Hello, Crusties!
Great news! We are releasing update 0.94 — and it brings a ton of exciting improvements, including a performance boost, reduced RAM usage, a new fuel system for trucks, and other delightful enhancements from community suggestions.
Heads up! Older saves might encounter issues, so we recommend starting a new game. Who knows, maybe it’s your destiny?
🚀 What’s New?
Performance: After refactoring several critically loaded systems, we achieved an FPS increase of 2.5–3.5 times! Yes, you read that right. We measured performance on large bases submitted by our community (thanks for that!) and our test builds and got amazing results. Plus, RAM usage has now decreased by 2GB, allowing the game to run on PCs with lower memory capacity.
🏗️ Major Logistics System Optimization
The biggest FPS gain came from changing the data storage structure in the logistics system. Previously, warehouses stored information about all resources, even those that weren’t being used by that warehouse or module at the moment. Now, each warehouse only stores data about what it actually needs. It’s like stopping yourself from bringing home things that you “might need someday.”
It’s worth noting that when we say warehouse, we don’t just mean resource storage, but also all internal storage within production modules, which there are many more of.
Refactoring the logistics system also reduced RAM usage when there are a lot of warehouses. Previously, each new warehouse increased the number of connections non-linearly, leading to a significant RAM load. Now, the scalability limit has increased dramatically, and this is no longer a problem for PCs with low memory.
Bottom line: less RAM, more FPS!
🛠️ Easier Breathing Underground!
Optimization of Underground Loading and Priority Systems: We carefully reviewed memory usage structure and found an old underground loading system, which includes unexplored areas and the fog of war. This system was written in the early stages of development, back in 2020-2021, and clearly needed a revamp. Now, underground loading uses less memory (reduced by 1.1-1.3 GB) and is generally optimized. Plus, we cleaned up the warehouse priority system, trimming another 500MB of RAM. The game now breathes easier.
We also improved resource processing, power and water notifications, ore vein scanning, point display, unit routes on the global map, and the room status system. These optimizations not only increased FPS but also laid the foundation for future improvements.
The most resource-intensive part of the game right now is transferring resources between modules and conveyors, as well as distributor calculations. We’ve decided to refactor resource transfer and rewrite the distributor concept to simplify calculations and eliminate issues where resources can’t exit or block neighboring distributors.
This refactor is complex and will take time, but the expected performance boost could surpass this update (0.94) and further increase FPS several times over.
🚛 Truck Fuel System
Your trucks are now equipped with fuel engines, allowing them to move 30% faster compared to electric engines.
They will automatically refuel at expedition stations when loading and at cargo docks when unloading if the fuel tanks are filled. Robots will take care of refueling — just enable the option in the interface. Time for faster resource delivery on the lunar surface!
🎮 Naming Your Units
You can now give your units unique names! Want to name your rover "Lunar Racer" or "Smart Beetle"? Go for it!
Names will be displayed both in the unit list and when outfitting expeditions. In the future, we plan to add the ability to name capsules and rockets.
🎬Cinematics and QoL Improvements
We’ve added two new cinematics for completing or failing the “Laser Cannon” mission, along with many QoL (quality of life) improvements suggested by you. Details can be found in our patch notes:
Patch notes 0.94.18
Optimization🔥:
- Significant logistics system optimization: Data storage structure revised, reducing calculation times and RAM usage. As a result, RAM consumption for large bases decreased by an average of 2 GB.
- Resource processing mechanism optimized.
- Electricity and water notification system optimized.
- All module objects updated and optimized, resulting in improved performance.
- Ore vein objects on the underground level optimized.
- Code for displaying conveyor inputs/outputs on modules optimized.
- Vein scanning system optimized.
- Point of Interest display system on the Global Map optimized.
- Widget notification system for modules optimized.
- Lighting system on the underground level optimized.
- Room status tracking system optimized.
- Internal storage priority tracking system revised, reducing RAM usage by an additional ~500 MB.
- Numerous minor improvements aimed at enhancing overall game performance.
- Underground level loading system updated, reducing RAM usage by 1,3 GB and solving loading issues for large bases on low-RAM PCs.
Added:
- Ability to rename transport units.
- Fuel system for vehicle movement added. Vehicles can now be refueled after the corresponding upgrade, providing a significant speed boost.
- New side quest "Mining Shaft" added.
- Two brand new CGI cutscenes added, which you will see in case of success or failure in the "Laser Cannon" mission.
- Project interface localization updated.
- New colonists added: The total number of unique colonists available for recruitment now exceeds 120.
- The Commercial Center interface has been reworked for accurate display across various types of monitors, especially widescreen.
- Science points hint system added on the Global Map.
- Drone information added in expedition settings.
- Player base icon added in transport selection for expedition settings.
- Drone hints added to the Global Map interface.
- Minor notification logic refined: If the queue is full, older notifications will shift left to make room for new ones.
- Clyde now notices if you complete room construction before the Hope-2 capsule countdown starts.
- Sounds for selecting vehicles, Rover, and the Large Bulk Storage added.
- Several quest images updated.
- Research for Assembler upgrades added.
- Research for Hi-Tech Factory upgrades added.
- New contracts for medicine supplies added.
- New loading screen images added.
- New music track added
Fixed:
- Resolved an issue where resources would fall to the ground if the conveyor output was blocked by a Distributor.
- Fixed an issue where conveyor distributor output settings were not saved unless set as a priority.
- Image now correctly matches the selected colonist.
- Drone count now correctly displayed in the Global Map interface.
- Research progression block in older saves caused by balance changes resolved.
- Fixed an issue where module wear rates were too high.
- Fixed module upgrades not working correctly when rapidly double-clicking the upgrade button.
- Fixed rare issue leading to a large refund for rebuilding existing conveyor belts.
- Cargo capacity checks when sending capsules fixed.
- Transport selection now functions correctly on all levels when clicking notifications.
- Rare issue of colonist deaths during expeditions fixed.
- Fixed an issue with money deductions for conveyor upgrades in Planning Mode.
- Conveyor exit settings for the Cargo Dock added — the Cargo Dock must be rebuilt for correct operation after loading old saves.
- Rare issue causing cargo drones to freeze completely during loading fixed.
- Rare issue where a drone could disappear in the Drone Reconfiguration Module when placing a module in a specific location fixed.
- Fixed two rare RAM memory leaks that could occur during a pause on bases with a specific pipeline layout.
Balance:
- Fundamental and Social research trees updated (Note: previous saves may not be supported).
- Initial research costs in the Fundamental and Social branches adjusted.
- Drones and transport now require CPU.
- Increased resource requirements and rewards in the initial contracts of the Aurora Project.
- UNIVERSE resource contracts for large quantities now become available later.
- Significantly reduced the size of ice veins in the starting location.
- Rebalanced rewards for engineering and social science points in story contracts.
- Monthly expenses for colonist maintenance increased by an average of 30%.
- The cost of building an assembler and a modular terminal plant has been increased.
In Progress:
- Conveyor system optimization.
- Expedition loading cancellation feature.
- Demolition of the Expedition Center.
- Ability to build multiple Expedition Centers and Cargo Docks.
- Fixes for scenarios that could lead to Expedition Center blockages.
- Fixes for rare crashes.
- Colonists sometimes get stuck on the way to expeditions (temporary solution added: save and reload the game).
- ALT+TAB disables LMB until pressed again.
We hope this update brings you as much joy as we had creating it! Thanks for your support and ideas, keep inspiring us!