Join us for some chocolaty contraption building to celebrate the steam next fest!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2166920/Captain_Contraptions_Chocolate_Factory/

Two big announcements today. The first is that we've got the final masters of the full soundtrack for Captain Contraption's Chocolate Factory. I have updated the demo with the new tracks and also made a new trailer which you can watch below and share with your friends. We are super happy with the soundtrack, it's a low-fi beats style with some jazz vibes to pull you back to the 90s midi soundtracks of games which inspired us.

The second announcement is that the release date is now going to be a day earlier on 17th July... ...there were some big releases on the 18th we wanted to avoid and we are getting ahead of ourselves with development.

Also, we've started to see some YouTubers cover our demo - please show them some love - in particular check out this video from Angory Tom. If you can think of any YouTubers to contact about the game let us, or them, know!

In the rush of development work and life stuff we forgot to officially make a fuss that we announced the release date! We will be launching Captain Contraption's Chocolate Factory on 18th July 2024 for Windows and Linux.

The game will come with 50 puzzles, the full level editor, steam workshop support, steam deck support, steam achievements and whimsy.

It's been an incredible journey with this game so far, we have shot past our wishlist target and had so much great feedback from all of you. The next two months we'll be working on some polish whilst also trying to increase our wishlist numbers. So, if you have any friends who you think would enjoy the game we'd appreciate you sharing this with them. We literally would not exist without your support so thank-you!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2166920/Captain_Contraptions_Chocolate_Factory/

Good day chocolate fans

We are rapidly approaching the finish line with development on Captain Contraption's. We've recently released a bunch of updates to the demo based on your feedback - so do check it out if you haven't recently. A few weeks ago I started working on the final set of levels for the game which I've found super challenging - I really want them to be a culmination of everything that has come before.

To avoid doing that I've been spending a lot of time working on the trailer for the game - which is just as difficult and just as important. Here is my latest version... what do you think? I've love to get your feedback!

Howdy chocolate fans! It’s time for another development update for Captain Contraption’s Chocolate Factory...

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2166920/Captain_Contraptions_Chocolate_Factory/

The past few months have been as busy as ever, we've added some more components including a sorter which allows you to catch and sort ingredients and a pipe which allows you to move ingredients through each other. These components move the game a little towards a traditional factory conveyor belt style game - but still with the physics driven madness we want to be at the core. Remember you can watch videos of all these new mechanics in action over on our TikTok[www.tiktok.com].


We have also started work on localising the game, currently the demo is available in Korean, Japanese, Traditional and Simplified Chinese. If you would like us to include your language let us know in the comments.

Perhaps the most exciting news to share is that we have just met our target of 7,000 wishlists so are on track for launching the game in July 2024. Thank-you so much to all of you who have added the game to your wishlist and shared it with friends. We are at the stage now where our focus is on polish and level design, it is going to be an exciting few months!

Howdy chocolate fans! It’s time for another development update for Captain Contraption’s Chocolate Factory...

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2166920/Captain_Contraptions_Chocolate_Factory/

The biggest development since my last update is that we have completely reworked the meta-game and general progression. Originally we had planned to make an actual factory for you to explore and discover secrets, and although that sounds interesting we decided to cut it because we think our time is better spent designing more levels - which means more content in the final game. Instead of exploring a factory we have opted for a simpler menu system which you can try now in the demo.

Speaking of the demo, I've been adding new levels to the first three areas (which is what you get in the demo) which you can download and try now. We are aiming to launch the game after the next Steam Next Fest in June/July and so are going to be working on getting the demo a tight and rewarding experience - so please let us know what you think.

We've added a bunch more mechanics and experimented with things which just didn't feel great so we won't be including. The most game changing addition is the lift, which you can try in the sandbox levels in the demo!

Thanks again for all the support - please continue to share the game with friends and ask them to wishlist!

Remember you can watch all these new mechanics in action over on our TikTok[www.tiktok.com].

Howdy chocolate fans! It’s time for another development update for Captain Contraption’s Chocolate Factory. September and October is always a tricky month for me since my day job, university lecturer, is at its busiest. But there have been some new additions and some exciting developments with our wishlist numbers - let's start with that!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2166920/Captain_Contraptions_Chocolate_Factory/


As many of you know, wishlists are really important to ensure we don’t sink to the bottom of the steam store page, and normally we are happy if we get between 10 and 20 new wishes a week. Last week we got over 1,500! I have no idea why this happened, all I know is a lot more people are searching for the game on Steam - let me know how you discovered the game and if you are one of those 1,500. Our target number of wishes is 7,000 and we are currently sitting at 3,650 which I’m pretty pleased with - thanks to everyone who has wishlisted and shared our game around.


This month we added popcorn to the game. Popcorn mechanically works quite similar to almonds, you start with a kernel and need to heat it up to pop it. Once you have popcorn you might need to cover it in chocolate. But it feels quite different to almonds for a few reasons, firstly the size of the ingredient changes from the small kernel to a large popcorn when you process it. Secondly, the popcorn doesn’t weigh much so you can use fans and other things to move it around the level.


The main thing I’ve been spending my time on recently is level design, currently I’ve got about 50 levels complete using the ingredients implemented so far. Level design is something I can do in an evening so it is great for this time of year.

Moving forward I need to resist doing level design and adding new ingredients and put a bit of time into the growing list of bugs and other feedback you’ve given us from playing the demo. Those things are hard to make a TikTok about but super important to get done.

Thanks again for all the support - please continue to share the game with friends and ask them to wishlist!

Remember you can watch all these new mechanics in action over on our TikTok[www.tiktok.com].

Hello Chocolate Lovers!

Here are some updates on the new features we’ve been working on from inside the development factory…

Remember you can watch all these new mechanics in action over on our TikTok[www.tiktok.com].

We couldn't have a game of ours without portals (well Cycle 28 didn't I guess... lets say all the bad guys used portals to spawn off camera) - they behave just like you expect transporting ingredients from one place to another. There could be some interesting puzzle design using these, weirdly I think levels where you can only use portals might be challenging.

Bumpers are actually the first component I implemented in the first prototype of the game and we're only just getting them into the game! There is something super satisfying about getting the bouncing just right...

Popping candy is an ingredient you'll have to take care to handle. Any slight knock and these things are going to blow! Alongside the popping candy is a new component the force field, something which levitates ingredients and could be useful for more than just popping candy.

The other thing I've been working on is just level design. We've settled on aiming for around 100 levels which seems in line with other games like this... it all depends on how many new mechanics and ingredients we add though.
Currently we have 1,981 wishlists and our target for launch is 10,000. Thank-you to everyone who has already added the game to their wishlist. It really helps. Last month was a huge success wishlist wise, we got featured by a pretty big twitter account[x.com] which drove lots of traffic our way.

Hello Chocolate Lovers!

Here are some updates on the new features we’ve been working on from inside the development factory…


A problem (and also a feature) we have been running up against when designing levels for Captain Contraptions is how do you cross production lines? In a game like Factorio or Satisfactory this is a simple problem, you cross lines in the third dimension - either build a tunnel or a bridge. In our game this isn’t possible.

One one hand this crossing of production lines is a key challenge we can play with when designing puzzles. It is quite satisfying to get all the timings just right and have your two lines narrowly miss each other. However, without some sort of ‘crossing’ mechanic the design space for puzzles might become rather limited. Enter minecarts - the main thing we spent the last month working on.

Minecarts are self propelled and will exist within levels moving across a fixed path. You’ll then need to use these as part of your contraption design. Tunnels will then transport the carts and ingredients they carry “behind” the play area allowing you to cross production lines. There are also probably going to be some neat physics based puzzles we can create just with the carts themselves.

Watch it in Action[www.tiktok.com]


We have also been working on the backgrounds for the game and washed them out a little, to make the quite busy foreground a bit easier to pick out. Also to add a little bit of texture and variety we have added some decals to the containers, you can see the new background and decals in the TikTok video below.

Watch it in action[www.tiktok.com]


Currently we have 1,508 wishlists and our target for launch is 10,000. Thank-you to everyone who has already added the game to their wishlist. It really helps. Following the initial bump we received from the demo launch and the puzzle fest things have slowed down a fair bit, so if you have any friends you think might like the game please send them a link. Also if you know any streamers who you think might like the game - let me know in the comments.