Greetings scientists…
The day has finally arrived, our Combat Update is out of beta and is now playable for all on Steam Early Access!
EA.1.6.0 is packed with content. Including a new location type, with two variants, combat mechanics, new resources, story route changes, artifact trading & reward system, performance improvements, bug fixes, and QoL improvements, including the two highest-voted requests on Feature Upvote, moving full storage boxes and suit upgrades! Check out the combat trailer to get your first look.
DISCOUNT AND YOUR FAV BUNDLES
First off though, as part of this update, we've made Forever Skies 25% off. We've also partnered with our friends at Sengoku Dynasty, Survival: Fountain of Youth and Volcanoids to create some great survival game bundles.
If you already own any of the above games, you can get an extra 10% off Forever Skies or vice versa. Already got Forever Skies? Then check out the bundles to get an extra discount on any of these three games!
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https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/44700/Survival_Fountain_of_Youth_x_Forever_Skies/
Survival: Fountain of Youth is a challenging single-player open-world adventure game set on the Caribbean islands. Survive as a shipwrecked 16th-century explorer, craft tools and shelter, and uncover the secrets of both an ancient civilization and your own fate.
https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/44627/Sengoku_Dynasty_x_Forever_Skies/
In Sengoku Dynasty, build and manage villages in an open-world feudal Japan. Survive, explore, meet unique characters, and establish your legacy. Play solo or in co-op multiplayer.
https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/41771/Volcanoids_x_Forever_Skies/
Volcanoids is a base-building open-world survival shooter that replaces your typical base with a giant drill. Alone or with friends, explore an island plagued by eruptions, upgrade your drill, and fight robots to uncover what's been hiding beneath the surface.
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INTRODUCING COMBAT MECHANICS
As always, we recommend starting a new game with this update, as EA.1.6.0 makes significant changes to the “golden path” in the game, which becomes apparent towards the end of your first visit to the Underdust.
After failing to enter the Infected Garden, players are now tasked with finding ingredients for the Immunity Booster at two different locations nearby. Players also now only need to visit the one Infected Garden, as we felt that visiting three was overkill.
The two Dust Territories, Wild Habitat and New Nature, are slightly different to any other location you have previously visited. You will land on them with your airship just like any other tower above the dust, but it won’t be long before you descend into the smog on foot!
The Crossbow has received an overhaul with new SFX, a new reload animation and an advanced model with better handling and more bolts per round.
Our Animator, Adam, prototyping the new reload animation with items from around the studio and also the final look
As well as the standard Crossbow Bolts, players will also be able to get their hands on Poison Bolts, Charged Bolts, and Charged Mines, giving them quite a few options when facing hostiles.
But we also understand that not every player wants to engage in lethal combat, as such there are a few passive ways to deal with threats. Players will be able to craft Decoys and Stunning Traps to overcome enemies non-lethally.
Combat has also been added to the Underdust - Suburbs location as we originally promised when we released the Gardening Update back in Spring. If players choose not to start a new game to experience the story changes and have completed all current objectives, then a unique quest will be available where you can experience some of the new content via that quest
ARTIFACT TRADING STATIONS
Before the collapse of humanity, smugglers resided within these territories to hoard artifacts of the old world they believed still carried value. Here, in the vaults of these Dust Territories, players will discover a brand new mechanic, Artifact Trading Stations.
Here, you can bring all of the excess old-world artifacts you’ve found and trade them in for other items to complete your collection.
Earn Tech Fragments to increase your Trading XP which unlocks new reward tiers. You can even unlock upgrade blueprints for you, your pet companion or your airship here. FINALLY, a use for those 60 “Join Project Oxygen” posters you’ve been hoarding.
WHAT ELSE IS IN THE COMBAT UPDATE?
1. Suit upgrades such as armor and backpack levels 1-3 can now be discovered and unlocked. These have dedicated slots in your inventory. This was the most popular request on our Feature Upvote site!
2. Moving full storage boxes QoL feature is available with EA.1.6.0! Players can now move Storage Boxes with contents wherever they like onboard their Airship, making customization easier than ever. This will also work with Freezers and Cookers containing food and Engines containing fuel. This was the second most popular request on Feature Upvote, and we’re excited to make this live for all!
3. Two new outfits for the Friendly Insect, Camo Gear in the traditional green and in black.
Here is a little bug buddy tribute to remind you to never go into the ruins alone.
4. A radial menu is now available by holding down “C”. Use this to quickly access different ammo types, health, food and water.
5. A whole new range of Retro-Futuristic furniture is now available to craft. Oh, and that periodic poster you all wanted for your airship can now be picked up from the labs in the Infected Garden.
Below you will find the complete changelog for the whole update.
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PATCH NOTES
NEW CONTENT:
World:
- New combat locations:
- Wild Habitat
- New Nature Territory
- Combat added to locations:
- Underdust: Suburbs
- New resources added to locations:
- Underdust: Suburbs
- Enemies:
- Mantis
- Webling Larva
- Webling Larvae Nest
Tools & Devices:
- Crossbow bolt: Charged
- Crossbow bolt: Poisonous
- Upgraded Crossbow
- Decoy
- Charged Mine
- Stun Mine
- Backpack Upgrade Small (5 additional slots)
- Backpack Upgrade Medium (10 additional slots)
- Backpack Upgrade Large (20 additional slots)
- Chitin Armor Suit Upgrade
- Artifact Trade Station
Player:
- Radial UI menu added for quick interactions with consumables and Crossbow ammunition select (hold C/D-pad Down)
- Crossbow auto-reload
- Using Consumables animation added
- Ability to relocate devices with items inside added - actions Pick Up and Move separated
- Crafting from Storage is now available for the Airship Builder
- Crafting from Storage is now available for the Research Station
- New Radial Menu UI added
- New player parameters - damage resistance & virus resistance
- New Inventory slots - Armor and Backpack
- Added icon for Armor in HUD
- Prestige system, related to Artifact Trade Station, allowing players acquiring new artifacts and blueprints via selling unneeded artifacts
Airship
- Retro-futuristic Furniture Set Added
- New Poster: Blasphemous Mantis Anatomy
Pet:
- Pet Tactical Set (headwear, footwear, backpack): Camo
- Pet Tactical Set (headwear, footwear, backpack): Black
New resources:
- Fiberglass
- Motion Detector
- Liquid Oxygen
- Liquid Neon
- Moss Needle
- Tech Fragment
New plants:
- Eelair
- Dust Firecracker
- Diver Pearls
- Summer Balm
- Siren Crown
- Moss Needle
Consumables & Customizations:
- Mobility Booster
- Advanced Medkit
Other:
- Charged Growth Gate added
- Show Virus effects toggle in Settings
- PS5 Controller features (adaptive triggers, haptic feedback)
- Overall performance improved
- Additional quests guiding through combat update locations for players who have finished the storyline
- Added Controller Motion Input for ADS (this option can be disabled in the Gameplay tab in Settings)
- Added info about possibility to change difficulty during the game
CHANGED:
- Main Quests changed from the 1st Underdust to include combat locations.
- Major sounds and music update.
- Basic stamina allows to run 18s instead of 10s, and hit 12 times instead of 10.
- Crossbow shows indicators when reload or shooting is not possible.
- Crossbow shows “Reload” widget only when reload is possible.
- Crossbow differentiates ammo spread between default and aiming mode.
- Crossbow has a new set of animations, sounds and UI.
- Wrecked Crossbow has been moved in progression and can now be found in the Underdust: Tunnels location.
- Pyrexia visual effects decreased when stamina is depleted.
- Crosshair swing while being infected with Pyrexia reduced.
- Raw Breathnut no longer infects player with Gastroenteritis virus.
- Some posters were resized.
- Quest log is scrolling when there are many unfinished quests on the screen.
- Immunity Booster’s recipe changed to include new plants.
- Bloom Airship modules’ recipes changed–they now require Fiberglass to build.
- Fuel Tank’s recipe changed–it now requires Fiberglass to craft.
- Moth Aquarium’s recipe changed–it now requires Fiberglass to craft.
- Big Water Tank’s recipe changed–it now requires Fiberglass to craft.
- Decorative Wings’ recipes changed–they now require Fiberglass to craft.
- Moss Furniture set recipes changed–they now require Fiberglass to craft.
- Lamps’ recipes changed–they now require Liquid Neon to craft.
- Chitin now grants Hemorrhagic Fever sample when put into VSA.
- It’s possible the player can get infected with Hemorrhagic Fever when being hit by a Mantis .
- Mantis Gland resource was removed from both Underdust locations.
- Periodic Table Poster from the Infected Garden can now be picked up.
- “Stairs Room” name has been changed to “Staircase.”
- Renamed Neon Plant to Glowweed.
- Changed name of the item from "Moth Aquarium" to "Moth Vivarium."
- Changes in FOV for Sprinting and ADS.
- Breathnut oxygen balancing.
- Quest descriptions for the tutorial area corrected to fit gameplay changes (Engine scan).
- Updated the Chronic Hemo Fever and Hemo Fever entries to indicate that they can be contracted from Mantis.
- Dead Mantis’ now grant 3 Chitin, each body part grants max 1, recently killed Mantis now grants 4 Chitin.
- Dead Mantis corpse disappears after gathering all Chitin resources from it.
- Moved the position of Noah's tablet in the Infected Garden.
- Hemoglobin Purifier’s Crafting Recipe now requires Summer Balm fruit.
- Removed Hemorrhagic virus from Glass Shards
- Stamina doesn’t regenerate during knife swing.
- Underdust: Tunnels’ tablet now gives research for Crossbow & Bolts.
- Advanced Access Module study recipe should now be unlocked by scanning Access Terminal.
FIXED:
- Fixed an issue with Pipes rotating with the airship movement.
- Fixed an issue with missing mass/weight of decorative Wings.
- Infected Garden performance tweaks.
- Overgrown Lift performance tweaks.
- Wind Farms performance tweaks.
- Small Town performance tweaks.
- Removed duplicates from the Small Town Location’s Scan Progress.
- Fixed an issue where the engine rotated after relocation.
- Fixed an issue where the player wasn’t getting the temporary immunity to a virus after they cured themselves and then died.
- Fixed a bug where interactions on the Virus Sample Analyzer stopped working if the player fell asleep.
- Fixed an issue where the player character’s movement slowed down after crouching and aiming with the crossbow.
- Fixed an issue where the combat plants’ seeds entries were not included in the Studies menu.
KNOWN ISSUES:
- Charged Growth Blockade’s material doesn’t show that it can be scanned.
- Inventory Full error message can sometimes stay on the screen.
- Sometimes using Deck Extractor for a longer period of time separates player’s mesh from player’s camera - it gets back to normal upon disengaging from Deck Extractor.
- Sometimes the airship is not responding to handling its controls - the quickest way to solve this is to leave an airship completely and return.
- Rarely using Knife consumes all stamina at once - we’re investigating this issue.
- Locations shouldn’t spawn near or in the mountains anymore, any further issues with that happening should be investigated as a separate issue.
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That is all for now, please keep sending in your Steam reviews! They help us out a great deal. We will be in touch very soon about our Steam Gift Card giveaway and our next update.
And yes…it’s the one you’ve been waiting for ;)
Speak soon.
- Team Far From Home