Hello, we would like to remind you that we will be releasing a refreshed demo on June 18th at 19:00 CEST as part of Steam Next Fest.
First of all, we would like to thank all of our players who embraced and supported us after our first demo release. In the revamped demo, we've addressed a few issues that you let us know you would like to see changed (stopping time to allow building and other actions, indicators describing the door directions of buildings, etc.). In addition to the changes and improvements we have made based on this feedback, you can also find the following additions in the revamped demo.
New features and contents
Community Health: Each individual in a society has a certain health value according to the fulfillment of their needs. The overall community health table will show you which factors affect this variable positively or negatively. These can be as varied as the quality of the food you approve for distribution, the current seasonal conditions, or unusual biological or environmental factors, and you will need to work to balance your community's well-being and your resource distribution more carefully.
New terrain system: We are now trying to provide a more realistic sense of environment on rough terrain. Terrain correction takes place automatically after the player's construction commands.
Music: Added three new season-themed soundtracks.
Camera and FOV: Added new camera limits that provide wide-angle viewing. Added customizable FOV setting within a certain range.
Roads, Bridges and Tunnels: We have improved our roads, which were one of the areas we were most lacking in in our first demo. Now there are no limits on short roads and we offer placement options that give the player more freedom. Depending on obstacles along the terrain, you can build bridges or tunnels along the way and create new transportation solutions to physically difficult locations (the demo map will not cause much trouble in terms of location access).
AI NPCs: Still very new and in development, we plan to have some of the individuals, communities or representatives of our universe appear as AI characters and some of the quests, problems, legislative proposals and diplomatic activities will be communicated by these characters in a dialog with the player's participation. AI content, which will not have a critical role in the traditional gameplay and the entire game universe, will help to make the experienced universe a little less repetitive and less pre-orchestrated. Only one such controlled and limited addition of AI characters to the New Cycle universe will be present in this demo and will be tested to gauge your reactions to this very new technology.
Precipitation rate and annual expectation: Precipitation rate, which will be represented by two indicators in the lower right corner of the main UI, is one of the most important variables in the New Cycle universe. It will try to convey to the player the general drought or productivity value expected for the next year according to the annual precipitation. Agriculture, animal husbandry, the amount of organic raw materials collected from the surface, and the renewal rates or productivity rates of underground water resources will vary according to the precipitation rate. The rainfall probability indicator is a seasonal expectation rate, one of the side mechanics to be managed through a series of technologies that can be manipulated to increase the probability of rain with an advanced community.
Overview panel: The new UI panel will function as a repository of summary information across the universe. From community health to a summary of overall share distributions by class, from electricity production and consumption to a maintenance status report of buildings, it is an addition that you can use as the main admin report panel when managing your settlement.
NPC voiceovers: Added a set of voiced reactions that summarize the status of the selected npc based on community morale or indicate its mode. This voice-over content package, which we planned as Hopeful, Angry, Sad, Desperate, only works with Hopeful samples in the demo.
Changes and improvements:
The in-game time can now be reduced down to 0.1x speed. This solution was conceived in response to requests from players who wanted to stop time and perform actions.
Buildings now often have 3D cursors that indicate their front facades, which NPCs use as doors.
Removed prohibitive limiters for road construction.
The speed multipliers for construction and transportation workers have been changed and now have a movement speed more in line with in-game time.
Food production multipliers have been updated and the natural proportion of each food item's value level has been revamped.
We thank you for your interest after all these topics and we would like to remind you that New Cycle belongs to a game genre that cannot be fully experienced without the full implementation of all gameplay and story elements. This necessity of the genre and the restrictive nature of game demos have forced us to make changes, add limitations or simplify the game economy at many points. We have seen how understanding you are in these matters in our first demo release journey, and this is more than enough to make us happy. Thank you again for your understanding and we wish you a good time with the new demo.
Alp Geven