Patch 1.1

A New Underground

We begin the journey to the depths of the patch notes with an overhauled underground experience. Starting small, a visual make-over has been done on the Frack Spots to make them less contrasting with the dirt and appear more visually palette-able. Small and subtle but effective.

Introducing Dense Dirt in the underground: this new underground tile has a gravel-y look and can be built through but pipes built through it will cost more monthly maintenance. A tutorial for Dense Dirt has been added to Scenario 2: Rocky Situation, and the tiles themselves have been added to more than a dozen stages throughout each mode.

Permafrost is re-freshed: building pipes through the icey permafrost tiles now shatters the ice while doing the same environmental damage as before. This is given a unique sound effect and animation and makes the tiles feel more special.

Introducing Gold Fracks

We are still technically talking about the underground. This is a new "mode" and victory condition. Scattered throughout the underground are eight Gold Frack Spots. Victory is simple, frack all eight spots and win. This is introduced in a tutorial in a new scenario, Scenario 12: Going for Gold. It has been added as a Quickplay option and every single quickplay stage is hand-made tailored to be compatible with the new victory condition. Adding new challenge to any stage.

Time to Excavate

Yes, we are *still* in the underground. The excavation tool has been entirely revamped. Selecting it in the Contractor Building now enters Excavation Mode - same as before. Hovering over a rock shows the cost to delete the block. That's not all though. Hovering over Dense Dirt and Permafrost also shows their excavation costs. Giving more player choice in how to navigate to underground - upfront costs or lasting effect?

Life As a CEO

The underground isn't the only place with significant new features. Try your hand in the financial sector with the new abilities - Government Bailout and Small Business Loan! You can take out a loan now, with interest of course. But you can also save yourself from financial failure with a crisp check from the government. With a collection of new financial abilities you'll probably want to make a build around them. So,

Introducing Amethyst Analytics

The sixth company in Frack the World is Amethyst Analytics and they are focused on the financial side of running a business. Their first Company Asset is pretty straight-forward: they start with more money than the other companies to get the wheels of changes going quickly. Their other Company Asset is tied to a new ability - the interest rate on small business loans is reduced. If you ever found yourself itching for more cash this may be your team. They do have an Oversight though - they consistently draw less oil from all Frack Spots than other companies because of their lack of expertise in actually, you know, fracking.

Introducing Company Assets and Oversights

Maybe you caught that last paragraph if you've played a bunch. This is a large balance change. Company passive abilities have been re-branded as Company Assets. Along with this, every single company (kind of?) has one Oversight - the thing they kind of suck at. Ruby Fracking Co. - the darling protagonist of our fracking journey has no discernable oversight. The others aren't so lucky. Sapphire Drilling has higher pipe maintenance costs. Peridot Fabrications yields no oil from excavation. Etc etc.

And a Lot More

Look there is a ton in this patch - way more than I expected but also strangely not including a couple things I mentioned a few weeks ago. Some stuff as it turns out needs more time to cook. But the full patch notes are below and I've highlight key things not mentioned above. These are not organized particularly well and I think I would go nuts actually organizing them now.

If you've read this far and want to support the continued development of Frack the World - please leave a review on the Store Page! One review goes a long way in visibility. I'm loving patching and adding to this game and seeing any sort of engagement is just so highly motivating as a solo developer.

Thanks all, enjoy the game!
Kyle



Patch 1.1 Changes

-adjusted text formatting in several locations
-altered the Advisor's Office menu design
-added government bailout
-added small business loan
-adjusted the color palette of frack spots to be more homogenous
-added Gold Fracks game setting to all quickplay stages
-added colorblind assistance option for frack colors
-digging into permafrost blocks now shatters permafrost (still does extra environmental damage)
-added a sound effect when permafrost shatter
-added dense dirt blocks
-revamped excavation
-pressing the "E" key now opens the excavation tool
-cost to excavate now displays on object hover
-can now excavate permafrost
-can excavate dense dirt blocks
-re-designed Scenario 2: Rocky Situation to include a tutorial on dense dirt
-re-designed Scenario 7: Frozen Land to include a tutorial on using the Excavation tool on permafrost
-added dense dirt to Scenarios 3,9,10,11
-added dense dirt to Quickplay Stages 4,5,6,9,10,11,12,17,19,20,22
-added lifetime stats for Dense Dirt Excavated, Permafrost Excavated, Turbines Built, Land Bought, Fog of War Stages Won, Gold Frack Stages Won, and Water Table Stages Won
-re-named a couple of stats in the Stats menu for consistency
-re-organized the grouping of several stats in the Stats menu
-birds can no longer end up underground
-adjusted the flight patterns of a couple birds
-birds die when they collide with a wind turbine
-land-for-sale signs now display their price on hover and can be clicked to immediately purchase, no separate window or menu
-added News Flash 24,25,26,27
-fixed a typo in news flash 22
-fixed a bug that occurred when clearing Scenario 11 and re-entering the Scenario menu
-added 10 new steam achievements
-renamed company passive abilities to company assets
-re-worded ruby fracking co asset on tree health generation
-added company oversights
-ruby fracking co oversight: no discernable oversight
-sapphire drilling oversight: pipe maintenance is 20% higher
-emerald eco mining: greater negative effect from building a Plastic Manufactory
-topaz excavations: sustainability building is more expensive
-peridot fabrications: excavation yields no oil
-amethyst analytics oversight: less oil is drawn from frack spots
-added Scenario 12: Going For Gold
-added a new company, Amethyst Analytics, to Quickplay
-added a new music track while playing as Amethyst Analytics