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.

Preview Video

Bio-Lab

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.

Research Tech Tree

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.

Cafeteria & Food Dispensers

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.

Meals & Food Processing

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.

Colonist Rosters

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

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.

Release Notes

• Added: Aeroponics Farm for the advanced growing of crops. Aeroponics farm requires power, water and plant nutrient item to grow crops, but provides bonus to crop output and reduced grow time.
• Added: Algae Farm for growing and harvesting microalgae. Green algae is used in some food recipes and is a requirement for making plant nutrients.
  Added: Aquarium for growing and harvesting fish. Aquarium generates bio-waste which is collected when harvesting grown fish. Biowaste is an ingredient for plant nutrients.
• Added: Fish Tank decoration item.
• Added: Food Processor for processing some raw food ingredients for cooking.
• Added: Food Dispenser storage container for storing meals.
• Added: Bio-Lab floor/room
• Added: Cafeteria floor/room. The eating table and new food dispenser now require this room. Recreation room still exists, but serves little purpose for now until future updates.
• Added: Thorn Wheat Crop/Item
• Added: Tangle Fruit Crop/Item
• Added: Sponge Stalk Crop/Item
• Added: Arrow Head Fungus Crop/Item
• Added: Emergency Ration meal item. This item is not craftable. Only found in the starting supply chest and food chests.
• Added: 9 new meal/food recipes
• Added: Plant Nutrient which is made at the bio-refiner.
• Added: Food Item Satiation. This is how much of the hunger meter is filled when a food item is consumed.
• Added: Food Item Nutrition. This will decrease how quickly the hunger bar fills. Nutrition is added as an attribute effect to hunger from some food items. Nutrition bonus will decay naturally over time.
• Added: New research window with visual tech tree. New interface is now integrated into the facility management screen [tab]
• Added: New Colonist Roster to various production machines. This allows players to set which colonists can operate that machine/object. Colonists will work at machines that either have an empty roster or a machine/object with a roster that contains their name.
• Added: New research topics to unlock additional room, machines and recipes.
• Added: Object icon shows in object info window
• Added: Colonist portrait shows in colonist info window
• Added: Colonist portrait in colonist management interface.
• Added: Roster Management section in guide
• Added: Robots section in guide
• Added: Button on main HUD button bar to open discovery interface
• Added: Button on main HUD button bar to open game guide.
• Added: New starting tutorial to open starting supply chest by elevator.
• Changed: Fridge now only stores raw food items. Meals are stored in the new food dispenser.
• Changed: Fridge storage limit increased from 400 to 450
• Changed: Food Items no longer fully deplete a colonists hunger, but is now based on satiation and nutrition values. Additional information found in the guide under colonist needs.
• Changed: Food quality is determined by satiation + nutrition. Colonists will eat the best quality food first.
• Changed: Colonists will get hungry more often
• Changed: Colonists will receive the starving affect only after hunger has stayed at max for 3 in-game hours.
• Changed: Crop fields now show crop output amount
• Changed: Re-ordered various research topics
• Changed: Several research topics have been rebalanced to take more or less time to research
• Changed: Facility Management button on main HUD button bar changed to Colonists.
• Changed: Research button now opens new research tech tree.
• Changed: Cook Station now uses less water
• Changed: Clone Chamber uses slightly less water
• Changed: Medical Cabinet now restricted to medbay floor
• Changed: Updated existing crop/plant icons
• Changed: Reduced reflectivity of metal walls to reduce light hot spots
• Changed: Medical room wall light color now pink
• Changed: Game now runs in background
• Changed: Updated various tooltip text
• Changed: Updated various guide entries to include more details.
• Changed: Items in HUD inventory list now show a tooltip when hovering over the item.
• Changed: Camera movement is now limited to map area.
• Changed: Increase to camera zoom out distance.
• Changed: Minor increase to camera angle limits.
• Changed: Build menu now shows objects power/water output where applicable.
• Changed: Build materials in build menu now show red/green outlines to indicate if the items are available.
• Changed: Increased font size of starting tutorial description text.
• Changed: Manual now called Guide
• Changed: Organics chest now has a chance to contain plant nutrients
• Changed: Food chests now have a chance to contain emergency rations
• Changed: Bio-Refiner recipes now require the engineer job role instead of the botanist.

• Fixed: Robot Assembler not animating correctly if loading a save game that had the robot assembler in mid construction.
• Fixed: Robot Assembler still constructing if lost power
• Fixed: Selected objects for deconstruction selecting non-destructive object if multiple objects occupy the same tile. This would lead to a stuck colonist attempting to deconstruct an object that can’t be deconstructed.
• Fixed: Facility management section button sound effects not being affected by the volume settings.
• Fixed: Game unpauses when closing game menu even if already paused
• Fixed: Low scroll sensitivity in some dropdown lists
• Fixed: Incorrect scrollbar graphic in some dropdown lists
• Fixed: Camera still edge scrolls with facility management interface open
• Fixed: Objects with positive decor still providing decor bonus if disabled or not connected to required resources.
• Fixed: Guide scroll bar not resetting to top when changing guide sections.
• Fixed: Loot Chests can be seen inside dirt/ore walls when in power/water display mode.
• Fixed: Colonist priority not being calculated correctly for final job cost. This caused colonists to not always do the highest priority task.
• Fixed: Colonist not eating lower quality food if best quality food exists and can’t be reached.
• Fixed: Research station progress text not updating as research is performed

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/

Features

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.

Colonist Portraits

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.

Roster Management Window

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.

New Research Interface

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.

Fine Dining

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.

Howdy Folks. Since the last update I’ve been working on a bunch of new content for the next update. Things are coming along very well and I wanted to cover some of the new things coming in the next update.

More Food Options

The poor colonists are currently existing only on mashed potatoes, but more meal options are incoming. Several new alien crops are being introduced into the game. Some of these new crops will need to have it’s seed discovered and researched before it can be planted. How new seed discovery items are found is still being worked out, but some of them will be discover-able in item chests similar to some of the technology blueprints. These new crop types will open up a whole bunch of new food recipes at the cook station.

Bio-Lab Room

In addition to new crops, there is a new room and new machines being added. The new Bio-Lab room will be a required room for the new Algae Farm, Aeroponics Farm and Fish Tank.

Aeroponics is a new crop growing machine that will be required for some of the new plants that won’t be plantable in a normal crop field. The Aeroponics Farm will be able to grow all crops as well as a provide a bonus growth speed, and possible bonus yield, to crops that can be grown in the crop field. The trade off to the Aeroponics is that it will require power, water and botanical nutrients to operate. This does not replace the crop field as Aeroponics will only be available after certain discoveries and research.

The Algae Farm is used as an additional food source for new food recipes. There are some additional plans for Algae that will come in future updates as well.

Finally the colonists will have a source of protein from the Fish Tank. I’m still working on the over all production cycle of the fish tank, but the end result means some fish based meal options.

And More

While the core focus of the next update is the new food recipes, crops and room, there are some additional things that I’m working on that may make it’s way into the next update. One feature I’m working on is colonist machine rosters. This would work by selecting a production machine and choosing what colonists can operate that machine. When a colonist looks for a job they will only be able to work at a machine that does not have anyone on its roster or a machine that has a roster with their name on it. Each machine can have multiple colonists assigned to it and this new system should allow for better control over where a colonist is working as well as ensuring the various machines get properly utilized. This new system is very much still in the design phase so any and all feedback is welcome.

There is still a lot more work to be done for the next update, but it’s progress is coming along very well so far. Thanks to everyone who has provided some great feedback so far. Let me know what you think about these new features.

I’m super excited to announce that Alpha 0.13 is now available on Steam! 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

Mercury Fallen has come a long way, but it also has a lot further to go. The two main big focus points for the game are exploration and expansion. Expansion has had a lot of work in terms of new room types, object and materials. This will continue to be developed, but I want to give attention to exploration as well. When you dig out the map, there is little to discover aside from new colonists so far, but this is currently being expanded in a couple of ways.

Discovery System

While exploring the world, the player will discover various items such as new types of seeds, data logs, technologies and more. Discoveries can be found only once and are used in various ways. Unlike regular items, discoveries are not used directly by your colonists. They will appear in the new discovery interface once they have been found. Below are some of the planned types of discoveries.

Seeds

Currently, all plant types are available at the start of the game. As more crops/plants are added they will be connected to the discovery system. Some plant types will require the player to discover its seed before it can be used in a crop field or plant pot.

Data Logs

Data logs will tell more of the story of Mercury Fallen and its previous inhabitant. Each data log will contain a bit of the story, which can be viewed in the discovery interface.

Technology

Technology discovery items will be required for special research projects, meaning that some research can’t be completed until the missing technology part is discovered. This is intended for more advanced research projects.

Interface

Once they are found, discoveries will appear in the new discovery interface located under the facility management screen. This will show a complete list of discoveries you have made. Some items that have not been discovered yet will also show here, but there will be hidden discoveries as well, that will only appear once the discovery item is found.

Item Canisters

That all sounds fun, but how are discoveries made? In addition to finding colonists, the player will find item canisters littered around the map. Item canisters will come in different types and upon opening them, the player will get various materials and possibly a discovery. For example, an organics canister may contain an assortment of organic materials as well as a new seed discovery.

World Generation

Something I had planned for a while was to include more of the ruined remains of the Mercury Facility. I’m currently re-working the world generation system to include the crumbled remaining rooms of the old facility. These rooms will be good locations to find Item Canisters for additional materials/discoveries and can be deconstructed for materials or re-purposed.

Performance Improvements

In addition to the exploration enhancements I’ve worked to improve the AI logic to boost overall performance. The AI decision system now operates on a separate thread, which means facilities with a lot more colonists shouldn’t experience performance issues. The above image shows over 100 colonists running around the facility with a stable 60 fps.

Additional tweaks to speed up game loading and improve render performance are also being worked on.

Those are some of the things coming in the next update. There is no ETA yet for when the next update will drop, but stay tuned for more information. What do you think of the new additions?

I’m super duper excited to announce that Alpha 0.12 is now available on Steam! This update is packed with new content, updates and lots of fixes. While the priority system was certainly a focus for this update there is a lot of additional content that has gone in to this update.

Important Note

Existing save games from 0.11 will not load properly in 0.12. Please start a new game in 0.12.

Priority System

The new job priority system allows you to set the priority order of job roles per colonist. This is visible in both the colonist info window and colonist management screen. Higher priority jobs will be performed before lower priority jobs.
This is just the start. Additional priority options will be coming in future updates

Object Placement

Object placement has been overhauled and a new visible footprint is shown when placing down objects. This new system helps to enforce proper walk areas for colonists as well as stopping colonists from walking through objects. More information about building objects can now be found in the in-game manual.

Manual

A new in-game manual has been added that can be access by opening the facility management screen and selecting manual from the top button bar. The manual is not content complete, but is a great starting point for new and existing players.

New Objects

The Tech Printer machine has been added which is used, by the engineer, to create tech items such as electronics and mechanical parts. The smelter has been re-designed and a new storage container option makes it’s way in to the game.

More Audio Effects

I’ve added many sound effects for various actions/machines to help liven the game up a bit. There is still more to add, but this is a good first step towards a more audible environment.

Alpha 0.12 has a lot of great new additions, changes and bug fixes. Let me know what you think.

Release Notes

Features

• Job Role Priority system that allows priority control per job role. Jobs at a higher priority will be done before jobs with a lower priority. 1 = High Priority, 10 = Low Priority.
  Job Role priority controls in Management screen and colonist info window
• Game manual now available as a section under the Facility Management interface. Press [Tab] to open and select manual at top. Manual is not complete and will be expanded with future updates.
• New object placement system. Visual footprint now shows when building objects. Objects enforce a walkable area colored in green. Non-walkable areas are colored in red. The object footprint overlay shows during placement as well as when an object is selected.

Updates

• Added: Colonists will now move item containers from a construction area before building objects.
• Added: Tech Printer machine which is used to create technology components.
• Added: Electronics recipe
• Added: Mechanical Parts item and recipe
• Added: New research to unlock the Tech Printer
• Added: Audio/Visual effects to power generator
• Added: Audio/Visual effects to computer station
• Added: Robot Assembler audio
• Added: Door Open/Close audio
• Added: Deconstruction audio
• Added: Vertical storage container
• Added: Mining filter button row above mining button to toggle multi-select for normal and deep mining
• Changed: Deconstruction filter window now shows as button group above deconstruct button
• Changed: Stasis Capsules and inactive robots are now embedded in dirt tiles instead of replacing them. They must be mined out before use.
• Changed: Objects now have forced non-walkable tiles which should resolve colonists walking through objects.
• Changed: Updated objects to use the new footprint system which results in objects placed in existing saved games no longer loading properly.
• Changed: Improved colonist detection for closest interaction tile from current position. Colonists will prefer to use the closest green walkable tile for an object or closest bordering tile when applicable.
• Changed: Colonists can no longer walk through objects that are not finished being built
• Changed: New smelter model
• Changed: Elevator no longer shows inventory quantity. Elevator is only for starter items and not used for general storage.
• Changed: Fridge now requires power. Colonists will not store food items in unpowered fridges.
• Changed: Cloning Chamber now requires electronics as a build material
• Changed: Points spent in Smarts via the Robot Assembler now uses electronics at higher levels.
• Changed: Points spent in Athletics via the Robot Assembler now uses mechanical parts at higher levels.
• Changed: Starting missing colonists and inventory now exposed to XML files
• Changed: Removed doppler effect from audio sources to fix audio distortion when rotating/moving the camera.
• Changed: Robot Assembler window now shows the materials it is waiting for before construction can begin

Fixes

• Fixed: Botanist job role not spelled correctly
• Fixed: Hover icons showing over main HUD UI
• Fixed: Skip button not appearing during opening story text when starting a second game from the main menu
• Fixed: Colonists building while standing in another object to be built which results in colonists getting stuck in other objects.
• Fixed: Some audio sources still being heard further away than they should have been.
• Fixed: HUD UI becomes unresponsive if closing the crop field window while the crop type drop down is open
• Fixed: Crop field drop down callback not being cleared when window is closed leading to memory build up and possible game crash.
• Fixed: Power Generator still providing power when it runs out of fuel
• Fixed: Engineer not dropping off all required materials to robot assembler
• Fixed: Clone Chamber still functioning if power/water is not available. Clone progress now paused until power/water is restored.
• Fixed: Robot Assembler still continues construction if it has no power or is disabled. Construction is paused until power is restored.
• Fixed: Engineer not working at Tech Printer
• Fixed: Ailments/Quirks related to move speed not working or being loaded
• Fixed: Random Game crash when colonist is being treated at medi-bed
• Fixed: Object placement not canceled when clicking Mine or Deconstruct buttons
• Fixed: Possible game crash when colonists generate a path to construct an object
• Fixed: Power still magically generated for machines after generator is removed
• Fixed: Robot Assembler not saving construction state correctly leading to save game crash upon load
• Fixed: Various code optimizations/modifications to improve game performance and stability

This update took longer than initially planned, but it’s packed with various new content, tweaks and fixes. I’m super excited to announce that Alpha 0.11 is now available on Steam.

Important Note:

Existing Save Games are not supported. Strongly advised to start a new game in Alpha 0.11.

Robot Construction

Colonists have figured out how to make their very own robots. Robots can be constructed using the new Robot Assembler, after the required research is complete. When constructing a robot you can apply points to increase the robots starting Smarts, Muscles & Athletics. With additional research you can increase the amount of points you can spend each time you construct a robot.

Robot Power Need

Robots will now require recharging, which works in a similar way to colonists requiring sleep. The new recharge pad is where robots will go to recharge their power need.

Deep Driller Bot

The new Deep Driller bot can be constructed at the Robot Assembler and is the only machine capable of mining the remaining ore in the floor. Floor ore tiles can be marked for deep drilling by selecting them and clicking the new Enable Deep Mining button. Ore floor tiles will be replaced with dirt after they are finished being mined.

Story Content

A new opening back story has been added to the game. In additional to this a new stasis capsule has appeared when starting a new game. This is the initial introduction of the planned story content for the Mercury Fallen. There is a lot more to come.

Note-able Changes

• Power/Water No Longer Limited By Distance
• Object Placement Is Now From Object Center vs. Object Corner
• Tiles Marked For Mining Are Saved And Still Selected Upon Reload
• Warning Icons Over Objects That Are Missing Power/Water Or Are Disabled

Release Notes

Features

• Added Robot Assembler for constructing new robots.
• Added: New Assembly Lab Floor
• Added Robot power need
• Added Charge Pad for recharging robots
• Added new Driller Bot which has the one job of mining floor ore tiles.
• Added warning icons over objects that are disabled, missing power/water
• Added 6 new data recovery projects to unlock robot construction, deep driller and attribute points.
• One robot charge pad included in starting facility
• Enable deep mining on a floor ore tile by selecting it and activating deep mining
• Ore tiles in the floor will become dirt after resources are mined by a deep driller bot

Changes

• Added: Lock Cursor To Window option which will confine the cursor to the game window when running in windowed mode.
• Added: Game intro story text
• Added: Mysterious opened stasis capsule
• Removed power/water conduit distance limit. Objects can now receive water/power at any distance as long as there is enough being generated.
• Added: Screen border and PAUSED text at top middle when game is paused
• Added: Tooltip info to attributes in colonist info window
• Changed: Engineering floor now called Refinery floor
• Changed: tutorial task font size to reduce screen clutter
• Changed: Mining tutorial task to include info on how to deselect tiles
• Changed: Various changes to tooltip text
• Changed: Object placement/rotation now based on object center and not object corner. Objects in existing save games may be missing or offset from original placed location.
• Changed: Colonists will now drop mined resources as they are mining instead of dropping all resources when mining is complete.
• Changed: Mining action will now be interrupted if colonist has a more pressing need
• Changed:Starting job performance has been decreased. Higher job level should now have more of a noticeable impact on job performance. Job performance is based on time between actions so higher levels should do the job more quickly.
• Updated: Tiles selected for mining should now save and reload.
• Updated: Different colonist types (Human/robots) now have different base movement speeds
• If robot power is less than 15% they will no longer work and seek out an available charge pad.
• If robot power is less than 5% they will receive the low power effect which will reduce movement speed by 25%

Fixes

• Fixed: Colonist getting stuck collecting items if only applicable location is blocked.
• Fixed: Colonists working at stations even if station doesn’t have power.
• Fixed: Data Recovery unlock tooltip text extending outside of frame
• Fixed: Tutorial text cut off on some resolutions
• Fixed: Colonist using incorrect items to craft with in some instances
• Fixed: Colonist actions getting incorrect setting data in some instances which lead to various misbehavior
• Fixed: Power generator providing power to a machine even if that would bring it over it’s max power output
• Fixed: Walls not updating when removing a door

It’s taken longer than originally planned, but the test build for Alpha 0.11 is now available to check out on Steam. There have been various changes under and above the hood so this test build could be a bumpy ride. I’ll need your help to ensure everything works, and feels, right.

Robot charge pads and robot construction are the biggest new features, but there has been various changes and re-balancing across the board.

If you’re interested in helping test the latest, greatest, and possibly buggiest, version of the game then head on over to Steam and check it out.

This week I’ve been working on various aspects of the game for the next content update and I wanted to report on the progress so far. Robots are currently free labor as they can’t die and don’t have any needs to fulfill. It has always been the plan to have more requirements for robots as well as the ability for robot construction.

Robot Recharging

Robots requiring power is currently being worked on for the 0.11 update. Robots will need to be recharged at charging pads, similar to how colonists need to sleep. If a robot get’s below 5% power it will get a speed reduction and no longer perform any job actions. Charge pads will be another branch of data recovery and the plan is to add one charge pad to the facility at world generation.

Robot Construction

The Robot Assembler is being added which will allow colonists to construct new robot workers. I’m still tinkering on the details on what control the player has over the quality of the robot output. This may be something that is added more simply at first and built on to over time. I am also working on a new type of robot which will allow players to mine floor tiles for additional resources.

Notice Icons

There is also more work going to into reporting information to the player and in that vein I’m adding in hovering notification/warning icons. These hover icons will show on top of objects to notify the player to issues such as an object having no power, no water, not enabled and more. This is a great way to see the status of objects at a glance.

The next update is shaping up very nicely and will have some great new content. What are your thoughts on some of the new features?