I tried the first one when it launched, but gave up and refunded. I found it completely impenetrable. Any chance the new one has a good tutorial? I have a bad tendency of buying complex games, then giving up when I can't just jump in and start doing things.
Yes, the opening Contracts are tutorialized. They help get you up and running.
Side note: It took me forever to realize that clicking that "compass" icon on the top-right of the Contract sheet centers the map on the fulfillment location. My dumb-ass was typing the town name into the Search Bar (ctrl + f) every damn time, lol.
There's also a handy-dandy Demo that's LONG. After 5 hours of gameplay with no end in sight, I simply stopped and asked myself what the hell I was doing and why wasn't I purchasing the game proper yet, lol. Someone on the forum said they played it for 20 hours.
Steam Database record for LOGistICAL: Earth Demo
steamdb.info
With the opening Contracts won't be able to knock them all out in order as some are more demanding than other and require map exploration to unlock new resources to fulfill the needs. Just keep exploring the map and you'll unlock additional Contracts that you can peruse in any order. But even if you immediately see that you can't yet fulfill a new Contract, be sure to read the info box on it anyway as it provides valuable tips on gameplay and menu UI elements.
Couple of big Ah-ha moments for me were,
1. Realizing that you deliver products in reverse. So when you see a town with a resource you've unlocked you click and drag the resource icon from that down over to the resource node (all applicable resource nodes will highlight with a blue circle when you drag the resource icon out of the town info box in the top right. Seems counter-intuitive, but it works well. That way you're not randomly clicking around on the map to find that specific resource to fulfill the need.
1.a On clicking and dragging resources out of the top-right town/business/industry box (or conversely your vehicle to move it great distances). I use the mouse wheel to zoom in & out of the map, but this makes scouting a specific location (looking for resources) difficult when holding the LMB. I've learned that using keyboard assignments (x to zoom out, z or c to zoom in) in conjunction with holding the LMB far easier to drag and drop resource requests. You can also use WASD for camera panning in this mode vs. typical edge-scroll.
2. After doing the first few Contracts for basic controls, focus on uncovering the map. It will reveal new resource nodes. You only discover new raw materials by traveling on roads and getting in close proximity to them. You'll get a New Cargo popup telling you what you discovered in the top-center of the screen. You can see how far you've traveled by picking up your vehicle and dragging it to a road terminus. It will be highlighted by an empty red circle. Drag and drop there and a new area of the map will unlock. Sometimes you'll encounter Roadblocks (Roadworks) that require a specific resource to unblock it (say, Gravel or Sand). As before, drag that Gravel or Sand icon out of the box and look for a resource node (blue circle) to create a transport loop to deliver the goods and unblock the road. This should be a priority as unblocking roads gives you access to new map areas and new possible resource discoveries. Focus on uncovering as much of the regional map as you can at first. You won't be able to do it all in one shot, but it goes a long way in unlocking multiple resource unit types to setup transportation networks in the opening area.
3. Then look for easy resource requests in your starting area. These are towns & businesses only looking for 1 or 2 types of resources. Once you've delivered the amount of unit types (might take a couple/few trips), the town icon on the map will turn yellow, as will the locations pop-up box in the top right. This means you're done with that location and can move on to other nodes on the map.
The dev (who's super active on both the Steam forum and Discord, posted a quick-start guide as well.
A wiki will be coming soon. In the meantime... Play Basics The game consists of transporting resources to complete towns and businesses across the maps of the world. There are around 50,000 towns to complete and over 165,000 businesses. Complete them all to finish the game. Discovery: You can...
steamcommunity.com
Happy transporting (nerd!).
tl;dr - there's a demo
metacouncil.com
