New Update: Paint your Zeppelins and scale with a new Cargo Dock
Hello everyone! We heard a rumor that you are enjoying recently released Zeppelins and literally sending your logistics to the sky. Alright, that's perfect! Now it's time to make it even more personal by changing the color of Zeppelins. Better look, easier to navigate. And also new Cargo Dock (which is much bigger) is waiting for new high-load challenges from your cat-satisfying factory.
v0.12.83 Released!
Now you can change the color of the Zeppelins;
New building: Big Cargo Dock supports two types of goods and can store a lot;
Logistics Balance tuning: In all Docks, storage for incoming goods is now twice bigger than storage for outgoing goods. This is how we reduced the load on the logistics lines;
Zeppelins are now shown at the minimap (actually, do you know that you can click on the minimap a number of times to make it bigger each time?);
In case a Dock's name is already taken there will be a warning message;
Define how often you want autosave to happen in the Settings menu;
Tons of bug fixes and usability improvements.
Also, we have great news about shadows. Since this update, each building we touched will be updated with the shadowed version. I know I know, it's 2022 and shadows are not big deal. But there was some dark magic to be done in Blender (the 3D design program we work with to create buildings) and now we have shadows.
And here is the new Cargo Dock. Also with shadows (oh boy I am so happy that we finally worked out the shadows!).
Hey, let's discuss how you like all this stuff, shall we? Drop a comment below or write us a line:
Going to Early Access is but the first step to glory (and eternal cat happiness). Wanna be part of what happens next? Head to this blog post and learn how to help make the game even more awesome!
Get a Promo Cat and let us put your name into the credits
This day of Mars history will be remembered in the centuries to come! Thanks to the genius of Dr. Katz and our tireless engineers, the industry of cat service on the planet is thriving. In fact, it's booming so much, that traditional Transporters are sometimes just not enough to support the growing logistics, especially when it comes to delivering goods from distant regions in the north and the south.
It all changes today, as the first (of many!) Cat Zeppelins are floating in the skies, silently and steadily delivering payload between Cargo Docks. Solar-powered and robot-piloted, they're here to revolutionize the way we think of transportation, bringing us one step (nay, leap!) closer to Catopia!
"I iz so proud! Zeppelinz naemd aftear my father'z old Freund, Ferdinand von Zeppelin! He uzed to be maiking zeppelinz too!", - Dr. Katz said in an official, yet personal, statement.
What a lovely day! Glory to Science! Glory to KOTOVOD!
v0.12.82 Released!
Cat Zeppelins (Beta!) - this time it's 1 type of Zeppelin and 1 type of Cargo Dock, more types to be added later on
New item: Fertilizer boosts the growth of immature or recently harvested plants of Mars
Science points are randomly given out when satisfying a loyal cat customers
When gaining Science points from a Cat Knowledge archive or from a cat, progress bar of a research project that benefits from received points turns yellow
New upgrade: Long Manipulator operating speed can be increased by 1 tick (default speed is 5 ticks)
Neural Networks are automatically assigned to Cat Stores (same way cat researchers are automatically placed into Labs)
Neural Networks optimization
Reduced time of saving and loading a game
Added possibility of limiting the amount of auto saves on disk
Improved Twitch integration
Hey, let's discuss how you like all this stuff, shall we? Drop us a line:
And don't forget to follow Learning Factory on Steam to get the news about new updates as soon as they're out there
----------------------
How to Get More Involved
Going to Early Access is but the first step to glory (and eternal cat happiness). Wanna be part of what happens next? Head to this blog post and learn how to help make the game even more awesome!
Share Your Gameplay and Become Part of KOTOVOD History
Learning Factory needs your help! Record a 10 or more minutes of you playing the game, share a video using any way you see fit, write your name into Learning Factory credits and get a promo cat! Make history here
Developer Diaries, June 2022: Terrain Visuals Massive Upgrade & More Zeppelins
Hey there! As we've mentioned in the previous edition of our developer diaries, the team was mostly enjoying their vacations in the past 4 weeks. But we were taking turns, which allowed us to make progress with the game!
(A friendly hint: Learning Factory is 30% off on Steam until August 15!)
One thing Sergei the artist was quite busy with, is updated terrain looks. Last time it was just the grass and underground tiles, but now the transformation is complete, and the whole game looks different, default terrain and both biomes included! Rate the scale of changes yourself:
And some more:
Aaaaaand more;
Reverse Splitter: Natural Heartbreaker
Another building tool in your logistics kit! Reverse Splitter divides an incoming stream of items on your Transporter and splits them into two, sending one forwarnd and the other one backwards. An example of how this can be applied is shown below, but we're sure that you'll find a thousand ways to put that Splitter into good use:
Cat Zeppelins: Almost There
In the previous edition of developer diaries we've already explained how Cat Zeppelins work. It's real simple: they pick up goods in Cargo Docks and then deliver them to other Cargo Docks of your selection. Currently, they require no toll or fuel: just a relaxing, steady way for transferring goods around the map. However, since that last time, zeppelins got modelled and animated:
Our plan is to deliver them to you by the end of August!
New Looks, New Style
Our discussions of Learning Factory's style and presentation has led us to interesting thoughts: we've noticed that some players (judging by Steam reviews and videos we've watched) are considering the game to be too casual and childish. While we value our laid back and peaceful gameplay and children do enjoy it, serious business is happening under the cape of Learning Factory: with real life machine learning models, data science, let alone the ability to build huge and complex factories both on the surface of Mars and below!
That all led to changing the looks and game description on our Steam page, along with adjusting the art style in story comics! You can see glorious new image of our game's heroes in our new trailer:
Up Next: Full Speed Ahead!
What else to be said? Summer is coming to an end and we're getting ready to push Learning Factory even closer to full release, with lots of awesome new features, tweaks, fixes and updates to be headed your way! Have some fun in the sun, while you still can: this fall and onwards will be full of irresistably cool gameplay to keep you indoors!
P.S. If you want to keep an eye our progress closer, don't forget to follow Learning Factory on our Steam page and never miss an update again!
----------------------
How to Get More Involved
Going to Early Access is but the first step to glory (and eternal cat happiness). Wanna be part of what happens next? Head to this blog post and learn how to help make the game even more awesome!
Share Your Gameplay and Become Part of KOTOVOD History
Learning Factory needs your help! Record a 10 or more minutes of you playing the game, share a video using any way you see fit, write your name into Learning Factory credits and get a promo cat! Make history here
WEEKLONG SALE + New Update: Terrain Updates And a Rather Splittering Splitter
Hi everyone! Lots of exciting news this time, so let's keep it to the point!
Learning Factory is 30% Off!
Weeklong sale is held until August 15! There're also price cuts (up to 75%!) on our previous games
v0.11.81 Released!
New building: Reverse Splitter splits incoming stream of goods into 2 and sends them opposite ways (what a heartbreaker!)
Terrain visual improvement
Increased limit for zooming the camera out
Some Territories also expand Dormitory space when a player purchases them
Current income parameter is now clickable and allows players to see their money without opening additional interface windows
Updated tutorial
Bug fixes
Behold the Reverse Splitter in action! It allows creating strange Transporter patterns (just the way we like them!):
In other news, we've also released an updated trailer:
We've also updated the game's store page, since the visuals have changed so much with the past couple of updates. Here are some pretty pics for you to enjoy:
Hey, let's discuss how you like all this stuff, shall we? Drop us a line:
And don't forget to follow Learning Factory on Steam to get the news about new updates as soon as they're out there
----------------------
How to Get More Involved
Going to Early Access is but the first step to glory (and eternal cat happiness). Wanna be part of what happens next? Head to this blog post and learn how to help make the game even more awesome!
Share Your Gameplay and Become Part of KOTOVOD History
Learning Factory needs your help! Record a 10 or more minutes of you playing the game, share a video using any way you see fit, write your name into Learning Factory credits and get a promo cat! Make history here
New Update: Brand new world appearance
Hello everyone. Oleg from Luden.io is here. Right good ol' days, right? Since almost all team members are on summer vacation I will handle this update if you don't mind.
Last few weeks we were busy updating the terrain's appearance. After 2 years of solid color-filled snow, desert and forest we welcome you to the new world, full hand drew details. Also, we tested the new look on how comfortable it is to play long sessions (some of you spent 100+ hours in the game so we care). After that test, we reworked it one more time and are now ready to share it with you.
Three shiny menu themes (you can unlock it with promo code CALL, KNOWLEDGE, SUMMER)
Second portion of a huge sound design update by our long-time friend Vladislav Isaev (I am a big fan of his Unyt album).
As always tons of bug fixes and optimizations (I literally have no idea how Ivan makes it even faster with each update)
Twitch integration is now even easier to get started (tell your favorite streamer about that, Twitch chat can influence the game while the streamer is playing)
Art Pack now contains more wallpapers and early days sketches
Hey, let's discuss how you like all this stuff, shall we? Drop us a line:
And don't forget to follow Learning Factory on Steam to get the news about new updates as soon as they're out there
P.S. Have you watched our latest Developer Diaries? I have and I love it.
----------------------
How to Get More Involved
Going to Early Access is but the first step to glory (and eternal cat happiness). Wanna be part of what happens next? Head to this blog post and learn how to help make the game even more awesome!
Share Your Gameplay and Become Part of KOTOVOD History
Learning Factory needs your help! Record a 10 or more minutes of you playing the game, share a video using any way you see fit, write your name into Learning Factory credits and get a promo cat! Make history here
Developer Diaries, June 2022: Underground Mushrooms & Cat Zeppelins (Soon!)
After shooting with a grand update last month, we were making small steps, that, however, slowly turn Learning Factory in a very different, more polished and good-looking game. Below is the summary of what we've done within the last 30 days, along with a sneak peek of the next big feature we're currently working on.
Terrain Redesign: Better Grass, Brighter Lava and Blue Mushrooms
It seems that we've just updated a couple of tiles, but it was many hours for Sergei the artist, and it was totally worth it! Default surface biome now looks refreshed and so do underground tiles and lava:
Terrain as of May '22
Terrain now:
Ye olde underground level:
Epic new one:
Last but not least: last month we've mentioned mysterious holgraphic cubes that emerge here and there on Mars. The prophecies did not lie: the Cat Knowledge Archives (as they are formally known today) are now available to anyone upon starting new game. They are divided into 5 types, 1 per each research category (Logistics, Production, Science, Terraforming & Upgrades). Upon activation, an Archive adds certain amount of research points to any available or ongoing research project in respective category. But most importantly, they're very satisfying to activate:
That's not all Cat Archives serve for: in the future, they will play an important role in the game progression. Follow our updates to be the first one to know!
Up Next: Zeppelins!
This idea was born rather spontaneously, as a result of our friendly chat with players on Discord. We were talking about how it sometimes gets tiresome to build so many Transporter belts on a big map. The solution? Cat Zeppelins! They're not carrying cats around, but they sure help deliver goods between cargo docks.
It's not the fastest way (the video below is in 5X speed), but it saves space AND gives the game a somewhat steampunk vibe:
By the way, if you want to influence game development as well, you're very welcome to join our merry Discord bunch. We're discussing features with players all the time and share the latest work-in-progress news!
See You Soon!
Starting this week, most of our team is going away for long-awaited vacations. We're planning to generally stay as far as possible from our PCs, and closer to nature. We hope your summer is going to be tremendous, too! Go out and play, breathe in some fresh air and then come back to play more awesome games!
P.S. If you want to keep an eye our progress closer, don't forget to follow Learning Factory on our Steam page and never miss an update again!
----------------------
How to Get More Involved
Going to Early Access is but the first step to glory (and eternal cat happiness). Wanna be part of what happens next? Head to this blog post and learn how to help make the game even more awesome!
Share Your Gameplay and Become Part of KOTOVOD History
Learning Factory needs your help! Record a 10 or more minutes of you playing the game, share a video using any way you see fit, write your name into Learning Factory credits and get a promo cat! Make history here
New Update: Underground Visuals, Blue Mushrooms, New Sounds and Human-Made Music
The terraforming process of Mars is ongoing on so many levels - that, of course, includes things happening below the surface.
Thanks to advanced technological tools (courtesy of the I.L.L.U.M.I.N.A.T.I.), this process is mostly automated and unsupervised by human or feline observers - most likely, it's driven by machine learning models.
That results in all kinds of surprises! For one, just this week, the engineers operating under the ground have spotted tiny glowing blue mushrooms, emerging from deeper, uninhabited levels of Mars.
They look very pretty and help find a way in the dark, but the scientists of KOTOVOD Learning Factory urge Mars residents to not try to pick or consume them in any form. The side effects from eating those mushrooms are yet to be studied, but it is already known that they can make one's heels turn blue. Last but not least, their taste is just disgusting.
What other surprises does the future hold for KOTOVOD engineers? Subscribe to 'KOTOVOD Worker' to be the first one to know! Until we meet again!
And don't forget to follow Learning Factory on Steam to get the news about new updates as soon as they're out there
----------------------
How to Get More Involved
Going to Early Access is but the first step to glory (and eternal cat happiness). Wanna be part of what happens next? Head to this blog post and learn how to help make the game even more awesome!
Share Your Gameplay and Become Part of KOTOVOD History
Learning Factory needs your help! Record a 10 or more minutes of you playing the game, share a video using any way you see fit, write your name into Learning Factory credits and get a promo cat! Make history here
All Hail Summer Sale!
Ah, Steam Summer Sale! It's that time of the year again! Plants are blooming and the discounts are booming!
The game has changed quite a lot since the last Summer Sale and we've released a huge update just the last week! Time to sell some goodies to those kitties!
Get wild and have fun!
----------------------
How to Get More Involved
Going to Early Access is but the first step to glory (and eternal cat happiness). Wanna be part of what happens next? Head to this blog post and learn how to help make the game even more awesome!
Share Your Gameplay and Become Part of KOTOVOD History
Learning Factory needs your help! Record a 10 or more minutes of you playing the game, share a video using any way you see fit, write your name into Learning Factory credits and get a promo cat! Make history here
Hotfix v0.11.77
Hey friends! We've released a little update that not only eradicates certain bugs, but actually makes the game prettier! Check it out as soon as you can!
v0.11.77
Update grass visuals
Research Tree structure slightly altered (reserving space for future awesome updates)
Rafts are now available for crafting from the start, no need to research them
Fixed a bug when the camera was zooming in and out when scrolling throught the inventory
Other bug fixes
Don't forget to share your thoughts in the comments or on our Discord server!
Until we meet again!
HUGE New Update: Trade Ports, Cat Knowledge Archives and Fog of Peace
This week marks 2 historic events that will change KOTOVOD Learning Factory both literally and metaphorically.
Since our Factory keeps introducing a more and more diverse array of goods, five major cat Trade Guilds have opened their branches on Mars, and are willing to get involved in exchanging goods for money, goods and other services ASAP.
Since the offices of Guilds' branches are based on various continents of Mars, a series of Trade Ports has been established, sending automated ships back and forth on a regular basis (because it is well known that cats hate swimming and water in general). The commerce is now expected to flourish, but only if KOTOVOD's engineers keep Guild bosses happy by providing goods.
The other sensational story of this week is somewhat connected to providing more goods, but it is much more significant at the same time! Ancient pillars of Cat Knowledge were considered lost since the first iteration of KOTOVOD, built back in the XX century, in the pre-terraforming era of Mars history. But thanks to the genius of Dr. Katz (and thousands of working hours of his human employees), they're now back on the map!
Each Cat Knowledge Archive contains priceless data about the history of ancient interstellar feline civilization that populated Mars before cats had to finally move to the good old Earth. Although we are not yet able to get to decipher the actual facts about that legendary era, even bits and pieces of Cat Knowledge can boost current research projects on the Factory, helping to diversify production, sell more goods, accumulate even more data about cats and, eventually, establish Catopia on Mars!
What a time to be alive! Now, to the weather forecast: meteorologists are sure that the mysterious fog that has been spotted over the oceans of Mars is completely harmless. All is good at KOTOVOD. Glory to science!
v0.11.76 Released!
Trade Ports and Trade Routes now emerge on the edges of the map, allowing you to exchange goods with five feline Trade Guilds, each specializing on their own category of items (new game only)
Speaking of the edges of the map, they're now decorated with beautiful (and totally not ominous) fog. We call it Fog of Peace internally, because there's no place for war in the world of Learning Factory
Unlockable Territories are now available in campaign mode, too, previously they were present in Freeplay mode; (new game only)
To make things more interesting, Cat Knowledge Archives now emerge on the map. They represent mysterious sources of data about cats, left on Mars by ancient interstellar cats from long time ago. Each Archive contains knowledge from one of five available types of research (Logistics, Production, Science, Terraforming and Upgrades). Upon activation, it adds research points to available and/or active research project, thus making those projects easier to complete. If don't have any research project in said research field, a Cat Knowledge Archive can't be activated until you do; (new game only)
Campaign mode map is now 1.5 times bigger, time to go hiking! (new game only)
In case you get cold while hiking, 2 new and fancy down coats are now available for purchase in customization menu
And when you're really ready to roll, feel free to enable an option that allows you toggle the button that launches you onto Hoverboard or Jetboard
Twitch integration! For broadcasting enthusiatst out there, we now have a generous array of options that will make your live streams look lively as ever (we're going to hell for all those stupid puns, aren't we?). Go check them out, and if you're only considering a career of broadcaster - Learning Factory is the perfect game to start (according to devs and their moms)
When the map is zoomed out all the way up in the sky, those phrases that cat say in lines will still be occasionally visible. Remember how there's no place to escape when your cat yells in your house? That was our reference for this feature
2 new achievements
UI fixes
Bug fixes
There's now an option to automatically sort goods of the same types in all the Stores that are selling them. We sincerely hope that it makes some of you happier
And don't forget to follow Learning Factory on Steam to get the news about new updates as soon as they're out there
----------------------
How to Get More Involved
Going to Early Access is but the first step to glory (and eternal cat happiness). Wanna be part of what happens next? Head to this blog post and learn how to help make the game even more awesome!
Share Your Gameplay and Become Part of KOTOVOD History
Learning Factory needs your help! Record a 10 or more minutes of you playing the game, share a video using any way you see fit, write your name into Learning Factory credits and get a promo cat! Make history here
