Hello Curators,
It's been a busy time since the launch of the Invertebrilliant Collection last month. Thank you to everyone who purchased the DLC, and welcome to all the new players who have joined us since the launch.
Based on the feedback from players over the last month, I've chosen a selection of features and improvements and put these into a larger-than-normal update. Let's take a look.
Replay base campaign with DLCs
One of the key bits of feedback I received about the Invertebrilliant Collection was the desire to play the base campaign levels with the DLC enabled. While this was possible with some save file editing, I can totally understand the desire for an official feature.
So that's what I've done.
As an added bonus, you can play with the Architect's Collection DLC too! DLCs with their own campaigns (Freshwater Frenzy and Deep Freeze) are not supported because these have too many separate technologies (freshwater, polar domes, abyssal etc.) to incorporate well into the base campaign.
I've curated the levels so that you have access to a different selection of DLC animals in each, to maximise variety. You'll also unlock the various Science-based objects during the campaign, when it makes the most sense from a level-design standpoint.
None of the objectives have been changed although there are certainly opportunities to complete the original objectives using DLC animals.
The prestige requirements for the levels remain unchanged, so you'll often find you don't need to use all of the animals available to complete each level. I like this approach because it offers the most flexibility and variety.
The one exception is 10. Megalopolis, where the prestige requirements for each rank are increased in line with how it works in Sandbox mode. So if you want an extra challenge, this is the one to go for!
'May eat or damage' warnings
In a complex aquarium, with several DLCs worth of animal content, the brain-fatigue of tracking animal compatibility can become a drag. To help with this, I've added warnings which appear above tanks when a predator may eat or damage another animal in the tank.
Players can continue to play in 'hardcore mode' by disabling these warnings in the settings. However, for most players, this handy warning should avoid those "ah dam" moments, while maintaining the compatibility puzzle that Megaquarium veterans know and love!
Copy from task bubble
This is a small addition that could save a lot of player time, so I wanted to draw attention to it. You can now use the Copy Object hotkey (default: c) while hovering over a task bubble (e.g. Orange Pellets appearing above a tank) to immediately grab the associated dispenser from the build menu.
This makes placing down the requisite dispensers after building a new tank a cinch!
v5.1.0 Changelog
Feature: You can now replay the base campaign with the Architect and Invertebrilliant Collection DLCs enabled.
UI: Added 'dangerous' warning above tanks when a predator may eat or damage another animal. Toggleable in settings.
UI: Added ability to 'copy' from task bubbles that appear about tanks and equipment. E.g. Hover over the circle with Orange Pellets above the tank, press the copy object hotkey (default c) and you will now be placing Orange Pellet Dispenser.
UI: Added dedicated 'Copy Object' tool in the top left bar and made the default key for this 'c'. If you have already set a different hotkey in the settings, this will not be overridden.
UI: Added a dedicated 'Copy Paint' tool in the top left bar and made the default key for this 'v'. If you have already set a different hotkey in the settings, this will not be overridden.
UI: Added a 3rd 'Research Mode' setting. The options are now:
Must choose (default)
Allow no project
Auto (new) - automatically start researching the next project in the list.
UI: Added a note to the Armored tooltip which tells you the effective size when fully grown.
UI: Current object count is shown in Research Window as well as build menu.
UI: Current object count is shown in Message Log if 'always show object count in build menu' setting is on.
Balance: The time it takes to level up a staff member is now based on their highest skill level, rather than their total skill levels. This makes multi-disciplined staff less punishing to level-up.
Balance: Increased concentration of staff skill levels on randomly generated staff for hire in Sandbox. In other words, it's more likely that you'll get a staff with several levels in the same skill rather than a mixture. Mixed staff will still be generated, but less often than before this update.
Simulation: Total number of squares that can be added to zones increased from 16,383 to 536,870,911.
Sandbox: Animals with lighting requirements will generally only be offered as rewards if you have unlocked or can unlock the level of lighting they require.
Fixed bug: Tooltip for 'Memory' talent. "Days to level up" will never show a negative number. However, experience does continue to accrue in the background even if you don't choose a skill to level up immediately.
Fixed bug: On 8. Le Dufont, if you already owned a species of coral and tried to place it again with a default mount (small rocks), it would place the small rocks anyway. Now it doesn't place the small rocks unless you can also place the coral.
Campaign: From level 8 onwards, changed many objectives to use 'All requirements met'. This makes the compatibility requirements more interesting.
Campaign: On 8. Le Dufont, the oddballs side objective now requires 2 oddballs and 2 crustaceans. This change was implemented to facilitate the use of 'All requirements met' as described in the previous bullet.