Hello fellow engineers!
Sorry to have kept you all waiting for so long. Today, we are thrilled to announce that the Sandbox mode of Allen's Automaton Workshop is officially launched here, today! 🤩🏖️📦
Looking back, it has been a really long journey. We also want to express our gratitude to our fellow engineers for the patience and encouragement, which have given us the strength to reach this unique milestone.
The Sandbox mode, Steam Workshop, and Level Uploader are integrated into the reading desk interface of Automaton Newsletter, which you can meet in the University Library. With this interface, we have tried to make it as convenient as possible for players to achieve the entire creative cycle of "browse other players' levels" - "download the level" - "create your own level" - "upload level".
And for the Sandbox. In addition to all the hardware devices and flowchart components in game, you can use "Requirement Editor" and "Test Case Editor" to further customize the automaton with your own descriptions and test cases. Of course, as mentioned before, we have also added new hardware devices exclusive to the Sandbox, including new Bell Set, Random Picker (random symbol generator), and a Marconi Receiver able to detect inputs form the keyboard while the automaton is activing.
One thing we must remind everyone is that the Sandbox mode is a rather complex system. Although we have conducted a considerable amount of testing, there may still be issues that we have not discovered. If you encounter any problems, please do not hesitate to let us know.
I am sure you are excited to creating your own automata, right?
Once again, I have to say, a big thank you to everyone in the community. Without your support, we wouldn't have this update today. Let's meet at the library! 😋
Release Notes
Master build 40331
Automaton Newsletter:
The reading desk of Automaton Newsletter is located at the University Library is the main entrance to Steam Workshop, Sandbox mode, and Level Uploader. Players can click on the reading desk to open the interface.
- Players can browse levels uploaded by other players around the world in the "Browse" page of the Automaton Newsletter.
- The levels seen in the "Browse" page can be downloaded to the "Downloaded" page, and players can play the level there.
- The "Sandbox" page allows players to create original automata. With the "Requirement Editor" and "Test Case Editor" inside the Sandbox, players can also create reliable test cases and necessary explanations for their automata.
- The "Level Uploader" page can turn the Sandbox design into levels. As long as they can pass the verification standards set by the players themselves, the levels can be uploaded to the Steam Workshop and shared with automaton engineers or set as challenges.
New Hardware Devices:
There four new hardware devices exclusive to the Sandbox. You may also check the in-game manual for further instructions.
- Diff Gear (Numeric): Diff gear but with numbers (instead of alphabets)
- Bell Set (Octave): Large bell set with 8 bells and has lowering key, raising key, delayed hit functions.
- Random Picker: A device generates one random symbol at a time.
- Marconi Receiver: Detect inputs form the keyboard while automaton is activating.
Hotkey modification:
- Removed hotkey for stopping (deactivating) automaton (key: S), due to new hardware device, Marconi Receiver.
Bugfixes:
- Players are not allowed to paste devices into levels which were not allowing creating new devices. (Thanks to MoldyVanilla for reporting it)
Known Issue:
- If a level author is not your Steam Friend, the author field will not be displayed.