New Release -- October 30th, 2020

[Raul]

See Known Issues, More Information and Post Release Updates at the end of this post. Last update released on November 11th, 2:40AM.

Hi There,

We just released a new update with the following features and bug fixes: En Español AQUI (http://r1.slashkey.com/forum/showthread.php?t=649290)

1. 12 Thanksgiving decorations: 8 at the top of the Thanksgiving category at the store and 4 at the bottom.

2. Last 5 expansions for Farm 42:

Upgrade Farm 42x42 - 50500000000 or 40 FarmCash
Upgrade Farm 44x44 - 51000000000 or 40 FarmCash
Upgrade Farm 46x46 - 51500000000 or 40 FarmCash
Upgrade Farm 48x48 - 52000000000 or 40 FarmCash
Upgrade Farm 50x50 - 52500000000 or 40 FarmCash

3. Other improvements released in the past 2 weeks:

a) Hide / Show all user interface elements while farming. After selecting a farming tool in full screen mode, there will be another dark brown eye icon on the bottom right to hide all game interface elements and provide you with more space when farming, this will include the main panel and all top icons. To show them back just click on the dark brown eye icon again.

b) Implemented changes to be in compliance with a new Facebook policy to access profile pictures

c) Coop quests now shows facebook name instead of avatar name. Ships in my seaport now always shows facebook names correctly even when those people are not your neighbours.

4. Turbo Metal Mill (FC): This is a new facility that produces 3 times more metal sheets than the current Metal Mill. This works similar to the Red Windmill and the Stone Windmill facilities, the Stone Windmill has 3 times more output than the Red Windmill.

Note: This facility and the regular Metal Mill can be placed on the same farm and both be producing at the same time.

5. Flavored Popcorn Factory (FC): Produces Flavored Popcorn.

Classic Popcorn
Caramel Popcorn
White Cheddar Popcorn
Kettle Corn
Zebra Popcorn
Peanut Butter Caramel Popcorn
Cinnamon Sugar Popcorn
Spicy Cheddar Popcorn

New Products from other Facilities: Lecithin in the Food Ingredients Factory and White Chocolate in the Chocolate Factory.

6. Swiss Restaurant (Coins): Produces Swiss Food.

Potato Pancakes
Raclette Cheese
Cheese Fondue
Muesli
Zurich Sliced Veal
Swiss Alpine Macaroni
Saffron Risotto
Carac Tart

7. Gourmet Popcorn Shop (FC): Provides Gourmet Popcorn Retail Services and can be stocked with products from the Flavored Popcorn Factory.

8. Taste of Switzerland (Coins): Provides Switzerland Cultural Exchange and Food Tasting Services and can be stocked with products from the Swiss Restaurant.

9. Helping the Migration Team: Continued helping the migration team in the conversion of the game from Flash to HTML5, in the next few days we will post more details on the status of the migration.

Enjoy!

--Raul

Post Release Updates - October 31st, 2:10PM

- BugFix: The Turbo Metal Mill was not workable by others.

Post Release Updates - October 31st, 3:45PM

- Migration Update:

About 2 years ago, July 2017, the migration team started the conversion of the game from Flash to HTML5. The project was by all standards fairly big, we had about 150,000 lines of flash code and more than 6,000 graphics that had to be converted to the new platform.

Our first approach was a manual approach and we spent several months on it but later realized that we will never going to catch up on time, especially since the main team had to continue releasing new features.

The second approach, which is what we are currently doing, was to create the tools to automate the migration process as much as possible. We finished those tools a few months ago and the initial tests were really encouraging.

The conversion of all graphic items to the new format went according to plan, just minor issues that were fixed relatively quickly.

However, the conversion of the flash code to the new programming language was not as smooth, there were lot of areas where the automatic translation did not work out of the box, and that was fine, it was expected in a big project like this, what we did not expect was that fixing some of those areas would actually be time consuming and error prone, it required more profound changes to implement on the new programming language what we had done in flash.

At this point, we are expecting to release the HTML5 version of the game by the end of the year, however, it will be a restricted version, it should include at least all farming tools and main facility functionality, hopefully more than that but it's difficult to know at this point exactly which functionality will be included. However, we think we have cleared the major hurdles already and we are moving fast, we should have the bulk of the functionality of the game migrated and tested in 1 or 2 months after the first version.

We are also planning by the end of November to give access to moderators and other long time players to test the restricted version of the game.

The good news is that the game will definitely be a better game, the graphics in the farm will look better and the farm will display and operate faster. Also, moving forward we are planning to enable access to the game from browsers in tablets as well.

We will provide another update in the next release.

Post Release Updates - November 11th, 2:40AM

- Released 12 Thanksgiving decorations.

Known Issues:

- None.

[Taz D]

Thanks Raul to you and the team!

[Alexm2012]

Thank you Turbo Metal Mill Awesome Addition To The Game :)

[BarbLH]

Thanks Raul & team! This will be a fun weekend :)

[Taz D]

Found 2 new products needed for the new facilities:


Lecithin in the Food Ingredients Factory.
White Chocolate in the Chocolate Factory.

[bruhelmboldt]

Thanks, Team. Stay Safe!!

[Aussie Rae]

thank you...

[DCN-Toujours]

STILL LOVE THIS GAME!!!
Thanks Raul & Dev's!!!
donna

[buffaloboy]

hi

thank you so much

tino
http://apps.facebook.com/farmtown/play/?farm_id=100000188751345&farm_ix=41

[Palmarina]

Thank you!
Love the new factories ♡

[hilda jean ellis]

Thank y'all for the great update :)

[Lara]

thanks for the new stuff

[Anne Stallard]

Thanks for the update. But have a problem here. I have bought 2 fc facs and 2 coin facs. Costs have been taken from my account and I placed the items on 2 different farms. I can see the items on the farms but not in my Facility Manager! Used 2 different browsers and memcached twice but to no avail.

[marythies]

Thank you :)

[L.A.Bob]

Thanks for the update and all the great work that you do keeping Farm Town interesting and exciting!

[bjyhey3]

Thank You, nice surprise

[marymarcel]

Thanks a lot Raul and team :)

[Tiger]

Thanks Raul and Team! :D

[marymarcel]

Thanks for the update. But have a problem here. I have bought 2 fc facs and 2 coin facs. Costs have been taken from my account and I placed the items on 2 different farms. I can see the items on the farms but not in my Facility Manager! Used 2 different browsers and memcached twice but to no avail.

Hi Anne Stallard :)

Sorry for the delay to answer you.

Are you still having this problem? Sometimes when you start typing the names you have to use the arrows to get the correct facilities as we have other factories with "flavored", "gourmet" etc. in their names.

[Rob T]

Thank you Raul and all the Team for all the great work you do!

[Anne Stallard]

Hi Anne Stallard :)

Sorry for the delay to answer you.

Are you still having this problem? Sometimes when you start typing the names you have to use the arrows to get the correct facilities as we have other factories with "flavored", "gourmet" etc. in their names.

After waiting a couple of hours or more, I have managed to find 3 of the facilities in my Facilitty Manager but the Gourmet Popcorn Shop is still missing from the list.

[marymarcel]

After waiting a couple of hours or more, I have managed to find 3 of the facilities in my Facilitty Manager but the Gourmet Popcorn Shop is still missing from the list.

Hi Anne :)

Be sure you have the funnel set this way:

Facility Status >> All Facilities

Facility Location >> All Farms

Facility Type

Regular Facilities >> All
Service Facilities >> All

This is a picture to help you:

http://r1.slashkey.com/images/gameguide/facility/facility filter all.PNG

If all is correct, then type the full name of the facility and use the arrows.

[Anne Stallard]

I always have them set out that way. I have checked in the Store and it says I already have purchased the facility. Just, filled all my facs etc. Reloaded the farms and have finally found the Gourmet Popcorn in the facility manager list.

[marymarcel]

I always have them set out that way. I have checked in the Store and it says I already have purchased the facility. Just, filled all my facs etc. Reloaded the farms and have finally found the Gourmet Popcorn in the facility manager list.


So glad it is now showing up Anne and thanks for coming back to let us know :)

[earlgray]

a) Hide / Show all user interface elements while farming. After selecting a farming tool in full screen mode, there will be another dark brown eye icon on the bottom right to hide all game interface elements and provide you with more space when farming, this will include the main panel and all top icons. To show them back just click on the dark brown eye icon again.

I find this really helpful, but I would find it more so if there were a way to change the zoom level after clicking on the brown eye.

[Taz D]

a) Hide / Show all user interface elements while farming. After selecting a farming tool in full screen mode, there will be another dark brown eye icon on the bottom right to hide all game interface elements and provide you with more space when farming, this will include the main panel and all top icons. To show them back just click on the dark brown eye icon again.

I find this really helpful, but I would find it more so if there were a way to change the zoom level after clicking on the brown eye.
Hi Earlgrey,
Your scroll wheel on your mouse should control the zoom.

[miltil]

Thanks for the new upgrade. The new turbo Metal Mill will be a big help. I hope the next new Turbo will be a Turbo Trailer Truck.

[debhurst51]

What a wonderful surprise! You guys are awesome! Thank you for all of the new stuff!!!

[Denise Dianna]

Thanks for the update Raul May God bless you and all at Slashkey.

[Early Girl]

Thanks for the update. Seems like a bonus with 2 of them in October. I have a question, why is the Turbo Metal Mill not workable - or is there something wrong with mine. I understand why the other Turbo facs aren't, since their corresponding ones aren't either, but this one is. Thanks and Happy Halloween

[Sonytone]

thank you for the new stuffies, Raul and Team!! Keep Safe and Stay Well!!

[Taz D]

Thanks for the update. Seems like a bonus with 2 of them in October. I have a question, why is the Turbo Metal Mill not workable - or is there something wrong with mine. I understand why the other Turbo facs aren't, since their corresponding ones aren't either, but this one is. Thanks and Happy Halloween
Hi Early Girl,
It is workable. It doesn't cost you coins for filling it as it uses the ores from your storage.


EDIT: We have tested this and you are right it is not workable at this time. Developers are working on fixing this.

[Tiger]

Hi Everyone,

Update from Raul.
It's always good practice to reload the game when a fix has been released, so if you haven't already done so, it's worth doing to make sure you get the fix:

Post Release Updates - October 31st, 2:10PM

- BugFix: The Turbo Metal Mill was not workable by others.

[Texas Belle]

Thanks Raul and thank you for all the Turbo facilities, they sure make our life a little easier, y'all take care hurricane season is not over yet...

[Taz D]

Raul has posted an update on the migration of Farm Town. Thanks for the update Raul.


Post Release Updates - October 31st, 3:45PM

- Migration Update:

About 2 years ago, July 2017, the migration team started the conversion of the game from Flash to HTML5. The project was by all standards fairly big, we had about 150,000 lines of flash code and more than 6,000 graphics that had to be converted to the new platform.

Our first approach was a manual approach and we spent several months on it but later realized that we will never going to catch up on time, especially since the main team had to continue releasing new features.

The second approach, which is what we are currently doing, was to create the tools to automate the migration process as much as possible. We finished those tools a few months ago and the initial tests were really encouraging.

The conversion of all graphic items to the new format went according to plan, just minor issues that were fixed relatively quickly.

However, the conversion of the flash code to the new programming language was not as smooth, there were lot of areas where the automatic translation did not work out of the box, and that was fine, it was expected in a big project like this, what we did not expect was that fixing some of those areas would actually be time consuming and error prone, it required more profound changes to implement on the new programming language what we had done in flash.

At this point, we are expecting to release the HTML5 version of the game by the end of the year, however, it will be a restricted version, it should include at least all farming tools and main facility functionality, hopefully more than that but it's difficult to know at this point exactly which functionality will be included. However, we think we have cleared the major hurdles already and we are moving fast, we should have the bulk of the functionality of the game migrated and tested in 1 or 2 months after the first version.

We are also planning by the end of November to give access to moderators and other long time players to test the restricted version of the game.

The good news is that the game will definitely be a better game, the graphics in the farm will look better and the farm will display and operate faster. Also, moving forward we are planning to enable access to the game from browsers in tablets as well.

We will provide another update in the next release.

[Shellgirlmtl]

Raul has posted an update on the migration of Farm Town. Thanks for the update Raul.


Post Release Updates - October 31st, 3:45PM

- Migration Update:

About 2 years ago, July 2017, the migration team started the conversion of the game from Flash to HTML5. The project was by all standards fairly big, we had about 150,000 lines of flash code and more than 6,000 graphics that had to be converted to the new platform.

Our first approach was a manual approach and we spent several months on it but later realized that we will never going to catch up on time, especially since the main team had to continue releasing new features.

The second approach, which is what we are currently doing, was to create the tools to automate the migration process as much as possible. We finished those tools a few months ago and the initial tests were really encouraging.

The conversion of all graphic items to the new format went according to plan, just minor issues that were fixed relatively quickly.

However, the conversion of the flash code to the new programming language was not as smooth, there were lot of areas where the automatic translation did not work out of the box, and that was fine, it was expected in a big project like this, what we did not expect was that fixing some of those areas would actually be time consuming and error prone, it required more profound changes to implement on the new programming language what we had done in flash.

At this point, we are expecting to release the HTML5 version of the game by the end of the year, however, it will be a restricted version, it should include at least all farming tools and main facility functionality, hopefully more than that but it's difficult to know at this point exactly which functionality will be included. However, we think we have cleared the major hurdles already and we are moving fast, we should have the bulk of the functionality of the game migrated and tested in 1 or 2 months after the first version.

We are also planning by the end of November to give access to moderators and other long time players to test the restricted version of the game.

The good news is that the game will definitely be a better game, the graphics in the farm will look better and the farm will display and operate faster. Also, moving forward we are planning to enable access to the game from browsers in tablets as well.

We will provide another update in the next release.


To Raul & Team (Devs & Mods)

This is excellent news... I have been playing this game since Feb 7th, 2009, and I am volunteering my time as a 'long time player to test the restricted version of the game'... I am a Mac user (MacBook Pro) & (MacBook Air), I also have a Mini iPad, so I would be able to test the game on 3 different devices... I also have a 20" iMac Desktop but it is as old as FarmTown is (11 yrs) and I doubt it would be powerful enough to test on it... but, nevertheless, I could always try...

As I said I am willing to lend my time for testing... I am alone (my hubby passed away 5 months ago, not from covid) and because of the covid-19 I rarely go out (I am 67 yrs old) and have all the time in the world... I know most of the ins & outs of the game, tricks etc...

Take Care, Stay Safe... Love this game, hopefully the migration will not cause too much of a headache to the Team, but you ALL are the best so I have full confidence...

Hoping to hear from you soon...

[Kathy813]

While updating graphics during the migration - any chance of improving the look of the brown horse? Just a thought. :D

And best of luck with the migration!

[lucy poland]

You all are ROCK STARS!! Thank you!

[pndq]

Thanks Team, Raul and anyone else working on the migration and keeping us informed. Also thanks for all the new factories. I am so looking forward to this new version as I am unable to play right now due to my computer having Flash embedded. I am working on my own farms trying to get them ready for the release and am sending gifts daily to my few faithful friends who have stuck with me through all my problems. I will probably never catch up to them but they don't care, they remain loyal.

Thanks again to all and please stay safe!!!

Pennie

[fremmons]

Thanks, Raul, et al, you have kept me playing this game for over 11 years! I am a 1200 level player, working full-time, and use FT play time to unwind. I look forward to the updates and am excited about the migration!

[peekachoo]

Thanks very much for the update re HTML5, it must be a steep learning curve for you all, but the knowledge that you gain from it will be invaluable. I've been playing since 2009 and I really appreciate that you will be keeping it on Facebook and not moving it elsewhere. Good luck with the rest of the project and stay safe.

[luisvolky]

Thank Marcela Raul for the help with the problem me an others firts with the problem of the picture not showing in profile an the with the name i put an the game change it thank u so much have a good day

[marymarcel]

Thank Marcela Raul for the help with the problem me an others firts with the problem of the picture not showing in profile an the with the name i put an the game change it thank u so much have a good day

So glad everything was fixed for you :)

[TexasStar]

Raul, Thanks for the Migration Update! I was sure you and the teams were on track to meet the deadline, but I was very interested to understand a little more about the process.

[Farmer_Susan]

As a software developer myself, I loved hearing about the migration process! Thanks for keeping us posted and making us feel like part of it all. I'm really excited about it!

[Tom C]

Where is the thanksgiving stuff

[Taz D]

Where is the thanksgiving stuff
Hi Tom C,
Raul said the following:
1. Thanksgiving items (coming in 1-2 weeks)
Please be patient as they are working hard on the migration.

[kidwboro]

God bless you :)
Thank you for the turbo Metal Mill!
And God bless you all on your work in the HTML5 conversion.
Many thanks.

Keith.

[smilie224]

Would love to be a part of the test group! Long time player if that helps ;-) Is there a place we can volunteer for it? Or have the players already been decided?

[Tiger]

Would love to be a part of the test group! Long time player if that helps ;-) Is there a place we can volunteer for it? Or have the players already been decided?

Hi smilie224,

It's up to the developers who they decide to be part of the test group and those users will likely be contacted at some point. We don't know who they will all be at this time. Thank you for offering though :)

[Denise Dianna]

Thanks for the update. Seems like a bonus with 2 of them in October. I have a question, why is the Turbo Metal Mill not workable - or is there something wrong with mine. I understand why the other Turbo facs aren't, since their corresponding ones aren't either, but this one is. Thanks and Happy Halloween

the updates happen every four weeks give or take two or three days. The next one won't be until the last week of November.

[earlgray]

Hi Earlgrey,
Your scroll wheel on your mouse should control the zoom.

That doesn't work for me. I don't use a mouse, I use the trackpad on my laptop, and when I try to use it to control the zoom level, it always ends up zooming ALL the way in or ALL the way out. I cannot manage to get enough control to go up or down just ONE level. If it's undesirable to clutter up the minimal UI screen with more icons then maybe they could be added to the tool box.

[Alexm2012]

just wanna say a big thank you to everything you have put into this game this year the Developers deserve such a huge credit whilst the world has been a hard one to fight this year with the awful pandemic the devs have soldiered on through and continued to take this game from strength to strength every month credit to all those involved including the Mods who go out of there way to help every single person.

[Mrs Mags]

A big thank you from Me. I have arthritis, and have hardly been able to play, at all, as I can’t use a compute, but I can use a tablet. When I read your update, I cried happy tears. Thank you so very much.

[marymarcel]

Hi all :)

From Raul notes for the New Release:

Post Release Updates - November 11th, 2:40AM

- Released 12 Thanksgiving decorations.

[RIAP27]

Thank you for the update and everything. Been a player since 2009. I have one small concern as Flash supposedly will be gone come sometime in Dec. Will the game be ready even in restricted form if and when that occurs?

[Qivis]

Thank you for the update and everything. Been a player since 2009. I have one small concern as Flash supposedly will be gone come sometime in Dec. Will the game be ready even in restricted form if and when that occurs?

Take a look at the first post of this thread after point number 9 and you will see where Raul shares some additional detail about the change to Hyper Text Markup Language version 5 (HTML 5.) Those of us who are long term players will be getting to use the new version first. This will enable Slashkey to expand the amount of testing done on essentially what will be a whole different game programming protocol.

[Qivis]

Thanks for everything Raul and team. I hope you will have a special link for feedback on the HTML5 version when it is released for us long term players or are able to fix the Support link below the game rather than having us send you direct emails as are needed right now.

[Taz D]

Thanks for everything Raul and team. I hope you will have a special link for feedback on the HTML5 version when it is released for us long term players or are able to fix the Support link below the game rather than having us send you direct emails as are needed right now.
Hi Qivis,
Support has been fixed.

[leighwj1960]

A big thank you from Me. I have arthritis, and have hardly been able to play, at all, as I can’t use a compute, but I can use a tablet. When I read your update, I cried happy tears. Thank you so very much.

Have you tried using a trackball mouse on your computer? I find that it is easier on the hands and wrists than a regular mouse since you just need to move 1 or 2 fingers

[alma87]

Thank you for working on this. Farmtown game is fun and very therapeutic. Good job!

[RBerard]

Been here since the beginning and interested in how HTML5 will handle the features and animations. Thanks for staying with us and moving forward to a new platform!

http://apps.facebook.com/farmtown/play/?farm_id=100002287609762&farm_ix=3

[ccheney]

I'm willing to be a tester of the restricted version. My start date shows as Sept 2013 but I have actually been playing since the game began when there were no facilities yet and pineapples were the big money crop. I had stopped playing due to personal issues and returned

[Chris Ann Davis]

I heard when the HTML goes into effect.. not everyone is going to get this new HTML :( I have been playing this game in my other account since ft first started I would really love to be able to play farm town with the new HTML.. How will you decide who gets to play right away and who has to wait.. I really don't want to lose my farm town .. I have put a lot of time and money in my main account.. I would be willing to be one of your testers :) thank you

[Tiger]

I heard when the HTML goes into effect.. not everyone is going to get this new HTML :( I have been playing this game in my other account since ft first started I would really love to be able to play farm town with the new HTML.. How will you decide who gets to play right away and who has to wait.. I really don't want to lose my farm town .. I have put a lot of time and money in my main account.. I would be willing to be one of your testers :) thank you

Hi Chris Ann Davis,

I have moved your post to the Oct 30th new release thread where the developers can see your offer to be a tester. The latest information from the developers on this is in Rauls post, 1st post on page 1 of this thread, if you haven't seen it yet and want to read it.

It's entirely up to the developers who they decide they want to test the restricted version of the game which uses HTML5, before it's released to everyone else. Those users will be notified when the time comes.

To be clear, you will not be losing your game even if you're not one of the testers. You will still be playing as normal, then at a later date everyone will be using the HTML5 version.

[Alexm2012]

Tiger can you send over my offer to test the new version also. I'm quite experienced at computer software and gaming side of things so would be a great experience and challenge to test the early version thanks in advance.

[Taz D]

Tiger can you send over my offer to test the new version also. I'm quite experienced at computer software and gaming side of things so would be a great experience and challenge to test the early version thanks in advance.
Hi ALexm,
We do not have anything to do with their selection of who the testers will be. It's entirely up to the developers who they decide they want to test the restricted version of the game which uses HTML5, before it's released to everyone else. Those users will be notified when the time comes.

[Denise Dianna]

I guess I feel compelled to "me too", I offer to be a tester. I have been playing for almost since the beginning. I have taken time off but I remember when pumpkin was the most expensive crop. :D

[Aussie Rae]

I have been playing since 2009, have at the moment 3,206 workable Production Facilities and 1,170 Service facilities operating. I do the quests, have ships dispatched every day, and 10 operational trains working to gather the extra goods. If the developers think I am suitable to test the new system, I am willing to try.. Thank you..

[Aussie Rae]

almost time to close the thread? :)

[Tiger]

Thank you very much everyone
for all your feedback on the October 30th New Release!
I am now closing this thread.

For those of you celebrating, we wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving!!


The links below can be clicked on to take you to those sections:

If you require help with the game please post in Help and Support. (http://www.slashkey.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=1)
For feedback for the game post in General Feedback. (http://www.slashkey.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=186)
Ideas for the game post in Suggestions. (http://www.slashkey.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=2)