Howdy Folks!

I’m extremely excited to announce that Update 23 is now live on Steam and Itch.io! Update 23 brings many new changes and additions, such as an updated power system, new world generation, starting conditions and even brand new colonist models.

Important Note: While existing save games should work it is recommended to start a new game in Update 23.

Colonists

Colonists have had a face, and body, lift: the update includes new colonist models, outfits and animations.

Colonist stress has been reworked and is now only affected by attribute effects instead of gradually increasing or decreasing based on decor. New stress attribute effects have been added that reflect the colonists current environment. More stress-related attribute effects will be added in future updates.

Colonists will now use benches and chairs when they have nothing else to do instead of only when their stress is high.

Starting Conditions

Some radical changes have been added to world generation which affect early game progression. When you start a new game (highly recommended), you will start with just stasis capsules, a robot and starting supply chest. The Getting Started tutorial has been updated to guide new and existing players.

Power Generation

The power system has been completely rewritten from the ground up to improve power delivery time and performance and to offer new mechanics. A solar panel is now available on the surface side facility which can be connected to via the elevator.

Batteries can now be constructed to store additional power.

The new power system was built to provide the foundation for more surface side content in future.

And More…

New naturally spawning plants have been added that can be harvested using the new harvest mechanic.

There have been many tweaks to gathered resource amounts, construction costs, research costs and more.

Check out the release notes below for the full list of additions, changes and fixes.

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Release Notes

World Generation

• New world generation which changes starting conditions
• Ore distribution is now more dense near starting location
• Added naturally spawning underground plants which can be harvested using the new harvest plant action. Naturally spawning plants will spread slowly over time.
• Mineral compound no longer acquired from mining dirt
• Added stone which can be mined for mineral compound

New Starting Conditions

• New game now starts with only stasis capsules and starting supply chest
• Initial power generation comes from the surface side facility. Building an elevator will allow access to solar power.
• Updated starting tutorial tasks
• Starting supply chest contents changed

Colonists

• Replaced male and female colonist models
• Updated look of colonist outfit
• Added new hair style for male and female colonists
• Minor change to colonist skin colors
• Female and male colonists now have separate animations
• Updated existing colonist animations
• New animation and particle effect for plant crop action
• Robots now show out of power hover icon when needing to recharge
• Colonists stress is now only the result of static effects applied to it instead of slowly going up/down based on decor + static effects. Expect more stress effects in future.
• Added attribute effects that apply to stress based on decor around colonist. Attribute effects can be seen under the colonists stats tab
• Colonists will no longer go sit down only when stressed out, but now have a random chance to go sit down if they don’t have anything else to do. Sitting down provides a new attribute effect that decreases stress for a bit.

Power System

• Complete rewrite of the electric power system
• Machines no longer consume power unless they are in operation
• Surface side facility now generates power from built in solar panels. Surface power generation can be used in the facility via the elevator.
• Added Small and Large Batteries for storing power
• Added Battery Booster equipment, recipe, research and discovery
• Added new research projects related to power generation and storage
• Updated power generation section in game guide

Misc Changes

• Surface Map now visible after constructing elevator
• Map Table now only required to perform expeditions
• Added keybinds for tilt camera up/down. Defaults to page up/page down.
• Mine button renamed to Gather. Icon also changed
• Damaged walls are now deconstructed and not mined
• Added Harvest Plant selection under new Gather section
• Assignable beds was accidentally added in a previous update without being fully integrated. Colonists will now sleep in an assigned bed and ignore a bed if it’s assigned to someone else. Colonists will sleep in an unassigned bed if they don’t have one assigned.
• Raw storage container can now store fuel items
• Starting tutorial tasks now show tooltip on hover instead of sliding open the task description
• Reduced amount of resources acquired from some mineable objects
• Updated various object descriptions
• Updated some object construction requirements
• Increased various research costs
• Reduced button hover sound effect volume
• Various code changes to support future content still in development

Fixes

• Fixed: Object/Colonist portrait image showing outside icon area
• Fixed: Constructed doors rotated the wrong way
• Fixed: Load crash if robot assembly station is currently constructing a robot
• Fixed: Light color picker clipped off screen
• Fixed: Main menu not functional if unable to load mod config file
• Fixed: Robot using recharge station before it’s finished being built
• Fixed: Time of day resets to the beginning of the day when loading a saved game
• Fixed: Expedition showing multiple times on expedition list after loading a saved game
• Fixed: Colonist stuck on an expedition that doesn’t exist anymore in some instances
• Fixed: Colonist info panel not showing when clicking a colonist portrait when the colonist is on an expedition