I’m super excited to announce that Alpha 0.13 is now available! A lot of work has been put in to this update and there are many great content additions, changes and fixes.

Important Notes

While existing save games will still load, much of the new content will only appear when starting a new game.

Due to changes in how the settings file is stored, existing settings will reset to defaults.

Map Generation

When you start a new game, you will see that map generation now includes the ruined remains of the Mercury Facility. These existing facility rooms can be deconstructed for materials or re-purposed.

Item chests have been added that can be opened for additional materials as well as discovery items. Starting supply items are no longer contained in the elevator, but are in a supply chest next to the elevator that will need to be opened. Additionally, the power generator will contain some fuel when starting the game.

Discovery System

Discoveries are unique items that the player can find in item chests. These items are used to expand the story and some items are required for certain research projects. This is only the beginning of the discovery system and more discovery items will be added in future updates.

Story Content

Discover new information about the Mercury Facility and uncover the story of the missing colonist by finding data logs in item chests.

UI Improvements

Changes to the user interface also include a new notification system. Notices still appear at the top right, but are now icon buttons that can be hovered over for additional information. Notices will stay for much longer and can be dismissed by right clicking them.

Other interface changes include the replacement of text percentage with progress bars, Colonist Management has been renamed to Facility Management, and the update also fixes typos, optimizes UI performance, adds a discovery interface and more.

Performance Improvements

This release also improved performance when there are many colonists in the facility. Colonist planning logic was a bottleneck in previous versions, but it’s been revamped and in testing,  over 100 colonists had a minimal impact on performance.

There are a lot of great additions, fixes and changes. Check out the full list below.

Release Notes

Features

• Updated notification system. Notifications now appear as icon buttons at top right. Hovering over them will show more information. Notices stay for much longer and can be dismissed by right clicking them.
• Discovery items which can be found in item chests. Discoveries are unique items that are used in various ways such as story content and blueprints.
  Item chests scattered around the map that contain various resources including discovery items.
• Changed map generation to include the ruined remains of the Mercury Facility. New generated facility rooms can be deconstructed for materials or re-purposed. These ruined rooms are also a good place to find item chests.
• Discover lost data logs to uncover the story of the missing colonist
• AI decision logic now operates in a separate thread for improved performance when having many colonists in facility.

UI Updates

• Added: New notification when a colonist increases in a job level
• Added: Discovery interface under Facility Management.
• Added: Object/Colonist window open/close animation
• Changed: Research interface no longer references research progress in time. It is now just in generic research points as time was not an accurate measure anyway.
• Changed: Research prerequisites now show if a discovery item is also required
• Changed: Colonist Management button icon changed and tooltip renamed to Facility Management
• Changed: UI Scale setting defaults to medium instead of Large
• Changed: Clone Chamber interface now shows progress bar instead of text for clone progress
• Changed: Optimized UI Icon loading for improved performance
• Changed: Updated crop field object icon
• Changed: Crop Field interface now shows if it’s waiting for a colonist to plant the crop.
• Changed: Crop Field now shows progress bar instead of just percent text
• Changed: Research progress bar in research station interface now shows percentage
• Fixed: Wrong icon for MedBay Floor in object list
• Fixed: Blurry game speed icons
• Fixed: Job name shows multiple times when changing recipe from drop down in craft queue.
• Fixed: Various typos

World Generation Updates

• Added: Various types of item chests that can be found and opened for additional items and possible discoveries.
• Changed: Item chest next to elevator now contains starting supplies. Elevator no longer has an inventory
• Changed: New game starts with some fuel already in the power generator.

Changes

• Added: Selected colonists now show a path to their destination
• Added: New quirks related to the muscles attribute
• Added: When selected, power/Water generators now highlight the objects they are actively delivering their resource to.
• Added: When selected, machines will now highlight the power/water generator they are receiving their power/water from.
• Changed: Power/Water check happens as resources are flowing through the conduit. This results in some initial flickering over devices as power/water generators make connections to consumers. This was changed for fast connection time of power/water consumers.
• Changed: Colonist will now pause before picking up items on floor. Pause time determined by work speed and hauler job level.
• Changed: Colonist will now take time to refuel a generator. Action time determined by work speed and hauler job level.
• Changed: Colonist will now replan walk path if path becomes blocked after planning a walk path
• Changed: Colonists will now reference more surrounding tiles when trying to become unstuck if an object is placed on top of them.
• Changed: Constructed Robot age is now 1 instead of a random age
• Changed: Haul job role renamed to Hauler
• Changed: Data Recovery now referenced as Research Projects
• Changed: Computer Station renamed to Research Station. Description/references also updated.
• Changed: Various changes to research times.
• Changed: Some research projects now require a blueprint to be discovered before they can be researched
• Changed: Missing colonist stasis capsules and inactive robots are now more evenly spaced out during map generation.
• Changed: Clear construction action is now a builder action instead of a hauler action
• Changed: Ailment notifications now provide information on the cause of the ailment
• Changed: Optimized management systems for improved over all performance
• Changed. Game settings now in same root folder as saved games. Settings will be reset to defaults the first time the new update is played.
• Changed: Can not build floors on tiles selected for deep mining
• Changed: Objects/colonists now remain highlighted if their info window is open
• Changed: Assembly Floor moved to Tech Printing research project
• Changed: Basic Robots now requires Tech Printing instead of metallurgy
• Changed: Placed objects that generate or require power no longer auto create conduits. Conduits need to be placed after creating an object.

Fixes

• Fixed: Tutorial task complete sound is heard repeatedly even after completing a task.
• Fixed: Colonist not moving or performing other tasks if hungry and no food is available.
• Fixed: Colonists sleeping standing up
• Fixed: Colonist can receive ailment more than once
• Fixed: Haul to generator action not giving haul job experience
• Fixed: Colonist not picking up items on ground if some of the items don’t have a place to be stored.
• Fixed: Colonist attempting to move food items to fridge even if fridge is not powered.
• Fixed: Colonist stuck in bed after loading a saved game.
• Fixed: Multiple colonists attempting to haul same items to storage in some instances
• Fixed: Object placement graphic not showing after cancelling build while dragging.
• Fixed: Jobs not being performed at all if priority set to lowest (10)
• Fixed: Can select tiles for deep mining that have a floor or other structure
• Fixed: Water conduits unable to be selected in water overlay
• Fixed: Power generator still providing power after being deconstructed.
• Fixed: Colonist stuck clearing construction area if they can’t get to item on floor
• Fixed: Crop Field enable/disable button removed as it did not serve a purpose.
• Fixed: Objects receiving power/water when there isn’t enough power/water available in some instances.
• Fixed: Some objects not staying highlighted when moused over
• Fixed: Doctor can no longer starve to death while treating a patient