I just finished uploading all the builds of Production Line version 1.49 (Still in alpha, early access). Here is a big long raw list of all of the changes:
1) [BUG] AI rivals now correctly check they have researched pre-requisites for a tech before researching that tech.
2) [Bug] Marketing achievement now correctly triggers at $5million, not $1million.
3) [Bug] Finance summary screen now ignores the current hour for calculating lifetime results, so it is consistent with reporting in the other columns.
4) [GUI] Left-clicking on a blueprint now brings up a menu allowing you to move, delete or buy that individual blueprint (if unlocked and affordable).
5) [GUI] Blueprint layouts are now saved and loaded within savegames.
6) [GUI] Features & components windows now moved to be part of the general efficiency window, and component chart redesigned so it shows production and consumption more sensibly.
7) [Balance] Customers now have a wider potential price range they are interested in, but base number of customers per hour has been reduced, so you run out of customers more quickly.
8) [Balance] Marketing campaign effects on brand awareness are now not as persistent as before.
9) [GUI] Breakdown of where customers come from now added to tooltip on market screen customers indicator.
10) [GUI] Redesigned main menu screens.
11) [Bug] Fixed crash bug when placing down a smart junction blueprint, converting it to a proper slot, then saving the game.
12) [Feature] New facility: Half size (mini) supply stockpile!
13) [Balance] Major changes to the costs of the different marketing campaigns.
14) [GUI] Marketing campaign progress now shown in marketing menu buttons tooltip.
15) [Balance] Make door panels, roof and steering wheel slots now takes twice as long but outputs 2 at a time, to reduce resource importer requirements.
16) [Balance] Make aircon power costs raised and production line raised, but output doubled.
17) [Balance] Make exhaust production time increased but output doubled.
18) [Balance] Slowed down production rate of make wheels slot, added more employees and boosted power demand.
19) [Balance] Increased build cost and process time of manufacture rollcage slot, but doubled its output.
20) [Balance] Reduced process time of manufacturing airbags.
21) [Balance] Increased construction cost of make exhaust slot and added 4 new employees to the slot.
22) [Content] Added 16 more car company logos to choose from.
23) [GUI] Archived designs no longer show up in the smart junction design GUI.
24) [Feature] New defect system, new rework station (and research requirement). Visual inspection slots can be placed anywhere, defects affect sales probability, based on new perceived brand quality metric.
25) [Bug] Fixed potential crash on car showroom screen.
26) [GUI] Slot picker now shows more sensible information on research office point generation.
…so! basically we have a lot of improvements to the blueprints system, new researchable mini supply stockpiles, plus a completely new defects system. The defects system needs some GUI improvements, and a tutorial and updates to the steam guide, and I will be working on all that sort of thing over the next week. It will probably require some balancing as well. Also note that we have made a bunch of balance changes to make it much more practical to produce components ‘in-house’ in this build.
This turned into a bigger than expected update because after doing all the requested blueprint improvements, I started work on defects, and then while that was being done, 16 new company logos showed up from the GUI artist, so its all been lumped into one feature and content heavy update, which is kinda cool. I really need to get working on tutorial stuff so the defects system is not confusing. I really like the way its working, but obviously I understand how it works, and its not that obvious to new players of the game yet.
As usual, I need to beg any players of the game who have not yet done so to review it on steam. Go to your page for the game in the steam client, and look for the ‘write review’ text on the right hand side (under LINKS). Its much appreciated.
