Hello everyone!
It's time for the new update.
This time we have a big one that introduces a whole new environment along with new animals and plants. There's also a lot of tweaks to the nutrition and immune systems, and many balance changes.
I hope you will like them!
Mangrove Forest:
The Mangrove Forest is a new mid-late game environment that can be accessed from both the beach and the wetlands, effectively looping the island.
While it contains many useful things, it is the most dangerous environment at the moment, so do not explore it too much if you're not prepared.
Monitor Lizards:
These large reptiles are the apex predator in the island, and while not as dangerous as a tiger or a crocodile would be, can still be pretty nasty. They will fight back even if attacked with ranged weapons and will sometimes chase you if you choose to retreat. Their bite contains a lot of bacteria that will require attentive care if you don't want to quickly fall sick.
On the bright side, when killed, you'll be able to skin their bodies for leather and butcher them for meat. Although they won't give fat or as much leather as the boars. Be warned!
Sea Kraits:
These snakes can be found when exploring or diving and will bite you if you are not wearing shoes or if your swimming skills are not high enough. If you are lucky, they will inject you little to no poison, but if you are not, you might get a paralizing effect that will make walking hard and can even cause you blindness.
New Fish:
The Mangrove Forest is another shore environment with access to the sea and as such it permits fishing and diving. Two new types of fish can be found here: The Mudskipper which can be fished or caught on land with deadfall traps and the King Threadfin, a large fish of varying size from which you can harvest a large amount of meat.
Nipa Palms:
Nipa Palms can be found here too and they have a large fruit with edible seeds. Once harvested, the plant can also be used to extract sap for wine and sugar, but without the need to climb or build a sap station. In their current form they are a new water source that is close to the beach, as long as you are willing to risk it of course.
The original Palm Tree Sap Stations have been disabled for now, I might add them back later again but for now, Nipa Palm is the only source of sugar and wine.
Ginger:
Ginger can now be found in both the Mangroves and the Wetlands. Its roots can be ground and prepared into a tea with many health benefits:
- It helps increase your appetite.
- It helps treat nausea.
- It has a minor pain soothing effect.
- It has help you fight sleep when you are trying to stay awake.
- It has a minor antibiotic effect.
Mud Deposits:
Lastly, depletable mud deposits can also be found in the mangroves. A new, closer source from which to bring mud to your base.
Balance Changes:
Nutrition Changes:
Characters now start with a higher weight and will burn calories depending on their weight. So thinner characters will consume less energy and therefore lose weight slower while larger ones will lose weight faster.
This should make it harder for characters to go underweight. Not eating enough while doing excessive exercise or getting hurt or sick too often will of course still lead to the same destination.
Hydration Progression Changes:
Palm Trees can no longer be cut down with stone axes, making subsistence by coconut harder. The first rain however will now happen earlier, giving players an earlier chance to get water on their gathered coconut shells and also pulling the second rain to an earlier date (most of the time).
Coconuts are still be accessible by climbing or by exploring the beach and the outskirts, and water is also available in the form of the Nipa sap and wine that can be harvested from the Mangroves as long as you are willing to risk it.
Happiness System:
It is now harder to get self-destructive or euphoric, as a rubber band effect has been added that will tend to push happiness to a neutral state. This will make staying super happy harder, but will also help prevent those horrible depression spirals as long as you're not in a very bad state.
Other Changes:
- Stone Axes can no longer cut down palm trees and large trees, copper or more advanced axes need to be used for it, effectively gating mud huts and rafts to after you have copper tools.
- Made tweaks to how the immune system works and how happiness and body weight affect it.
- Rebalanced the whole immune system and how it interacts with fever and diarrhoea bacteria.
- The Beach now has some light, even during the night.
- Raft has been made slightly more expensive.
- Bug repellent is now unlocked later.
- Wearing socks or wrappings temporarily neutralizes a portion of your foot damage.
- Cleaning Wounds with sea water now lowers your happiness.
- Aloe Vera Gel lasts twice as long, but its effect is spread thinner.
Bug Fixes:
- Made Crop plots fill up faster during the rain.
- Fixed a bug that prevented crop plots from hydrating when you weren't there.
- Fixed bug that was preventing wounds from healing in some cases.
- Survival Axe can now be used to chop logs like the other axes.
- Wetting soap on salt water no longer produces salt.
- Made Pale Skin, Dark Skin exclusive with Sun Allergy.
- Mouse meat is no longer considered bird meat.
That is all for now!
As usual we'll be working on fixing bugs and balancing all these new things during the following days. So don't hesitate to let us know if you find any issues or have any feedback! :)
See you next week!