As we promised a couple of weeks back: this update is quite grand, especially for those of you who have played it into the later parts of the game! With no further ado...
v0.25.162 Released!
The GREAT INTERFACE UPDATE officially began! In the upcoming weeks, we'll keep bringing Learning Factory windows to a new, lighter, leaner style
Catopia Ark space mission - Learning Factory final challenge - is added to the game. Research, build and equip an expeditionary ship and send it to the stars, to teach the cats of the Universe the secret of living in abundance! NB: this is but the first iteration of Catopia Ark, expect more gameplay in the future!
Added an upgrade for Cable Crafter, increasing the crafting limit
Mouse grid now becomes available along with unlocking 'Manual operations on area' Multitool upgrade
Changed conditions of unlocking certain upgrades to make them more comprehensive
Increased item capacity for Fixed Price Store and Smart Cat Store
Starting from the fourth milestone on the Research Tree, each milestone is also accompanied by a quest, which provides reward upon completion
Added an option to generate a random map in the list of presets when generating a map for a Freeplay Mode game
Crafting window opens on the same tab that's active on the buildings placement panel
Improved tutorial
Added an option to reenable watched tutorials, in case you forgot/missed something
Performance optimization
Bug fixes (kudos to sdgsdfsdf, Zydox79)
How do you like it? Don't hesitate to let us know: we're available for direct chat on out Discord server!
Re: Factory
Q: "Fish maker bug, the research to allow Fish++ to be produced in this one requires that you first produce 500 Fish++ to unlock it... as far as I've seen there is no other way to produce Fish++ than the Fish maker.Should the research requirement have been to procude 500 Fish+ and not Fish++ or how do I produce the Fish++ without this research?" -Zydox79 A: High Quality (++) Fish can also be acquired by placing a Fishing Spot under the ground. We've specified unlocking conditions to make it more clear Q: "Add rails you can ride on for quick travel" -family-***** A: You can use Teleports for faster navigation around different parts of the map Q: "When you alt-tab to another program, it would be nice if the game would detect that and not switch to the hybrid view" -Zydox79 A: Not sure if we can make this happen, but we'll give it a shot
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
One Giant Leap for Felinekind - Learning Factory Dev Diaries, December 2023
Hey factory workers!
Do you know what Learning Factory and black holes have in common? The game is sucking out our time and attention, just like a black hole is consuming the very fiber of the Universe around it. But most importantly: black holes are very heavy and condensed - the same way as Learning Factory is becoming a more complex and concentrated game with each update. Especially now, when the 1.0 release is just around the corner. Here, let us show you!
A question that we asked ourselves more than once in these diaries: what is Catopia? The answer is out there, but it is so deep and intricate, that human minds of the first half of the XXI century cannot contemplate it. Cats of the future know what Catopia is, but they wouldn't bother explaining it to inferior food bringers (that would be us, fellow human reader).
All we know is whenever cats’ needs are met, they reach a superior state of being in total satisfaction, and start feeling a sudden urge to make other cats happier (which is not what cats normally do). So don't bother yourself with what is Catopia, and focus on how can you spread it around the Universe!
Apparently, it implies building and equipping an expeditionary space ship (codenamed ‘Catopia Ark’), and send a mission to the stars and other feline worlds, where your enlightened cats will teach their bretheren the secret of living in abundance.
The ship will consist of several blocks. Each needs to be researched and built separately, and then packed with goods and crew members:
Building one of those ships will be the formal ending of the game, but it's not the story finale, it's just the base for it: we've got some ideas on how to expand it. And of course, the final story comics is still to be drawn - those who played games in the 90s know that no decent game ends without a cartoon or comics in the end!
But generally, it's safe to say, that after this update is released, Learning Factory will be a complete game, one that you can play from the tutorial to the credits! Hooray? Hooray indeed!
Let's make some noise to celebrate: another big leap for us towards the release is giving voice to Dr. Katz. It wasn't part of the initial development plan, to be honest, but we experimented internally with AI-generated voice, and decided that it suits the game very well, while also helping highlight key events.
So we have partnered with the very talented actor Ali Gohar, who has done a great job impersonating a mad feline scientist:
These takes above are work in progress, though at least some of them will likely make it into the game. Our main reference was one very famous classic sci-fi character. Could you guess who it was? Let us know your best guess in the comments!
Speaking of content: some minor changes and new mechanics will continue emerging in the game - it's time for some fine tuning! In the last update, for example, we've added a bunch of new recipes and finally introduced the map-wide grid for more convenient building placement:
We also introduced a short-ranged teleport for items (known as Telemanipulator):
…along with an upgrade for Cat Gate that allows you to get rid of unused items, donating it to random cats of the Universe:
More perky little stuff like that will likely appear in the game, but it's not going to happen before we're done with re-renderig buildings and updating the game's interface. The latter will also make a partial appear in the upcoming update, here's a little teaser for you:
A (technical) story finale, new interface, and some voiceover - Learning Factory is making a huge leap towards its final form this December!
Stay tuned next week for the last major Learning Factory update of the year. We’ll return to you with the next edition of these diaries in 2024, to recap all the wonderful changes that happened at Learning Factory in the past year. Happy Holidays! Come celebrate this epic year in video games industry with us on our Discord server!
Hotfix v0.24.161
Bugs happen! But we'll keep working on making Learning Factory digital pest-free for you! Enjoy this small yet handy bug fix.
Commencing Countdown - New Update, v0.24.160
Hey factory workers!
At this stage of development, it's safe to say: if we release a modest update, that means something really big is in the works. We wish we could share more details with you, but this'll have to wait until next time, alas!
As for today, there's lots of new stuff and improvements here and there, check them out:
v0.24.160 Released!
Gameplay
Added another default recipe for Land Digger
Added another default recipe for Dredge
Added another default recipe for Laser Collider
Added another default High Quality (++) Cotton recipe for Cotton Gin
Decreased Copper costs for producing Batteries and Laser Pointers
Cat researchers in the Tavern can sometimes be hired for Milk instead of Catnip Juice
ML Capacity mechanics slightly rebalanced
Rafts were renamed into Bridges (because they don't look like rafts anymore)
Multitool upgrade is divided into two independent parts: working speed upgrade and manual operations on area upgrade; both become available sooner, and cost less
Fertilizer Sprinkler working baseline increased from 100 to 250 units of Fertilizers
Graphics && Sounds
Rope Maker re-rendered
Science Lab re-rendered
Sounds updated
QoL && Interface
Added a lense showing map grid
Wiki articles for items now show the recipes which require that item
Pressing 'Ctrl' + 'Z' cancels current crafting queue
Added an option to search projects on the Research Tree by ML Capacity
Improved tutorial
The panel on top of the screen now displays the amount of recently satisfied cats
Added an option to hide button hints in Gameplay options
UI/UX improvements
Lengthy numbers are now separated to facilitate perception. You can select the separation symbol in Gameplay Settings
Techie Stuff
Improved transitions between the Wiki and the Research Tree
Performance optimization
Bug fixes (kudos to poseidontsunami11 & seakten)
A friendly reminder: you can always chat with us directly on our Discord server. We're using Discord for work, so you'll find many of us there most of the time, don't be a stranger!
An even friendlier reminder: don't forget about our collection of items in Steam Points Shop! Sergei the artist makes wonderful factory art to be observed from above, but his works' magic really shows at close-up perspective:
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
Black Hole-some - New Update, v0.24.157
Hey engineers,
This update brings you not one but two teleportation devices! Use them wisely, enjoy other improvements and tweaks, and let us know what you think of them:
v0.24.157 Released!
New buildings && Gameplay
New building: Telemanipulator - teleports items in short range. You can change the distance of teleportation by clicking on it. The further the distance, the more time teleportation takes
New upgrade for Cat Gate: Item Donation Portal allows you to send surplus items to random cats in need all over the Universe. However, you won't make any money out of it. Or anything at all, really
Increased efficiency of the crafting speed upgrade for Compost Machine
Added an alternate base crafting recipe for Compost Machine
Tunnels can be placed on Lava Rafts now
Increased efficiency of High Quality (++) Fish recipe in the Fish Maker
Increased efficiency for certain deals in Trade Ports
Vertical Cable can now be placed on Rafts
Added a new secret achievement
Catopia points requirement for some MIlestones decreased
More cumulative stats
Graphics && Sound
Added a sound effect for Hoverboard
Added Holidays decorations
Concrete Maker re-rendered
Claw Sharpener Maker re-rendered
QoL && Interface
Pressing 'Ctrl' + click while adding a research project to research queue places this research to the start of the queue
When hovering on a Blueprint that lacks resources for crafting, a recipe is displayed
New tabs added to Stats menu
Added a lens for displaying tile fertility
Added a lens for displaying Veins and Trade ports
CVs from aspiring cat researchers can be leafed through
CVs from researchers do not appear when there's more than 10 pending candidates
If a CV from a researcher is ignored for 2 hours, it is revoked by the applicant
Improved tooltips
Polish translation via Chat-GPT
Techie Stuff
Updated engine version
Game saving speed optimized
Bug fixes (special thanks to MurpigThe3rd)
A friendly reminder: you can always chat with us directly on our Discord server. We're using Discord for work, so you'll find many of us there most of the time, don't be a stranger!
An even friendlier reminder: don't forget about our collection of items in Steam Points Shop! Sergei the artist makes wonderful factory art to be observed from above, but his works' magic really shows at close-up perspective:
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
Polishing Mars - Learning Factory Dev Diaries, November 2023
Hey engineers!
We found ourselves in a situation a couple of days ago: apparently, all the game’s mechanics are in place. Of course, there’s still a lot to do in UI/UX, QoL (and other fancy game dev abbreviations), and tons of tasks in the art department. There’s one big part of the game to be shaped and implemented (more on that below), but the big stuff is in place!
If you thought that means there won't be new content, you've probably joined us just recently: those following us these years know that we're adding new stuff to our games all the time.
It's just at this stage of the game all of our own ideas are pretty much there, so we're relying on stuff based on the feedback from our community. Take this bunch of brand new engineer's little helpers:
The names are self-explanatory (hopefully). According to our players, those become extremely handy in the late stages of the game, when factory-building gets real.
These beautiful creatures will help you in further de-spaghettifying your Factory:
If you have an idea for a building of your own (or just want to chat with us and like-minded devs), we're happy to lend you our eyes and ears on our Discord server!
The last couple updates brought lots of smaller alterations here and there, which change the game quite a lot. Perhaps, one of the most prominent experiments of the month was re-balancing our terraforming system. As you might know, tiles differ not only by visuals, but also by efficiency/fertility level. It influences the rate of growth for plants, as well as the work of certain buildings.
For example, if you'd place a Fishing Spot, you can hover upon a tile in its’ operating area to spot the difference:
Previously, the way to maximize the efficiency of tiles was to replace them with handcrafted tiles. A side effect of that was that some players would fill the whole map with those tiles. While we're totally ok with such style of play, we'd like the players to experiment some more, trying to overcome the natural obstacles of the landscape - at least, in the early stages of the game.
Hence the experiment: researching terraforming tiles now costs more than before (while the price of production of tiles themselves remains the same). At the same time, we've introduced another type of Fertilizer that helps maximize the efficiency of any tile, without changing its type. It becomes available early in the game, giving you the opportunity to maximize your tile-based production before you delve into intense terraforming. And, as always, your feedback on this risky enterprise of ours is very welcome!
While we're speaking about tiles: we have re-rendered some stuff (again; will do much more), including, but not limited to, the Rafts:
And look at those juicy red mutant Apple Trees from Mars (along with Fertilizer Sprinkler in action):
We've improved the tutorial. We've added chatGPT-made translations (in addition to commuity-made translations) for unofficial languages. We've added some sounds for cats and their surroundings. We've made a whole new section in the Statistics tab, where the data is displayed in the form of tables:
Heck, we made dozens of changes here and there, big and small! Our patch notes are becoming longer with each update we release. All these efforts serve but one purpose: achieving Catopia. And it is closer than it seems.
How to Catopia
We have started contemplating Catopia almost a year ago. It was the goal of the game from the very beginning but we could not decide what it is, exactly. Until recently, that is.
Catopia milestone can already be reached on the Research Tree, and provide a nice bonus for those who make it. However, the endgame part of Learning Factory is still in development.
But today we're proud to announce, that we have recently agreed on the mechanics, along with the genral concept for establishing the perfect cat society! And it will emerge in the game sooner than you might think.
In the meantime, here's a little teaser image (that we have randomly found on the web to use as an internal reference):
If it hardly makes sense or does not look epic enough, our only advice: just you wait!
What's Next?
Catopia, apparently! But wait, there's more! Our artist Sergei has freed up some time to make Learning Factory UI shine! Here are some sketches:
Just to make clear: those were already discarded, and won't make it into the final game. But it does instantly change the look of Learning Factory, don't you think?
And of course, next month there will be polishing, more polishing, and then some.
Hear the smell? It's the smell of the year 2024 coming our way. It's the smell of upcoming Learning Factory release! See you next month, and don't forget to pet your cat on a regular basis!
Manipulating the Sales - New Update, v0.24.156
Another 2 weeks, another Learning Factory update! This one is especially rich with Splitters, but there's also a nice selection of ambient and cat sounds, among other cool things:
v0.24.156 Released!
New Buildings && Upgrades
New building: Priority Splitter is an upgrade for Reverse Splitter. It will send items to selected output, until it's clogged, in which case the items will be sent through other exit (suggested by squibs)
New building: Fertilizer Sprinkler is spreading Fertilizers around the plants in its operational area (suggested by Trichouette)
New building: Balanced Merger is an upgrade for X-Switcher, it unites two streams of Transporters into one
New building: Selective Item Manipulator (and its' cousin, Long Selective Item Manipulator) is an upgrade for the Item Splitter, and it grabs any item of your choosing
Gameplay
New map preset for the Freeplay mode
Minor changes on the Campaign mode main map
A little bonus is now waiting those who make it to the Catopia milestone
Added a system of recommendations on the Research Tree, along with special quests rewarded building prototypes, for completing research projects
When making price predictions, Machine Learning models now consider cats' Loyalty and Hype level at the moment of a cat's arrival
Graphics && Sound
Cats make meow when they say text phrases or shop in Stores
There are now several types of ambient sounds (for fields, forests, production, ocean, underground, and lava) and a dedicated slider for controlling them
Updated story comic page shown upon completing the Tutorial
QoL && Interface
Improved interface for Zeppelins, Docks and Routes, made transfer between them easier, Docks now show Routes they're part of
Statistics window now has a new tab with tables, including cumulative data
Themed events (Halloween, the Holidays, Programmer's Day and Lunar New Year) can be manually turned on in the Settings
Minor changes in the Wiki
Improved Tutorial
Added an option to sort researcher cats by the highest skill (suggested by MaxFire)
Added chatGPT-made translations to the Italian, Spanish, Korean, and Japanese languages
In this section, we're reacting to your bug reports and feedback sent through the in-game report form:
Re: Mambo Q: There's no sound since the last update! A: We've tested this issue on our Linux machines, and haven't found anything yet. We need more data to hopefully reproduce it in the future...
Re: Bleachin Q: Using the laser collider. Adding gems+ to the row to make gems ++, with it at the top of the list, showed the gems+ in the created part of the crafted from 2 gems row and pushed them out as being made A: In late game, some buildings are capable of crafting items and then use them for crafting higher quality items. To prevent this from happening, you can pause a recipe by clicking respective buttons in the recipes' list.
A friendly reminder: you can always chat with us directly on our Discord server. We're using Discord for work, so you'll find many of us there most of the time, don't be a stranger!
An even friendlier reminder: don't forget about our collection of items in Steam Points Shop! Sergei the artist makes wonderful factory art to be observed from above, but his works' magic really shows at close-up perspective:
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
Community Highlight: What Cats Want? (Guide)
Sure, Learning Factory is a relaxing base-building game, but there're actually a lot of stuff happening under the cape!
The cats that arrive at Learning Factory are complicated beasts, with their own shopping goals, spontaneous desires, loyalty to your brand, and even overall life satisfaction levels.
Understanding the interactions between these parameters is pivotal for maximizing your profits, and, subsequently, funding your research to ensure the creation of Catopia!
Now, there's a series of in-game wiki articles explaining all that, but our Discord community member Trichouette has done an even better job creating an impressive compendium of cats' shopping lists:
If you want to discuss this guide (or maybe consult with us while you're making your own?), or discuss anything Learning Factory-related - the best place to do so would be our Discord. But any way of reaching us and letting us know what you think of the game works for us, so don't be a stranger!
Community Highlight: What Cats Want?
Sure, Learning Factory is a relaxing base-building game, but there're actually a lot of stuff happening under the cape!
The cats that arrive at Learning Factory are complicated beasts, with their own shopping goals, spontaneous desires, loyalty to your brand, and even overall life satisfaction levels.
Understanding the interactions between these parameters is pivotal for maximizing your profits, and, subsequently, funding your research to ensure the creation of Catopia!
Now, there's a series of in-game wiki articles explaining all that, but our Discord community member Trichouette has done an even better job creating an impressive compendium of cats' shopping lists:
If you want to discuss this guide (or maybe consult with us while you're making your own?), or discuss anything Learning Factory-related - the best place to do so would be our Discord. But any way of reaching us and letting us know what you think of the game works for us, so don't be a stranger!
How to Catopia - New Update, v0.24.155
Hey engineers! The grand game polishing has officially begun, but that doesn't mean we won't be adding new awesome content (quite the contrary, actually!). But first, we'd like to talk to you about an experiment we made...
Experimental Terraforming Re-Balance
As you might now, default tiles of the game have random efficiency distribution. It can affect growth of plants and the efficiency of some buildings.
Previously, the best way to maximize a tile's potential was to replace it with a manually crafted tile. This update brings an option to do it with a special kind of Fertilizer (see below). It becomes available early in the game, but to compensate it, we have increased the cost of research for terraforming tiles (the production costs of tiles, once researched, remains the same)
Our idea is to motivate players to interact with two default maps' landscapes, making use of the land they get on the default map and finding creative solutions for numerous watery obstacles on the alternate map.
This idea makes sense to us, but you'll be the ones playing it, so we encourage you to check this part of the game out and let us know:
Is it a 'yay' or 'nay' for you? Share your thoughts in the comments below, or drop us a line on Discord, or use the built-in feedback form in the game
v0.24.155 Released!
New Buildings && Content
New building: Raft Crafter automatically makes Rafts for you (suggested by Trichouette) +an upgrade for making Lava Rafts
New item: Surface Fertilizer is a consumable that maximizes the efficiency of any tile without changing its' type (suggested by Trichouette)
Added an option to select origin of cats coming through regular Cat Gates - the higher the Hype, the more the chance to attract a cat from selected origin instead of regular passerby cat; if this happens, the cat arrived will have +1 Loyalty level
The final Catopia milestone can now be unlocked on the progress bar of the Research Tree: it increses the Hype but does not unlock endgame gameplay yet
The Second Prototype milestone now unlocks (spontaneous) 'Cats' Ascension', which provides a chance for cats to arrive at the Factory with increased Loyalty, depending on Hype level
Visuals
Re-rendered Apple Trees
Re-rendered Metal Drill
Re-rendered Lumber Mill
Re-rendered Box Maker
Re-rendered Concrete flooring
Re-rendered Apple Boxes
Re-rendered Rafts
Gameplay
The progress in achieving the next milestone is now visible on the Monument
Upgrade allowing to harvest Juicy Cacti with Lumber Mills now adds another recipe with increased efficiency
New upgrade for Compost Machine, allowing it to craft Surface Fertilizers
Upgrade unlock requirement to advertise items to cats can now be fulfilled via Advertising Cat Gates, too (previously it was only possible in service/tasting buildings)
Nanoproduction infinite research project now increases manual work speed too
Selected infinite researches slightly buffed
Crafting a Growing Deep Algae now requires less resources in general, but requires Quality (+) Catnip Algae
Research cost of all tiles for terraforming was increased to balance the new tile-improving mechanics
Increased amount of terraforming tiles given as reward for fulfilling Dr. Katz's requests; the frequency of such awards was increased as well
Dormitory expansion costs slightly decreased
Cats with upsale requests and mass purchasing cats now appear even further on in the game
Eco Dynamite removed from the game (temporarily)
Changed progress bar on the Research Tree, some milestones moved
Added a new quest after Tutorial, that prompts further research and brings monetary reward
Added new achievement: conduct 100 researches
Added another secret achievement
QoL && Interface
Added an option to customize the looks of cat researchers in Labs (suggested by Cat (the Black))
Tooltip for Dynaminte now shows countdown before explosion
'Collect All' feature works faster
Improved tutorial
Hotkeys on numeric keyboard keys now summon a Blueprint of a building, if it is not crafted
Wiki articles now clearly display the category of items (suggested by ChromatiChicken)
Added an event when an empty hotkey is activated, along with a hint on assigning it
Added statistics: cat knowledge from satisfied cats
The panel on top of the screen now displays the recent amount of cat knowledge points gained from satisfied cats
Improved tooptips
Added an option to search for research categories on the Research Tree, clicking on a category icon highlights relevant research projects
More convenient sorting in Statistics tab
Added a search field to Zeppelin Routes tab
Story comic strips can now be leafed through
Added chatGPT translation for the French language
Lots of copywriting improvements
Techie Stuff
Updated engine version
Performance optimization
Bug fixes (kudos to squibbons, HelDoRe, squibs, bloom16night)
Copying and pasting configs now with improved visual effect
UI/UX improvements
Re: Factory
In this section, we're reacting to your bug reports and feedback sent through the in-game report form:
Re: Wayne We're investigating the rendering problem on Mac Pro M2 / Mac OS X 14.0.0 - the architecture of the processor is very new and the new OS version emerged emerged a couple of days back. With that said, we don't even have the machine to test the game with yet, but we're working on this Re: squibbons We have partially fixed bugs with incorrect scaling of tooltip windows and scrollboxes in the windowed mode on lower screen resolutions, but the issue might persist here and there, we're looking into it
A friendly reminder: you can always chat with us directly on our Discord server. We're using Discord for work, so you'll find many of us there most of the time, don't be a stranger!
An even friendlier reminder: don't forget about our collection of items in Steam Points Shop! Sergei the artist makes wonderful factory art to be observed from above, but his works' magic really shows at close-up perspective:
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
