Hello Builders! This month was a bit slow as I took two weeks holiday to rest and relax. However, I come back to you with a bang and a lot of improvements to Gate Builders!

Visuals:

Station Map improvement:

As part of an ongoing effort to improve the clarity of information displayed on the screen, I have made iterative improvements to various aspects of the game. In this update, I have focused on improving the Station Map. Important information related to the consumption of food by your citizens, the number of citizens in the station, and their level of freedom feeling are now more visible. These info are reflected around the Station Name, allowing you to easily track and manage them and make informed decisions about the management of your space station
Additionally, the station badge in the Belt Map are now much more readable:

New option to hide AI movement:

A new option allow you to show / hide neutral AI movement and enemy AI movement.

Visual production chain:

Product tooltip now include how to create them. Do you mine it from an asteroid or do you produce them by crafting?

Save Outliner size and expanded section:

With this update, the width of the Outliner, as well as the expanded and collapsed sections, are now saved per player on every new save. This means that you no longer have to reset your favorite settings each time you reload a game.

Gameplay:

Notification Auto Open and Auto Delete:

Previously, some crucial alerts and notifications such as war declarations or starvation warnings could be easily missed, leading to undesirable consequences. To address this issue, I implemented a new feature that ensures important notifications will no longer go unnoticed. Now, certain notifications will automatically appear just before you end your turn, ensuring that you are fully informed of any pressing matters before proceeding. With this improvement, you can stay on top of your game and make well-informed decisions without any unexpected surprises. Additionally, in the past, some notifications were redundant, such as receiving a notification informing you of the completion of a building in a space station you had already seen. To streamline your gameplay experience and reduce clutter, I have implemented a new feature that automatically deletes notifications that are no longer relevant. With this update, you can focus on the notifications that require your attention, without being distracted by redundant or outdated information.

Game Speed Option:

The standard game of Gate Builders is designed to last between 4 to 8 hours, providing players with a satisfying and immersive gameplay experience. However, I understand that in our fast-paced modern lives, time can be a precious commodity, and sometimes players want to enjoy a quicker game. That's why I included a game speed option that allows you to adjust the pace of the game to your liking. This setting will impact various aspects of the game, such as the speed, combat range, and scan range of your spaceships, the duration of journeys between the asteroid belt and your homeworld, the speed of construction for buildings, ships, and stations projects, the amount of lobbying requested by sponsors, the cost of recruitment and spaceships, the leveling up speed of your citizens, and the immigration rate. If you prefer to take your time and enjoy a longer game, I have also included a slow speed option that allows you to relax and savor each moment of the gameplay.

New Sponsors and Sponsors Logo:

The game now features updated versions of all sponsors' logos, although they may still undergo further changes in the future as there are some uncertainties regarding their copyright status. Nonetheless, the current logos already reflect the desired style.
In addition to the updated logos, this update introduces six new sponsors that are available to all players, as well as twelve sponsors that are only available to specific investors. These new investor-locked sponsors enhance the feeling of playing different factions depending on the initial investor, which was previously limited to a first-turn bonus, making the different factions feel more distinct. The general sponsors are:

• Sponsor giving a Free Mining Barge
• Sponsor Improving the minimum amount a Mining Barge mine per week
• Sponsor Improving the maximum amount a Mining Barge can mine per week
• Sponsor giving 50 food and 50 ore to any new station settled by a Colony Ship
• Sponsor giving a free warehouse any new station settled by a Colony Ship
• Sponsor boosting by 10% the freedom sentiment of all your citizen

IGC Sponsors:

• Sponsor giving a free community leader
• Sponsor giving a free politician
• Sponsor unlocking the construction of level 3 Belt HQ and Community Centers

Sahara Sponsors:

• Sponsor Improving the Market credit production by +4 per week
• Sponsor expanding the maximum product transported by cargo slot to 110 instead of the usual 100
• Sponsor unlocking the construction of an advanced large warehouse combined with an auto trade portal

Luninc Sponsors:

• Sponsor giving a free engineer
• Sponsor giving a free android
• Sponsor unlocking the construction of a cyber factory to convert your biological citizen to android

Mars Olympus Height Sponsors:

• Sponsor giving a free laser smith
• Sponsor giving a free veteran soldier
• Sponsor unlocking the construction of advanced station defences (Not implemented yet)

Small feature changes:

• Mining barges laser kills citizen working on asteroid, this can cause a diplomatic issue
• Mining Barge can no longer load citizen in their cargo hold
• Multiple mini fix related to anomalies
• Multiple improvement to clarity of information
• On destruction, station now properly release ownership of asteroids
• Community Pardon sponsor now also impact criminal waiting in the Homeworld
• Fix the detection of modifier key stroke (Alt / Cmd / Ctrl) etc on input mapping
• Added a default input (Alt + u) to hide the Belt Map interface
• When meeting a new player, the game now center the belt view to show you were you met them
• 3 new Anomalies with multiples outcomes, and a few more in the works! Explore a temporal rift, capture a comet and find a massive spaceship from the time of the first Emperor
• AI player now settle new space station (experimental)

Conclusion:

I always value your feedback, so please let me know if you have any comments on the game! Your input greatly helps me to improve it. To get in touch and chat with the community, join our Discord server at https://discord.gg/eqxF58uqjC Lastly, if you're waiting for a sign to add the game to your Wishlist, this is it! :)

[ 2023-04-21 14:06:24 CET ] [ Original post ]