After a lot of work, here is version 1.3.0!
This update turned out to be quite a bit larger than I had initially planned. So here I'll sum up some of the features this new update brings. Note that the normal change notes can be found at the bottom of this announcement.
The Star of the Show - The Blub-o-pedia!
A primary driving force for this update to come out was to introduce the Blub-o-pedia, which is essentially an encyclopedia built into the game from scratch. I had to make an in-game browser that could handle a myriad of pages I wrote, outlining nearly everything I know about the game. This definitely took a bulk of my time, but in the end is something I'm very happy with and will hopefully serve everyone well.
The Blub-o-pedia features a page about every single functional item, every resource, and every mechanic the game features. Each page has clickable hyperlinks that will redirect you to other pages, and even includes pictures and captions to help with explanations.
The advantages of an in-game guide are numerous; You can access it without opening another window and without internet, the pages can pull data live from the game for the most accurate information, the look and feel of it can be consistent with the rest of the game, and importantly you can access pages directly from a multitude of places from within the game itself.
Accessing Blub-o-pedia pages:
Blub-o-pedia pages can be accessed conveniently from many places in the UI of the game. Any time an item is selected in any way (including focusing on them, selecting them in build mode, selecting them in the inventory, or viewing their Catalogue pages) the Blub-o-pedia button (or shortcut, [F2] by default) can be pressed to instantly bring up its respective Blub-o-pedia page. This makes it extremely easy to find out information about what an item does, and any relevant other tips or items that pair well with it.
Resource icons in the resources tab can also be pressed to bring up their respective B-O-P page, which makes it trivial to find out what you can do with a particular resource or how to get more if it.
The Artefact Table and Artefacts!
After level 25 you will now get the Artefact Table. This item permits various Artefacts to be placed above it to reap different benefits, and consequently some side effects. Many of these last forever, but some are limited.
An example is the Artefact of Greed, which increases money earnings by 25%, but halves all experience income. There's also the Artefact of Destruction which causes debris on the Farm to be demolished extremely quickly at the cost of losing half of their potential yields.
There's 8 other Artefacts in the game, each with a side effect and/or limits.
New Stock Types (and a Terrain!)
This update brings Bones and Paint! Bones are a simple resource type obtained by harvesting Bone Piles that spawn on the new Cracked Dirt terrain. Paint is a later-game manufactured Resource made of an Iron Bar, Water, Latex Sap, and Pigment. It comes with its own auto-stocker (the Paint Roller).
Puzzle box Four!
At last, the fourth Puzzle Box (well, fifth!) has been introduced. It's quite predictably, a little harder than Puzzle Box Three, and like all Puzzle Boxes, it comes with its own unique unlock (the Treasure Chest!).
New boost items
The Lucky Sugarcane is introduced in this update, helping with Sugarcane yields. Along with that is the Mystical Orb to make Mystic Shards significantly less of an issue. And a buff to the Bottlebrush Tree making it go from doubling to tripling Mulch production.
New Checkouts, Tables, Chairs, and Decorations
Two new unique checkouts come in this update: the Antique Checkout and the Alchemy Checkout!
Many other new decorations appear in this update, like the Floaty Penguin, Boombox, and Flower Clusters. As well as a range of awesome Fancy Tables and Chairs!
New event
The Blub Tea Party is here!!! For those advanced enough you can try and score high in an event focused on selling loads of Mugs of Tea.
UI Improvements
By default, levelling up will now show you a list of all noteworthy items you unlock. If you have previously played, this will be left on "show acquisitions", which can be changed in the settings.
Mantled items will no longer show at all in the game unless they have been explicitly discovered, making it feasible to 100% the catalogue without them.
Extra tasks, fixes, tweaks, and so much more
This is by no means an exhaustive list of changes, there is so much more. Be sure to check out the Blub-o-pedia and everything else the game has to offer! :)
Normal change log below
Blub Emporium Version 1.3.0 - Change Log
This update introduces a couple of major things: The Blub-o-pedia and Artefacts! Along with that is another Mega Shelf variant, two new stock types (paint and bones), a new puzzle box, and a handful of decorations, tasks, and tweaks!
ITEMS AND RESOURCES:
- Added "Bones" (Resource Type).
- Added "Cracked Dirt" (Farm Terrain).
- Added "Bone Exhibit" (Shelf).
- Added "Galactic Panel" (Farm Special).
- Added "Regal Tile" (Emporium Tile).
- Added "Gold Weave" (Factory Tile).
- Added "Paint Shelves" (Shelf).
- Added "Paint" (Resource).
- Added "Paint Mixer" (Processor).
- Added "Paint Roller" (Emporium Special).
- Added "Handcrafted Blub" (Emporium Deco).
- Added "Floaty Penguin" (Emporium Deco).
- Added "Scuba Penguin" (Emporium Deco).
- Added "Garden Gnome" (Farm Deco).
- Added "Artefact Table" (Emporium Special).
- Added "Artefact of Greed" (Artefact).
- Added "Artefact of Wisdom" (Artefact).
- Added "Artefact of Destruction" (Artefact).
- Added "Artefact of Fortune" (Artefact).
- Added "Artefact of Simplicity" (Artefact).
- Added "Artefact of Complexity" (Artefact).
- Added "Artefact of Royalty" (Artefact).
- Added "Artefact of Nature" (Artefact).
- Added "Artefact of Harvest" (Artefact).
- Added "Artefact of Fame" (Artefact).
- Added "Mega Ice Cream Freezer" (Shelf).
- Added "Mystical Orb" (Farm Special).
- Added "Stone Wall" (Fence).
- Added "Dark Stone Wall" (Fence).
- Added "Puzzle Box Four" (Factory Other).
- Added "Puzzle Present Four" (Debris).
- Added "Treasure Chest" (Emporium Special).
- Added "Green Fancy Chair" (Chair).
- Added "Green Fancy Table" (Table).
- Added "Blue Fancy Chair" (Chair).
- Added "Blue Fancy Table" (Table).
- Added "Burgundy Fancy Chair" (Chair).
- Added "Burgundy Fancy Table" (Table).
- Added "Purple Fancy Chair" (Chair).
- Added "Purple Fancy Table" (Table).
- Added "Regal Fancy Chair" (Chair).
- Added "Regal Fancy Table" (Table).
- Added "Stylish Ceramic" (Emporium Tile).
- Added "Deep Crimson Boards" (Emporium Tile).
- Added "Floral Curtained Window" (Window).
- Added "Cute Curtained Window" (Window).
- Added "Funky Curtained Window" (Window).
- Added "Rainbow Curtained Window" (Window).
- Added "Glitch Curtained Window" (Window).
- Added "Sunny Curtained Window" (Window).
- Added "Mystic Succulent" (Emporium Deco).
- Added "Antique Checkout" (Checkout).
- Added "Alchemy Checkout" (Checkout).
- Added "Contemporary Barrier" (Divider).
- Added "Contemporary Corner" (Divider).
- Added "Sunny Patterned Floor" (Emporium Tile).
- Added "Magic Patterned Floor" (Emporium Tile).
- Added "Universal Shift" (Emporium Wall).
- Added "Battered Ceramic" (Factory Tile).
- Added "Variegated Ceramic" (Factory Tile).
- Added "Lucky Sugarcane" (Farm Special).
- Added "Hanging Chains" (Emporium Wall Deco).
- Added "Flower String" (Emporium Wall Deco).
- Added "Wall Speaker" (Emporium Wall Deco).
- Added "Warm Flower Cluster" (Emporium Wall Deco).
- Added "Cool Flower Cluster" (Emporium Wall Deco).
- Added "Potion Shelf" (Emporium Wall Deco).
- Added "Boombox" (Emporium Deco).
- Added ???????????? (Emporium Deco).
- Added ??????? ???? ?????? ???? (Emporium Deco)
- Added ???? ?????? ???? (Emporium Wall Deco)
VISUAL:
- Updated resource icon for Iron Bars.
- Quitting to the main-menu no longer shoes the overlay colours behind the black fade-out.
- Minorly updated icon for Bright Dome Light to not include the occlusion.
- Fixed minor error on the tick UI element (near tick's inner angle didn't darken properly).
- Slightly updated icon for Water Jug to be less transparent to look better against certain UI environments.
- Tweaked the 5x and 4x smooth fonts' comma glyph to be longer to be less confused with the full stop glyph.
- Fixed small error in the down-left 4/5 ice cream stand sprite.
- Updated designs of normal and tan stone paths.
- Updated designs of both volcano variants.
- Updated the Small Potted Tree's visuals minorly.
- Doubled up the Ice Sculpture Display, Ice Sculpture Carver, Ice Cube Hopper, and Ice Cube Freezer's icons to be prevent their lower opacity from appearing weirdly in the Blub-o-pedia.
- Slightly softened the contrast on the Mosaic tile range.
- Updated Claw Machine to have darker rear vents, a barely visible rear hatch, and two yellow arrows on the back making it less bare.
- Updated the Spanner Tree's visuals to be more up-to-date.
- Changed icons for all arcades to feature their gameplay screens.
- Overhauled the visuals for Sugarcane (crops), and its icon.
- Updated the Bird Bath to feature Australian native birds perching, which can be changed by rotating it.
UI:
- Introduced the Blub-o-pedia!
- Mantled items are now more hidden; not showing up in the catalogue AT ALL unless discovered, and not being shown how many haven't been found in the completion book.
- Added new category for the Emporium: Artefacts.
- Sales that go towards Events now visually show a Resource icon moving from that checkout to the Event Altar (if Resources Flux setting is on)
- Added loading hint about opening the Blub-o-pedia with its bind at any time.
- Added secondary text indicator when hovering the accept button on Blub Trade Offers showing if that item is already owned.
- Re-ordered the fences to be in ascending order of level (for basic ones) like all other tabs.
- Added new (now default) setting for "Level-up Alerts" called "Show Noteworthy", which will show items unlocked in the catalogue that are important enough to prompt looking at (like shelves, trees, upgrade items, etc.).
- Levelling up no longer shows a vague "Check the Catalogue", and instead informs you of exactly how many things were unlocked to be bought immediately.
- Made Puzzle Boxes' focus menus truncate their resource names if they can't fit.
- Added an explanation to Recognition III.
- Added hints system that will gently suggest things you can do if certain things haven't been done at certain points. For example if you have many flowers but still don't own a Flower stand, then a small light bulb will appear in the top-right corner directing you to a Blub-o-pedia page with the hint.
- Made detection region of interact button extend to the bottom of the screen to prevent unintentionally clicking off of the focus menu.
- Added accessibility setting to show a copy of the Interact Bar (and boost zones) in a spot that may be more comfortable to see for some.
GAMEPLAY/BALANCE:
- Added "Creative Expression" Task Track.
- Added "Specific Modulation" Task Track.
- Added "Nature's Bounty" Task Track.
- Added "Ice Cream Mastery" Task Track.
- Added "Mystically Inclined" Task Track.
- Mine Shafts now cause Gold Clusters to spawn on Radiant Dust at a 15% rate (the 85% remaining mimics sand's behaviour).
- Increased iron node spawn rate from Mine Shafts upon Sand: 10% -> 15%
- Increased iron node spawn rate from Mine Shafts upon Red Sand/Dirt: 10% -> 25%
- Increased Moonstone drop rate from Lunar Sprouts: 2-3 (~2.5) -> 60% for 3, 40% for 4 (~3.4)
- Changed the terrain drying path: Lush, Normal, Dry, Dirt, Gravel -> Lush, Normal, Dry, Cracked
- Added terrain drying paths for: Red dirt to Cracked, and Coniferous to Dry.
- Changed Lava to provide 100% rocks when a Mine Shaft draws from it (instead of mirroring gravel).
- Cosmic Soil, Cosmic Sand, and Blue Sand no longer provide rocks when a Mine Shaft draws from them.
- Blue Sand now provides Mystic Shards slightly more often: 25% -> 30%.
- Solar Panels now consider "Cosmic Time" to be 20% less effective than normal.
- Decreased boost of Lunar Panels on Lunar Dust: 0.3% -> 0.1%.
- Decreased aggression of goal scaling for Prickles Please!: 2 -> 1.8.
- Removed Bubble Duck reward from Precision Timing III, and moved the free wheel spin reward from II to III.
- Increased how aggressive the price scaling for Lunar Bars: 8 + 1 per 30 levels over 60 -> 8 + 1 per 11 levels over 50.
- Decreased quantity scaling for Ice Sculptures in Missions by 20%.
- Decreased base expected quantity of Ice Sculptures in Missions: 70-130 -> 50-90.
- Decreased value of Orange Schematic Saver: 500 -> 400.
- Decreased value of Orange Schematic Loader: 800 -> 600.
- Increased value of Purple Schematic Saver: 500 -> 750.
- Increased value of Purple Schematic Loader: 800 -> 1000.
- Increased money reward of the task No Friction: 500 -> 1250.
- Added Time for Tea event.
- Decreased XP weight of Strawberries on missions by 50%, and decreased their scale power by 1.
- The Debris Bomb now gradually doubles in price between levels 60 and 120.
BUGS/TECHNICAL:
- Retro-actively introduced the developer console.
- Fixed crash that occured when a keybind was ill-defined in the file.
- Updated Steam SDK version (1.55).
- Fixed tripled up click sound when inventory items were quick-viewed (CTRL clicked) in the catalogue.
- Corrected Lunar Panels showing as Rare in the inventory when they are actually Basic.
- Fixed Precision Timing II and III having incorrect task complete feedback ("Track complete" not displayed on the final task)
- Updated Farm to elapse ticks more accurately, like the Factory already did.
- Updated both the Farm and Factory to loop ticks until all queued ones are executed, to stop lower framerate limits adversely affecting the game's speed (this really only affects tick warping).
- Corrected Spectacular Butterfly being marked as Eminent internally in places instead of Mythical.
- Fixed extremely rare crash regarding inventory IDs and placing/moving items.
- Fixed odd visual bug where focusing on a Mystic Accumulator when it initially became active would prevent its lighting from causing a rebake.
- Fixed Slide-lock matches using the pitch modifier for the 'bop' sound that occurs when hitting the boost zone.
- Added hints to other tasks involving simply "demolishing debris".
- Excluded Lunar Plating from being considered as retroactively buying tiles (because they're gotten from a task).
- The setting "Switch Upon Load" now defaults to Enabled, so the Electronics switch will start in the "on" state when loading files.
- Caused fullscreen switch to occur on a slight delay as the game opens to prevent some quirks with the window not appearing in the task bar correctly.
- Virtual key codes of "0" no longer trigger as a RMB input.
- Any detected "Null" inputs saved will now be restored to their defaults (Prevents older versions of the game destroying keybinds from this one).
- Added input support for the mouse side buttons (mouse 4/5) and the middle mouse button.
- The fullscreen bind no longer works while in the keybinds menu, preventing it from triggering why tweaking its bind.
MISC:
- Removed stray comma in the Corrugated Copper wall description.
- Added four additional colours to all UI themes (bopprimary, bopkey, bopheader, boplink) for the Blub-o-pedia.
- Corrected incorrect "effect" on the description for the Amethyst Pyramid.
- Added splash: "The Art of the Factory!".
- Added "Artefactor" achievement.
- Added missing descriptions for the Tiny and Cosmic Volcanoes.
- Added missing descriptions to the remainder of the items in the Plants category.
- Added setting to disable the newly-added hints system.
- Added description to Potted Fern.
- Specified exact quantity of Debris to demolish in Starting Somewhere V's task objective.
- Changed Wooden Lattice, corner and the Flowering variant to use the 'wood' placement sound.
As always, any feedback or issues you come across, be sure to let me know!