Hey everyone, I know this one has been a long time coming. A lot of things have changed internally, which I’ve communicated on Discord but not here. I usually try to reserve Steam posts for actual content, so if you want to stay updated more regularly, please feel free to join the Discord channel!
As many of you have noticed, the roadmap will need a refresh. A mixture of personal issues and this update being far, FAR more complicated than anticipated has led to some internal shakeups. The good news is that there’s a solid plan for 2025 that will allow me to get content out much faster, bringing the game closer to the vision I have for it!
Another thing to note, usually when I release a major update the game will go on sale, as the winter sale is only a few days away I am unable to do a specific update sale however the game will be going on sale in 3 days as part of the steam winter sale so keep an eye out in a few days if you are looking to pickup the game!
Thank you for all the support and for bearing with me through these quiet months. I hope this update gives you all lots of new content to enjoy until the next one!
Base Building
The main focus of this update is a full base building system. This has been talked about and requested since the day the game launched, and I’m extremely happy to finally provide it and do it justice. There are lots of options to help you create the perfect base!
Base building features lots of prefabs that can be snapped together such as foundations, walls, ceilings, support beams, stairs and more. The range of available base parts will also be expanded as this is now going to be a core pillar of the game so expect extensions and improvements to this system as we go forward.
With the new map improvements (explained in more detail below) you can also now name each base and see it on the map to allow for easy management of multiple bases. To make all these features work you do now need to place down a base computer to begin building most items, this is a change from the old system in which you could place items freely anywhere however to handle the size of the new base system and all the new features a base computer is required to allow the game to know where to trigger events and also cull items for performance when leaving a base.
You are also now able to craft useful utilities such as a rain catcher that supplies fresh water over time, radio towers allowing the Runners to offer fast travel services to your base and much more.
This update features the most handcrafted set of assets to date. Once again, this is a push to move away from store-bought assets like Synty and give Fargone much more of its own identity.
Wandering Trader
A new wandering trader can currently be found in the mountains, with more coming to other areas of the map shortly. The wandering trader specializes in base building materials and parts, allowing those of you with spare cash quick access to essential items for diving into the new base building content.
As always, you can scavenge for parts and materials too, giving you multiple options.
Map Improvements
The map has been something many have had issues with, and for good reason—it was not hugely useful. While even more improvements are coming in the next update, maps in Homesteaders now provide proper UI icons for notable locations such as traders, mission locations, safe zones, and more. You can also hover over these icons to see additional information about a marker. Additionally, you can now click on mission markers directly from the map to update your currently tracked quest.
Vegetation Rework
Vegetation has been fully rebuilt to provide better visuals and performance. The new vegetation also includes features such as interactive grass that reacts to player collision and weather. You will also now see dynamic puddles form based on the current weather conditions. Together, these features add a new level of believability to the world of The Barrens.
Cooking & Buff Improvements
The cooking system has been fully remade to provide a much cleaner, easier-to-read menu that is also more expandable for future recipes. This update includes several new recipes, such as herbal teas that offer different boosts and the ability to cook zombie arms for food if you find yourself in a bad situation!
Additionally, improvements have been made to the buff system. You can now hover over a buff or debuff icon in the inventory screen to see exactly how much time is left. This works particularly well with the new herbal teas, which offer effects like increased carry capacity for an hour.
Gathering
To support the new recipes, such as herbal teas, many plants can now be harvested around the world and serve as essential ingredients.
Final Notes
There are two planned minor updates that will extend this update and arrive shortly after. These will add the remaining planned features, such as full zombie and bandit invasions, supply routes to towns for your bases, and ammo crafting. Many of these features are already close to completion, so these extension updates won’t be far behind. After that, the refreshed roadmap will be the priority.
As always, thank you so much for all the support, and I hope you enjoy the update!
Full raw patch notes can be found below.
Full Patch Notes
Weapons
- New M16 model
- New M4 model
Characters
- Wandering trader
- Base part vendor in Runners Village
Items
- Unseen Death (Unique Item)
- Building hammer
- Selection of herbal teas
- Breakfast meal pot
- Dinner meal pot
- Cheese
- Eggs
- Potato
- Seasoning
- Bread
- Cooked zombie arm
- Cooked zombie arm (seasoned)
- Wooden arrows
- Base Parts
- Wooden floor
- Generators (Tiers 1 to 3)
- Power cables
- Base computer
- Wooden window
- Wooden stairs
- Wooden doorway
- Wooden door
- Wooden ceiling
- Metal roof
- Wooden shutters
- Rugs (Base decorations)
- Floodlights
- Oil lamp
- Tube lights
- Metal chest
- Wooden chest
- Medical storage
- Advanced base storage
- Heavy-duty storage
- Spiked wooden wall
- Platform bed
- Single bed
- Sofa (2 types)
- Wooden table (2 types)
- Wooden chair
- Wooden support beam
- Wooden L stairs
- Wooden floor tile
Status Effects
- Added new status effect for carry weight boost
- Added new status effect for health boost
Graphics
- Completely reworked vegetation
- New vegetation variety
- Added dynamic puddle system to terrain
- World improvements: cliffs, roads, tunnels, and more
UI
- Hovering over a buff or debuff icon in the inventory now shows remaining time
- Cooking UI overhauled
- Added faction patch display to character selection screen
- Fixed several scaling issues on ultrawide displays
- Reworked several UI elements for the datapad
- Improved map icon quality
- Added ability to click on icons in the map to update the tracked mission
Features
- New base building mode
- Base part power system
- Base computer management system
- Naming and renaming of player bases
- Base power system
AI
- Improved AI resting logic while patrolling
Improvements
- Improved holo sight visibility
- New unarmed sprinting animation
- Wooden planks can now be obtained by breaking down wooden logs with a multi-tool
- Base parts now save their current state, such as doors being open, lights being turned on or off, etc.
- Various controller improvements
- Improved mouse smoothing
- Performance
- Reworked ocean rendering for increased performance
- Reworked vegetation rendering
- Reworked buff and debuff handling for better performance and stability
- Reworked culling system for improved memory usage and performance
- Improved and added new LOD models for better performance
Fixes
- Fixed an issue where weapon trails were not spawning or ending in correct locations
- Fixed AI walking too slowly sometimes
- Fixed broken storm weather in grasslands where rain could be heard loudly without any visual rain
- Fixed a bug causing AI not to rest during patrol for longer than a few seconds
- Fixed bugs with player model stretching when dying
- Fixed death cam clipping through objects and the world
- Fixed an issue where the player could get locked when changing fire mode and swapping weapons at the same time
- Fixed overly large rain splash effects during storms
- Fixed inconsistent radiation during toxic storms
- Fixed toxic storm difficulty toggle not working
- Fixed AI not melee attacking enemies when close
- Greatly improved save/load stability
- Fixed issues with controller cursor not interacting with UI elements
- Fixed controller not swapping to throwable equipment when holding the equipment button
- Fixed several causes of lost items when stored in player storage containers
- Fixed an issue with AI becoming invisible
- Fixed an issue with AI legs breaking or bending into strange positions
- Fixed riot helmet missing glass panel
- Fixed campfire audio not working or being far too quiet