This is the monthly update for November.
Highlights
- Colonists can now produce their favourite drink, kek.
- Added another colonist - the programmer. Very good at operating labs, but can't do any other work.
- Added hunger, thirst, tiredness and stress displays to the colonist UI. Stress replaces workload rating.
- Replaced the colonist work hours control with a work policy setting.
- Power stations now consume water.
- Updated the main-menu artwork.
- More hints to help new players get started.*
* I understand that some new players may have struggled to get started with the game, in which case I apologise. I've added additional hints which should help, but this is a temporary solution. I'm working on designing something better.
The screenshot shows a colonist harvesting kekke. This is used to make kek, a relaxing beverage.
Changes
- New crop: Kekke
- New building: Kek Factory
- New building: Kek Dispenser
- New project: Kek Production. Enables the above crop and buildings. Requires compost production.
- New colonist type: Programmer
- Updated main menu background and adjusted main menu text colours.
- Generators, power stations and hydrogen burners now all consume water.
- Increased the energy output of generators and power stations.
- All crops grow approximately 20% quicker.
- Controls: Right-click to cancel current tool.
- Replaced "workload rating" with "stress". Simplified the mechanics for the way this works.
- New colonist activity: Drinking kek. Requires a table, reduces stress by 15%. Added graphics for carrying kek, and kek on a table.
- New project: Improved Kek. In addition to the stress relief, kek now provides a direct +2 happiness bonus as well.
- Added work and kek drinking policies to give some control over how this works. Replaces the working hours setting.
- Feeling hot or cold now causes colonist stress to increase, rather than directly impacting happiness.
- Engineer will now repair buildings sooner depending on maintenance priority (previously this only detemined priority relative to other tasks)
- Botanist can now still harvest crops and take them to a cooker if there is not enough water to cook right away.
- Added more hints, mostly targeted at helping new players to get started.
- Colonist UI: Removed awake / work hours text. Added hunger, thirst, tiredness and stress displays instead.
- Colonist UI: Changed the lab work toggle button so that each lab type has a different icon. The programmer has all three.
- Reduced the cost, energy use and production rate of the electric furnace.
- Small update to the graphics for metal and stone tables. Also updated the descriptions.
- Made some minor adjustments to blue bug, red bug and tortoise AIs to reduce main-thread CPU usage and make bugs less likely to get stuck.
- Various code optimisations aimed at reducing CPU usage and improving framerate.
Fixes
- In the previous version ore scanners weren't actually using any energy (though they were reporting that they were).
- Can no-longer un-pause the game when the mothership dialog is open at the start.
- Fixed bug preventing water pump from being deconstructed when too cold.
- Fix temporarily incorrect mouse cursor after dragging with a tool (recycle etc.) active.
- Fixed a few other minor UI glitches.
- Fixed a couple of unimportant exceptions that were being logged.