Hello everyone - the new version is now up on both the default and the test branch!
This update comes from our wish to see what it really requires to move up the technological ladder - how would our human settlers on the Tau Ceti planet pull themselves up from drudgery and animal attacks if they were to start from scratch after an event happened that cut them off from electricity and trade.
We sat out to make well-researched crafting chains which lift the colony up, inch by inch.
At the same time, we've made significant improvements to the UI, making sure that it's possible to plan this movement up the tech ladder.
GAMEPLAY FEATURES
METALWORKING
-We have increased the realism involved in crafting blackpowder guns from the ground up. This crafting chain now includes metal lathe, gold furnace, realistic smithies, toolboxes and steelmaking all the way up to rifle/musket/musketoon. (On Fields of Tau Ceti)
FOOD PRESERVATION
-New processes ensure that your food won't rot as quickly: Drying+salting, pickling, fermentation. Making vinegar.
CONTAINERS
-Clay pots and jars are needed for pickling and other processes with a liquid involved.
-See a more detailed description of the new crafting in THIS FORUM POST
STAND-ALONE PROCESSES
Many processes such as fermentation, baking and tapping sap will now finish on their own. Once a colonist has started it, he can move on to do something else while the process completes itself.
WEAPONS
-All weapons have been rebalanced to make weapon damage more predictable and less random.
-Sentries (robot machine gun turrets) introduced on Twinkler Island. You can salvage a machine gun sentry and make a spray gun sentry or a shotgun sentry (using the shotgun which appears on Hard difficulty).
EASY STARTING EXPEDITION
On Fields of Tau Ceti, you can now choose a versatile starting group who are well equipped and have fewer scavengers/dangers nearby.
INTERFACE (UI)
PRODUCTION MANAGER
The screen formerly called Inventory now has many filtering and sorting options. See this video for a demonstration/tutorial of the new features:
https://youtu.be/q5TaT2r7Klc
-Tracking. Up to 5 different items can be 'tracked'. The player can display input/output or tools involved in the recipes for that item.
-Many filters can be added to help find objects with particular properties.
-Display options:
1. Show only objects that are Available at the moment
2. Show objects that are Available or Attainable (based on the resources that have been discovered)
3. Show ALL items and structures in the game (encyclopedia)
-A filter button can display items that are attainable by salvaging components.
-Each object now has the amount button divided in 3: available/being produced/part of something.
-Building of structures is now also done from the Production Manager.
RESOURCE DISPLAY
-The player can now keep track of resources that have been found in the surroundings by using the Resource Display. The resources will show up as dots on the mini-map and can also be displayed on the game area by clicking the SCAN button.
OPTIMIZATION
We have once again improved the performance of the game, allowing for even more agents (animals and characters) as well as larger maps. The improvements are:
-Hierarchical pathfinding (using the high level map representation to create waypoints) in order to reduce CPU usage.
- All map representations (terrain, threat and discomfort) are divided into sectors. The sectors are added and removed dynamically to reduce memory usage. The terrain map is now its own layer that is shared by all agents/factions. Their specific threat maps get added on top. The separation into sectors and layers is also done for the high level representation.
This optimization should fix the out of memory crash on the large maps.
WHAT'S NEXT
We will continue to work on the nuts and bolts of tech advancement and are also implementing the migration mechanic now. Meanwhile, we begin moving to a new, substantial system: The colony's opinion. We want the settlers' opinions to directly affect what the player is permitted to do. We are currently designing this, so stay tuned for a dev update!