Kubifaktorium - Colony Building, Automation & Exploration

Update #13: Sun, Shadows & Stretch Goals
over 5 years ago – Fri, Aug 31, 2018 at 08:58:15 AM

Good evening!

I am currently working on an improved lighting system. The sun now rotates around the world and casts semi-realistic shadows at daytime. I've also switched to a new cloud system which should, once I've figured out the bugs, look really nice and provide some dynamically changing cloud shadows. Please have a look!

In other news, we are about to hit our first stretch goal, the trade caravans! The caravans will arrive at semi-random times and offer you unique and interesting trading opportunities based on what you have in store and what you need. I think they will be quite an interesting feature.

The next stretch goal will be at 20.000€ and add additional weather effects to the game. I'm thinking of snow and sand storms, droughts and other effects which will contribute a lot to the game's atmosphere.

I hope we can reach these stretch goals! If you have friends who might enjoy Kubifaktorium, now would be a good time to let them know! Maybe Kubifaktorium is a game they will really enjoy. And every contribution brings all of us closer to those nice weather effects. :)

What stretch goals would you like to see?

Have a nice day!
  Mirko

Update #12: Oil, Robots and Mini Surveys
over 5 years ago – Wed, Aug 29, 2018 at 11:07:58 AM

Hello there!

In the last few updates I have added transport robots to the game. Robots, which are built in the robot workshop, do not eat or sleep. However, they require oil to function. You get oil from building oil pumps on top of oil wells. Oil pumps are the first automatic and animated building in the game. Have a look.

Another feature I have added recently are mini surveys. Mini surveys are simple questions like "What should I work on next?", "How many FPS do you get?" or "How do you like the new robots?". In order to participate all you have to do is to click on an answer. It's really easy and helps the development a lot. (If you do not want to see the surveys, you can disable them in the settings menu.)

Oh, and pigs carry items on their backs now. :)

What else would you like to see in the game?

Have a nice evening!
  Mirko

Patch notes:
- Added the oil pump - the first automatic and animated workshop!
- Added oil wells and oil barrels.
- Added transport robots! Transport robots require oil to function well.
- Added the robot workshop.
- Added mini surveys. Vote on new features and more! - Added a message for when your colonists are under attack.
- Improved the resource spawning system. You are now guaranteed to get a minimum number of clay, iron ore and oil spawns.
- Items should no longer be dropped where your colonists cannot access them.
- Colonists eat/drink 'earlier'.
- Fixed tranparency of built auto farms.
- Updated the save/load dialog to work with foreign characters. And maybe even on Mac. :)
- Fixed the building conditions for depot entries and exits.
- Probably fixed massive arrow & pickaxe at the corner of the world.
- Pigs now carry items on their back. :)
- Objects on your territory now correctly unlock recipes when loading a game.
- Fixed a bug causing zeppelin depots to disappear when building depot exits on top.
- Numerous other fixes.

Update #11: We did it! :D
over 5 years ago – Tue, Aug 28, 2018 at 02:07:35 AM

Hello everyone,

we did it! The Kickstarter campaign for Kubifaktorium just crossed the 100% line with 12 days left to go. I'm very excited for all the support and feedback I have received from all of you! I'll do my best to make Kubifaktorium a great game and I'm happy to have you all on board for the journey. :)

Apart from celebrating, I am currently working on a new resource, the first fully automated workshop and a new as-of-yet unannounced mechanic/system. Here is a little preview for you:

So, stay tuned for more updates and have a great weekend! :)
  Mirko

Update #10: Autofarms and Depots, Technical Memes & Interview
over 5 years ago – Mon, Aug 27, 2018 at 12:58:32 AM

Hello!

In the last patch I have added automated farms and depots to the demo! They are expensive to build but once you do, they automate a lot of your colonists' work. Also, they are very fun to watch. :)

Unfortunately I had a lot of technical difficulties this week. On Wednesday my GPU died (shortly after my warranty ended) and after replacing it I realised that it killed my ethernet adapter as well. Long story short, it took me until tonight to get back in the game.

In other news, Schematics Team did a 15 minute interview with me last week, covering my background, the current state of the game, my plans for the upcoming development and some thoughts on the (indie) game market. If you are interested, you can find it here.

Have a nice weekend!
  Mirko

Patch notes:
- Added farms, inserters and depots to the game!
- Added warnings/help to the stockpile and zeppelin panels that tell you their status in the logistics system.
- The save files now contain the types of all tiles (rather than just the map seed).
- Fixed tranparency of built auto farms.
- Updated the save/load dialog to work with foreign characters. And maybe even on Mac. :)
- Fixed the building conditions for depot entries and exits.
- Probably fixed massive arrow & pickaxe at the corner of the world.
- Fixed a bug causing completed objectives to reappear after reloading a map.
- Colonists should no longer moon-walk towards enemies. :)
- Numerous other fixes.

Update #9: New Version, Modding Competition & Looking for Voxel Artist
over 5 years ago – Fri, Aug 24, 2018 at 05:41:46 AM

Hello there! :)

The modding competition has concluded. Even though there was unfortunately not much of a competition, the submissions by our winner Roadfox have been awesome! Fortunately, he generously allowed me to add his models to the game. The first asset to make this step is the barn, a cozy place where your animals get to rest:

Other improvements of the latest version include colored border markers, separated buttons for 'remove zone' and 'cancel order', improved dragging with the right mouse button as well as numerous other fixes and additions.

In other news, I am currently looking for an additional voxel artist for Kubifaktorium (freelance, paid, ~10h/month). If you are interested and have a nice portfolio of voxel art to show, please get in touch.

Have a nice day!
  Mirko

Patch notes:
- The border markers are now colored according to the nearest bonfire.
- Added the barn to the game, a house for your animals! Thank you to roadfox for making it and allowing me to add it to the game.
- There are now separate 'remove zone' and 'cancel order'-buttons.
- Wild animals will now eventually leave your territory.
- You can now deconstruct bonfires.
- Fixed stockpiles still being assigned to workshops after getting removed.
- Fixed issues occuring after zeppelin stations are removed.
- Fixed a bug causing too many pigs to spawn for recruitment. Also fixed the colonist management screen not updating its page count.
- Dragging with RMB no longer cancels the current action and should cause colonists to get move commands. Dragging with RMB is also now the default option for the Mac build.
- Panels now close when choosing an action (like mining).
- Added modding options to animate workshops.
- Waves are now affected by ambience setting.
- Music volume now affects the main menu.
- Other bug fixes.