LOGistICAL

Sacada has now released over 35 LOGistICAL modules covering half the planet, and is now working on the ultimate LOGistICAL module:

LOGistICAL 3: Earth.

LOGistICAL: Earth has around 50,000 towns to complete across the globe.
There are also 1000s of businesses, truck boosts, road fixes, industry upgrades, discovery contracts and much, much more.
The architecture has been extensively updated and it now takes a fraction of a second to map a route across the entire globe.
There are many sub games and sub-sub games within the game.
Every country is included.
There are many puzzles throughout the globe including many puzzles within many countries and groups of countries.
There are around 100,000 roads. There are also many ferries to take your trucks across short lengths of water.
Build up the Ocean network. Buy large ships and move cargo between continents.
There are over 200 cargo types and over 150 industries with more on the way.

LOGistICAL took while to complete. I didn't expect anyone to ever accomplish it but now many have.
LOGistICAL: Earth will take a life time. It could be the worlds largest puzzle about the world.

There is a channel on the Discord where you can get alpha versions of LOGistICAL: Earth as well as read or join in the discussions.
https://discord.gg/xytyWUA

Try it out soon on Steam. In the meantime you can try out LOGistICAL 2 with many free modules and lots of DLC content to play.

https://store.steampowered.com/publisher/Sacada

The Steam Autumn sale is on and LOGistICAL is in it. Lots of Discounts including:
50% off LOGistICAL
40% off LOGistICAL 1 other modules (DLC and Standalone)
30% off LOGistICAL 2 modules and additions (DLC and Standalone)*

*Does not include newer modules that are too soon to discount.
 

Unlike LOGistICAL 2: Vampires, LOGistICAL 2: Mall Rats is not about sprawling rats.

Mall Rat: "a young person who frequents shopping malls, usually for social purposes"



Mall Rats is more along your traditional type of LOGistICAL game with an emphasis on puzzles. There is both the tough consumption towns as well as non-consumption "idle" malls to complete.
Mall Rats' roads is in the style of LOGistICAL 1 with straight lines between towns.
Mall Rats cover all the states of the USA and also approximately another 1000 additional towns.
Travel is between the state capitals and then down to each of the towns and businesses.
The businesses are the malls of the USA. There are a lot of them and some are huge.

Mall Rats uses big, fast trucks with lots of puzzling town locks to figure out.

Mall Rats should go live on the 2nd Dec 2019.
 

There are a bunch of standard updates with some fixes to some of the newer modules like Texas, Indonesia and Vampires.
There is also a couple of new features.
 

For those that have missed the towns on the map, they are back.
They are looking just the same but now you can turn them completely off in the settings.
The choice is now yours to view them or not.
 

I love this one. It is very simple and once you get used to it, it may also become your favourite new tool.

While dragging a truck with a cargo, you will often hover over the providing industry and find that it is in need of a resource input. To cancel creating a route, you have to drop the "drag" somewhere and then have to find that town somewhere on the map.
Once found you then drag the input resource to find its source industry. This can happen a few times.

NOW... you can "ctrl drop" the "drag".
When you drag your truck over the source industry, hold down the control key on the keyboard and then drop the truck. A route is not created and instead that town is selected. You can then drag the input resource (or whatever you needed to do) without having to re-find that town.

I am finding that I am using this in a variety of ways.
If I need to find an industry of some sort (for example a wool mill), I find an industry that has fertilizer in it (there are lots of them).
I start dragging any truck (even one that is doing something totally different as you don't end up assigning that truck a job so it doesn't matter).
I drag the truck to a shearing shed industry.
I then "ctrl-drop" onto that town.
The town with the shearing shed is now selected.
I can then drag the wool from the industry output, over the map, to find the wool mill and "ctrl-drop" onto that town.
Done. I have the wool mill industry's town selected.
I can then select an available truck and use it to do whatever I needed to do.
 

There are a few modules that use superboosts. They are the ones that keep multiplying your truck's speed by 2x, 4x, etc.
The problem is that only the final truck delivering the cargo gets the superboost.

Not anymore. Now if your last delivery truck is already maxed out with superboosts, that superboost will go to your oldest truck on your list that isn't superboost maxed out.

If all trucks are maxed out, then the superboost is wasted.

This will work for all older modules that use superboosts.
 

If your map is looking like an acupuncture scene, you can now remove many pins at once.

Press "shift-O" to remove all the pins of the same colour and stripe colour (shift-P).
There is a warning message, just in case you change your mind.
 

Just a few updates in the truck dragging routines, like turning off all the business icons so you can see your map better.
 

I would just like to publicly thank all the testers that have worked on this upcoming module and on all the LOGistICAL modules over the years.
It is a love job and they do a tremendous job trying to complete each module before the release dates. Trying to keep ahead of some of the power players (you know who you are :D ) is quite a difficult task.

I would also like to thank all those that contribute issues they find in the game and are often there to help me through the process of reproducing errors until it gets fixed and is then great for everyone that follows.

Thank you all that give me all the great encouragement messages to continue to produce more product. I hope to continue and our team of dedicated players grows over time. It is a special game and once you get it, it is great fun.

And for all those that just quietly play in the background. Thank you too, for your support.

Sacada.

LOGistICAL 2: Indonesia is now available to play as a DLC of LOGistICAL 2.

LOGistICAL 2: Indonesia on Steam

Indonesia - Bali is free to play.
All other regions are in-app pay.
There is an option to buy the entire module with 12 sub-modules at 40% off.
Regions will slowly release every 3-4 days over the next month.
There are count down dates on each region.

LOGistICAL 2 become free to play on Wednesday.


 

Build #791c is a general build to all "L1 to L2" and L2 modules.



I have been working on restructuring the main core code to cater for many smaller modules that will be available via either DLC or in-app purchasing. There is still work to be done in this area but it is fairly close.

After discussion with Steam, LOGistICAL: Indonesia will now be a DLC of LOGistICAL 2.
The first available module of Indonesia will be "Indonesia - Bali". This will be a free module to all owners of LOGistICAL 2. The other islands of Indonesia will be available soon after as a progressive roll-out. I am creating a discount bundle for Indonesia for those that want the entire module.
 

- Fix for the high scores not being accessible from the Statistics page
- Update on the statistics to include all the town and mailbox totals from all the modules that aren't currently loaded.
- Removal of businesses in high scores from L1 modules
- More work on the map drag and rendering. Nearly all done.
- Optimisations in the running of the game to cater for the larger modules with lots of roads
- New code that requires town fixes before specific roads become available
- Moved the code to connect to Steam further into the code as it isn't initialising fast enough for some players and causing an error
- Added more animations when finishing a town to indicate bonus earned
- Added "?" for unknown inputs into industries
- I added a list of LOGistICAL games that the current module will open in, on the globe page. Mouse over module to view.

The time has finally come to upgrade LOGistICAL 1 (L1) into the LOGistICAL 2 (L2) framework.



Over the next few weeks most of the L1 modules will be upgraded into the L2 framework.
 

I will keep this section updated as more modules get upgraded to L2.

Complete on Live
These modules are fully upgraded to the L2 framework and have had their backgrounds upgraded.
Each of these are split into bootable groups. Select any of the modules within the group to be able to play any of the others within that group. For achievements you will need to play the actual game.

• Group 1
• LOGistICAL
• LOGistICAL: Netherlands
• LOGistICAL: New Zealand
• LOGistICAL: Germany
• LOGistICAL: Canada
• LOGistICAL: Egypt
• LOGistICAL: USA - Hawaii
• LOGistICAL: USA - California
• LOGistICAL: ABC Islands
• LOGistICAL: Isle of Man
• LOGistICAL: Tutorial
• LOGistICAL: Xmas (2017)
  Group 2
• LOGistICAL: Chile
• LOGistICAL: British Isles
• LOGistICAL: Norway
• LOGistICAL: Switzerland
• LOGistICAL: Brazil
• LOGistICAL: Italy
• LOGistICAL: Switzerland
• LOGistICAL: ABC Islands
• LOGistICAL: Isle of Man
• LOGistICAL: Tutorial
• LOGistICAL: Xmas (2017)

L2 is now over 200 builds ahead of L1. Many of these upgrades are L2 specific, but there have been many other nice fixes and features added that will be great for L1 as well.

After all the L2 upgrades and map enhancements, the main differences between L2 and L1 will be the complex roads and the businesses. Businesses are like non-consuming towns, though they sometimes have more functionality.
There are many new L2 modules in development coming out soon, covering many different play-styles as there are many different player preferences.

Partial screenshot of "LOGistICAL: USA - California" in the L2 framework.

 

I am trying to make the L1 to L2 upgrade and save game import process as seamless as possible.

Once the beta testing is complete the L2 framework will go Live for L1. This will start with the main LOGistICAL module and its DLCs and then slowly work across all the other LOGistICAL 1 modules.

The first thing you will notice is the build number at the top of the globe page increasing by over 200 build numbers.

The front page will show you the latest news which is now sourced from an external site and so doesn't require a build to upgrade it.
 

A large change in this build is that every module now has its own save game file.

This provides much quicker saving and reduced the complexity with integrated modules.

You will now be able to launch different games via Steam to play simultaneously in different modules without overwriting the save of another module.

The first time you load an L1 module in an L2 framework, you will get the same load window with the same files within it.

Select your L1 save game and it will "import" it into the new L2 framework.

Once the game loads and saves it will create a new file name with the prefix of the module that you played.
Next time you play the same module you will get the new L2 save game.


For example:
Load save game "00277_20190204" from LOGistICAL (California)
It will save as "USCA00002_20190604"

Note: There is no path to go from L2 back to L1.
ie. You cannot open an L2 save game in L1.
 

For a short period of time I will keep a copy of the L1 build #540 available as a "beta" version called "L1 540"

If you want to continue to play in the L1 framework or wish to put your trucks into strategic positions before the upgrade, you can do this from here.

To open the "L1 540" beta build:

• Right click on the game within Steam and select "Properties"
• Select the "BETA" tab
• Select the "L1 540" build from the drop down list.
• There is no password required.
• The old build should now download and you can play as you normally would.

Note: There will be no L2 save games within the load game directory.

If you do this and then wish to get back to the new L2 version, follow the same steps above, but instead select the "NONE: Opt out of all beta programs" option in the drop down list on the BETAs tab.
This will have to be done for each of the LOGistICAL games if you have done it in those as well.
 

There are now independent saves for each module including each DLC (see above for more detail)

Australia (AU) and New Zealand (NZ) are now two totally separate games.
Playing NZ no longer loads AU and there is no path across the Tasman Sea.
New start contracts place you at a port near Auckland.
The industries from AU that were required in NZ have now been added at the Auckland port.
The trucks that were used from AU will not import into L2. Instead there is a new truck depot at the Auckland port were you can buy four new trucks (with boosts).

Global speedups will no longer be global.
All the global speedups that you have earned will import into the new saves.
There are new "local" speedup contracts to help you quickly get some speed in each modules. Most of these start with 5 or less towns to complete.
There are enough "local" speedups to get to the maximum speed of the module.
 

There have been many fixes and enhancements added since the last L1 build (#540). Most of these are available from the "LOGistICAL News" website that shows on the loading screen.

LOGistICAL News Link[logistical.sacada.net]

The background maps of L2 are vector based (instead of bitmaps) and can give a lot more detail.
The old L1 maps are being slowly upgraded to L2 maps. It makes for a much nicer interface on every zoom level.
Here is an example of an L1 screenshot in L2 (California).

 

It is great to have as many beta testers on this one as possible.

To try out the new L2 framework with the L1 modules...

• Right click on the game within Steam and select "Properties"
• Select the "BETA" tab
• Select the "L1 to L2 beta" build from the drop down list.
• There is no password required.
• The new build should now download and you can play as you normally would.

If you have any issues or questions, post them publicly in the LOGistICAL forum on Steam or the LOGistICAL Discord.

Thanks everyone for playing, beta testing and for coming back here for more LOGistICALling.

Sacada.

A modification to put a "cap" on the amount of points a business could receive was introduced a while ago in L2.

This process basically set a static value of the "truck tonnage" that was delivering to businesses, so you could do it with a large truck or a small truck and it didn't alter the final score for that business.
I think doing businesses with the smallest trucks available that could take days to weeks was just not good for anyone's health. I know. I have done it myself (Xmas 2017).

This "cap" for businesses actually introduced a problem as it also mistakenly applied to the actual towns that use consumption.
This latest for a short while until I noticed and corrected with a build update one day after the release of France.



Now it is time to correct this mistake.

While France is still active with lots of players that haven't completed it yet, this current build has a process that will find missing high score values and replace those missing ones.

To make this work, I am going to move the high score data from France that was posted prior to 2nd May 2019.
When you load your game up a check will be done between the count of towns in your save game and the high score table. It will then upload those missing towns to the high score table and balance will be restored.
The process involves queuing the data as I have found posting them all at once misses a large amount of them.
If it doesn't get them all the first time, it will continue the next to you restart your game. 
If nothing triggers at the start of the game, you can force it to trigger by clicking the statistics (F2).
It will only do it once during any game session.

You should see the data being processed in the "events log" at the bottom right of the screen.

Sorry for any inconvenience and I hope this process goes as smoothly as the test cases.

Happy trucking,
Sacada.

... and now onto the additional build modifications...
 

• Fixed problem with -ve values for Haulage (visible in to completion screen. ie click on town resources once town is complete). Does not fix current -ve scores retrospectively.
• Routine to find missing high scores and resend them to the server (you need to be on the module where the missing scores are).
• Extended routine for missing town highscores to include no towns on highscore server
• Fixed collection of roads in Suriname
• Corrected the total town amount in Suriname to 28 towns.
• Put a ring around incomplete towns to see them better when zoomed out
• Fixed a couple of rendering issues
• Set a 1/2 second time delay when sending bulk records to the high score server
• Set up routine to fix high scores after some get removed due to being incorrect
• Added text under the % rendering to indicate what is happening
• Moved the "Loading... " text up from the bottom of the screen
• Added businesses to "missing towns on high score server" routine

LOGistICAL 2: France is a large open-world, strategy, puzzle game where you transport different cargoes to complete all the towns throughout the country.

LOGistICAL 2: France has a strong focus on the puzzling aspects of LOGistICAL and takes you back to the non-business town-only playing strategies of LOGistICAL 1 while retaining the high resolution road systems of LOGistICAL 2.

Over 3500 towns and 50 businesses to complete.

Each LOGistICAL module has many unique things to do. In LOGistICAL 2: France you can:

• Fix roads to towns throughout the complex road system.
• Most trucks sizes fit on all the roads, even with cargo.
  
• There are lots of quarantine zones.
• Some regions don't allow building any industries.
• Complex LOGistICAL puzzle solving around the quarantines.
• Roads to towns are all of the highest quality, so don't need upgrading.
• Find some of the industries throughout the map. Upgrade them so you can build your own.
• 13 new industries and 13 new resources.
• Over 180 industry types.
• Truck boosts include a super speed multiplier.
• Module includes contracts to complete for those not knowing just where to start.
• Businesses don't consume resources.
• Businesses have a static score this is not based on trucks sizes or amounts.
• NEW: Information button to show details about any town.
• NEW: Information button to show details some of the businesses.
  
• Pre-rendering of the maps (35km and greater) to bitmap to speed up the game play when zoomed out.

LOGistICAL 2 brings you all the fun and puzzling of LOGistICAL with even more towns, more puzzles and much more to do.

This LOGistICAL 2: France module brings you over 3500 towns to complete.

LOGistICAL 2: France game covers the country of France including cities like Paris, Marseille, Lyon, Toulouse and many, many more.
There are many new obstacles and deliveries to make.