v0.4.1 - Telemetry, Planets, and More!

If there's one thing that's nice about being unemployed, it's that I get to work on Planets For Sale that much more. This release has a bunch of cool stuff in it that I'm proud of, and I can't wait to add even more! We got an opening cutscene setting the plot of the story. We got not one but TWO new planets! We got hazards! We got a bunch of art passes and QoL updates!

There are two additions that I want to cover more in this devlog: unique events and telemetry.

Events have already been in the game for a bit. Before, the pool of events available on a planet where based on some generic events and some unique events for the planet you're currently on. With this update, there are now unique events for buildings that will only come up if you have that building. For example, the steelworkers in the Steelworks could go on strike, or the AuSome Exchange might give you more money for trading in gold. These have also been an opportunity to expand the writing and lore a bit, so please enjoy.

Another major feature of this version is telemetry. Now, I'm a data guy. I like data. I want data based on how people play Planets For Sale to help balance the game. To that end, after every run (promotion or fired), your stats for that run are uploaded to our systems. This data is completely anonymized, only containing game details and nothing about you. However, the setup is in the Azure cloud, which does log IP addresses. I understand some users would like to keep their privacy, so the telemetry can be turned off. Additionally, the already existing crash log uploads and feedback forms also have the option to be disabled now as part of this change.

Major Features

• Added an opening cutscene to the game.
• Added game telemetry with anonymous uploads.
• Added a new planet: Eea'uuuunn, a whale-colonized water world full of tasty fish.
• Added a new planet: Failed Colony J3-2, an abandoned world full of rubble.
• Added a new resource: Rubble
• Added unique events to the following buildings:
  • Atom Smasher
  • AuSome Exchange
  • Bureaucratic Firm
  • Command Hub
  • Drillbots
  • Hardlight Array
  • Module Compactor
  • Research Team
  • Steelworks

Minor Features

• Added a new resource type: HAZARD.
• Added a progress bar to contracts. This includes a preview of if how many resources count towards the contract.
• Buildings can now have their primary abilities upgraded and downgraded. Currently the only way to see this is a random event that upgrades AuSome Exchange.
• Changed the background icon of resources to be more readable.
• Deposits now have quality. You will always get two medium quality resources or one high quality resource per deposit.
• Events now have follow-up text showing you the consequences of your actions and a final continue button.
• Module Compactor's primary ability now specifies Low/Medium Modules instead of any Modules.
• NeoEden Foundry's primary ability changed from 1 Mineral -> 1 Charge to X Minerals -> X Charges.
• Performed an art pass on Atom Smasher.
• Performed an art pass on the Planet Selection view. Enjoy the outer space view of the solar system!
• Performed an art pass on tooltips.
• Performed an art pass on Steelworks.
• Quotas are now temporarily standardized across all planets. The first planet has a quota of $200b. This increases by $40b per planet after.
• Redid cutscene implementation.
• Tooltips now show which ability costs are currently not met.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed a crash related to right-clicking buildings on the Building Selection view.
• Fixed the confirmation button for selecting resources allowing you to click through to the buttons below it.
• Fixed the confirmation button animating more than it should.
• Fixed tooltips not having the correct size when first hovering over them.
• Fixed Fish not having a proper name and showing name_fish instead of just Fish.
• Fixed an issue where you could continue a run before any buildings were selected, leaving it in an invalid state.

Known Issues

• The game gets stuck loading large amount of images, especially when going to the Planet Selection view for the first time in a session.
• The planet selection view places each planet at a random place in orbit, and there are scenarios where a planet is off-screen as the camera placement algorithm hasn't taken certain scenarios into account. You can still select and land on each planet using the UIyou just cannot click the planet directly.
• The opening cutscene advances automatically intead of requiring the player to click forward.