Click to Harvest!

Ranch Town developer Meteor Games released a large game update, late last week. Ranch expansions & cosmetic decorations made their debut, as well as a brand new feature: Steam Power! Steam Power allows players to automate their machines and animals, processing all ranch goods automatically, with no need to click click click repeatedly.

We have put together a complete illustrated guide to help players learn what Ranch Town Steam Power is, how to get and use it, and what it can & can’t do.

How to get Steam Power
Steam Power can be obtained in two ways: it can be bought with Meteor Credits, or it can be obtained as a gift from fellow Ranch Town players. Let’s start with purchasing.

Players will first need to buy some meteor credits. This can be done by clicking the “Add coins and credits” tab, above the game itself. $10 purchases 1,000 credits, so an easy trick is to remember that one Meteor Credit = one cent. There is no discount for buying larger amounts of currency, like in many other games.

Once you have the credits, steam power can be purchased from the “Automation” tab of the Ranch Town store. Steam Power packages range from the quite small (150 steam points) to the very large (12,000 Steam Points). Again, there is NO discount for buying a larger package!

Regardless of which package a player buys, they get 15 steam points for 1 Meteor Credit (i.e. 1 cent). So feel free to buy the smallest package, to test the feature out.

Gifting is the only other way to receive Steam Power. Players can gift 25 Steam Points to one another on the Ranch Town gifts tab, in the same way other in-game gifts are sent. 25 might not seem like much (it is not even 2 cents worth!), but if a large group of people send each other 25 every day, it will add up quickly. Plus, there is always a use for it, unlike gifting something like machines, which may not be wanted or needed.

After you accept the gift, the 25 Steam Power is automatically added to your total.

How to use Steam Power
Once you’ve gotten some Steam Points, it’s time to spend them! To begin, click the new Steam Power icon, below your level and XP bar.

This brings up the Steam Power icon above all your animals and machines. By clicking one of these icons, it will change from red to green. This machine is now automated! It will automatically restock itself, and once it finishes processing an item, it will automatically harvest it.

Clicking on the icon above the machine again will disable automation.

What Steam Power Can’t Do

- Steam Power can not plant or harvest crops from farm plots. It only works on animals and machines that process goods from one form into another.

- Steam Power DOES NOT work if you close the game! Ranch Town must remain open for goods to be processed.

- Steam Powered machines and animals still require the same amount of processing time. The process is not sped up – just automated. So if you’re like us, with nearly 600 flour built up, it will still take 600 minutes to process it.

Other Steam Power Facts & Questions

- Players still earn XP as normal for processing goods with Steam Power, even though they aren’t clicking.

- Two Steam Points are used to process each good, not one. This is because a Steam Point is spent every time the game does something a player would normally have to click to do. One Steam Point for stocking the machine, another Steam Point for harvesting the finished product. Remember this when planning! 200 Steam Points will process 100 items, not 200!

Suggested uses for Steam Power
– Help with a backlog. Most players will have hundreds of flour or cornmeal saved up before they get their first bakery. Automating that bakery can be a big boost.

– Automating a single full production line. By automating both a cow and a butter churn, players can turn Alfalfa directly into butter. When butter is eventually used to make something, that building can then be automated as well.

– We suggest players not automate machines that only have 20 – 50 items to process, or one-step production lines. These situations are easy for a player to handle themselves. Save Steam Power for the big stuff!

When Mafia Wars developer Zynga first teased the upcoming release of a Paris expansion. SGC assumed it was several weeks if not months away. After all, there was a huge build up leading up to the launch of Bangkok, the previous expansion.

But, Zynga threw us all a curveball. Paris was sent live just a couple days after it was first announced.

We have a complete Mafia Wars: Paris guide Here is everything you need to know:

It is not a full-fledged expansion
Unlike Cuba, Moscow, and Bangkok, Mafia Wars: Paris is not a complete expansion. This is what Zynga meant by its cryptic “Challenge Mission” statement when Paris was first announced. There are no Paris properties, or loot items, and there are just a handful (most likely nine) missions.

Think of Mafia Wars: Paris as something bigger than the week-long special holiday events, but something smaller than a full city expansion.

It is only available for a limited time
The Paris Challenge missions are only available for about 18 more days as of now. After that, the city goes away forever!

Paris Has an actual, cohesive story
Previous Mafia Wars cities have had a loose plot line players advanced through. But in Paris, your mission is clear: Steal the Mona Lisa. Every mission you complete leads you closer to this singular goal.

It has exclusive loot
New high-end loot is available to players that master the three Paris Challenge levels:
Chapter 1: Parisian Fixer, ATK 30 DEF 61
Chapter 2: French Kiss, ATK 75 DEF 45
Chapter 3: DaVinci Q415, ATK 63 DEF 103

It unlocks in waves
Right now, only Chapter 1 is available. Players will be able to begin on Chapter 2 in four days, and Chapter 3 opens up in 11 days.

Paris has new rules
Mafia Wars: Paris does a bunch of things that are new to Mafia Wars. We’re here to break it all down for you.

When you first enter Paris, you will have access to just the first three jobs: Enter Paris, Track Down Your Fixer, and Gather Materials. These missions require energy as normal, but they also require “Paris Maps.” Players can earn 10 of these maps every 24 hours by visiting Mafia Wars: Paris. And they are also (rarely) found at random completing missions in other cities.

Paris features a new “heat meter.” Every mission you complete increases it. Once it reaches certain levels, each Paris mission will require more energy, and (much more importantly) more additional Paris Maps. These maps are quite rare, so players SHOULD NOT continue to complete Paris missions when the heat is on. The heat meter will return to normal after eight hours.

The basic idea with Mafia Wars: Paris is to BE PATIENT. Due to the heat meter climbing so quickly, players will only be able to complete a couple missions before they begin requiring two Paris Maps instead of one. Players might be tempted to continue completing missions anyway, until their maps are gone, but it is important that this temptation is resisted! The heat meter resets every 8 hours, but players can only earn more free Paris Maps every 24 hours.

So players that play smart, and only spend their Paris Maps when the heat meter is at its lowest state, will be able to survive and progress the fastest, over the long term. And maybe even pull off the ultimate heist… the Mona Lisa itself…

Mafia Wars developer Zynga released a new type of collection item, over the weekend: Crew Collections! These collections require your mafia’s help to complete, but completing them earns special rewards. We have the full scoop.

First off, there are three new collections in total: Prototype Carjacking, Theft of a Drone, and Weapons Shipment Hijacking. Their rewards? Koenigsberg S10 Vehicle, Military Spy Drone, and Fox Hunter Rocket Launcher, respectively. These collections can’t be re-vaulted – it is one and done. Their full requirements:

Prototype Carjacking Contents
GPS Signal Scrambler, Tank of Gasoline, Ignition Device, Microchip Fitted Key, Map of the Garage, Counterfeit ID Badges, and Security Hacker

Theft of a Drone Contents
Classified Report, Hijacked Transmitter, Access Codes, Guards Schedule, Calibration Manual, Guidance Module, and UltraLite Fuel Cell

Weapons Shipment Hijacking Contents
Shipment Info, Schedule of Truck Route, Road Block, Container Key, Rocket Ammo, Tracking Laser Sight, and Carrying Case.

Some items in each collection will be found randomly when completing a job, similar or Chop Shop parts or standard Mafia Wars collections. Other items can only be found if you ask your Mafia for help. When you ask for help a Facebook news feed item is created. The first five Mafia Wars players that clicks on the feed post will be able to help you out.

Just clicking on the feed post isn’t enough. Once a Mafia member decides to help you out, they must have the item drop from a random job. When it does, both you and your helper gain the item.

There are some restrictions – you can only create one news feed post every 48 hours, and you can only help one friend at a time, and five friends in a 24 hour period.

It’s all a little confusing, isn’t it? Bottom line: If you or a friend opts to help with these Crew Collections by clicking on a news feed post, you then have to complete missions until the item drops. Once it does, you both get to keep it!

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Apparently not wanting to be left out of the Valentine’s Day fun, Mafia Wars developer Zynga flipped the switch on their own unique spin on the holiday, earlier today: the Valentine’s Day Massacre!

Similar to the New Year’s Eve Mafia Wars event, players will have the opportunity to choose from one of three unique, V-Day themed jobs: Trick Target to Attend Meeting (5 minute recharge), Scout Out the Location (8 hour recharge), or Procure Untraceable Sub-Machine Guns (24 hour recharge). Each job has different stats, according to how often you’re able to participate:

Also added as part of the event is a special, limited-time Valentine’s Day Massacre collection! Although collection is found in the same place as all the others (Inventory –> Collections), it works a little differently. The Valentine is received from fellow Mafia Wars Player as a Gift, and the Love Bear is received randomly when you win a fight against a fellow player. The other five items (Heart Tattoo, Shoot the Moon, Stolen Heart, Heart Locket, Box of Chocolates) are received randomly by completing missions.

Finally, rounding out the holiday, a couple Valentine-themed weapons have been added to the gift pool.

All in all, this seems like a pretty cool and well-planned event, with lots of facets. Even though I don’t usually participate in fighting or gifting in Mafia Wars, it is a nice change of pace to do so to complete the collection.

Mafia Wars: Bangkok is here! And with it came a new batch of items to purchase. We have the low-down on all the new vehicles available. Note that since Bangkok uses a new level-scaling system, you might see stats different than these. These stats are only for players level 200 and higher:

Tuk Tuk 8 Attack 10 Defense
B$3,000

Moped 10 Attack 7 Defense
B$7,500

Long Boat 7 Attack 12 Defense
B$17,500

Thai Compact 13 Attack 9 Defense
B$35,000

Japanese Sedan 10 Attack 14 Defense
B$50,000

Junk 12 Attack 12 Defense
B$52,500

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