The 1.0 release of shapez 2 is only a week away, coming on April 23rd at 2pm CEST! To make sure you didn't miss any important information on what's coming with 1.0, here's a summary of all the bigger changes you can expect.
While this is already somewhat of a soft-changelog, you can expect a detailed changelog with the 1.0 release that also goes over many of the more minor changes with the update, so look forward to that!
Pre-1.0 Branch
As we mentioned before, savegames made during Early Access will not directly carry over to 1.0. So if you're current knee-deep in a factory and would prefer to finish that before making the switch to 1.0, you can move to the 0.1.1-old branch. To do this, go to your Steam library, right-click on shapez 2 and select properties. In the window that just opened, select game versions and then 0.1.1-old. This branch will always remain available, but will not receive any further updates.
Blueprints do carry over to 1.0 though, which does allow you to make a blueprint of your current Early Access factory, then copy it into a 1.0 savegame. You'll likely need to make some fixes though, as in 1.0 the starting layer is the bottom one instead of the middle.
Gameplay
Manufacture Mode
Of course, the biggest change is the addition of a brand new game mode: Manufacture Mode. This mode aims to resolve much of the feedback all of you gave us on the shapez 2 game mode during Early Access, and by extension the original shapez. With the addition of Trade Stations that need to continuously convert a specific shape into a brand new shape type, your factories will no longer lose their purpose. Gone are the days of making brand new factories for every new goal, instead you'll be expanding!
Changes to Classic Mode
Trade Stations also make their way into Classic Mode, which is now the name of the current game mode. They function in a similar way, but have simpler recipes and are an extra end-game challenge to switch things up a little bit!
Modding
shapez 2 gets full modding support with the release of 1.0 through the Steam Workshop! The sky is the limit here, as everything from small quality of life tweaks to complete overhauls of the game are possible. This is supported by a handy in-game mod browser to make managing your 300 installed mods a lot more manageable.
We've been planning to dive into the Modding support for a while, but ultimately decided to leave it until after the release of 1.0 so you can first focus on the vanilla shapez 2 experience!
New Tutorial
The tutorial has seen some big changes and streamlining to make it more accessible and interesting for players new to the genre. Got any friends who really need to start playing factory games but don't know how to get them hooked? Tell them about shapez 2!
Map Generation
The default map generation is now changed to a spiral pattern. This makes it easier to return to the center, makes the map less noisy, offers more space without having to build over resources and emphasizes the use of trains.
Of course, the old map generation is still available by going to the generation options, which have also seen an expansion. There's a new weight system and an option for larger resource chunks for you to toy around with.
Trains
Trains and related buildings got new visual improvements yet again, a throughput increase of 100% and the Station Spacer building, which allows you to create extra space between connected (un-)loaders and stations. Helpful if you don't want to (un)load specific wagons!
Wires
Wires get their visual overhaul and a number of improvements. There's now a Counter Clockwise Rotator and two new display variants, being 2x2 and 3x3. The simulated (Un-)Stacker has a more intuitive layout and Global Wire Transmitters now support integer and colour channels.
Colour Mixing
We've made some changes to colour mixing. You can get black fluid if you mix white with white, and uncoloured fluid by mixing black with white, which removes paint from shapes. Don't question it.
Visual Improvements
Both Crystals, Space Elevators & Shape/Fluid Miners got some visual improvements, and Space Pipes now look like pipes! Additionally, we've improved the shaders for fluids and glass.
Mastery Badges
We've added Mastery Badges to collect for every game mode and scenario in shapez 2, including the tutorial. If you need some direction on what to do next, try to collect them all!
Achievements
Speaking of achievements, they've been added as well! There are now over 80 achievements to get, requiring you to tackle most of the content shapez 2 has to offer. Some of them you'll get simply by playing, while others may require you to make a specific shape a whole lot. There are a few secret achievements to look for as well, which you'll have to discover for yourself. However, we've made the achievements in such a way that it shouldn't distract you from regular gameplay to get them.
Shop
The upgrade shop now has upgrades for platform capacity and speed upgrades have been globalized so you won't have to worry about messing up your throughput balancing!
Music
An extra 10 minutes of instant classics by Peppsen are coming with 1.0, and an additional 10 minutes if you own the Supporter Edition.
UI
Shape Previews
The preview at the end of a belt of what shape is being produced got refactored and now also work for trains!
Dark Mode
The game can now be set to Dark Mode, which not only darkens the UI of the game, but also the buildable area of platforms! Makes accidentally playing shapez 2 until 3am a bit easier on the eyes.
Codex
The Codex (or Knowledge Panel) got some major improvements. Aside from being expanded, it now has a search function and many more video previews.
Tool Bar
The tool bar and its entries have been reorganised to be more intuitive, and most icons have new designs to more easily distinguish them at a glance.
...and many, many more minor changes!
We're really excited for the release of 1.0 next week and can't wait to see your new Manufacture Mode factories!