The Mercury Fallen launch has been great! Thank you to everyone who showed up at the release live stream event. The feedback has been amazing and it’s great to see so many people enjoying my game.
I just wanted to push out a small patch update to resolve a couple of reported issues. See the release notes below. Thanks everyone!
Added Target Framerate setting which defaults to 60fps. This should reduce instances of the game generating high GPU/CPU usage.
Fixed: Terraformer Regulator can be deconstructed.
Fixed: Toggle HUD inventory button not hiding/showing inventory list
Fixed: Job Role implant blueprints not purchasable from tech trader
Howdy Folks!
I’m super excited to announce that Mercury Fallen is no longer in Early Access and the 1.0 version is now available. It’s been a long road as a solo developer, but I couldn’t have done it without the amazing feedback and support from all of you.
A huge thank you to all the testers, supporters and everyone who has provided feedback along the way. Mercury Fallen is only as good as the amazing feedback and support. Thank you!
It is exciting to watch so many people play and enjoy my game. The Planetary Repairs update has a lot of new content. Let’s take a look at some of the additions and changes.
Story Campaign
The conclusion of the primary campaign is now available and has several new missions and POI locations that will lead to the final goal of the game.
New Resources & Production Machines
A new resource, surface building and production machines have been added. This includes new research and discoveries.
Alex Kenner Data Logs
The final chapter of Alex Kenner data logs are now available for purchase from passing traders.
Planet Map UI Improvements
The plant map has been updated and now has an inventory list, mission specific icons and a new filter for mission specific POIs.
Achievements
18 in-game achievements have been added and can be viewed from the in-game menu. These achievements can also be earned on Steam.
Decorations
Several new decorative objects can be unlocked including the new windowed wall. Windowed walls do not provide any additional decor bonus over regular walls, but can be used to spruce up various spaces.
Decorative display objects such as plants, holograms and items in the new display case have their own decor bonus in addition to the display container. Discover what objects provide the best decor.
Resource Management
The crop and ore management stations were added in the previous update. In this update I’ve added more feedback for colonists and vehicles when they aren’t performing their duties due to assigned resource limits.
You can now only place one of each resource management station and if they are unpowered or disabled, then their defined limits are no long in affect.
Notifications
Notifications have been visually overhauled and several new notifications have been added to provide more in-game feedback. Non-critical notifications now stay on screen for less time, but have new animations for when they appear and disappear.
Added final chapter missions. If you have the wait for reply mission then the follow-up story mission will appear 12-24 in-game hours after loading up your save game.
Added xeno processing research.
Added xeno fabrication research.
Added excavation center surface structure.
Added ancient ruins surface resource. Requires an excavation center to extract resources.
Added 10 new Alex Kenner logs that can be purchased from traders.
Added notification when trader arrives at trade platform.
New icons for mission-specific POIs.
New map display filter for mission POIs.
Added pop icon over colonists when they level up (in addition to other existing visuals).
Added credits button to main menu screen.
Achievements
Added achievement system with 18 in-game and Steam achievements.
Added achievements window that can be accessed via the game menu.
New Items
Added xeno scrap item.
Added xeno alloy item + recipe.
Added quantum processor item + recipe.
Added 12 new colonist equipment items that boost job levels. Related blueprint discoveries to unlock recipe research are available from the tech trader.
Added Display Case. Additional display objects unlocked via research/discoveries.
Added several new display object decoration discoveries that can be found via surface expeditions.
UI Tweaks/Changes
Crop Field, Aeroponics Bay, Algae Farm and Aquarium now show notice text if the crop is at or above the resource limit defined in the crop manager.
Colonist job role buttons will show a warning icon if an action related to that job role can’t be performed due to resource limits set in the crop or ore manager. Tooltip provides additional details.
Mining vehicles will show warning text in the info section of their info panel if unable to mine selected target due to resource limits set in the ore manager.
Transport vehicles will show warning text in the info section of their info panel if unable to collect resources due to resource limits set in the ore manager.
Minor change to the look of vehicle list items in the vehicle list interface to improve readability.
HUD inventory now visible on map screen.
HUD inventory settings saved data stored via the inventory manager instead of the hud inventory itself. Upon loading a save game from the previous version, your settings will reset to default until your next save/load.
Surface resources info panel now shows what it can be harvested by.
Changed trade window buy/sell header text to provide more clarity.
Reviewed and removed usage of older text rendering system to improve text clarity in various interfaces.
Research project info window will now show costs in red if research is not currently affordable.
Updated the look of notifications that appear on the right side of the screen.
Reduced the amount of time notifications stay in the notification list before disappearing.
Updated the look of many object icons.
Updated the look of the colonist level notification icon.
Opening the construction queue no longer changes camera overlay mode back to default.
Hologram emitter interface now uses icons to set hologram instead of a drop down. This is consistent with other objects that use a similar selection process.
Misc Changes
Reduced biome scan audio volume and range.
Planet map camera zoom gradually gets faster as you zoom out instead of being the same speed regardless of distance. This results in a smoother zoom when closer to the planet’s surface.
Tweaked visuals for the main menu background.
Adjusted job role experience gain to better balance progression for less utilized job roles.
Mouse cursor is now a different color depending on selection modes such as harvest, mine and deconstruction.
Decreased load time of new and saved games by ~30%.
Updated the look of all visual effects when a mining tile is destroyed.
Tweaks and changes to various item/object descriptions.
Updated the look of the hologram emitter material effect.
Display objects such as plants in the plant pot and holograms for the hologram emitter provide their own decor bonus in addition to the display container. The base decor of the plant pots and hologram display have been rebalanced.
Colonists are more likely to use recreation items during scheduled recreation time.
Colonist stress change rate now paused while stress.
Surface power line connection lines are now thicker when zoomed out to increase their visibility.
Drop Off Items vehicle action will now automatically move the vehicle to the facility or nearest resource depot instead of having to be directly adjacent. Action tooltip also updated to reflect the change.
Fish chunks recipe now unlocked with food processor research.
Can now only construct a maximum of one ore manager.
Can now only construct a maximum of one crop manager.
Crop and ore managers resource limits are disabled if the relevant machine is disabled or unpowered.
Modding/Data Changes
CSurfaceHarvestable component now has a harvestable_by tag which is used to determine what buildings/vehicles can harvest the surface resource.
Added CObjectDisplay component which replaces CPlanter and CHologramEmitter components. CObjectDisplay component can only display EDisplayObject type by matching tags.
Fixes :: Vehicles
Fixed: Vehicle biome scan visual effect not always showing.
Fixed: Vehicle biome scanning visual and audio continues even after canceling the vehicles related action.
Fixed: Vehicle preview path not showing when hovering over a valid mining target for mining vehicle mining action selection.
Fixed: Vehicle preview path for expeditions and mining vehicles not showing after selecting destination without having to deselect and re-select the vehicle.
Fixed: Vehicle inventory contents not reflected in HUD inventory counts.
Fixed: Mining vehicle stuck in mining animation if mining action is canceled while the game is paused.
Fixed: Soft lock if clicking vehicle mine action multiple times without setting a mining target.
Fixed: Embarked surface vehicles loaded from save game not appearing on minimap in some instances.
Fixed: Vehicle actions not correctly reaching their destination when arriving from an adjacent tile of a different height in some instances. This causes the action to re-plan its movement and will eventually ping-pong between two points repeatedly.
Fixed :: UI & Language
Fixed: Spelling mistakes.
Fixed: Resource amount number in mining platform UI incorrectly formatted.
Fixed: Incorrect icons for some missions.
Fixed: Incorrect tooltip text for trade window buy/sell items.
Fixed: Missing display name for Fetid Knob plant.
Fixed: Craft queue inventory item count doesn’t match item count in hud inventory view in some instances.
Fixed: Receiving inventory contents not reflected in HUD inventory quantities.
Fixed: Object placement cursor object appearing in the construction queue.
Fixed: Construction queue list not actually showing items in the queue for construction in some instances. You had one job construction queue!
Fixes :: Misc
Fixed: Game crashes when saving game due to expedition missing vehicle entity in some instances.
Fixed: Expedition data not loading correctly in some instances. Expeditions may still not work correctly in existing saves until the expedition is docked/canceled and embarked again.
Fixed: Unable to move map table object.
Fixed: Mineable underground resources missing visual effect when destroyed.
Fixed: Object move button not available for crop manager object.
Fixed: Object move button not available for ore manager object.
Fixed: Solid rocket fuel recipe research missing research requirements.
Fixed: Object not reachable hover icon not correctly updated if game is paused.
Fixed: Rooms incorrectly including wall objects on the opposite side of an adjacent wall when calculating decor and lighting scores.
Fixed: Trade platform attempting to receive a trader before it’s finished being constructed.
Fixed: Performance issue related to how the decor overlay is updated.
Fixed: Colonist allowed edibles not saving/loading.
Fixed: Able to press input keys for management screens, construction manager etc. while intro text is being displayed.
Fixed: Sand floor is the same minimap color as stone floor.
Fixed: Various animations not playing correctly such as trader ship take-offs, mining vehicle end mining animation, comm station open/close and more.
Fixed: Shift + Click eye dropper construction tool not limited by a structure’s maximum placed value.
Fixed: The Knowers POI generated from the Meet The Knowers mission not disappearing after completing the POI.
Fixed: Power pole connection not showing after its constructed in some instances.
Fixed: Power pole preview connections not showing connections to power poles under construction.
Fixed: Damaged Wall, Damaged Door and stasis capsules dropping more sources than they should on deconstruction.
Howdy Folks!
Time is ticking by fast and there are just three weeks until the 1.0 release of Mercury Fallen. It’s been a wild ride getting to this point and I couldn’t have made it here without the amazing support and feedback from all of you.
Mercury Fallen will be releasing out of early access August 22nd. As we grow ever closer to that date I wanted to take a look back at the progress that has been made.
Below are some before and after screenshots showing how various aspects of the game have changed and improved over the course of development.
Mercury Fallen has come a long way and it wouldn’t be possible without all of the amazing support. Thanks everyone!
Be sure to tell you’re friends and neighbors about the upcoming 1.0 release of Mercury Fallen. It’s a great time to grab a copy or add it to your wishlist.