bots' while it should have been only counting 'Delivery Drones'. This is also fixed now.
  

• Welding Table now has a proper description, the localization string was broken.
  
• [FR] Level 6, Milestone 4 the ‘[goalTarget]’ replacement was broken.
  

Before v0.7.0

• Overhead Segments: 3-6 tile long segments that transport goods on a higher level, so that the player character and employees can move through below.
  
• Inventory Sorter: an end piece for a conveyor belt that stores transported items directly in a shelf, without requiring employees to do this.
  
• Ratio Placer: this segment can be connected to a shelf. It takes items from its inventory and places them directly on a conveyor belt in the required ratio. With this, you can avoid your conveyor belts getting unnecessarily blocked by materials.
  

• Campaign Level 3
  
• Challenge: Welfare Survival
  
• Overall Research & Sampling
  

And what about v0.7.0?

• Reduce the need to interact with the logistics, without restricting the current possibilities
  
• Faster initial setups and changes on products lines
  
• Better segmenting of production lines into smaller bits
  
• Improved overview over what actually happens (statistics and such)
  
• More control over the most important material flows
  
• Flexibility for future updates and content
  

• There are now two control modes!
  
• Character Centric (Locked Camera)
  
  
  • Will be the default mode.
    
  • You can now move the camera by dragging with the right mouse button or via edge panning.
    
  • The camera will snap back to your character as soon you move.
  
  
• Free Mode
  
  • Can be toggled with [TAB] or by clicking on the lock symbol on the portrait icon.
    
  • You can move the camera with [WASD] or mouse controls as in the Character Centric mode.
    
  • The camera will not snap back to your camera as soon as you move.
    
  • You can click on the player portrait to center the camera on your character, or you can use the [HOME] key for that.

• Buy orders on the Incoming Zone can be done from any position.
  
• Blueprint Designer can be used from any position.
  
• It is now possible to change recipes on tables no matter how far away your character is.
  
• For manual crafting you still need to move to the designated location.
  
  • This can be done automatically via the crafter panel.
  
  
• If you open an equipment panel, it will close any that were already open.
  

• Camera Speed can be adjusted in the User Interface section.
  
• Edge Pan Border can be adjusted in the User Interface section.
  
  • Will determine how many pixels away from the border activated the border panning.
  
  
• Confine Mouse to Window.
  
  • If enabled, the mouse will not go over the window edge.
  
  

• Freeplay progression through milestones now has an additional check to make sure that progression is properly set. This also applies to older freeplay savegames.
  
• Campaign levels will now check on load if decoration and trophy rewards are properly set and reward you if there was an issue saving this data on your profile.
  
• Missing Japanese characters were added to the character set: 々鷹 ％ ＝ ＆
  
• Moving an assembly table no longer removes the worker that was assigned to it
  
• Fixed a crash caused by attempting to move assembly tables with active workers on them.
  
• Fixed the net worth calculation of equipment
  

• Most commonly used functions and interfaces are accessible via hotkeys now:
  
  • Construction: 1 (alphanumerical)
    
  • Logistics Mode: 2 (alphanumerical)
    
  • Employees: 3 (alphanumerical)
    
  • Market Panel: M
    
  • Research Tree: T
    
  • Fast Forward: F
    
  • Blueprint Designer: B
    
  • Pause / Unpause: Space