Hi all!
Firstly, Update 1 (version 1.1) is available to try out in the experimental branch of the game! Just go into the games steam settings to switch to experimental. It will remain just in the experimental branch for a week or two until I can confirm it's stable. If you find any bugs or issues whilst trying it out, let me know about it on the discord server.
This week I'll show you the improvements I have made to the drill as a whole, as well as the new unstable passages that can be found.
Revamped Drill Interior
With the addition of decorational items I just had to allow them to be placed in the drill, so I changed up part of its interior to allow for this. I added a long bench, and a couple smaller ones, where items can be placed. I also removed the artifacts cabinet that was there before, as they can just be placed on the bench now.
Expanded Drill Screen
The docking screen in the drill has been super sized, for two purposes. The first is so it can contain a drill stats window, which can be used to check all the drills capabilities at a glance. This is based on all the drill upgrades that have been performed so far and what drill tools have been unlocked. The second is to house a drill ambience config, which once unlocked, will allow the drills terminal theming to be changed, as well as playing music in the drill.
Unstable Passages
There have been rare reports of people completely drilling out the underground map, and mining all the ore available, which is complete madness. Enough ore should spawn so there is plenty enough needed for both progression and base building, plus loads extra. But people really enjoy the drilling and mining, so I just had to think of a way to facilitate doing this infinitely. So I thought of the idea of other underground maps that you can traverse to, which contain all the same resources as the main map (based on which depth level you are on). You get to these other underground maps through unstable passages, which will collapse once you come back from them. This will mean that these temporary underground maps are a one time use only, but more unstable passages will spawn leading to new maps, allowing for an infinite supply of drilling, mining, and resources. As a bonus, I have also added a special kind of rare resource that can only be found in these temporary maps, but you'll just have to find them for yourself.
I have also tweaked how it feels to move the drill, by making it so that the drill will accelerate to top speed, rather than instantly reaching it. This makes it a lot easier to make small movement adjustments when the drills speed has been upgraded to the max. I have also made it so that the drills rotation speed scales with movement speed, so that the faster the drill is moving the faster it will rotate.