Alpha 0.14.1 is a small patch update to fix and tweak a few things and is now available now Steam. The most notable change in this update is that colonist death notifications now reference the cause of death. Additionally I made some tweaks to the tech tree and the food quality of sushi to better balance food production. The inability to complete the “Refine Structure Resin” tutorial task has been fixed.
Check the release notes below for all the changes/fixes.
I am very excited to announce that Mercury Fallen Alpha 0.14 is now available on Steam! Alpha 0.14 brings a of new build-able objects, recipes, research, UI improvements and more. A huge thanks to the testers that provided bug reports and feedback during the Test Build phase.
A Bio-Lab room has been added as well as an algae farm, aeroponics farm and aquarium for growing various new crops. The aeroponics farm allows for faster growth and greater output for new and existing plant crops. You can also grow and harvest fish in the aquarium for food and bio-waste. Green algae is used as a food ingredient as well as an ingredient in plant nutrients required by the aeroponics farm.
With the addition of more botany/biology related tasks, the bio-refiner is now used by the engineer and not the botanist to better balance job tasks.
The research interface has been completely rebuilt as a visual tech tree. New research projects have also been added to unlock some of the new recipes/machines.
9 new food/meal recipes have been added as well as the cafeteria room. The cafeteria is now the place to put eating tables as well as food dispensers for meal storage. The fridge is for raw food ingredients only.
The food processor is required to turn some raw food ingredients into usable items for cooking. Meals no longer completely deplete the hunger meter, as the hunger meter is now based on nutrition and satiation values. Satiation is the percentage the hunger meter will deplete when a meal is consumed. Nutrition is added as an attribute that reduced how quickly the colonist will get hungry again. Nutrition decays over a few in-game hours.
The early game is a bit more challenging given the new food values, as colonists will generally eat low quality foods more often. Lower quality foods such as cooked potatoes are not very filling compared to high quality meals such as a hearty fish sandwich. To assist with early game play, the starting supply chest now contains emergency rations, which are non-craftable, but make for a very filling starting food supply.
Various production machines now have colonist rosters which allow players to manage which colonists can operate each machine. Colonists will only work at machines with an empty roster or a machine that has their name on the roster.
Colonist Portraits are now visible in the colonist info window and colonist management interface. Portraits are dynamic and will update when you set colonist outfit colors.
Check the full release notes below for all the new content, change and fixes added in Alpha 0.14.
Alpha 0.14 is now available for testing! Alpha 0.14 brings a host of new additions including new crops, crafting recipes, rooms, objects and more!
Click below for information about what the Test Build branch is and how to access it:
http://steamcommunity.com/app/704510/discussions/3/2381701715712468002/
For more information about this version, including the full release notes, check out the Alpha 0.14 Test Build discussion:
https://steamcommunity.com/app/704510/discussions/3/3211505894128980215/
Bio-Lab
The Bio-Lab room has been added and can be populated with Algae Farms, Aeroponics Farms and Aquariums for growing new crop types. The Aeroponics Farm allows for faster growth and greater output for existing plant crops.
Research
The research interface has been completely rebuilt as a visual tech tree. New research projects have also been added to unlock some of the new recipes/machines.
Meals
9 new food/meal recipes have been added. The food processor is required for processing some raw food ingredients into usable items for cooking. Meals no longer completely deplete the hunger meter, but is now based on nutrition and satiation values. More information added to in game guide under Needs.
Roster Management
Various production machines now have a colonist roster which allows players to manage what colonists can operate that machine. Colonists will only work at machines with an empty roster or a machine that has their name on the roster.
Alpha 0.14 has a lot more additions/changes and fixes. For more information and the full release notes check out the Test Build Discussion:
https://steamcommunity.com/app/704510/discussions/3/3211505894128980215/
The alpha 0.14 update is quite a big update and is taking a bit longer than initially planned. I’ve made a lot of great progress and wanted to share some of the things you can expect to find in the next update.
The colonist info window shows a colonist portrait image at the top left. This portrait is generated dynamically and will change when changing outfit colors.
All selectable objects also show an icon at the top left of their info window as well.
The colonist selection window for roster management now uses the new colonist portraits for easier identification of the colonist you’re looking for. For more information on the roster management system check out the previous developer log.
The research interface has been completely redesigned as a visual tech tree. This is something I’ve wanted to do for a longer time, but I wanted to ensure the tech tree was dynamically generated instead of manually positioned. Being dynamically generated means it’s easier to add to/modify and easier for modders once modding is supported. This interface also better visualizes the break down of research progression.
The original purpose of the recreation room was for eating as well as entertainment, but I’ve decided to separate out the eating experience into the new cafeteria room. The cafeteria will be for eating tables and the new food dispenser. The food dispenser is a dedicated container for meals and the fridge is being changed to only store raw food ingredients. The existing recreation room will still be available, but will serve little purpose until future updates.
With the addition of new crops and meals I’ve changed how meals affect colonists. Edible items will now have satiation and nutrition attributes. Satiation is how much, in percent, of the hunger bar is decreased when eating that item. Nutrition affects the change rate of the hunger meter which means colonists will get hungry again slower with more nutritious foods. The nutrition affect will naturally decay over a few in-game hours after eating food. Higher quality foods will have better satiation/nutrition values.
There are a lot more additions/changes/fixes coming in the Alpha 0.14 update. As with all major updates, this update will be available on the Test Build beta branch first, for those that want to help work out any issues, before coming to the main branch. I hope to have this update out on the test build branch later this week or next week. Thank you all for your patience and I’m super excited about all the new content this update will bring.