Hey, engineers! Noticed how we jumped from v0.3 to v0.9? That's how serious we are about releasing the game! This is the final Major update before v1.0. We did our best to meet this giant leap in version number. Just check the long list of changes that this update brings to Learning Factory:

v0.90.185 Released!

Gameplay

• New building: Item Archiver allows you to speed up the logistics by increasing the throughput of Transporter lines and Manipulators. Comes with 2 upgrades
• New service building in the late game: Shooting Range motivates the cats to buy Laser Pointers; also it can be placed underground

[previewyoutube=TFNIcWsm8y0;full][/previewyoutube]

• An upgrade that increases the speed of Cat Vitamin crafting (Suggested by shlainn)
• An upgrade for increasing Wohlwill Purifier operational speed
• An upgrade for increasing Tech Overcharger operational speed
• An upgrade for increasing Land Digger operational speed (suggested by JoneY)
• An upgrade for increasing Lava Cooler operational speed (suggested by JoneY)
• An upgrade for placing Transporters and Cables in deep water without terraforming - enter Deep Ocean Bridge
• An upgrade for Bridge Crafter, allowing crafting of Deep Ocean Bridges
• Launching an Expedition with upgraded Catopia Ark modules provides Deep Ocean Bridges in New Game+
• Decreased cost of the upgrade allowing to craft Lava Bridges
• Decreased cost of unlocking and crafting Lava Bridges
• Increased cost of research for Long Manipulator
• Both upgrades for Fertilizer Dispenser were buffed
• Upgrade for increasing Jetboard speed when flying over water was buffed (suggested by )
• Cargo Zeppelins now have 3 slots for items
• Decreased crafting cost for Soil and Fertile Soil
• Decreased cost of research for Storage
• Logistics Assembler is now available earlier in the game and easier to research
• Inventory Teleport is now easier to research
• Cable Crafter is now easier to research
• Fishing Pier and Fishing Spot can now be placed on Bridges
• Juice production recipe's efficiency increased (suggested by )
• Base speed for all Zeppelin types slightly increased
• Item capacity increased from 20 to 30 items in various buildings
• Added a new tier-4 trade deal with the Cat Puns Union guild, allowing you to get Hard Rock Dynamite
• Selected trade deals in Trade Ports rebalanced
• Campaign map slightly improved
• More random buildings appear on territories in Freeplay Mode maps
• New achievement
• 4 new stats in 'Stats & Scores' section of the Monument
• Improved logic of cat generation to prevent generating too many cats of the same type in a row
• Minor changes in the distribution and the order of cats emerging in the early parts of the game
• Increased the threshold for advancing research projects with points from Cat Knowledge archives from 25% to 33%

[previewyoutube=zAn0AhkxlO4;full][/previewyoutube]

Graphics && Sound

• New visuals for Trade Ports: Zeppelins now land from outside of the map to deliver goods
• New visuals for Concrete
• Animated Hammock Testing Booth
• Animated Scratch-Testing Booth
• Animated Schrodinger's Chamber
• Animated Bling Machine
• Animated Microchip Maker
• Animated Battery Maker
• Re-rendered Logistics Assembler
• Re-rendered Storage units (for better display with a zoomed out camera)
• Re-rendered Graphic Card Assembler
• Re-rendered Soil Silo
• Re-rendered Enriched Soil Silo
• Re-rendered Polynomial Regression
• Re-rendered Cat Gate
• Re-rendered Target Ad Cat Gate
• Re-rendered Exit Cat Gate
• Re-rendered Optic Cable/Vertical Cable
• Re-rendered Sphinx
• Re-rendered Monument
• Re-rendered Cat Blimps
• Re-rendered Geothermal Furnace
• Re-rendered Turing Trees with more diverse sprites
• 1 new color for Zeppelins
• Visual effects for Hedge when the player crosses them over
• 21 line with voice over for Dr. Katz
• Improved logics for switching ambient tracks
• Improved logics for switching biome-specific tracks

[previewyoutube=bW1BXSWkejc;full][/previewyoutube]

Modding && Steam Workshop

• Custom localizations available as a mod
• Added an option to upload a custom preview image for Steam Workshop mods
• New mod: generative map features are now available in the Scenario Editor, thus allowing editing them and creating scenarios with different territories
• Not part of the patch note but a friendly reminder: here's a little guide about making mods for Learning Factory

QoL && Interface

• New tutorial: Buildings' Panel and its hotkeys
• New tutorial: applying a Cat Knowledge Archive on the Research Tree
• New tutorial: creating routes for Zeppelins
• New tutorial: using Trade Ports and Relays
• New tutorial: finding Trade Ports and Relays
• New tutorial: using map lenses
• New tutorial: using the Pipette tool
• New tutorial: quick interactions with buildings
• New tutorial: building Transporter lines
• New tutorial: Upgrades
• New Blueprint available in the wiki article about Linear Regression
• Added a new article to the Wiki, telling you all you need to know about cat researchers and their perks
• Monument interface updated (partially)
• Hotkeys for buildings can be assigned on hovering them in the buildings' crafting window

• Improved Wiki interface
• Improved tooltips for Data Storage
• Improved tutorials
• Improved search fields
• Improved tooltips
• Improved map lenses logics
• Improved copywriting
• Added on option to hide Zeppelins on the minimap (suggested by JoneY)
• Auto-filling of buildings with items now works for a group of selected buildings as well
• Added shortcut from the Research Tree to instantly open Wiki description for an upgrade (suggested by Misako)
• Improved tooltips for locked tabs in the Monument
• Smoother placement of multiple buildings in a row
• UX for Zeppelins slightly improved (will be improved even more in future updates)

Techie Stuff

• Improved Twitch integration
• Optimized saved game loading time
• Optimized Storage units performance
• Optimized Transporter performance
• Optimized Zeppelin performance
• Optimized minimap performance
• Engine version updated
• Bug fixes, kudos to Bass, rolo9, Sana, your_local_rin, Jay, W, DLC prepared Ajnador, M0mb0t, hobbitfolk, Behemoth, Sunsphere11, 3fr41n, , and, especially JoneY

Re: Factory

In this section of patch notes, we answer the questions from the community that were submitted via the in-game feedback form and/or seemed especially interesting to us, You can always contact us directly in the comments or join our Discord server Q: "bonjour pourquoi aucun chat ne sort de la porte de chat en scenario personnaliser" (Google Translate: "hello why no cat comes out of the cat door in scenario customize") -florian.guilloud A: To make cats appear in a custom scenario, one must toggle them in the upper panel when setting up the scenario. Additionally, at least one item that respective cat types are looking for must be available in a scenario, otherwise those cats will not emerge on a Factory Q: "Possible small bug - cotton harvesters don't seem to detect underground cotton if that cotton was planted after the harvester was placed." -Sunsphere11 A: It appears that you have Cotton Blueprints placed, instead of actual Cotton. It is possible to confuse them by color in the Underground, but if you hover your mouse on them, you'll see those are, in fact, Blueprints. 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:

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How to Get More Involved

At Luden.io, we develop games while constantly listening to the feedback from our awesome players. If you feel proactive, you're very welcome to do one or more of the following:

• Subscribe to our newsletter, to get the latest info about the game's development, and a sneak peek of the upcoming features and events
• Record 10 minutes of you playing Learning Factory, and share it with us via this form. Your feedback is so helpful, that we'll include you in the game's credits for doing this
• Come say hi to our Discord server, or Twitter
• Check out some other games by us!