Lest We Forget - ANZAC Day Australia 25/04/2024

Updates to v0.37.1

• Reduced the effects of Bloom to be a bit less intrusive on Gameplay.
  
  
• Fixed the Light Null Reference on the main menu.
  
  
• Added a Patch for Players not having their Ingot Storage Racks appear after loading in on certain occasions.
  
  
• Added a slight Red/Green tinge to the 'Press [V] to Show/Hide Tips' and other Important info Text to be more noticeable.
  
  
• Added the Gas Bottle to new Interaction Text - Current Gas Flow and Remaining Gas will be displayed on the Cursor Info Text rather than the Controls Text - The [E] & [F] Keys (Default) are now shown separately rather than being combined onto one line.
  
  
• Implemented a more realistic Gas Bottle exchange with the Hardware Store, players will now need to Disconnect their Gas Bottle from Home, bring it to the Hardware Store to have it Exchanged for a New Full one.
  
  
• Adjusted and repositioned the Main Interaction Text to be a little smaller and more compact across both Interaction Text Elements
  
  
• Added an Animation & SFX to show the player visibly throwing rubbish when disposing of Waste in the Bin at the front of the House.
  
  
• Incorporated real-time Cloud Based Error Exception logging which will help fix certain bugs that produce Error Exceptions during runtime.
  
  
• Added some Popup Hints to the tutorial that point out some not so obvious features, also even some obvious ones, more so just to break things down a bit more within the tutorial.
  
  
• Added a "Progress for the Day' Page which is presented when sleeping, this will give the player some insight to the Progress that was made during the day, from Profit/Loss, Materials Gained, Items Scrapped, etc, also made it somewhat dynamic by only showing Stats that were changed to avoid showing irrelevant Stats - Which over time, given player feedback can be used to create a more balanced experience.
  
  
• Reworked the Time Handler, rather than trying to calculate a day length on start-up it is now a Static number that will represent a 30 minute Day Length, which should stop the Random outcomes for some players.
  
  
• Heavily cut back on a lot of the Environmental Visual Effects, The overall Atmosphere, Clouds/Sky, Lighting, Ambient V/SFX Effects etc, won't look as good now or are completely gone all together, however performance should be back to where it was before this new Framework Replacement to remain more a simplistic look that isn't resource intensive.
  
  
• Added the 'Small Crate' Item to the Hardware Store - Which can be used to transport multiple Small Objects at a time, this will still work with larger items, though the Bounds will not be visible for Large Items.
  
  

Updates to v0.37

• Fixed Rain not properly colliding with the Hardware Store roof and making its way inside.
  
  
• Changed the Colouring of the Player house to more match the other buildings in the game and the general style of the game.
  
  
• Fixed the Sleepy Effect not fully stretching across wider Aspect Ratio Screens.
  
  
• Fixed the Bug where players returning from a version less than v0.33 would be missing their Ingot Carry Box.
  
  
• Added the ability to change the UI to 24-Hour Time within the Gameplay Settings.
  
  
• Reduced the amount of aerial vehicles that fly over to be a bit less intrusive on gameplay.
  
  
• Removed the old [L] Flashlight but also added a permanent less intense Light to the Character to have more seamless lighting toward Objects the player is close to.
  
  
• Fixed the Loading Percentage starting at 100% and some random spots where the Percentage would not accurately represent the current progress.
  
  
• Briefly reworked the Chem Station, primarily simplifying the timers and how they Initiate and finalise which should help stop the Beaker Script getting stuck in an endless Loop - Rest assured it's still heading for a full overhaul in the very near future.
  
  
• Added some small tips to the Tutorial briefly explaining that a Disassembly Queuing system exists and to point out the 'Press [V] for tips' text certain on Items/Objects/Mechanics.
  
  
• Created a more streamlined Bug Report feature within the game (Accessed by Pressing [F8]) which should make the Process of Creating bug reports easier and a bit less of a hassle for players.
  
  
• Removed the Crypto feature from the PC as it was a bit nonsensical in the sense of Scrapping, as well as the Browser App temporarily until it can contain new webpages - Anyone with owned Scrapper Coin will be refunded the Mid Value as compensation - This is in hopes to return to a more Simple Game Style and help limit the Randomization of Economy outcomes where some players may struggle each day to earn $$ and others make bank on day 1.
  
  
• Reduced the size of some of the River Fish to be a bit more realistic and not look so out of place.
  
  
• Reworked the Info Panel displayed in the Upper Right (Cash, Energy, Date/Time etc) to be a bit less intruding and more clean, also a Small Weather Icon has been added to show the current Weather - The Day of Month, Month & Year text has also been removed as Seasons and Month Progression have become redundant and are no longer used.
  
  
• Along with the Visual Change to the Info Panel the way Energy is determined has been completely reworked, it is no longer a value that gets deducted as time passes, it is now a direct representation of the percentage left in the playable time (7am-11:30pm) and the Current Time passed, so Energy is not longer a value that needs to be Saved/Loaded as it references the Current Time to determine it's value.
  
  
• Removed the Cozy 2 Weather Framework due to being the cause of the un-fixable Thunderstorm Bug and implemented the new and improved Cozy 3 Weather Framework, which has far better functionality and customization when it comes to the Weather, Atmosphere, Sky, Colours etc.
  
  
• Reworked the way a Day Length is handled, this value can now be changed at will without breaking time related systems - Along with this the day length has been shortened from 2400 Seconds (40 minutes) to 30 Minutes to achieve at least 2-4 day cycles for the average play length of 1-2 hrs, which the cost of Power per kw has been reduced to compensate for this.
  
  
• Removed Cozy's Built-In Seasonal Weather Cycle and created a Rarity Based system to Randomly Determine the Weather as to be a bit more consistent throughout the game and being more in my control rather than being at the mercy of the EcoSystem, the game will remain in a more permanent 'Spring' state being mostly Clear Days - This will avoid the Solar Panels becoming near useless in the later game when entering Winter - Weather has potential to change while sleeping and is also Saved/Loaded again.
  
  
• Along with the new Weather Selection System there has also been some new Weather Profiles introduced, All Weather rarities and Solar Reductions are listed below;
  - Clear | 90% Chance | 1x Solar Capabilities (No Reduction)
  - Mostly Clear | 70% Chance | 0.9x Solar Capabilities
  - Partly Cloudy | 50% Chance | 0.7x Solar Capabilities
  - Mostly Cloudy | 40% Chance | 0.5x Solar Capabilities
  - Dense Clouds | 20% Chance | 0.4x Solar Capabilities
  - Overcast | 15% Chance | 0.3x Solar Capabilities
  - Light Rain | 10% Chance | 0.25x Solar Capabilities
  - Heavy Rain | 5% Chance | 0.15x Solar Capabilities
  - Thunder Storm | 3% Chance | 0.05x Solar Capabilities
  (No Reduction means @ 100% Sun Intensity the Weather will have no Impact on the Solar Generated, thus it will generate at 100% Capabilities | 0.05x Solar Capabilities @ 100% Sun Intensity the weather will severely be restricting the Solar Capabilities and will result in a Max of 5% output despite the 100% Sun Intensity)
  
  
• To go with the Weather Update the Ambient Lighting has been reduced to give more Depth to Objects and making Shaded areas Darker which will bring more use to Building Lights - Also the Sun Light Intensity will be adjusted according to the current Weather Profile so the lighting can coincide with the appropriate weather (IE Clear = Nice and Bright lighting | Thunder Storm = Dull and Dreary lighting).
  
  
• With the above Ambient Lighting Change, Street Lamps will now remain active during the day if the Weather is Overcast, Light Rain, Heavy Rain or Thunder Storm to aid in vision on these darker, less bright days.
  
  
• Added an NPC Dog to the Scrap Yard which will wonder around the Scrap Yard and protect the area during the night while the Scrap Yard is Closed - Upon the first initialisation (first time loading into v0.37 or starting a new game) 1 of 5 Random Skins/Colours for the Dog will be selected and is carried out permanently over your Gameplay.
  
  
• Added the ability for [ESC] to close NPC Dialog immediately without having to go back to the First Interaction Page to Close the UI.
  
  
• Removed a lot of redundant Debug Logs however also added some new ones where it may come in handy in the future when tracking down issues/bugs.
  
  
• Added a patch for those that may have lost a Bucket or more with the new box system update, when loading in the patch will determine the amount of missing Buckets from your Save Data and return them into the Lost & Found Box.
  
  
• Fixed the Vault Door from warping when being opened.
  
  
• Removed the repeating Idle Furnace notification and replaced it with just a Single popup when the Furnace initially becomes Idle, to avoid getting stuck in a loop of notifications.
  
  
• Fixed some E-Waste Items having certain Child Error FX show when initially Spawning the Item.
  
  
• Added LODs to the Furnace Kit and Chem Station Objects to improve performance while away from home.
  
  
• Halved the max number of Fish that spawn in the Shore and Mid sections of the Ocean to help improve overall performance.
  
  
• Moved the Precious Metal Vault Box Drop Location outward to make it easier to trigger the collision when returning the Cardboard Box Home.
  
  
• Reworked Time related mechanics Such as Furnace Smelting and Chemical Refining, Current tasks will now immediately be completed when Sleeping (Metal becomes molten in Crucible, Ingot in Mould becomes Cooled, Chemical Reaction Finalised etc) - Along with the realistic benefits to this addition there has also been realistic drawbacks implemented, where Gas Consumed will now be calculated during the time skipped while sleeping, which could leave you with an empty gas bottle in the morning if left running overnight - Which should now fully integrate all Time Related mechanics into the Time Skipped while Sleeping.
  

Patch Notes:

• Fixed Crucible duplicating Mats when Saving with Mats, then saving without.
  
  
• Added a Patch for v0.36 Saves where spawn-able Purchases such as the Crucible and Ingot Carry Box weren't marked as 'Placed' upon opening the box thus causing Fix Commands to think the Item had not yet been Bought/Placed.
  
  
• Fixed Spawn-able Items from Boxes such as the Crucible and Ingot Carry Box not being marked as 'Placed' upon opening the box.
  
  
• Renamed the 'Furnace Kit' Category to 'Base Metal Refining'
  
  
• Fixed the Dollar '$' sign for the Solar Extension panel being inside the Solar Models.
  

Updates to v0.36

• Reworked the KW/h System to resemble the actual wattage per hour based on game hours, to provide a more accurate KW/h reading and be more consistent throughout the game.
  
  
• Changed the Default Power usage from 20KWh to 10KWh and lowered All Default Lights and LED Light KW per hour usage to accommodate for the change from real-time with multipliers to Game Time hrs.
  
  
• Added the Beginner and Extension Solar Panel Kits as purchasable upgrades from the Hardware Store that will help reduce the Cost of Power Bills - The Beginner Kit comprises of 4x Panels able to produce up to 1200Wh (1.2KWh) of power each at optimal times - The Inverter which the Player can check to view the current power being produced by the Panels - The Extension Kit comprises of 18x Extra Panels to further increase your Power Generation, for a total of 26,400Wh (26.4KWh) Max - To simulate a bit of realism, the Power sold back to the Power Company is Valued 75% of that that the Player pays to use per KW, which still over time both the Upgrade Cost and Bill costs will Pay for themselves, given the player remains responsible with power usage.
  
  
• Reworked the 'Pop up at Home' purchasable objects from the Hardware store, which are now purchased as a Cardboard Box, the Box(es) will need to be returned home and placed in their assigned spot - Which also reworks the way the 'Intruding Object Checker' works, you will be able to purchase any object regardless of if it's pre-req item is placed or not (still needs to be bought first), if the object intrusion checker is red the box not be able to be placed, if its green it will be unpacked and the player will be left with an Empty Box.
  
  
• Updated the Hardware Buyable's Sale Symbol so the '$' Icon is Green when the Item can be purchased, Orange when the player does not have enough cash to purchase though the limit has not yet been reached, Yellow if a Parent object is required and not yet purchased and Red when the Item can no longer be purchased (limit reached).
  
  
• Along with the Above Changes there has also been a 'Category' Line added to the Hardware Store Buyable's to briefly explain what the Object is associated with, for example the Furnace related Items are within a 'Furnace Kit' Category and the Chemical Refining Objects are within a 'Chemical Refining' to better indicate what objects are associated/linked together.
  
  
• Added a 'Required Object:' line to the Hardware Store Buyable's to display what Item is required to purchase the object.
  
  
• Fixed not being able to Sleep when Loading into Low Energy, The Life System Script should now Update upon loading to allow sleeping if already surpassed the Sleep-able Trigger.
  
  
• Reworked the Data Storage Method for the Hardware Store Purchasable and made it more dynamic to allow a difference between Owning, but not yet placed, or Owned and Placed, or not Owned Not Placed
  
  
• Added a Green Indicator to the Trolley - when carrying any object you will be able to see the Acceptance Bounds of the Trolley, making it easier to see where Items can be stacked.
  
  
• Made a dynamic seasonal event system, that automatically enables and disables seasonal themes.
  
  
• Fixed the Crucible not being detected by the Trolley.
  
  
• Made it so anything that is not marked as a Chemical will no longer be detected by the Beaker, which will avoid any unnecessary popup warnings.
  
  
• Added a 'Left Handed' accessibility setting within the Gameplay Settings Tab, which allows players to toggle between the Left and Right Handed Key Maps (These specific Key Mappings can be viewed within the Controls Settings under the new Left Handed Controls Tab.
  
  
• Included in the Description of the Ingot Storage Rack that it is for holding Base Metals.
  
  
• Added the 'Total Power Used' and 'Total Power Generated' stats to the Player Stats Tab
  
  
• Reworked the Water Shader to suit the theme a little better, also added some water environment objects and aquatic life to improve the visual aesthetics.
  
  
• Lowered the overall Street Light LOD Distances, improving Performance during the Night/Early Morning on all Quality Levels.
  
  
• Removed the old 'Metal Trades' Page from the PC seeing as it was no longer active.
  
  

Patch notes:

• Fixed the Bug where Sometimes the Pickup Object and Secondary Text Prompts would sometimes not show up.
  
  
• Fixed the Gap between the Hedge and Fence where the Player could get stuck.
  
  
• Added a 'reset_player' command which will teleport the player to the closest Safe Location should the player become stuck.
  
  
• Fixed the Bug where the Price Reductions for the Hardware Store prices would be further reduced each day.
  
  
• Reworked the System that handles the Purchase of Hardware Store Objects to be far more efficient and effective.
  
  
• Introduced a 'Game Error' Popup, This popup will show up like a normal Popup but has Red Text and advises to Press 'F5' to open the Debug Logs, however it will only show up with errors that have been Predicted, any unpredicted errors won't unfortunately show this error.
  
  

Patch notes:

• Fixed the Laptop Motherboard not being able to be removed which was due to the Child Objects for the RAM Slots staying active.
  
  
• Reworked the entire Version Checker System, which not only optimizes the process but also now dynamically handles the use of Different Characters due to Region Specific Languages (such as the version being displayed as 35,1 instead of 35.1) - which this fix will give European Users the same experience as others.
  
  
• Fixed the bug where the Scrapper Crypto Coin wouldn't be awarded according to the Time Skipped when Sleeping, but would still calculate the Power Use and cutting into profits.
  
  
• Fixed the Typo in the Price Chart for the Crypto Coin and increased the Maximum price the Coin can reach to provide better pay-outs when selling/withdrawing when the price is high.
  
  
• Made it so the Tutorial UI can be clicked through allowing to Close PC Programs etc while doing the Tutorial.
  
  
• Opened up the gap near the Ocean and the Fence near the Scrap Yard to Save travelling all the way around.
  
  
• Improved the Fence LOD Distances so they pop in a a greater distance making it harder to notice.
  

Patch Notes:

• Fixed the Incorrect Storage Amount on the Material Storage Bucket Purchase Description.
  
  
• Fixed the Misnamed Laptop 4 & 8GB DDR4 RAM Modules
  
  
• Fixed some Laptop RAM Modules missing their Animation and others going the wrong direction.
  
  
• Fixed the Bug where you could change the Materials within the Bucket - The removal is now based on the Contained Material, rather than the Selected Material.
  
  
• Fixed the Typo (Gold instead of Silver) in the Beaker Process.
  
  
• Fixed the Typo with the Power/Electricity Meter.
  
  
• Improved on the Interaction method which should provide a slight performance boost.
  
  

Updates to v0.35

• Added NPCs that occasionally come out of their house, walk around and then go back home to add a little more liveliness to the town.
  
  
• Implemented Upgraded Purchasables of each Tool (Phillips Driver, Flat Head & Pliers) which can be purchased at the Hardware Store, these Tool Upgrades halve the required Disassembly Time, greatly Improving Efficiency, which the Time Bonus also Stacks with Perks.
  
  
• Along with the above tool upgrade I have also implemented a Dynamic Time adjustment for the Animations of Component Removal with increased removal time, rather than cutting the animation off early the animations play speed will be based on the current removal time, allowing the full removal animation to play at a faster speed with upgraded tools.
  
  
• Reworked the Email System to use NPC Names and Icons of the NPCs that can be found wondering around and to be more Australian themed rather than just Random Names which Links Received Emails to NPCs in the World.
  
  
• Fixed the hole in the Pliers Tool Placeholder (green) Model.
  
  
• Fixed the Bug where the Auto Disassembly for Sub Parts would sometimes zoom in really close.
  
  
• Fixed the bug with the Chem Station not removing certain old Data when saving and Duplicating Ingots.
  
  
• Fixed the bug with the Shop Doors playing the Opening/Closing Sounds when the Shop is Closed and Doors are locked.
  
  
• Added the Chem Beaker to the New Interaction Text Info UI when providing information about the current Beaker State.
  
  
• Fixed the Bug where the Tutorial DVD Player would respawn each time loading in.
  
  
• Fixed the Notification for Objects Falling through the Map, it now states the box is in the Lounge Room and is Called the 'Lost & Found' box rather then Bug Box.
  
  
• Made it so if the Player is Zoomed in before starting Disassembly it will Automatically Un-zoom to save causing issues for the Disassembly Zooming/Moving functions.
  
  
• Made it so un-collected E-Waste (aka Street E-Waste) near the Trash Cans is Saved/Loaded and will no longer re-generate when loading into the game (if your saved version is less than v0.35 then you will get a fresh set of items upon loading in and from that they will be saved/loaded as they are).