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Catman [developer] Sep 6, 2023 @ 8:00am

FAQ - welcome to dotAGE!

19/06/24: I wrote a new FAQ with a lot more information! Enjoy!

System

Does dotAGE work on a Steam Deck?
The game is completely playable on Steam Deck, and since December 2023 it also has full controller support! Since the 3rd of January 2024 it has been Verified by Valve!

Will the progress in the demo carry over to the game?
Yes!

Does dotAGE work with a controller?
Yes, the game is fully playable with a controller!

Will dotAGE be coming to Nintendo Switch?
I am hard at work for console versions!

Will dotAGE support language X?
The current languages are in the game thanks to volunteers, so it really depends on whether someone is willing to help add a new one.
Check out this thread for the current Localization status:
https://steamcommunity.com/app/638510/discussions/0/4146194159905848328/

Where are the save files?

'Player.log' is a log of your latest game with debug information, needed for bug reports
'profile0.age' is your complete Profile with stats, achievements, and unlocks, found in \Steam[STEAMID]\ProfileA
'game0.age' is your current run, found in \Steam[STEAMID]\ProfileA\GameA

You can find all your save files in the following folders:

For Windows: C:\Users\[YOUR_USER]\AppData\LocalLow\CKCGames\dotAGE

For Linux: ~/.config/unity3d/CKCGames/dotAGE/

For Mac, you can find the save files here: ~/Library/Application Support/CKCGames/dotAGE/
And the Log file here: ~/Library/Logs/CKCGames/dotAGE/Player.log

How can I completely reset the game?
Go in the "Records" screen from the "Current Story" screen and click Reset Profile. This will delete everything! There is also a button to reset only the Tutorial.

Help! I messed up my saves due to Cloud Saves overriding them!
The game saves a backup of your current run every 10 turns, so you can restore that.

Start the game and reach the title screen
Go to the folders with save files
Grab one of the backups, they are named something like game_backup_turn_350_0.age
Override game0.age with the backup (this is your current run)
You can override the current Cloud Saves by pressing LEFT CTRL + LEFT SHIFT + C to push the local save to the cloud

Gameplay

How do you train a Pip / make a new Pip?
Most game actions are performed by right clicking on a Building. Try clicking on a building where a Professional can work to train a new one, or a Dwelling to make a new Pippin.

How can I increase the building range of my village?
All buildings with the Road trait enlarge the village area. Build more Dwellings, and especially build more Signposts, as they enlarge your area even more.

Does the Wet ailment do anything?
The Wet ailment has no effect by itself, but many strong events have it as a requirement

How can I get food from Chicken?
By themselves, Chicken do nothing, you need a building to extract Eggs from them, or use Butchers to transform them into meat.

How does the range of Building Traits (such as 'Requires Dwelling Within 2') work?
The range counts orthogonal tiles (i.e. vertical and horizontal, no diagonals), and they must be walkable.
Forests, Mountains, and Water tiles block building range for what concerns building Traits.
Fishers use a special logic that allows them to swim, however.

How does the "Requires Cobblestone/Clearing Path to X" work?
These traits require you to build a completely connected path using pavements from one Building to another Building.
The path must start from the first building and connect to the other one, and both must have the correct pavement below.

I am playing Santa / playing with Snow and buildings produce 0!
Snow reduces the output of any building on top of it by 1. Try to find a way around that!

Argh! Game is too hard / too easy!
The game has no hidden adjustment mechanism, as I dislike those in games.
The difficulty varies greatly depending on your first turns, playstyle, strategy and general experience with similar games.

If you are here for some cosy village building, try the easy or even relax mode.
If you are an optimizer, you will probably want to try hard mode first.

Normal mode should be beatable after a few tries, even if you have never played a similar game before, so if you can snowball (and you can snowball a lot here), good for you! Have you tried challenge mode?

Y event / building / boon is unbalanced!
Please come on Discord here: https://discord.gg/JhNAurxQsY, use the report button, or post in this forum, I'm looking for feedback for the next balance updates!

Why don't you add X mechanic?
For discussing new content, check out the game's Discord where we talk about new ideas!

Advanced Controls

How can I disable Pips / Animals from eating a specific food?
Access the Food tab on the top left. You can disable a specific Food from being eaten by Pips or Animals indipendently.

How to Untrain a Pip from a Profession?

Hold *shift* and left click on a Pip to select him. You can untrain them with the menu that appears on him, or with the menu that appears on the right.
You can also untrain Pips in the Pips Recap menu
This also works for Demoting a Bourgeoise Pip

How to select a specific Pip for an action / to be cured?
Hold *alt* to enter "pip picking mode", which allows you to select a specific Pip for any action. Hold *alt* while performing a Cure action to first select the worker, and then the patients!

How can I force an action to be performed even if there are no Pips available?
You can try holding *ctrl* and clicking the action, or holding the button for the action down for a second, and the game will try to *force* the action, eventually freeing another Pip from their job if needed.

How can I see what Ailments a specific Pip has?

Hold *shift* and left click on a Pip to select him, and see their details on the menu that appears on the right
Go to the Pip Recap menu and find the Pip

How can I find a specific building on the map?
There are several ways to do so:

Hold *shift* while clicking on a Building in your Building Construction menu below to jump to the selected building
Click on a Resource in your Pool to highlight all buildings that are currently producing or consuming that resource
Hold *shift* while clicking on a Resource in your Pool to jump to a building that is currently producing or consuming it. Otherwise, click on a Building Type in the Buildings tab on the top left to highlight all related buildings. This behaviour can be toggled with the above one in the settings.
Hold *shift* while clicking on a Building Type in the Buildings tab on the top left to jump to a related building

How can I find a Pip with a specific Ailment / Job / Class on the map?

Click on a specific Ailment / Job / Class in sub-menus in the top right to highlight all such Pips on the map. Hold *shift* while clicking on a specific Ailment / Job / Class in sub-menus in the top right to jump to them. This behaviour can be toggled with the above one in the settings.

How can I Speed Up the game? Turns are too slow!

Turn on "Fast Pass Turn" in your Game settings. This will reduce most waits as you pass the turn and make Pips run very fast when you pass the turn. It is a good option to use if you want the game to be faster while still watching the animations.
Turn on "SUPER Fast Pass Turn" in your Game settings if that is not enough. This will make the game super-fast by merging all event effects, and skipping even more animations, but it is advised only for players that know the game, as while all information is still shown, you might miss some happenings due to the speed.

How can I place multiple buildings at once?
Hold SHIFT while placing buildings to not close the building menu

Can I research multiple buildings in the same turn?
Yes, since patch 1.3, if you have enough Knowledge saved up, you can press a button on the current researched building to unlock it immediately

How can I disable a food from being eaten?
Click on the Food tab on the top-left to access a menu that lets you disable specific food from being eaten either by Pips or Animals

Unlocks

I unlocked Fishing Post but there are no fish!
Once you unlock a game element, it can start appear in your runs, even in your current run. Watch out for events that add them to the map!
Fish will also be able to appear on your starting map at your next game

I unlocked Rabbit Hutch but I cannot find it!
Rabbit Hutchs appear as an alternative to Chicken Pens. Many buildings change between runs, so you might encounter it next game!

How do you unlock X?
Almost all content is unlocked through the Memory system, even the new Elders.
The Apocalypse Tower is unlocked when completing your current research tree for the first time, or completing a game.
Mastery Mode for a specific elder is unlocked when winning at Hard or Harder.

Miscellaneous

Who are you, and what are you doing here?
Name's Michele, nice to meet you! I'm a 36 year old guy from Bergamo, Italy, where I still live. I LOVE games, I do game dev freelancing for a living, I have 3 cats, a lovely family, and a big collection of board games. For the last nine years, I've been working on this game in my spare time.

Wait... how long has the game been in development?
I started in 2014, so quite a few years.

...really?
Yes, really, I improved it a lot from the beginning, but the core was there from the beginning! As I made it in the little spare time I could find, it took quite a while to get to a point I was happy with.

What inspired you to make this game?
I wanted to make a love letter to The Settlers, as it was my first love when I was a little boy of 4 years old. But I didn't want to make a clone, I wanted to make something new. In 2014, I played FTL and realised that roguelike mechanics could be combined with other genres, so I decided to make a roguelike village builder!

How many people worked on dotAGE?
I did the graphics (I couldn't draw before this game), UI, UX, game and sound design, and programming for the whole game in my spare time.

Luigi di Guida, friend and master composer from Naples, did the awesome music tracks (did you know this is *real* medieval music?).

Jake Hunsbusher volunteered to do the voices and he did a great job!

I paid an old man a few dollars for the voice in the title screen.

Many volounteers are now translating the game to different languages!

Links

Is there an Official Wiki?
Here is the Wiki, courtesy of the community!
All edits are welcome if you want to help, as the game has a lot of information to parse.
https://dotage.wiki.gg/wiki/Main_Page

Is there an Official Discord channel?
Here! Come say hello, and post your cat!
https://discord.gg/Yn3bPNMSED

Where can I find a press kit for dotAGE?
You can find a press kit on the official website: https://www.michelepirovano.com/dotage.html

What is the best way to contact the developer for business inquiries?
Please send an email to press@michelepirovano.com.

Last edited by Catman; Apr 17 @ 2:07am

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Showing 1-11 of 11 comments

mabo404

Oct 7, 2023 @ 2:07pm

Totally and utterly awesome game! Love it.

Danjal Oct 10, 2023 @ 10:38am

Some looking around hasn't provided me with anything addressing this so I gotta ask.
The title of the game, is it an intentional play on the word "dotage" (meaning: a state or period of senile decay marked by decline of mental poise and alertness).
Or is that purely coincidental?

Catman [developer] Oct 10, 2023 @ 1:02pm

Originally posted by Danjal:
Some looking around hasn't provided me with anything addressing this so I gotta ask.
The title of the game, is it an intentional play on the word "dotage" (meaning: a state or period of senile decay marked by decline of mental poise and alertness).
Or is that purely coincidental?

Intentional, it's "dot" from the pixel art, "age" from it being medioval, and connecting them is the meaning you describe, ironically the Elder is quite active still :)