Hello Survivors!
Exciting news everyone: a new Early Access update is making its way to Stranded: Alien Dawn on 28 March, 2023. The Sow and Sell update adds a brand new scenario to play through, with a new narrative setting, new challenges to consider, and a new end goal. A group of people buy a one-way ticket to the uncharted territories of the Outer Worlds where they plan to set up a small trading outpost. This is the story of their enterprise... Their mission: Build a trading outpost to eventually buy the planet. Also coming in this update: new items, a brand new survivor, new plants and recipes, several quality of life updates, and bug fixes!
As always, we want to give a huge shoutout to everyone who's been sharing feedback and suggestions on our forums, on social media, or on our Discord server. We really couldn't do this without you! Don't forget to join us in our upcoming livestream on 21 March, where we'll be showing off what you can expect in this new update together with the developers from Haemimont Games.
There's a fair bit to cover, so let's dive right into it:
Trading Outpost Scenario
In this brand new scenario, your survivors have come to an uninhabited, isolated planet willingly with the ultimate goal of eventually buying it for themselves. You start off by picking 3 survivors, who will act as the founders of a new trading outpost on a previously unsettled planet. These three will land on the planet using their Trading Pod and can immediately start building out a way to generate and harvest resources they can sell.
Unlike the Crash Landing scenario, the survivors are not wholly unprepared for this strange new world they've landed on, and have taken with them both basic supplies and knowledge of farming. Your survivors also start off with a set amount of Galacticoins, the main currency in the galaxy that will eventually be used to purchase the planet.
In addition to trading for Galacticoins and additional resources, you'll of course have to provide food, housing, and clothing for your settlers, and make sure their needs are met so they don't suffer from emotional meltdowns. There are still also wildlife attacks that needs to be defended against! One thing to note is that there's no Orbital Radio in this scenario, as your goal isn't to call for rescue and escape. You'll also be able to continue playing the game after you've completed the scenario and reached the victory screen.
Since there's no crash landing in this scenario, there's fewer spaceship debris dotting the environment surrounding your settlers. That means you'll have less to to scavenge, which could mean fewer weapons and armor, less scrap metal, and fewer emergency rations or first aid kits. Luckily, that's what the trusty Trading Pod is for!
The Trading Pod
The Trading Pod is a unique and central part of this scenario, with various functions that will help your new outpost grow bigger and better as you play. Its primary function is to transport resources off-planet to orbiting trade ships, as well as bringing back resources and Galacticoins you may have traded for. Signals can be sent out whenever you want, but you're not always guaranteed to get an answer. Different trading factions will offer different goods, so it's not a bad idea to constantly put out a call for new trades, just to see who's willing to trade.
Some traders will even offer to sell you technologies, including breakthroughs, for a high cost, which will help you save time on researching. They may also offer you breakthroughs that might not be available to you depending on your map seed.
As you progress you'll be able to post job offers to Automated Ansible Relay #499 via the Trading Pod. If a job offer is responded to by a willing worker, you can then choose to hire them for a certain period of time using your Galacticoins, after which they'll be transported to your outpost. Once a worker's contract runs out, you can renegotiate and extend their employment if you choose. This is the only way to grow your settlement, so it's always a good idea to have some extra Galacticoins on hand! Some workers, however, might also offer to join you for free, if certain criteria are met, or reach out on their own.
A New Survivor
As with previous updates, we're adding a new survivor to Stranded: Alien Dawn! Vicente Santiago is an expert farmer and trader whose skills will come in handy when trading with passing ships. You'll get to meet him in the coming days, so stay tuned to our social channels!
New Research and Recipes
The Sow and Sell Update also comes with new research, buildable devices, recipes, and crops. The new Money Counterfeiting breakthrough will let you print your own (fake) Galacticoins, while Safes are a new storage item dedicated to storing and keeping Galacticoins. These are exclusive to the Trading Scenario. If you're an avid farmer, you'll be excited to learn that we are introducing Hydroponic Racks to Stranded: Alien Dawn, and these can be used in both the Crash Landing and Trading Scenario.
Since the new scenario focuses on the farming and trading of resources, we're adding a slew of new crops that can be discovered and grown by your survivors. These can be found during expeditions, or will be available as your starting crop in the Trading Scenario. All the items below, except the Trade Goods, are available in both scenarios:
- Cureplants can be harvested for antibiotics, which will always come in handy whenever someone's sick or injured. Antibiotics could also fetch a pretty penny from the right buyers!
- Mulchplants can be harvested for Sweet Syrup, an excellent raw ingredient and fallback if your survivors are hungry. They will also turn soil into loam, to help future crop growth
- Synthplants can be harvested for Synthetic Textiles, which can then be turned into clothing. Be careful when planting Synthplants though, as they will decrease the quality of the soil by changing it into a mix of silt and clay
- Energy Crystals can be harvested for Energy Crystals, a key component in the crafting of Power Cells. Energy Crystals also decrease the quality of the soil by changing it into sand.
- Buzzshroom Plants can be harvested for Buzzshrooms, which is used in the production of both Stimulants and Stimulating Tea. Both will give your survivors a Manipulation, Movement, and Happiness bonus after consuming
- Trade Goods can be crafted from various materials at a Workbench, and while they ultimately can't be consumed by your survivors, they can be sold at a higher price when trading than raw resources
As we mentioned before, there are more quality of life updates, and bug fixes, coming in this update, so keep an eye out for the full patch notes coming on 28 March. As always, we want to thank everyone in the Stranded: Alien Dawn community for all your support, feedback, suggestions, and bug reports.
There are more details to come about the Sow and Sell Update, so don't forget to join the Stranded: Alien Dawn Discord and you'll never miss any news! You can also follow the game on TikTok, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube, or join the discussions on Steam and the Frontier Forums. On 21 March at 4:00pm GMT, the community team will be joined by developers from Haemimont Games for a run-through of the new scenario, and the rest of the new update on Twitch and YouTube. We'll see you there!