Hello Elders,
Welcome back! After some vacation time, I'm excited to bring dotAGE to new heights with the next updates!
Let's first take a look again at the current roadmap:
We now are coming close to the Research Update, renamed "Recall Update", and you can try it on the experimental branch!
How to join experimental
Any player can join experimental just by selecting it from the beta branches.
Right click on dotAGE on Steam, go to Properties -> Betas, and select "experimental" under Beta Participation!
Your save games are kept, and you can try the new features right away,
So, why the title? Here comes a new big feature: Recalls!
The Recalls
I know, the memory of the Elders is not good, and sometimes they might make things up, so why not backtrack too? With all the new buildings I added in the last two years, and the addition of Folkways, I feel that it is time to allow some more layaway in your research trees.
Introducing Recalls! Recalls are a special resource that is very rare, and allows you to either choose a different building in the tree, or reroll a boon choice.
Do you remember the preview window I talked about in the last update? Well, you can use that window also to re-select buildings, provided you have a Recall available! This lets you customize your research tree to better fight the Apocalypse, even if just a little.
This is limited to a few changes per game, as it can be a very strong help! You can get a Recall either by:
Getting 1 once you unlock the mechanic in the Memories
Getting it as a Boon
Getting it in a rare powerful event
Note that some buildings are now required by others to appear, and this is now shown in the research tree as "key buildings", which might disable the recall effects to make sure you do not create some unusable combinations!
I'm pretty happy with how this turned out, as this required a lot of internal changes, and I tried several versions on a "reroll mechanic" for months before deciding on this one. Try it, and let me know what you think!
A Starting Village Boon!
This is an idea that has been poking in my heads for a lot of time now, and I decided it was time to add it! A new boon choice is now in the game when you start a new village, with 6 new boons dedicated to it! This can be helpful to steer your early game towards a specific strategy and thus making early game more varied.
This takes the place of the existing Persistence Bonus, as I realized that it did not work as intended. It was supposed to push players to embrace the randomness of the game by rewarding, but those that like to reroll just did so anyway, grumblingly, grumbling about the missed bonus. So, I decided to remove that bonus and instead rebalance the early game a bit to allow more leeway!
Custom Game Modifiers!
Now, it is fun to make things for players that love dotAGE, but would we also think about those that hate it? Of course!
Introducing Custom Game Modifiers, which allow players to start games with some custom rules if they so prefer.
Beware: these games won't be tracked on the high score tables, and some of the achievements (now identified with a red Challenge Trophy icon) are not available.
The Seeded Run option was already implemented and it has been merged into this new system.
I plan to add more custom modifiers as I work on the next updates (I am prototyping a few!), for this version, the first custom rules I implemented are tied to the Research and the new Recall feature:
Clairvoyance
So, some of you want to just play civilization, but have already 1k hours on all of them from 1 to 6, or even 7, is that so?
Well then, I added a Clairvoyance option for you, which makes the whole Research Tree visible from the start! The game plays very differently with this option turned on, as you do not have to guess anymore at what to build and can plan from the beginning. Will this stand the test of time?
Infinite Recalls
Now that Recalls are in, I also added a mode that lets you have Infinite Recalls, which means you will be able to completely select your research tree (apart from the starting knowledge, just reroll in that case, would you?).
If you wanted to try out some specific combination of buildings for your story, you can now do so safely!
Let me know what you think of these, and what other modifiers you'd like to see implemented!
More!
Alongside this and the previously explained Research Tree changes, the update brings many fixes, balance updates, and even a new building to make sure you stop skipping Poisoning in the memories!
Here are some highlights:
Added a new Building to the Poisoning memory because too many players would refuse to unlock it
A lot of changes to Buildings to make them more varied, and some buffs and nerfs to add
Soil now won't affect Plants anymore, as it was pretty unintuitive, making the early food push a bit harder for experienced players (this is compensated by the new boons, let me know what you think!)
Unlocked but not encountered events now show all their data apart from the effect, adding to the mystery
More buildings now light up during the night (Tents, Grills, Barbecues, and all stuff that looks like it should!)
How to lure Folks is now cleaner, as Folks now can a resource they Love and one they are Offended By, and will lure respectively good or bad events!
Dad Automation has been completely redesigned!
Remember that this might be subject to changes during this experimental phases, in the coming weeks.
And that's hit! Jump into the Experimental Branch and tell me what you think! Have fun!
- Michele
FULL CHANGELOG
V 1.8.0 EXPERIMENTAL
New feature: Recalls
Added a new Memory, one rare Recall resource, and three new events tied to the new Recall feature
All stories start with 1 Recall. More can be obtained with some rare events, or Boons.
Building Recall: You can now spend the Recall resource to select a different building in the tree for the same slot
Boon Reroll: You can spend the Recall resource to reroll Boons, once per choice
New feature: Story Modifiers
Added Story Modifiers to customize your game with special rules (no score tracking or Challenge achievements however!)
New Story Modifier: Infinite Recalls - choose all the Buildings that will appear in the story
New Story Modifier: Clairvoyance - view the complete research tree from the start
New feature: Starting Boons
Removed persistence bonus, now replaced with a Starting Boon for everybody, obtained once you unlock Boons
Reduced start food on the map for all elders to 80%, once you unlock the Starting Boons
Previous Knowledge: Now adds 6 instead of 4 Knowledge
Lower Temperature: Now adds 6 instead of 4 Cold
Hidden Food: Now adds 14 instead of 10 Berries
Experimental Sticks: new Boon. Gain 3 wood whenever a research is completed.
Newborn Feasts: new Boon. Gain 2 Health whenever a Pippin is born.
Crunchy Snacks: new Boon. Gain 3 Apples whenever a Pip Dwelling is built
Careful Harvests: new Boon. Gain 2 Seeds whenever a Crop is completely harvested.
Fishing Mastery: new Boon. All Fishers production is multiplied by 1.5
Research UX Revision
UX: You can now toggle the current research on/off
UX: Added research tree queuing, by holding SHIFT or using the new button on the screen
UI: Once you unlock the Research Randomization memory, you can now preview the buildings in a slot in the research tree
UI: Buildings will show in the preview panel why they cannot be selected
UI: If a slot has only one building available, it will be automatically previewed
UI: Research slots won't show resources that are unavilable in that run (for example, elder-specific ones)
UI: Pressing right-click on the 'Research To Be Selected' button will now dismiss it
UX: You can now avoid selecting a new building to research, and instead pile up knowledge
UI: Overflow points are now shown in the research bar if nothing is selected for research
UI: Buildings that are forced due to elder selection now have a green border around them
UI: If a slot cannot be reached as all buildings inside are of other elders, the slot will have a specific elder icon and tooltip
UI: The last researched building is now shown in the research bar if nothing is selected
UI: Added a separate 'research can be performed' icon on the side when you skip research
UI: Improved arrows placement
Settings: added option to skip having to select a research at all
UX
Menus: Revised placement of Story Deletion buttons to be clearer
Menus: Added a button to delete the current story in the 'Current Story' screen
Menus: Added Story Modifiers panel
Menus: Redone Elder traits to be cleaner
Hints: Added new Welcome to Folkways hint
Menus: Redone list-item system to be more performant and avoid weird placements
Buildings: You can now see the output when hovering on ruined buildings to identify them (very useful for Ronomy!)
Buildings: When a building becomes abandoned due to your building choices, a warning is shown
Agepedia: Unlocked but not encountered elements now show their name, so you can have a hint at what they do
Agepedia: Unlocked but not encountered events now show all their data apart from the effect
Agepedia: Added a new filter to show known/encountered/locked elements
Agepedia: Terrains are now unlocked when the relevant Task is unlocked (so that you know what the Task does)
Memories: Boons that are unlocked now always show their name even if the effect is not known
Graphics: More buildings now light up during the night (Tents, Grills, Barbecues, and all stuff that looks like it should!)
Highscores: Improved highscores view
Balance: Buildings
Added a new Building to the Poisoning memory, because too many players would refuse to unlock it
Soil: Now does not give a bonus to Plants anymore, but only Crops
Building path requirements are now more consistent in general (hidden information, nothing visually changes for players)
Some Folk buildings are now required to appear if their dwelling is available, instead of being optional
Hay Collector is now the key building for Hay, not Hay Dryer
Herbal Altar now does not require Hay Collector to appear
Soy Field and Soy Milk Maker now always appear together
Seeds Mill and Seed Field now always appear together
All Burials now do not have the Structure trait anymore
Greater Altar: Wood cost from 21 to 20, because it looked weird
Herbal Altar: Added Hemp cost of 4. Wood cost from 10 to 8
Infusion Shrine: Added Hemp cost of 8. Added Stone cost of 4. Wood cost from 20 to 8.
Water Shrine: Wood cost from 30 to 40. Stone cost from 6 to 0.
Mountain Shrine: Wood cost from 30 to 20. Stone cost from 6 to 15.
Mountain Temple: Stone cost from 20 to 30. Removed Plank cost. Added Brick cost of 10.
Bird Hunter: Can now also hunt Wild Chicken (with an ouput of 3)
Fruit Infuser: No longer requires water
Metal Extractor: Now also produces 1 Gold from 10 Stones
Manure Burner: Bonus for connecting pavement is now a requirement. Output Heat from 40 to 50.
Brothel: Redesigned. Now does not scale anymore with Bourgeoise, but requires Bourgeoise closeby. Now also requires Flower, and produces maximum 60 Serenity.
Driftwood Refuge: now has trait Road 1, Ink cost from 3 to 4
Verdant Shelter: now has trait Road 1, Seeds cost from 4 to 6
Orange Tree: Depletion value from 20 to 10. Output from 5 to 6. Water from 3 to 5.
Pear Tree: Output from 5 to 4. Seeds from 10 to 4
Algae Collector: Ouput from 2 Herb to 3 Herb. Stone cost from 1 to 2.
Medicinal Herb Field: Turns to grow from 5 to 4. Water cost from 1 to 5. Seed cost from 3 to 4. Now produces during Autumn and Winter instead of Summer and Autumn.
Rice Field: Now susceptible to Flooding
Turnip Field: Turns to grow from 5 to 6
Wood Stack: Build cost from 4 to 6 Wood
Large Signpost: Build cost from 3 to 5 Wood
Mender's Hut: Herb recipe maximum value from 1 -> 9 to 1 -> 7
Stone Well: Stone cost from 4 to 8
Huge Spring: Wood cost from 7 to 12
Mender's Cottage: Herb recipe maximum value from 1 -> 15 to 1 -> 12
Stone Extractor: Now produces a base of 16 per turn instead of 8. Now requires Brykemakers instead of Stonecutters. Build cost from 5 Stone to 10 Stone, and from 4 Planks to 6 Bricks
Fruit Infuser: Recipe changed from 1 Fruit -> 1 Infusion to 3 Fruits -> 1 Infusion over 2 Turns, but now gets a bonus of 1 when close to a Health-maker. Now requires to be placed close to Fruit-makers.
Bandage Desk: Input cost from 1 Paper to 2 Paper. Now requires a Paper-maker closeby.
Ink Physician: Output from 2 to 1, but gains a bonus of 1 when close to Health-maker. Now requires an Ink-maker closeby.
Barbecue and Great Barbecue: Hunting requirement converted to Bonus, so to not make them abandoned if hunters are disabled
Water Mill: Wood cost from 15 to 30. Stone cost from 6 to 0.
Seeds Mill: Stone cost from 6 to 3, Wood cost from 15 to 10
Rain Mill: Redesigned to now get a bonus for each Water-producer at distance 1, and be more input-efficient compared to Wind Mill
Bakery: Wood build cost from 6 to 12
Milk Bakery: Flour input cost for the Hard Bread recipe from 1 to 2
Straw Bales Factory: Wood build cost from 6 to 0. Stone input cost from 8 to 10
Straw Bales Factory: Now has a recipe to make Glop from Hay and Water
Tannery: Leather output from 5 to 4. Wood build cost reduced from 6 to 0. Added Plank build cost of 3.
Leatherworks: Plank build cost from 4 to 6
Ink Tailor: now requires a Ink producer closeby instead of a Social building
Performer's Stall: Removed Enhancing bonus. Bonus from a Social building reduced to 1. Added bonus of +1 from a Leisure building.
Juggler's Stall: Now requires 1 Tool as input to produce. Output from 6 to 8. Enhancement bonus reduced from 3 to 2.
Wrestling Arena: Removed Bonus with Social Building. Base output from 3 to 5. Added a new Recipe that uses Rope to produce Hope
Wrestling Ring: Removed Bonus with Social Building. Base output from 6 to 10. Added a new Recipe that uses Rope to produce Hope
Wargaming Table: Base output from 8 to 10
Aqua Park: Output from 20+5X to 25+5X
Squeezer: Now requires a Farmer instead of a Fisher (because my humour was misunderstood, and that's because it was bad)
Spirit Burner: Input from 2 Spirits to 1 Spirit
Spirit Burner: Now requires a Smith instead of an Artisan
Alcohol Heater: Input from 2 Spirits to 1 Spirit
Surgeon: Plank cost from 4 to 7
Seeds Extractor: Redesigned. Rmoved Milk and Vegetable recipe. Added special Chestnut recipe. Removed bonus from dwellings. Wood cost from 7 to 8.
Hemp processor: Redesigned. Removed Milk and Fruit recipe. Now only uses Vegetables. Now gets a bonus for each Vegetable maker instead of Fruit maker. Copper bar cost from 3 to 2.
Squeezer: Now always appears with Milky Bakery. Memory unlocked with Cows. Replaced 6 Wood cost with 2 Stone Cost.
Balance: Events
Boon - Empty Glades: Bonus reduced to 1 every 3 instead of 1 every 2
Events that give Knowledge can now appear even if no building is being researched
Mini events: Leather can now appear as a mini-bonus without having to unlock Cows beforehand
Boons: Added missing Boon tag to some events
Balance: Folks
All Folks now have a set of resources they love and a set they hate, which lures good or bad events
Nature's Ally: Minimum level reduced from 4 to 3, making Dryads appear a bit earlier
A cat joins: Decreased rarity from 2 to 1, as Cats have it harder due to their breeding requirements
A real boy: won't list Choice as a trait anymore (as you have no choice, he decides!)
Bad Dwarf events now require Iron or Copper bars to appear, not any Bar
Woodpips no longer have a soul
Balance: Elders
Dad Automation redesign: Automating professionals now also requires 5 food (either Coal, or Advanced Tools)
Dad Automation redesign: Automated Pips do not eat anything anymore
Dad Automation redesign: Automated Pips now count for Overpipulation
Dad Automation redesign: Improved Agepedia notes about Automation
Trisavolo: Now forced to find Goat Pen
Trisavolo: Lazy Summer now targets Dwarves only
Trisavolo: New trait that makes Cobblestones count as Stones tiles
All Elders now start with a mix of male and female Pips (visual only, to create more variation!)
Balance: Achievements & Score
Score for resources reduced from 0.1 to 0.05s
Challenge achievements (Special Wins, and Hard Wins) are now treated separately
Using a run modifier now does not disable all achievements, but only Challenge achievements
Playing in Relax mode now disables Challenge achievements
Balance: Memories
Moved memories around to provide a better flow
Shaman: now unlocked earlier so to basically garauntee she'll be unlocked after you almost win once
Yugong: now unlocked earlier
Beer: now unlocked after Shaman
Birds: now unlocked much later
Pig: now unlocked after Shaman
Creative Protection: now unlocked after Shaman
More Boons: now unlocked before Yugong (much earlier than before)
Cow: now unlocked after Yugong
More Traits: now unlocked after Yugong
Super Charge: now unlocked before Yugong (much earlier than before)
Goats: now unlocked before Dwarves
Gold: now unlocked a bit earlier
Gardens: now unlocked after Captain
Fields: now unlocked after Dwarf
Rabbit Shearer: now unlocked with Sheep (otherwise the wool cannot be used)
Seeds Mill now unlocked with Fields
Bugfixes
Dad: Fixed automation not showing Woodpips being fused anymore
UI: Fixed locked agepedia element text becoming garbled
UI: Fixed Seed UI sometimes not being visually enabled correctly
UI: Fixed resetting completely the game not refreshing the current slot screen
UI: Fixed sorting of Elder achievements to avoid some Hard achievements appearing before (so annoying!)
UI: Fixed opening the pause menu when a choice is shown blocking the game when using a controller
Resources: Fixed Dog appearing among butcherable animals in the Slaughterhouse
Agepedia: Fixed locked agepedia element text becoming garbled
Research: Fixed disabling Folkways potentially switching your Flower Picker to a Seed Picker on the first load
Research: Fixed unlocking a special building with a boon blocking the current research from being completed
Research: When unlocking new memories, if the research tree is open, it will now refresh correctly
Events: Fixed Inventor and similar VIPs still giving resources even when dead
Events: Fixed bug where exiting during a boon choice would force the next event to have a lower event level
Events: Fixed bug where exiting during a boon choice would make the next event choice always non visible
Memories: Fixed Leather appearing with Cow, since it is unlocked from the start instead
System: Fixed a nullreference on first load