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: [previewyoutube=x5koSUdS0ow;full][/previewyoutube] 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. Well 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!