Once more, a Clockwork Empires appears, but be sure that you –

This update will go live to every Clockwork Empires player via Steam!

We have also updated our Clockwork Empires: Development Progress report!

(Don’t own the game? Clockwork Empires can be purchased on ClockworkEmpires.com via Humble or from Steam.)

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Patch Notes:

Clockwork Empires v37

Major Features

• lots of engine, rendering, and AI optimizations
• new character skill system (& character models set by highest skill)
• revamped resource harvesting UI
• lots of new cult & bandit events
• icon added for single bottle of rum

The Engine

• optimization: removed unnecessary matrix calculations from renderer backend
• optimization: Rewrote all code for handling of static props to use flat arrays for cache efficiency
• FIXED: zone decals (farms, graveyards, roads, ???) now correctly render in screen space as volumetric decals

Human Characters

• Added middle-class character skills:
  • resource collection
  • carpentry
  • smithing
  • cooking
  • science
  • farming
  • construction & repair
• added a skill progression system (though job time reduction based on skill level is not yet fully implemented – it’s on workshop jobs, resource collection, and construction & repair so far.)
• related: a whole mess of profession-specific character models have been hooked up (these change based on workcrew overseer’s primary skill)
• optimization: characters won’t attempt to fulfill dependencies they don’t need (stowing tools when they don’t need to, fleeing from monsters when none are around, etc.)
• FIXED: invite to cult feedback said it was trying to form a new cult (+ made text description more informative)
• cults: if a cult doesn’t have a shrine and has >= 3 members, it will attempt to build a shrine
• colonists will now be woken up by gunshots, melee fighting, and explosions based on distance from source of sound (rather than damage target)
• “embrace eldritch visions” action now plays a variety of animations
• weighted down the appeal of “admire painting/fine machinery/implements of science” jobs
• medicinals (Laudanum, Sulphur Tonic) have a chance to remove the desire to form a cult from maddened colonists
• FIXED: colonists inspired to start a cult already in a cult won’t start a new cult
• cults: cult will select most hardcore member to be a new leader if their old leader dies
• cults: a cult will end if all members are dead
• cults: cultists will attempt to worship at cult shrines each night
• cults: non-cultists witnessing cult worship will become upset; cultists witnessing cult worship will become happy
• cults: cultists will become irrationally happy if they do any sort of cult things
• cults: a colonist’s religion description string will update if they join a cult (as minion or leader)
• cults: occult murder re-activated; occult murderers won’t flee from justice (they serve a higher law)
• cults: a cult will request permission to build a shrine the first time, allowing player to tolerate or persecute cult shrines
• cults: shrines can be destroyed by any damage source & cultists will be angered if their shrine is destroyed (by any means)
• added more character names (call me Ishmael)
• FIXED: stockpile hauling jobs utility would tank due to distance calculation

Combat & Military 

• optimization: improved speed of time soldiers spend checking alarm queries
• optimization: improved speed of time spent checking for hostiles
• balance: doubled reload time for characters w/o military training
• made fishguns unusable by humans (because they’re both terrible and would ruin the gun economy)
• soldiers will attack cult shrines if policy is set to persecute cults

Non-Human Characters (Animals, Monsters, Vehicles)

• overhaul of bandits in-progress (and yes, bandits technically fall under the “monsters” category)
  • improved feedback for various decisions made by bandits (setting up camp, attacking player)
  • bandits will form gangs (like workcrews, but for crime!); bandit gangs get their own names
• bandit combat behaviour improved (won’t ignore gunfire to steal stuff, usually; entire gang will retreat if > 50% of squad is fleeing, etc.)
• balance: made fishpeople less excited about attacking gabions
• polished minor issues with fox pack-hunting behaviour

Buildings & Building Creation

• colonists using a stockpile will now always prefer the closet stockpile square
• FIXED: characters would drop tools in any old stockpile
• FIXED: game would crash sometimes when cancelling an assignment, cancelling jobs, and picking up a job that was cancelled on the same frame
• balance: increased interrupt value of “repair module” and “gather building materials for repairing module”
• balance: doubled output of farms, halved hunger/starvation time
• added correct description to Chicha (an alcoholic beverage brewed from maize!)
• FIXED: chalkboards now have a 1×3 footprint
• the macroscope is no longer backwards
• FIXED: modules not individually selectable after save/load
• FIXED: modules sometimes not getting correct tooltips selected and still always displaying module costs
• FIXED: modules not having correct bounding box set in object grid after save/load
• FIXED: misspelling of “fibrous” in Flax Straw description
• combined the Refinery, Arsenal, and Metalworks into the Metalworks building
• added “Upgrade Musket To Carbine” job; basic single-shot weapons (musket, pistol) can now be upgraded to multi-shot weapons

Multiplayer

• work on determinism
• work on tools to debug determinism

Events, Metagame, & The Overworld

• balance: criminal favour gives random 1-3 criminals rather than always 3
• balance: redcoats favour gives one fewer soldiers
• added a number of new events based on population and traits, as well as a fun bonus one for mining
• allowing too many cult shrines to be built may trigger an investigation
• added “how to use a workshop” contextual tutorial
• “Research Family Tree” event now has consequences
• “Lord Palmerstoke’s Science Crate” event has been completely revamped and is ridiculous
• “Ominous Dreams” event now actually fires and adds madness to its victim
• FIXED: events w/o consequences (ie. many new memories made in response to player decisions)
• balance: made supply drop really rare & take a long time

UI/UX

• added icon for bottle of rum
• added descriptive text of madness level to character info panel
• shortened tutorial tooltips (they were overflowing their background)
• added game website to title menu just because
• added sound effects to a lot of UI elements
• added line placer for clicking and dragging out gabions and other rows of elements
• added feedback for building demolition orders (clicking the button now closes the UI, reopening it shows an alert that it’s slated for removal)
• added new assignment beacon system for resource collection jobs
• added “assignment zones “drawn around new assignment beacon areas when their control icon is moused over
• added contact note on launcher
• revised some icons to show ceramics kilns vs. smelter modules
• finished the graveyard icon, finally

Have fun and let us (but not the Ministry) know through our portal or forum if anything goes wrong!

HOTFIX 37A

Oh hey, there’s a hotfix on Steam as of March 20, it does this:

• FIXED: error in jobs/assignments which could break jobs system
• FIXED: game crash when saving a job system thus broken

These are good things to have fixed. Carry on!