Hello Elders!
I am very happy to present to you the latest update to dotAGE: The Beaver!
Meet the Beaver
So, in the last months, many players suggested I played Against the Storm, so I did and I liked it so much one day I decided to contact its col indie devs and... we decided to make a small collaboration!
The Beaver is a new VIP inspired by Against the Storm, found after encountering a specific set of Nature-related events. He is the sole survivor of an unfortunate expedition, and he gives some nods at Against the Storm's woodcutting mechanics. I hope you will appreciate him!
The Beaver also previews two small mechanics that work as a hint at what is to come through the upcoming DLC! :)
Coming today, you might also find Matus in Against the Storm, as well as the orange Cat! The
If you have not played it yet, make sure to check Against the Storm out, as it really is deserving all the success it is getting! Both games are also available in a bundle for the duration of the Winter Sales!
https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/48344/Roguelite_City_Builders/
But this is not all, as I've also cooked some juicy new features for you!
Elder-Specific Saves and Multiple Player Profiles
This was often requested, and I finally took the chance to implement a layered save system. The game is still iron-mode in its nature, so I am not talking about manual save games, but you will now be able to keep a separate save for each Elder, thus finally allowing you to play Santa just in time for Christmas without messing up your Randolph Harder Delirium run (masochist!)
In addition, you will also find 3 slots for player profiles, accessed through the "Your Memories" screen. This allows multiple people to play using the same account and keep their progress. Do note, however, that Achievements and Highscore synchronization happens only for Profile A, as it would make no sense otherwise.
Seeded Runs
Another highlight of this update: you can now play Seeded Runs!
In the last month, I revised the game's internal randomization systems to implement a seeding feature. Seeding a run means defining an alphanumeric code that will generate a consistent scenario. Starting map and buildings, event scenarios, and what buildings you find in the research tree are all pregenerated. This allows multiple players to play the same run and challenge each other, or re-play that juicy map with that oh-so-well placed apple tree thicket!
Even the choice of events will be seeded, given the same context. Do note, however, that event rolls and event effects are unaffected, so you cannot just write down each roll and cheat (sly fox!)
This requires some explanation, as there are some quirks that might no be apparent at first glance! First of all, the actual generation also depends on the Elder choice. While the game will try to keep the map similar with the same seed, each Elder has its own quirks (such as different map sizes, or special terrain layers), that might change the generation. For this reason, you can still use the same seed with different elders, but you might get different results.
You might also be wondering how this works with the game's meta-game unlocks. I thought a lot about this, and devised a system that keeps the seed relevant even when playing with no unlocks at all. Basically, this means that if you have unlocked some game elements (such as Fertile Grounds), they might be used as additional layers in the game's procedural generation logic, but the underlying map will be similar. The same goes for unlocked buildings in the research tree, which might be different (but consistent) depending on what you have unlocked.
Also, be warned that playing a seeded run disables Achievement and posting Highscores, as to preserve the game's online presence.
Now that we have a way to handle custom games and separate saves, new ideas are coming to me, so we'll see what the future will hold! In the meantime, did I mention I was working on a DLC? Well, it's time to give you some information!
Folkways DLC reveal!
The first DLC for dotAGE is underway, and I do not have an ETA for its release yet as I am working on a lot of stuff and there is still a lot to do, but I can start showing you some cool stuff!
The titular major feature taht the DLC will bring to the world of dotAGE is the addition of Pipfolks, i.e. different species of Pips that can appear during your run (and, some Elders might be more attuned to some folks!). Different folks have different bonuses and maluses, such as producing more of specific resources, requiring specific food to be eaten, or even reacting differently to ailments (Fishpips really love to get wet, you know).
Once a Pip of a different bloodline appears, you can, you guessed it, start making new babies, and thus fill your village with them! Of course, different Pips will also bring different problems with them...
dotAGE: Folkways will be accompanied by other mechanics with the goal to increase run variation, such as new terrains to spice map generation, and the addition of ways to remove Pips from your village and, conversely, Pips that are even more annoying than Dizzy Pips!
Since I cannot restrain myself, the DLC is already shaping up to be filled with new buildings, mechanics, events, VIPs, boons, and of course new elders!
I'll show more in the future, as things get in shape, but in the meantime make sure to Wishlist it so you can be notified when it comes out!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/3384630/dotAGE__Folkways/
In the meantime, I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
- Michele
Complete Changelog
V 1.5.0
Content: Against the Storm Promotion
- Cross promo with Against the Storm!
- Added a new VIP: Beaver, teasing some of the DLC mechanics!
- Added 3 new events tied to the Beaver that lead to his appearance!
Content: Seeded Runs
- Revised the game's randomization logic to work with Seeds.
- You can now play custom Runs by inputting a specific Seed. Highscores and Achievements are disabled if doing so.
- A seed will determine the starting map, buildings, event scenario, research choices, and event choices (given identical context)
UX: Elder Savegames
- You can now play multiple games at once, one for each elder. Go play Santa for Xmas!
UX: Player Profiles
- Added new "Player Profiles" feature, that allows up to 3 profiles to coexist. Accessed through the "Your Memories" menu.
- Current games are automatically migrated to Profile "A"
- Backups are not saved on the cloud anymore to save space
Balance
- Moved food-based "Illuminism" boon from page 7 to page 4, thus making "Apocalyptic Growth" appear 100% of the time until you unlock more boons
- Random elements are now completely decoupled, so that your building choices won't affect event rolls anymore
- Reloading a game won't lock the random number generator anymore during event rolls
- Summer won't say it will remove Frozen anymore until you have unlocked it
UX
- The "current memory" screen will now show how many Elders you have win with instead of the total number of wins
- Randolph now has new animations!
- Personal Highscores now show scores from all game versions
- Post-win games now show information in the progress UI to identify them
- Loading message now shows the current elder
- When shift-selecting a Pip, they won't resume walking anymore until the radial menu is closed
- Improved drag sensitivity parameters to avoid some ugly jumps
- Touch controls: Holding won't trigger anymore when dragging the camera
- Touch controls: You can now see information of already known buildings in the research tree
- Touch controls: Tooltips now work with touch too, while holding an UI element
- Touch controls: Tooltips appear a bit to the side so you can better see them
- Controller: You can now open the Research Tree even if hovering on side menus
- Hints: Minor hint revisions to make the text clearer
Bugfixing
- Fixed bug with Enhancing traits not being correctly computed if using multiple Enhancing buildings in certain configurations
- Fixed some hints not appearing if unlocking memories in main menu
- Fixed score screen sometimes waiting too much before showing the highscores panel resulting in an unresponsive panel
- Fixed bug with Healers being able to work in places they should not have if you click to fast after force-curing using ALT-picking
- Fixed building turns of 10 or more not being visualized correctly in Slow mode
- Fixed idle Bourgeoise being considered Handymen in the Jobs UI if they can work due to the relevant Boon
- Fixed "Resource Tags" title getting out of its alloted space in the UI
- Fixed Agepedia messing up when switching resolution until a restart
- Fixed switching to Spring with Frozen pips not correctly updating the total gems generated per turn in the above UI anymore
- Fixed touch controls registering a wrong touch during building selection
- Fixed Pip Recap not sorting Pips when using Search
- Fixed bug with rerolling during the initial Roll bonus making your next Doom be failed at 100% chance
- Fixed cat meow volume being too low
- Fixed some random elements not being seeded correctly
- Fixed random number generator being off by 4 points when reloading the game
- Fixed bug with Forest not being randomized enough if resetting the game right away
- Fixed winning a game making the next abandoned game not trigger highscores
- Fixed unlocks recap menu not updating correctly at times
- Fixed bug with analytics being requested too many times if you switched save games
- Fixed reroll bonus not appearing correctly in the current memories screen at times
- Fixed post-end games sometimes not registering correctly as won
- Controller: Fixed "Advanced Pip Actions" showing the wrong text when using a Controller
- Controller: Fixed pressing back in the pip recap menu closing it right away while focusing on a pip
- Various localization fixes