Thanks for the great feedback so far on Update 21. A minor patch update is now available on Steam. Additional tweaks and fixes will be coming over the next few days.
Release Notes
Colonist management screen side information updated. Now shows population cap for humans.
Removed X button from top right of facility management window. Replaced with back arrow button at the top left.
Colonist craft action description now includes how many the colonist will craft
Colonists will now immediately drop any carried items on the floor when going to eat
Beetle Miner research no longer required blueprint discovery
Fixed: planet map display modes drop down not showing correct type when closing and re-opening planet map interface
Fixed: Some colonist actions are now interruptible by critical actions to avoid starvation from long action chains
Fixed: On Foot expeditions not being removed properly in some instances causing an expedition to appear in the vehicle drop down list
I’m very pleased to announce that Update 21 is now available! This is one of the largest releases to date.
A huge thank you to everyone that helped test this update on the Test Build branch. Your feedback and bug reports helped immensely. An additional huge thank you to everyone for your support and patience.
Surface Expeditions
Scan the surface for points of interest using the comms station, and extend the available scan area by converting survey vehicles into radar towers.
You will now be able to set out on expeditions on foot as well as in a vehicle. Expeditions to points of interest on the map yield new rewards — or grave danger, depending on your colonists’ skill and your decisions.
Surface Construction
The Vehicle Assembly Station replaces the Vehicle Bay, which will require construction on the surface.
Mining vehicles can be converted into mining platforms, which allow resource filtering and automated resource acquisition using assigned transport vehicles.
Research
Unlock research projects by spending research points, tech fragments and/or bio samples. The computer station will generate research points instead of researching specific projects. Research point storage is limited and can be increased by constructing Data Servers.
The research window now has additional sections for recipe and crop research, and new discoveries that are required for several research projects.
Game Scenario
When you start a new game, you can now set a game scenario that affects starting colonist count, limited job roles and more. Additional gameplay options will be tied in with this mechanic in future updates.
World Generation
Mine sand underground to allow for earlier access to glass and silicon carbide.
Population Limit
There is now a population cap for human colonists. Build O2 generators to sustain a larger population.
Improved Crafting
Colonists will now gather materials to craft multiple instances of an item depending on their job level.
Craft queue items now have a “Deliver To Storage” option. When not active, a colonist will drop the crafted items on the ground instead of delivering them to storage.
Storage containers now have a priority setting. Items are delivered to the highest priority valid container.
Update 21 brings quite a few changes, improvements and fixes. Check out the release notes below for a full list of all the changes in Update 21 :: Expeditions.
Added construction category buttons to bottom of plant map interface
Added Vehicle Bay building which can be placed on surface tiles adjacent to the facility. This new building is where vehicles are constructed. Vehicle Assembly Station removed.
Added new Shipping Container object. A shipping container is required for colonists to deliver Items for surface construction/delivery.
Added new Receiving Container object. Items delivered from the surface are placed here. Items from surface no longer appear next to the elevator and are only accessible from the receiving container. Items will still be delivered, but are only accessible at the receiving container.
New :: Expeditions
Added Comm Station. Comm Station used to scan for points of interest on planet surface.
Added Comm Officer job role.
Added Expeditions section to planet map interface
Added scan coverage planet map display mode
New :: Population Cap
Added human colonist population cap.
Added O2 Generator which can increase colonist cap
If colonist population is over capacity then some colonists will suffer from oxygen deprivation and perish
Added Life Support research to unlock O2 Generators
Changes :: Graphics
Added real time shadows on high quality setting
Night time now darker on planet map
Minor change to post processing effects to reduce bloom and re-work color correction
Updated look of all ingot icons
Map table texture detail increased
Changes :: UI
Colonist cards now show current colonist action
Infinity Corp. logo now looks more sinister
Job role selection window no longer shows attribute requirements if playing on default/easy difficulty
Game HUD now shows human and robot population counts separately
Changed utility build category icon
Added a drop shadow to hud button icons to make them pop a bit more
Added a drop shadow and hover animation to object build menu buttons
Notification tabs no longer overlap facility management close button
Notification tabs no longer overlap color picker
Changes :: Vehicles
Removed vehicle cap
Minor change to vehicle info on the planet map interface vehicle list
Added an auto explore action to D.O.G.E. and Wasp vehicles
D.O.G.E. and Wasp now have an action to convert them into a remote radar station. This increases the scannable area where points of interest can be found.
Beetle Miner and Whale Miner now have an action to convert them into a remote mining facility. Remote mining facility mines from a range of adjacent tiles and includes new mining options.
Added new resource transport vehicles. These can be assigned to mining stations to automatically collect and deliver resources to the primary facility.
Added new rover vehicles for expeditions.
Vehicles are now set as camera focus when embarking
Vehicle and building models are now smaller.
Changes :: Discoveries
Discoveries button shows the number of new discoveries
Added section for resources/flora and fauna
Added sections for tier 2 equipment blueprints
Added section for vehicle blueprints
Added section for additional data logs
Updated the discoveries that are found in various biomes
Changes :: Research
Active research no longer applicable and removed from game hud
Added research projects button to game hud button bar
Research Projects button shows the number of available research projects
Computer Station now generates research points instead of researching towards a specific research project
Research projects now unlocked by spending research points, tech fragments and/or bio samples
Accrued research points have a starting cap
Items unlocked in research description now have better tooltips
Research projects now have tooltips
Updated look of research project info section
Data Servers can now be constructed to increase research point cap
Added new recipes section to research screen to unlock recipes
Added new crops section to research screen to unlock discovered crops
Equipment items moved to recipes section
Tier 2 equipment item research now requires their own blueprint discoveries
Added several new research projects
Utilities research renamed to Plumbing
Robot Recycler now unlocked under separate research project
Research tree structure and costs has been revised
Changes :: Misc
Allowed Items interface for storage containers now has select all and select none buttons
Craft queue items now have a “Deliver To Storage” toggle option. When checked colonists will deliver the produced item to storage, otherwise they will drop the item on the floor.
New game interface now has a scenario drop down which includes easy, default and challenge options.
Default game scenario no longer limits colonist job roles based on attributes. This is now only in the challenge scenario.
Fertilizer now optional when setting crop type in both crop field and aeroponics farm.
Colonists will now strictly adhere to the construction queue order. If the object in the first position of the construction queue can’t be constructed colonists will not skip it to build other objects.
First construction object in build queue now highlighted green
Build info now has a Low Priority button to set object to the last place in the build queue
Mineable sand added to facility world generation
Glass recipe uses 5 sand instead of 3
Silicon Carbide now uses 4 sand and anthracite instead of 2
Updated existing guide topics to reflect changes
Added Points Of Interest guide topic
Added Expeditions guide topic
Mineral chests now have a much higher chance of having ingots instead of raw ores
Updated notification system to allow for unique and repeatable notifications. Existing notifications migrated to new system.
Added notification if low on food
Unpausing the game will now resume at the previously set game speed
Colonists will now craft multiples of an item based on their job role level. Example: A level 1 engineer will gather materials for and craft 1 item at time from a craft queue. A level 5 engineer will gather materials for and craft 5 items at a time from a craft queue.
Decreased durability of mineable resources
Fixes
Fixed: Craft queue add item menu freeze when changing type in some instances
Fixed: Colonists not affected by light sources from placed objects
Fixed: Colonist attempting to drop off items on a floor tile that they can’t get to
Fixed: Particle effect missing when opening stasis capsule.
Fixed: Deconstruction selection highlight on floors/conduits rendered on top of other objects
Fixed: Vehicle Move To action not cancelled when deselecting vehicle with right click
Fixed: Crop Fields can be placed on floor tiles
Fixed: Robot running in place when crafting at tech printer
Fixed: Colonist not repairing machines if repair kit exists but they can’t get to it
Fixed: Colonist rosters reset after loading saved game
Fixed: Some data generating invalid id values which causes issue when loading saved games in some instances
Fixed: Some object component data not cleared when reloading save game.
Fixed: Colonist stuck in a loop trying to pick up items off the floor in some instances
Fixed: Pressing space to unpause not working after clicking speed buttons
Fixed: Colonist death from doctor states death as unknown causes
Fixed: Vehicle not saving/loading its active action
Fixed: Wall Debris missing mining effects
Fixed: Wall Debris shows enable/disable button
Update 21 is shaping up to be a very large update. It’s being put through its paces in private testing and coming along very well.
Get your testing cap on because Update 21 will be coming to the public Test Build branch very soon. Here are a few of the things you can expect to see.
World Generation
There are many changes to game balance in the coming update. A big one is the addition of sand as a mine-able resource underground. This allows you to access glass and, by extension, the cloning chamber much sooner.
Population Cap
A population cap is being added for human colonists. You will need to construct O2 generators to increase the starting population cap.
Research Overhaul
Huge changes to research include the ability to unlock research with research points, along with data servers, recipe and crop research, and more.
The tech tree has also been extensively restructured.
Surface Construction
The first step towards surface construction is coming as well. The surface side vehicle bay replaces the vehicle assembly station. You can now convert mining vehicles into mining platforms, which will allow for resource automation through a resource transport vehicle.
Expeditions
You will now be able to set out on expeditions on foot as well as in a vehicle. Expeditions to scanned points of interest on the map will yield new rewards — or grave danger, depending on your colonists’ skill and your decisions.