Hello Tinkerers & Tycoons,
With the Spooky Season ahead, we have great news for you! While you won't be able to design vampire bots or hire zombies in Good Company v0.8, the big "Develop Your Company" update is brimming with new content, features, and improvements!
Besides refining existing features to continuously make Good Company more accessible and fun, we have also added more depth to the gameplay through new ways to engage with the game - Company Goals, Business Development, and Policies.
As always, the community helped us beta-test and the feedback is very positive so far. In fact, lots of changes we have introduced since Good Company v0.7 have been an amazing community effort over the past months and we are very grateful for your steady and constructive support!
We think Good Company v0.8 "Develop Your Company" is another important step on our journey through Early Access, and we hope you have lots of fun with it. Here is an overview of the new features and content since the last big update:
If there's anything you'd like to let us know, just hop over to the Steam Forums, our Official Discord, to Reddit, or write to [email protected]. We're there for you :)
All the best – stay safe and sound!
Your Chasing Carrots
Good Company v0.8 – Changelog
Company Goals
Access the Company Goals panel by pressing F9 and find a variety of Company Goals available for you to take on. Accomplish up to 3 goals at a time before the deadline hits and earn Success Points and unlock Passive Effects, such as Increased Assembly Speed.
Business Development
The BizDev Tree, as we call it, opens with F10 and gives you access to a wide range of development nodes, which cover specific aspects of your production. Unlock these nodes by spending Discovery Points, Research Data and/or money to gain access to better equipment and Policies.
Policies
Another step for deeper gameplay is the addition of Policies. Once unlocked, you can assign up to
3 Policies per Work Zone, in order to change its work performance. For instance, you can increase Crafting Speed or Research Speed. However, advantages can come with disadvantages.
Toy Robot
In three cute model variations, we are introducing the Toy Robot which joins Good Company's early products, Pocket Computer and Game Device.
Farm Map
To match the season, please welcome "Golden Acres", the third and new Freeplay Map. With 3,464 m² and 17 buildings, there is more colorful space for your business to thrive in – not including the henhouse, that is.
Ambient Sounds
We have started implementing an Ambiance Sound System for Good Company. By controlling various sound layers, it will be reflecting the acoustic atmosphere based on the camera view, inside and outside your production facilities. Basic outdoor and indoor layers for the Freeplay Maps are already active.
Markets
- Display a preview of the market parameter changes for the next phase by hovering over the progress button.
- Markets can now be discovered via the Market Tree by spending Discovery Points.
- Market balancing has been improved in order to match recent gameplay changes.
Freeplay
- We have changed the Milestones to improve the progress flow.
- New equipment will be unlocked in the Business Development tree from now on.
- The Noise Modifier option in the Freeplay settings has been removed for now.
- The Freeplay system balancing got updated to take into account new features.
Interface
- The game's main panels, such as Markets Overview or Blueprint Designer, are now displayed in 'full-screen' view.
- Success Points, Research Data, and Discovery Points are now displayed right next to your Account Balance.
Blueprint Designer
- We have redesigned parts of the GUI for improved usability.
- You can now use a random name generator for your designs.
- The process workflow for designing a product has been improved.
- We have added more QoL updates to the Blueprint Designer.
Company Statistics
- Statistics now include company-wide passive effects as well as those resulting from Policies.
- In addition, figures in Company Statistics are now more accurate.
Research
- We have removed Tier requirements for Research Projects.
- There is now a research queue available to process several projects more easily.
- Research Projects have been split into distinct categories and are now vertically browsable.
- You can now display tooltips containing module information when hovering over a Research Project.
Courier Pallet and Automatic Logistics
- We have removed automatically adding Item Rules on Courier Pallets. Your feedback helped us realize that the automatic approach did more harm than good. Adding Item Rules on pallets works manually now: you have full control over what gets placed on a pallet, while the rest of the logistics still gets connected automatically.
- Automatic Logistics is now compatible with machines and Conveyor Belt setups. An example: Previously, Automated Logistics would directly try to take items from a machine, even though the machine was connected to a Conveyor Belt. Now Automatic Logistics will 'follow' the Conveyor Belt setup to its end and take the items from there.
Conveyor Belts
- Conveyor Belts can now also start or end in a curve segment.
- The start/end direction will automatically snap to a tile when there is a respective pushing or receiving entity.
- It is also possible to build Conveyor Belts that are just one tile long. This is especially useful for those tight machine setups you keep amazing us with.
Halloween Decor
- Spooky Halloween-themed décor items will unlock on the first game session after the update.
- Use these to decorate your company for the season (be sure to send us a screenshot)!