Beta 0.872-0.873 now out! (Colonization and Exploration)

[Cinth]

Hydro farms dun died for now at least.

KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNN!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek_II:_The_Wrath_of_Khan

Going to make that quest for 100k population just a touch harder (need districts just for farming) 

[ptarth]

Going to make that quest for 100k population just a touch harder (need districts just for farming) 

I'm pretty sure he does it just to spite me.
 

[Cinth]

Going to make that quest for 100k population just a touch harder (need districts just for farming) 

I'm pretty sure he does it just to spite me.
 

Something will have to be done to fight farm spam after this! 

[kasnavada]

I'm glad that the tech tree changes are to your liking, kasnavada -- I'm a lot happier with this, too.  I hadn't realized how unhappy I was with certain parts of it until you made me rethink things there.  Sometimes that's what it takes, is people poking me and I go "oh yeah, I hate that too!  But it didn't register up to my consciousness yet."  So many little things that bother me but not enough to fully consciously be aware.

Yes, especially since those were not really the point of my remarks in the first place. Glad it helped =).

[crazyroosterman]

Well, with the patch notes on that, I don't think anyone would read all that anyway.

*raises hand* I do.  Then I try and put the notes to images in the game.  Helps to process things.

Ah, gotcha.  Well, normally I will not abridge like that.  But it would have taken me 3x longer to document that particular process because I kept changing things over and over again as I iterated toward what is there now.

No problem.  I probably can't find most of the other changes anyway    I'm looking for where hydro farms went.

Hydro farms dun died for now at least.

um may I ask why hydro farms got removed? 0_0 (unless of course that's just in till you find a place you like more for them in the tech tree)

I'm considering whether or not I want to keep them -- having an "upgraded farm" is not something that interests me, so they need to either have a unique role or be turned into something else.  I'm considering repurposing them.

here's an idea(I cant remember if the rural farms already do this) why take away the hydroponic farms crop reduction and leave its agacencey bonuses?.

I must have been drunk when I posted that what I meant to say was why not take the hydroponic farms crop production and leave its agacencey bonuses?.(and buff or nerf them if desired)

[FroBodine]

I am a super newbie at this game.  Can you please elaborate and explain this statement:

Lots of general fixes in here, and then the tech tree looks really different again.  It's now a lot easier to figure out how to make your cities bigger, and how to explore beyond your tiny early area.  Kind of important stuff!  Anyway, figuring out the organization of that to make it more implicitly obvious is something I prefer to having to tutorialize that bit, so hopefully now it will be pretty quickly obvious to new folks.  Before it was quite obscure, no question.

How does the new tech tree make it much easier to figure out how to make cities bigger and how to explore beyond the starting area?  What are you referring to that makes it easier and more obvious to use, please?   I still have much trouble understanding what the heck I am doing in this game, and basically am plopping down buildings semi-randomly without knowing if I'm helping or hindering my growth. 

So, please explain how the tech tree helps me do things easier now.  Thank you!

[Cinth]

I can try?

Spoiler for Hiden:

The Civic Center building and teleport pad were tools you used to expand your city via letting you create districts where you wanted them.  Before these techs were closer to the middle of the tree. Now they are both right in the starter tech area.

It's implied there, and hopefully when you get the Civic Center you see where you can place new ones and see where it says # of # districts available. 

[Sounds]

...

There's other stuff that I wish was already done, but hopefully quite soon.  There has been progress on the design front there, but I still have to figure out the rest on that and then we need to get it implemented between Keith and I.  I'm bouncing between feeling optimistic and like I want to kill myself.  I just have to get over this current hurdle to the point where I can then focus on GUI polish, clarity, tooltips, tutorials, balance, and testing.  Once I'm to that stage of working on things I'll be able to really relax a lot.  We're getting there, but the fact that it's now the 4th of June and we are not there yet bothers me immensely.  All things in time, and that's probably TMI -- bad marketing at the very least -- but I just needed a moment to vent.

...

 

Chris from my perspective you and Keith are doing an awesome job. 

Any project with so many moving parts is going to take time to polish. I'm in awe of how much you're able to keep on track with such a tight (even with the move to August) deadline.

The sausage factory is a scary place, and linking sausages without bursting is an art, so I'm quite confident for you that the end results will be delicious. 

[ptarth]

I am a super newbie at this game.  Can you please elaborate and explain this statement:

Lots of general fixes in here, and then the tech tree looks really different again.  It's now a lot easier to figure out how to make your cities bigger, and how to explore beyond your tiny early area.  Kind of important stuff!  Anyway, figuring out the organization of that to make it more implicitly obvious is something I prefer to having to tutorialize that bit, so hopefully now it will be pretty quickly obvious to new folks.  Before it was quite obscure, no question.

How does the new tech tree make it much easier to figure out how to make cities bigger and how to explore beyond the starting area?  What are you referring to that makes it easier and more obvious to use, please?   I still have much trouble understanding what the heck I am doing in this game, and basically am plopping down buildings semi-randomly without knowing if I'm helping or hindering my growth. 

So, please explain how the tech tree helps me do things easier now.  Thank you!

There are now techs that unlock new districts, which allow you to build more.
Scouting is easier to get to and the limitations of the scouts has been relaxed.
Use the middle-mouse button or shift+left click on bulidings and in the tech tree over buildings to find out what things do.
Alternatively, if you are really lost, read some of the other beta reports by testers in the beta forum. There are tons of answered questions and helpful advice there.

Edit: Cinth!!!!!!!!!!!

I can try?

Spoiler for Hiden:

The Civic Center building and teleport pad were tools you used to expand your city via letting you create districts where you wanted them.  Before these techs were closer to the middle of the tree. Now they are both right in the starter tech area.

It's implied there, and hopefully when you get the Civic Center you see where you can place new ones and see where it says # of # districts available. 

[Cinth]

Cinth!!!!!!!!!!!

*Ninja Smoke!*   

[FroBodine]

Thank you ptarth and Cinth.  You two are the pros!

[Cinth]

Thank you ptarth and Cinth.  You two are the pros!

Not really.  Just happened upon your question first and decided to answer since the comments you asked about were directed at previous testers.  Ptarth is quite a bit better at fielding gameplay questions though.

[ptarth]

Thank you ptarth and Cinth.  You two are the pros!

Not really.  Just happened upon your question first and decided to answer since the comments you asked about were directed at previous testers.  Ptarth is quite a bit better at fielding gameplay questions though.

Don't believe his lies. There are invisible, non-redeemable, non-existing forum points available for the first person to correctly, legitimately, and completely answer beta tester questions.

[x4000]

Thanks Sounds, I really appreciate it.   I am feeling immensely better now that the date has been pushed back.  I was just incredibly stressed about the other date, but the new one feels manageable.  Still going to be a ton of work, but not the possibly-literally-impossible sort.

[SugeBearX]

Holy crap on a cracker Chris!!! Have sadly been MIA for about a week (Back injury prevented me from sitting upright more than 15 minutes at a time yada, yada, yada...probably back surgery soon...) and I come back to...a ton of great changes! Amazing, just amazing!

-New tech tree is much more compelling
-Early game is much more engaging (Growls at the Thoraxians...)
-The ability to place buildings that do not connect to other buildings really provides a sense of freedom and unleashes player creativity
-The music is fantastic
-Made me power through crippling back pain for one...more...turn...(Or 50

Only negative was the long slow crawl from my chair to my bed. Need to hit it harder...All my notes were already posted in Mantis. Gods but you have some excellent testers...