In this miscellaneous summary update I've added a bunch of small features and fixed some random bugs. Visuals I worked on various small visual changes to polish up some of the areas of the game that were lacking. At least more lacking than others. World effects One new effect "type" that I hadn't implemented yet was global world effects, which are not tied to a particular object, but rather occ…
This the third/last of three update posts about the new level generator. The introduction is at Post #1 and the second partis at Post #2 . At this point we have something resembling a map: It's probably fair to say that the generation logic so far is already complex. But this is only perhaps third of the way to the final map implementation-wise. As more passes work with the data, they make smal…
This the second of three update posts about the new level generator. The introduction is at Post #1 and the third/last part is at Post #3 . I will now go into step-by-step process of the generation passes. For clarity, I will try to explain things in the way that makes most sense rather than sticking to exact technical pass layout. I'll try to group sections by generation "topic", although ther…
This update replaces the game's island map generator with a new more robust and expandable version. I had two primary goals for the new level generator. Firstly, to bring it up to at least the same level as the old generator - but do this with a modular, extendable and configurable approach. And secondly, to fix the biggest problems with the old one - excessive unusable land, poor scaling with…
This follow-up update adds Technology Tiers to the game, requiring Tier-specific research point production. This is a smaller update content-wise, but it does drastically change the mid- to late-game gameplay by requiring all later technologies to produce second and later third tier research items, which have their extended production lines. Technology Tiers So some mid-game techs are now tier…
This smaller update (but part or a larger direction) adds Leather item to the game and the production chains leading up to it; plus various changes. Leather I decided to make Leather production fairly involved with multiple production chains using all the different production mechanics - growing, harvesting, animals, crafting buildings, mining. Essentially, Leather is a high value item used for…
This smaller update tweaks resource mining by adding early-game mineable deposits and adjusts late-game quarrying. The update also adds more depth to food items. Quarrying The major change in this update is the addition of free-standing deposits around (a newly-generated) map: The start of the game now has a Stonecutter building instead of a Quarry: These operate basically like Lumberjacks - th…
In this small update, I'm adding a Pickles food item and a bunch of various small changes and fixes. Most of these are fixes and adjustments since the previous update post. Pickles The main addition is the new Pickles food item: First off, I've added a new produce food item - Cucumber: These are basically identical to carrots and tomatoes, but introduce some more variety. Now, I didn't actually…
In this smaller update, I'm adding a bunch of wood-related changes, additions and tweaks. Timber The major change is that I "split" Planks item into Timber and Planks items, both produced at the Sawmill: Timbers are now exclusively a construction material: While Planks are exclusively a production input (currently, only Carpenter): The reason for this is basically design simplicity - I want to…
In this update villager needs and residence reserves have been fundamentally reworked. Although most of the changes are internal and organizational, this still results in a fundamental gameplay presentation change. I say "presentation" because the actual gameplay doesn't really change if you consider the main player actions - supply houses with goods. It is however presented (and hopefully perc…
In this update, I am adding weather to the game, specifically weather effects for rain and snow. This isn't something that affects gameplay (yet), so it's purely a visual update to make the game look nicer and have some visual variety. And weather is great for this type of goal. Weather effects I'll start with the end result of the two effects I implemented, because it's simpler to discuss the…
This update replaces Markets with Shops and adds significant rendering optimizations. And I might as well call this "Rendering Update", because I spent most of the time working on optimizing sprite drawing. Shops Shops are new buildings that are set to replace Markets and Market Stalls. They essentially do the same thing that Stalls do, except each shop can store and distribute several item typ…
This smaller update adds fish animals and fishing to the game. Fishing Firstly, fish will now spawn in their own water-based habitats: These work very similarly to land-based habitats, except for the requirement to be in shallow water. There are three types of fish/habitats: Striper, Salmon and Marlin. After unlocking the Fishing technology, a Fisherman's Hut can be built. The workers will go t…
This update improves item logistics and long-range deliveries. My goal is to give the players much more control over item deliveries. Instead of relying on the game to successfully figure out what needs to be taken where and making assumptions that may not be correct, this would allow the players to direct items with more precision and have a consistent way of having long-distance deliveries. C…
This update focuses on the backend features for building construction, broadly speaking. My main eventual design goal is to make construction feel like a larger part of village development. This means things like longer build times, additional construction steps, more required materials, more builders, larger buildings, more builder animations and actions, more visuals, more feedback, etc. As p…
This UI-focused update adds Micropedia, a browseable in-game information "encyclopedia". Together with improvements to tooltips and presentation as well as nicer-looking icons for all the important buildings and items. Icons Over time, I have been drawing icons for buildings in the main construction menu. I wanted to replace them because of how unrecognizable they are. It's one of the first thi…
This smaller update adds hunting and wild animals that can be hunted for meat. Wildlife I added several wild animals -- foxes, boars, wolves and deer. These wander around, graze and generally hang out in the forests. I think they add some nice livelihood to otherwise extremely static forests. Hunting I added a Hunting technology unlocked before the Herding technology. The Smokehouse will now al…
This update adds seasons and seasonal crops to the game. The game's save format has changed, see the "Save Upgrade" section below. To preserve old saves, you will have to upgrade them. I thought about titling this update "Winter is coming", but that just describes my update schedule. Key changes The game now has seasons. I went with the "standard" temperate ones: spring, summer, autumn and wint…
This small update adds a soundtrack to the game. Key changes The game now has a proper custom soundtrack made by composer José Ramón "Bibiki" García . There is the main theme and 8 gameplay tracks. This is obviously not a large update, but I'm super-excited about the new music and wanted to add it to the game as soon as possible. Previously, there was a single gameplay track running on a loop.…
This update brings changes and an expanded framework for technologies that will drive the future expansion of progression features. (I know this sounds a bit abstract and wishy-washy and this update is a little bit all over the place.) In short, I added a bunch of technology-related stuff. Key changes The big change is the way the knowledge is gained. A new Scholar building will generate resear…
While I've have been working on the next update, a lot of additional delivery-related stuff crept in. So this patch is to summarize more of the bigger delivery-related changes. Key changes Villagers can now deliver up to 3 items at a time. Originally, I didn't want villagers to carry more than one item, because I wanted the screen to be filled with the peeps running around. This is a subjective…
This summarizes the changes after the delivery update. There aren't many significant additions, mostly just usability improvements. (I kind of skipped the patch update after the animal update, so I want to post this one at least. And I can't devote all time to tiny features when the main game is waiting, although I try to ration in a good bunch of QoL stuff.) Key changes The one big thing is th…
This mostly-technical update brings a major rewrite of the game's backend delivery decision-making system. There were a lot of small and larger issues surrounding item delivery, warehouse use, delivery priorities, inefficient routes, carriers idling, etc. At the end of the day, I couldn't solve many of these without adding substantial complexity and processing time. So I rewrote the system to r…
Key changes For this update, the main focus has been on adding animals as proper "units". This means they can move, have animations, make decisions, age and die, and generally interact with the game world. For now, I added three domestic animals to see how it goes -- pigs, sheep and cows: Pigs have basically the same purpose, but with the updated interactions: Carriers will lead the animals fro…
For the past few weeks, I have worked on mostly backend things and quality of life features, as well as tons of fixes and optimization. Key changes A major issue was being able to tell what items buildings have and what is happening with them. So the building inspection window now shows selected building's items. Firstly, this provides a straight-forward "explanation" about how the building pro…
Key changes For the past few weeks I have been working on adding civilian needs to MicroTown, among many other improvements. The population is now divided into workers and civilians. Workers will continue as before -- carrying items, constructing things and working at buildings. However, civilians will not do heavy work and will instead supply houses with items from markets -- food, firewood, m…
It has been a busy time since the Early Access release on 30th August. I have received so much feedback and suggestions! And so many people have made videos and held streams. You guys are amazing! Key changes For the past two weeks, I have been fixing bugs and issues as well as adding most pressing quality of life feature requests. All in all, 14 patches were uploaded. Among the top feature req…
I'm happy to announce that the early access version of MicroTown is now live! It's been a really busy time getting the game to a playable state. There is still much to be done, so I'd like to hear your feedback on the Steam forums, Discord or otherwise. Rudy
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Announcements are the developer’s own posts to the game’s Steam news feed: updates and their patch notes, in-game events, releases and sales. The important ones are marked on the players chart.