Greetings, Magnates! It's been a little longer than usual since the last update, but to make up for it I got some cool new stuff to talk about. Without further ado..

Parking the drones, for now

Cargo drones were intended to be the method of selling and transporting goods off the map. Having playtested this feature, I've come to realize it isn't very efficient (in terms of gameplay). So, the new method is to simply transport goods off the map by conveyors; you're paid when an item leaves the map. Nice and simple, easy to understand and utilize. That sort of instant gratification speaks more to me than having to wait for a drone to arrive. I hope the drones can be refitted to have another meaningful purpose, but for now I'm leaving them be.

Contracts are making a comeback

Contracts are coming back, but in a very different form than before. Contracts used to be the only means of making money, but now they are comparable to quests/tasks/missions that you undertake.

• The region will offer a few new contracts every so often.
• Contracts can be either in the form of "deliver X quantity of Y item at Z price per item" or "deliver as many as you can of Y item at Z price per item for some duration" (duration being a number of ingame days).
• The upside: you're paid a fixed price per item for the entire duration of the contract. The price doesn't fluctuate like it does on the market.
• The downside: you're only paid once the contract is completed, and you can only have one active contract at a time. You also can't cancel an accepted contract.
• Completing a contract will also reward you with influence points. Building influence with the region is the only way to "win" a region, which ultimately will "win" the planet, or at least that is the idea - for now.
• At certain influence levels you'll be able to pick a perk that affects the region/market/factory site in some way.

UI round #153297

Or so it seems.. who's counting anyway? As development progresses and I come up with new things I need to convey to the player, the UI inevitably also must change. This version is super clean and doesn't get much in your way. I quite like it, but of course nothing is final at this point.. Here's a fresh screenshot of the new UI. Click to enlarge:

Changelog

• Added pause and game speed buttons.
• Changed the UI again, now featuring a "hotbar"-like building toolbar, discrete buttons, sliding panels and a more blueish color scheme.
• Changed all icons from Material to Font Awesome 6.
• Tweaked a bunch of factory stuff, most importantly the ability to transport items off the map and the ability for some buildings to feed items directly into each other.
• Added the new contract system.
• Added loans to the economy system.

I should probably also mention that there is a discord now:
Until next time! Fey at Rising Tail

[ 2021-07-07 18:08:27 CET ] [ Original post ]