It has been a long time since the last update, and I have been busy preparing the next big set of additions. This one brings a lot of quality of life features, much more precise control over your logistics, and a brand new progression layer: the Power Grid. I did not keep proper notes while working, so a lot of the smaller changes will not be mentioned here. Many of these came straight from player feedback, so thank you for helping make Agromatic better! Let's start with the quality of life changes. QUALITY OF LIFE
Train wagon zone thresholds
This is probably the most important change, and I want everyone who has ever played Agromatic to know about it. Before, a train wagon could only be told one thing: the maximum amount to carry. Now each wagon has two extra guards:
Keep In Zone (Load): the wagon will not load an item out of a zone if that would drop the zone below the amount you set. Set it to "None" and the zone can be emptied like before.
Zone Limit (Unload): the wagon stops unloading once the destination zone already holds the amount you set. Whatever is left stays in the wagon.
Together these let you move goods precisely instead of just shovelling everything back and forth. Wagon capacity has also been increased: 30 to 40, and 60 to 80.
Zone selection by zooming out
A faster way to jump between zones. When the camera is already at maximum zoom out, zoom out once more and the zone selector modal opens.
Building now pulls materials from storage across zones
Previously you had to carry every required material in your inventory before you could place a building. That was tedious, so now construction automatically pulls the materials from storages across your zones.
Selling items straight from the zone
Selling manually used to mean moving items into your inventory, opening the Sell modal, then move them again from an inventory slot into a sell slot. Now you can just open the Sell modal, click Load Zone Items, and pick what you want to sell directly from the current zone. The list is already filtered down to items that are actually worth selling, since not everything is meant to be sold.
Worker applicants sorted by value
The hiring list used to look randomized, so you had to scroll through everyone to find the good ones. Applicants are now sorted by value, with the best traits at the top. There is also a Reject All button at the bottom. Since the applicant list has to be cleared before you can post a new hiring ad, this saves you from rejecting one by one when you want a different worker type.
Chair and table replaced by a single Dining Set
Instead of placing two separate pieces of furniture, there is now one Dining Set item. Placing it puts the table and the chair down together, already in the correct position.
Per zone meal config
Configuring which meals are allowed used to be done table by table. The meal config now applies to the whole zone instead.
Worker job focus
You can now lock a worker to a single job, for example a farmer that only does fertilizing, or a logistic worker that only unloads. Note that this is not a priority system: the worker will do that one job and reject everything else.
Crop depot keep amount per item
The buyer used to take every crop sitting in the crop depot. Now you can set how much of each crop to keep in storage, so your crafting workers can still grab them for seeds or other recipes.
One bridge item instead of two
Bridges used to come in a vertical and a horizontal version. There is now a single bridge item, and the game works out the correct orientation when you place it.
Queued worker zone transfers
Moving a worker to another zone used to require the worker to be idle. Now you can order the move at any time, even while the worker is sleeping or working, and they will make the trip once they are free.
Hide buildings button
A new button in the top left GUI, unlocked once the tutorial is complete, hides buildings so you get a clear view of what is underneath.
Tooltips everywhere
Tooltips are now implemented across a lot of the UI. If you are not sure what a control does, hover it and you will get a proper explanation.
Status icon indicators
Almost every placed object now shows a status icon, with details when you hover it: no ingredients at a crafting station, no electricity, and more.
Seed extractor crop limit
The seed extractor used to stop only when it had produced enough seeds. It now has a second stop condition: stop once the zone holds X of the crop that its seed plants.
Placing objects during an invasion
Invasions used to lock you out of placing objects, opening storage and so on. That restriction now only applies inside zone A3.
Greenhouse plot signs
Placing a single plot sign inside a greenhouse now assigns the entire greenhouse interior to the crop set on that sign, instead of only its own small plot.
NEW CONTENT
Power Grid
The headline addition, and a whole new production pipeline. It starts underground: scan the terrain with a Ground Scanner to find crude oil, pump it up with a Pumpjack, and pipe it into an Oil Refinery that turns crude oil into fuel oil.
From there you generate electricity. A Genset burns fuel oil, a Steam Generator burns coal, and an Inverter discharges batteries into the grid. Electric Poles carry the power outward, and Big Electric Poles cover a wider area with much longer cables.
Generators are throughput devices, not tanks the grid can drain all at once, so each one has a hard ceiling on how much power it can deliver per cycle. Doubling your consumers really does mean building more generators.
And there is plenty to spend it on: the electric oven, lathe, machining station, sand washer, tapping station, chemical plant, pellet maker, fill station, gunsmith bench, advanced computer, water pump, and the Power Depot, a railway terminal that charges an energy buffer off the grid and spends it launching trains instead of burning batteries.
Overview modal
A single place to read and manage a whole zone. Tabs for Resources, Craft Stations and Workers: take items out of any storage in the zone, search your stock, and check on your stations and workers without walking around.
3 new trees
New tree variations. Nothing special yet, purely visual.
3 new crops
They are actually flowers: lavender, jasmine and rose. Useful as decoration and as the base for valuable perfume products. Their seeds can only be obtained through quests.
Provisions Depot
Similar to the Crop Depot, but it only accepts processed food, and it becomes available much earlier.
Fish Cage
A 4x4 aquaculture structure that floats on river water. Stock it with fish you have caught, keep it supplied with fish food, and the stocked fish will breed on their own.
Firearms
Guns are in. Build a Gunsmith Bench to assemble pistols and rifles and to press ammunition, then arm your guards. A pistol is fast but light on stopping power, and a rifle is the most dangerous thing a guard can carry. Weapons wear down with use, and firearms are useless without a steady supply of bullets.
Guard skill and XP
Guards now earn combat XP for every enemy they kill. XP reads directly as a damage bonus, so a fully trained guard hits twice as hard as a fresh recruit.
The story continues
The story has been updated and pushed further along.
A note for demo players The Power Grid cannot be reached in the demo. Volta Enterprises, the store that opens the battery and electronics branch, stays locked in the demo version, and the Power Grid research sits behind it, past the Research Facility. So none of the oil, generator or electric machine content is playable there. I will open a playtest soon so everyone can try the new features.