Alpha 0.14.4 is now live on Steam! This update is another small patch/content update while development continues on the planetary exploration/expansion update.

Guide Update

New help buttons have been added to various section headers which open the game guide to the relevant guide section. Some of the guide content has been updated and a new guide section on mining has been added.

Updated Water

Since migrating over to Unity 2017, a few versions back, the look of water wasn’t all the great. The water has been updated and looks more watery now.

Research/Time Of Day Fix

I fixed up a critical issue that caused time of day and research progress to break. If you loaded/started a game after already starting/loading a game the issue would appear. Thankfully this issue has been resolved and research/time of day should work correctly again.

Release Notes

• Added: Several info window headers now have a “?” button that opens the game guide to the relevant section.
• Added: Mining section to game guide
• Updated: Building Objects game guide section
• Updated: Research Projects game guide section
• Changed: Water now has a new material shader to look a bit more like water.
• Changed: Increased chance of emergency rations from food chests
• Fixed: Colonist attempting to plant crop at a location that can’t be accessed.
• Fixed: Time of day not updating correctly in some cases if loading/starting a game after a game has been started/loaded
• Fixed: Research not updating/finishing correctly in some cases if loading/starting a game after a game has been started/loaded

Alpha 0.14.4 is now available on the Test Build branch. This update was originally just going to be a minor patch update to fix a couple of bugs, but I couldn’t help myself and added in some minor content updates as well. There are new/updated game guide sections, new look to water tiles and new help buttons on various interface section headers.

Progress on planetary exploration is coming along very well. For the latest screenshots and info regarding what I’m working on be sure to follow me on twitter.

For more information about the 0.14.4 test build, including release notes:
https://steamcommunity.com/app/704510/discussions/3/1696048245848759472/

What is the Test Build branch?
https://steamcommunity.com/app/704510/discussions/3/2381701715712468002/

Alpha 0.14.3 is out of the test build branch and now live on Steam. This is a small update while I continue development of the next big content update.

The craft queue and robot assembler interfaces will now show available ingredients highlighted in green and unavailable ingredients highlighted in red.

As objects get constructed they will now dissolve in. This has the benefit of looking cool and illustrating the build progress.

Thank you all for the awesome feedback and support. Keep an eye out for future developer logs where I’ll cover progress on the new planetary exploration features in development.

Be sure to follow Mercury Fallen on Facebook / Twitter for the latest news and updates:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mercfall/

Twitter: @mercuryfall

Release Notes

• Added: Can now toggle UI by pressing F10. Key can be remapped in settings.
• Added: Objects being built now dissolve in to show build progress.
• Changed: Objects no longer flicker on/off when getting power for the first time when running multiple generators.
• Changed: Craft queue and robot assembler interfaces now outline available ingredients in green and unavailable ingredients in red.
• Changed: Minor improvement to performance to decrease memory usage.
• Fixed: Power/water generators still showing positive output when disabled.
• Fixed: Output bonus on aeroponics farm not showing as percentage

As mentioned in the last dev log I’m focusing work on the planetary exploration/expansion system. In the mean time I’ll be pushing out some smaller updates/patches. These smaller updates will add, improve and fix various things while I continue work on the next major content update. Alpha 0.14.3 is now available on the Test Build branch and has some great updates/fixes.

For more information about the 0.14.3 test build, including release notes:
https://steamcommunity.com/app/704510/discussions/3/1693795812290118689/

What is the Test Build branch?
https://steamcommunity.com/app/704510/discussions/3/2381701715712468002/

Alpha 0.14 was a big update with a lot of new content and now that it’s out the door I’m back to the grind stone working on the next major content update. Something that has been asked a lot, and that I’ve teased in the past, is how and when surface/planetary exploration will be added to the game. There is still not a concrete answer to that, but I’ve been putting a lot of work into getting the planetary content out of prototype and integrated into the core game. I wanted to cover the progress so far and go over various aspects of the how and what of planetary exploration.

Planetary Map Generation

Planetary surface exploration will be handled on a separate planetary map that will be accessible via the Facility Management interface. The goal of the planet map is to offer a good deal of variety as well as a somewhat accurate, and fun, representation of an alien world with a variety of biomes, details and events. Similar to the players primary facility the planet map is procedurally generated to offer a good amount of extended game play and replay value. The map itself is a large hexagon grid where each hexagon represents a location on the map.

I decided to base biome generation on the Holdridge Life Zones which uses temperature and moisture levels to define biome types. For any given cross section of temperature and moisture a biome can be determined, for example the hottest and wettest areas would be akin to a tropical rain forest and the the hottest driest areas are desert. The first step was creating temperature, moisture and elevation maps using procedural noise. The temperature map also considers elevation and latitude so that areas at higher elevations or further north/south are colder. The elevation data is also used to determine both mountains and sea level.

The final break down is a 5×5 grid to divide temperature and moisture values ranging from hottest to coldest and driest to wettest. Sampling the temperature/moisture values for each hexagon grid location into the biome chart gives a biome sector. Additional biome sectors are generated for oceans, fresh water and mountains for a total of 28 biome sectors.  The final biome for a tile is based on a biome definition that is mapped to a biome sector and has a predefined frequency of occurring. Using this method I can have some biomes that very commonly generate within a sector, but also include special rare biomes that have a lower chance of generating within the same sector.

The final biome definition also defines the color, texture and details that occur for that biome as seen in the image above. The above image only shows part of the 48,000 tiles on the complete map. Map size may vary depending on game starting options, but testing is being done on large scale maps.

Additional biome details are currently being added to provide more visual distinction between the various biomes.

Planetary Exploration

Upon first opening the planetary map screen the only visible area will be immediately surrounding the players primary facility. Building and sending out exploration drones will allow you to explore the map and uncover new resources, story content, points of interest and expansion opportunities.

I’m still working on designing the systems for exploration and expansion, but it’s coming along very well so far. Stay tuned for further developer logs where I’ll cover points of interest, outposts, expeditions and more.

Game Updates

The new planetary map game play will take a bit of time and releasing all of it’s content all at once is not the goal. The core of planetary exploration will get added first with further updates to add additional content. I have quite a lot of content planned for the planetary aspect of Mercury Fallen and it won’t come all at once.

I’ll also be focusing on releasing smaller game updates while work continues on integrating the planetary map features.

More developer logs will be coming to cover the planetary map as they get implemented so stay tuned. I’m really excited about the new planetary map content. What are your thoughts on planetary exploration/expansion?

Alpha 0.14.2 is out of testing and now available on Steam. This patch update addresses a couple of bugs, but also adds the ability to change the order of objects in the construction build queue.

The new Set High Priority button in an objects build info window will set the object to be first in the build queue. Other objects may still get built first if materials are not available for the object. Further improvements to managing the build queue are expected in future update.

Release Notes

• Changed: Object construction window now outlines available materials in green and unavailable materials in red.
• Changed: Added Set High Priority button to object construction interface. This set’s the object to be first place in the build queue. Other objects may still be built first if materials are not available for the object.
• Fixed: Colonist stuck in place if at high stress and unable to reach a built chair/bench.
• Fixed: Incorrect text for Ate Raw Food attribute effect in colonist needs section

Alpha 0.14.2 is another small patch update to fix a couple things, but also adds the ability to change the order of objects in the construction build queue. Alpha 0.14.2 Test Build is now available on Steam.

The new Set High Priority button in an objects build info window will set the object to be first in the build queue. Other objects may still get built first if materials are not available for the object. Further improvements to managing the build queue are expected in future update.

For more information about the 0.14.2 test build, including release notes:
https://steamcommunity.com/app/704510/discussions/3/1696046342851980237/

What is the Test Build branch?
https://steamcommunity.com/app/704510/discussions/3/2381701715712468002/