Hello, engineers!

Update 1.1 is out for everyone! It's been two months since the 1.0 release, and in that time we've shipped around twenty patches. But 1.1 is the one we've been waiting to hand you: it changes how The Crust feels once your base grows big.

A huge thank you to everyone who played the public beta. Your feedback was overwhelmingly positive, and it showed in the best way possible: many of you finished the campaign long ago and still kept expanding bases that were already enormous, and racing each other for the top spots on the leaderboard.

Up to 3x FPS on large bases

Some players ran into FPS drops as they scaled up production in the late game. Besides the fact that a low frame rate is unpleasant in itself, it also got in the way of their cosmic ambitions (we even suspect some of them see the Moon as nothing more than a little sandbox on a playground). Naturally, we don't want anything to stand in the way of building the most profitable and best-organized base.

So 1.1 brings the biggest optimization package in the game's history. We optimized interfaces, build and utility modes, module selection, conveyors, drone multipliers, storage and even switching between levels. The result: 2-3x FPS on large bases. On top of that, saves now load almost 9x faster, and some players whose huge bases used to crash on load can now open them without any problems.

Here is what the update did to the saves of four players from our Discord server:

A lighter Underground Storage. On Low and Medium graphics settings, an Underground Storage now displays 36 large containers holding about 500 units each instead of 17,000 individual resources. This greatly reduces the load on your CPU and GPU when many Underground Storages are in view at once.

Of course, optimization doesn't end here, and we'll keep improving the game's performance.

New module: Quantum CPU

In the later stages of the game, you often need to build quite a few CPU modules to scale up, which consumes a significant amount of living space. With the Quantum CPU, you can make more efficient use of both valuable floor space and high-tech components. We first showed it in our plans for Update 1.2, but it was ready early, so it's already in 1.1!

Also in 1.1

• Reversing conveyor direction: a dedicated button reverses a production chain at any time, unless one of the conveyor's ends is input-only or output-only

• Large Gas Storage: store far more gas and save plenty of space on your base

• Choosing beds for colonists: assign a colonist to a specific bed and keep living quarters close to workplaces

• Mk.2 upgrades without dropping resources: changing a recipe also keeps the materials the new recipe still uses

• New Technology Center upgrades: faster module production and faster growth of organics

• New research: "Adaptive Photovoltaics" increases the efficiency of all solar panels by 5%, and "DaVinci Systems" increases the reliability and service life of all modules by 10%. Large Solar Panels and labs are more efficient, and new upgrades expand the cargo compartment of all three rocket types, increase Outpost storage capacity and the scanning radius of the Resource Probe and the Anomaly Probe, and raise the number of connections for Electric Pillars to 6

• Quality of life: clearing resources in the Distributor, copying recipes, an improved Auto-Sell system and new Encyclopedia pages

• Input priorities in a splitter: you can now exercise finer control over the flow of resources through it by adjusting the relative volume of resources at each input.

Every one of these in detail, with GIFs: the Update 1.1 Public Beta post.

And nearly 50 smaller changes

Most of these arrived in patches between 1.0 and 1.1, and they were easy to miss among all the patch notes, so here is everything that is now part of the game:

Gameplay and balance

• Added additional Points of Interest that are generated during gameplay

• Reworked the Solar Flare event: it no longer drains batteries located underground

• Added a warning about an approaching Solar Flare 12-36 hours before it begins

• Changed the delay between completing the "Strategic Planning" contract and the Laser Cannon launch: its duration now also depends on the selected difficulty

• The locked rocket is now unlocked after completing the story

• Added new speed-related research options to the CRUST Solution Science Points store

• Added a new research option that increases the number of connections for an Electric Pillar to 6 and increases its maximum radius

• Improved drone priority distribution in situations with a large construction queue

• Multiple adjustments to drone priorities

• Added a system that reduces global reputation for failing to pay colonists' wages

• Rebalanced the Solar Flare, meteor shower and epidemic events: they now depend more on the game difficulty and on how developed your base is

• Improved late-game events in sandbox games with custom settings

• Rebalanced various systems, including the cost of research, upgrades and conveyors

Interface and quality of life

• Added the ability to upgrade individual conveyor segments while holding Ctrl

• Added the ability to remove roads using the Universal Demolition tool

• Improved the visuals of conveyor routing in Planning Mode

• Added the seed number to the pause menu, with an option to copy it

• Added a status for colonists who are riding in a truck

• The tooltip for a colonist in the list now shows their skills and main profession

• Expanded the tooltip shown when hovering over the rocket on the bottom panel

• Added a tooltip when hovering over the CPU icon in the construction planning window

• Added tooltips for the new buttons in various menus

• Added tooltips when selecting the difficulty at the end of the Prologue

• Added an exclamation mark in the Research menu next to unused Science Points

• Improved the display of the estimated research time when there are not enough Science Points

• Added notifications for epidemics

• Added a temporary notification at meteorite impact sites

• The gas counter in the Cargo Dock now updates automatically

• Added a check for the presence of a Cargo Dock at the start of the Echo-7 quest

• Improved the quest log: it no longer shows completion dates, and only story missions are marked with stars

• Improved the settings menu layout

• The game now remembers the last excavation mode you used

• When a Distributor with a conveyor connected flush to modules is switched between Planning Mode and build mode, the conveyors are now switched along with it

• The resource panel no longer collapses or expands when switching between levels (crater and underground)

• The game now pauses when an urgent contract window opens

Leaderboard

• Modified games no longer appear on the leaderboard, and you can now remove your own results from it

• Added a "My Place" button to the leaderboard in the statistics window

• Added highlighting of your position in the in-game leaderboard, matching the main menu

Encyclopedia and tutorials

• Added new Encyclopedia pages: outpost management, Helium-3 extraction and colonist work at outposts, regolith processing at outposts and patrols, the Gas Extractor, the Shower-Toilet and the Manufacturer

• Expanded the Encyclopedia page on Science Points: it now lists every way to obtain them

• Improved the Encyclopedia page about the Launch Station

• Added a tutorial on generating Science Points at an outpost

• Improved the contracts tutorial

Visuals, audio and localization

• Added new artwork to the loading screen

• Added 2 new tracks by our composer, Ilya Khaminov

• Improved the construction animation for the Carbon Fiber Factory

• Improved the road demolition animation

• Major updates to the Chinese localization

• Localization fixes

What's next: free Update 1.2

• Blueprints: save your efficient production blocks as templates and reuse them anywhere, in any game mode. A perfect match for Planning Mode

• Conveyor traffic routing: Multi-Resource Warehouses will be able to send any amount of resources to any consumer on the same conveyor network. Every resource gets its own recipient and travels only toward it, just like in an Amazon fulfillment center =)

• A higher contract limit: dedicated slots for each delivery type

• A specific Cargo Dock for each truck on a route

• A specific Flight Control Center for market sales, just like for contracts

• Transport Hub improvements: interact with units directly and upgrade them in bulk

• More research slots in the research tree

• Also on the way: resource delivery for room construction via cargo drones, refunds for upgrade costs, selling MBUs, harvesters and trucks at Points of Interest, and a construction queue for vehicle factories

Your feedback fuels us

If 1.1 made The Crust better for you, a Steam review is the best way to tell other players, and it helps a small team like ours more than you might think. And if something still bothers you, tell us: we read every suggestion and discuss them daily on our Discord server and Idea Board. Help us shape The Crust together.

Don't own The Crust yet? It's 40% off until November 17: the best moment to start your colony.

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See you on the Moon!