Hello Citizens, today is the day - we are finally launching Eco 10 for you to play! Our team has put together a massive upgrade for the game, making this the biggest Update we ever made. And due to the introduction of settlements, it's also the one with the most changes to and impact on gameplay - making Eco even more interesting and collaboration focused! What you really want to hear about, though, is probably boats - so after a quick summary for all those of you that prefer to play it right away, let's get directly into what is new. Release Summary: [olist][*] [b]Boats & Coastal Construction[/b] – Boats have finally come to Eco! Discover the seas on six distinct boats with different purposes and build your ports with new, harbour-themed blocks! [*] [b]Towns, Countries & Federations[/b] – Instead of one global government, you are now progressively creating settlements - from a small town, over a great country to a federation of mankind. The government system is now fully tied into the core gameplay and brings collaboration to the next level! [*] [b]Culture[/b] – Create stunning pictures, accumulate culture in your settlements to expand their influence and gain new lands to claim, work together to annex settlements that pose a threat to the wellbeing of the planet and display your cultural achievements to everyone. [*] [b]New Avatars and Face Tracking[/b] – Avatars and the character creator were fully revamped, offering you much more possibilities to style them to your liking. Additionally you can turn on your webcam to animate your avatar with facial expressions and your hands. Combined with lipsynching, you can interact with other citizens like never before! [*] [b]Render to Horizon[/b] – With the upgraded lodding system you can now configure your world to display to the horizon, showing the curvature of the world and giving you a sense of its grandeur![/olist] And now, let's go into the details: [h2]Boats & Coastal Construction[/h2] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/25097638/44c3539f2055564d6656c5a5175c14088ca3570f.png[/img] [list][*] [b]Discover[/b] the worlds of Eco [b]on water[/b] for the first time [*] Build a [b]Canoe[/b] to quickly travel around on your own or craft a [b]Large Canoe[/b] to take a friend with you [*] Use the [b]Wooden Transport Boat[/b] to transport goods and [b]trade on different continents[/b] [*] Get yourself a [b]Fishing Trawler[/b] and become a [b]deep sea fisher[/b] [*] Transport two trucks with a [b]Wooden Barge[/b] or even up to four with an [b]Industrial Barge[/b] [*] Building in [b]deep oceans[/b] is no longer possible, gone are the days of continent spanning bridges [*] Swimming in deep ocean is extremely exhaustive - if you run out of calories you will drown and wake up at the shore [*] Added [b]new forms[/b] centered around docks to the hewn log blocksets to build your [b]ports[/b] - or anything else you find them suitable for [*] Added two [b]mooring posts[/b] on land and two [b]buoys[/b] on sea that you can lash your boats to [*] Added five [b]decorations[/b] fitting the nautical theme - Life Preserver, Ships Wheel, Hanging Buoys, Glass Buoys and Fish Rack[/list] [h2]Towns, Countries & Federations[/h2] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/25097638/b559ec100272842f4c9ce2e5ef21296cb85d26db.png[/img] [list][*] Players now start the game by claiming a [b]Homestead[/b] somewhere on the world [*] Players can join together to found [b]Towns[/b], [b]Countries[/b] and even [b]Federations[/b] [*] Each settlement has their own [b]claim stakes[/b] to create new deeds and [b]claim papers[/b] to expand them [*] Each of these settlement ejects [b]influence[/b], a circular area in which their claim papers and stakes can be used [*] The [b]influence[/b] of a settlement can be expanded through increasing the settlement's [b]culture[/b] [*] [b]Laws[/b] of a settlement are only valid [b]within its influence[/b] respectively for its own citizens - no more global government by default [*] Settlements can make [b]immigration policies[/b] to decide who can join them [*] Settlements of higher tiers can annex other settlement through a difficult process[/list] [h2]Culture[/h2] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/25097638/61b54178cdb307cf85d726654fcdee70397b405a.png[/img] [list][*] Create stunning [b]in-game pictures[/b] and images by using the [b]easel[/b] or one of multiple [b]cameras[/b] [*] Use the [b]printing press[/b] to upload your own images onto the server [*] Make [b]museums[/b] and show your pictures off in a multitude of [b]frames[/b] [*] Collect [b]reputation[/b] for your pictures and help your settlement increase its [b]influence[/b][/list] [h2]New Avatars & Facetracking[/h2] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/25097638/b7b902859b339e5794edcd4f3c42c798a220fe66.png[/img] [list][*] Completely [b]reworked avatars[/b], supporting [b]facial expressions [/b] [*] A new [b]creation flow[/b] to make your own avatar - [b]saved[/b] between play sessions [*] [b]Customize[/b] your avatar with many new [b]options[/b] and outfit it with many new [b]clothing items[/b] [*] Build a [b]dresser[/b] and [b]change your outfit[/b] on the server you currently are playing on [*] Support for [b]facetracking[/b], calibrate with your webcam and animate your avatars to show your own[b] facial expressions[/b] and [b]hand movements[/b][/list] [h2]Balancing & Techtree Expansion[/h2] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/25097638/d1c73788ad472a7764e9495381dc10d17c1c89ec.jpg[/img] [list][*] Improved [b]world generation[/b], ores will now generate in [b]veins[/b] and plants spawn in [b]localized clusters[/b] [*] Rebalanced[b] research papers[/b] and [b]upgrade modules[/b] to require [b]specialty[/b] investments [*] Revamped [b]power[/b] generation and consumption - the power network now properly prioritizes efficient power generators [*] Changed the [b]Steam Engine[/b] to provide [b]mechanical power[/b] instead of electrical and notably reduced the amount of mechanical power that the [b]Water Wheel[/b] and the [b]Windmill[/b] generate [*] Added the [b]Industrial Generator[/b] for late game power generation [*] Improved [b]Stone Roads[/b] - they now fully support [b]form fill types[/b] like their asphalt counterpart [*] Improved [b]Shovels[/b] - each tier of shovel now can [b]hold an increasing amount[/b] of dirt [*] [b]Rebalanced[/b] countless [b]crafting recipes[/b] and increased the [b]shelflife[/b] of seeds [*] Added a [b]new plant[/b] to the techtree and incorporated it into the lumber recipes - [b]flax[/b][/list] [h2]Miscellaneous[/h2] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/25097638/847f0e0a1686380e076f30806cea5a36ac22a31a.png[/img] [list][*] Added a "[b]Trust Landlord[/b]" option for renting, allowing landlords to [b]freely change property[/b] with residents on them, improving [b]Quality of Life[/b] for players [b]playing together[/b] on shared property [*] [b]Executive actions[/b] now support to target [b]single deeds[/b] and allow to [b]change reputation[/b] [*] Reputation now provides for [b]configurable daily limits[/b] and a "[b]Speak Well of Other[/b]" bonus to incentivize its usage [*] Settlements now also have a [b]reputation contingent[/b] usable via laws and executive actions - [b]reward your citizens[/b] for helping your settlement improve its culture [*] Improved [b]animal pathfinding[/b] to be less likely to collide or get stuck[/list] [h2]Twitch Extension[/h2] To support our amazing streamer community, we've created a unique plugin that will allow viewers to interact with the worlds a streamer plays in! [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/25097638/334f9f082a0b198874def0c9dc72531d3ba83b69.png[/img] [list][*] [b]Viewers can vote[/b] in elections (up to a defined percentage of total votes based on [b]settings[/b]) [*] [b]Displays graphs[/b] of ecosystem and economy data to [b]analyze the big picture[/b] [*] Shows [b]all relevant info[/b] about the server and allows viewers to [b]join based on configurable settings[/b][/list] We’re also starting a Twitch Drop campaign today, so watch Twitch streams to get your Update 10 nautical themed unique items, you can find all information on our website: https://play.eco/twitch-drops [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/25097638/1ec0228078208eb283e3841fdc20152dcb234189.png[/img] Thanks a ton from all of us at the Strange Loop team for all our old and new Citizens, this release marks our biggest so far, and there’s still lots more to come. -John K, CEO Strange Loop Games [b]Important Info for the Update:[/b] - Migration from Update 9.7.13 should work in most cases, but incompatible data will be removed in the process, changes to the world generation will not be available and the settlement feature can't be turned on for migrated worlds. - A world created on Update 10 with the settlements feature disabled can only turn it on when there is no civics in the world. Disabling the settlements feature is not possible once it was enabled at any point without restoring a backup from before it was activated.