Howdy folks!

The Farming & Harming update is here! This update contains improved crop management, random events, new recipes, new research and more.

New Crop Mechanics

Crops now require seeds in order to be planted. Harvested crops will generate a seed, with a chance of additional seeds according to a colonist’s botanist level. POI locations to unlock crop discoveries will also provide the relevant seed for that crop.

The new Fertilizer Station is required to craft fertilizer. A new recipe for crafting bio-waste is also available.

The crop management interface has had a face lift and a new crop management section has been added to the in-game guide.

The crop bin is a new way to store seeds/produce.

Fish Management

The simple blue fish has been renamed and its artwork updated to better fit with the environment. The aquarium and fish tank have also been improved visually.

Fish now require fish food which can be crafted at the food processor. Fish food will be delivered by a biologist when the food amount runs low. If fish are left too long without food they will die.

Water Trap

Added a water trap that can slowly gather resources over time. The water trap requires bait and must be placed on water. Its speed is determined by the number of adjacent water tiles.

Events

An event system has been added which will trigger events such as cave-ins and crop disease as the game progresses.

Cave-ins will occur on tiles that are not in range of a structure support object such as a constructed or natural wall. Cave-ins can injure and possibly kill colonists.

Crop disease can occur on any crop field. Diseased crops should be cleared immediately to keep the disease from spreading to other nearby crop fields.

Additional Changes

Some crafting recipes now have configurable ingredients. New recipes for fish food, for example, can use any plant or protein items.

Notifications now appear in different colors to denote their severity. Critical notices will no longer automatically disappear and must be clicked with the right mouse button to be dismissed.

Decor from objects will no longer go through walls.

There are many features in the Farming & Harming update. Be sure to check the release notes below for the full list of additions, changes and fixes.

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Release Notes

Events

• Added new random event system and various positive/negative events that can occur
• Cave-ins can occur in open areas that are not within 5 tiles of a structural support. Natural and constructed walls provide structural support.
• Crop disease can now occur on growing crops. Crop disease can spread to other adjacent crops. Diseased crops must be manually cleared.

Crops

• Added Fertilizer Station and associated research
• Added recipe for Bio-Waste at Fertilizer Station
• Added crop harvest visual effect
• Added Crop Bin storage object for storing seeds/crops
• Added Crop Management section to game guide
• Updated look of crop management interface
• Crops now require seeds in order to be planted
• Crop output now gains a +5% bonus per colonist level
• Crop output now uses a loot table instead of a fixed inventory of output items
• Harvested crops now provide a single crop seed with a chance of additional seeds based on colonist botanist level.

Fish

• Updated look of Aquarium and Fish Tank
• Updated look of fish management interface
• Updated hover icon for Aquarium when no fish is selected
• Blue fish has been renamed and artwork updated
• Fish now require eggs to be added to the aquarium
• Fish now require food. Food level appears on the aquarium info panel.
• Fish will become hungry and eventually die if not fed.
• Added fish flakes recipe to Food Processor
• Fish food is delivered by a biologist when food level is low.
• Fish output now gains a +5% bonus per colonist level
• Fish output now uses a loot table instead of a fixed inventory of output items
• Harvested fish will provide a single egg item with a chance of additional eggs based on colonist biologist level.

Misc

• Added Water Trap object which can gather items from water. It’s effectiveness is based on the number of adjacent water tiles.
• Added Bait item/recipe
• Reduced storage amount in batteries
• Reduced power output of coal generator
• Certain craft recipes now have configurable ingredients when added/updated from the craft queue. Example: Steel can now use iron ingots or hematite
• Due to recipe changes all crafting stations will have their craft queue cleared when loading a save game from update 23.
• Added key bindings for activating and toggling build categories. Default key: ‘b’
• Added key bindings for activating and toggling deconstruct mode. Default key: ‘,’
• Added key bindings for activating and toggling harvest mode. Default key: ‘.’
• Deconstruct and Harvest mode button windows now close when escape key is pressed
• Job section in colonist info window now has a help button link to the jobs section of the guide
• Job button tool-tip now always shows primary, secondary, tertiary text instead of only showing this when job slot is unassigned
• Job Role selection window now applies job role when clicking the job instead of having to additionally click the apply button
• Materials delivered to the surface can now be delivered via the elevator or shipping container. Colonists should use the closest available.
• Construction Queue can now be closed by pressing escape key
• Flora/Fauna expeditions now reward the relevant crop seed/egg
• Objects in research description now have a more detailed tooltip
• Item tooltips now show craft station it can be crafted at if there is a recipe for that item
• Decor now affected by line of sight and won’t spread through walls
• Minor change to the getting started guide verbiage
• Various changes to research tree
• Minor changes to how loot table results are calculated
• Notices at top right now appear in different colors to denote Info, Warning, Positive and Critical.
• Critical notices will not automatically disappear and must be manually dismissed by right clicking on it

Fixes

• Fixed: Quitting to the main menu and then loading/starting a game causes various errors such as duplicate colonists.
• Fixed: Several issues related to placing objects/selecting tiles near the edge of the map that could result in the game becoming unresponsive in some cases
• Fixed: Drag selection/drag placement disappears when dragging past the edge of the map
• Fixed: Robots not using closest available charge pad to recharge
• Fixed: Some visual effects not being removed properly. This caused performance issues over extended play time.
• Fixed: Missing language strings
• Fixed: Colonist roster not working correctly on crop field, aeroponics, aquarium and algae farm
• Fixed: Saved camera position not loading
• Fixed: Coal generator not saving/loading refuel percent and disable refuel settings
• Fixed: Vehicle Bay progress percent not showing correctly until progress updates
• Fixed: Vehicle Auto Explore action stops near planet map edges
• Fixed: Inventory math that could cause more items to be returned then expected from loot tables in some instances
• Fixed: Biome scans not generating correct results in some cases
• Fixed: Objects updating their visuals more than they needed to. Performance increase.