Hello fellow Oceaneers!
We're approaching 4 days since release and have the first patch ready to go! Patch notes are at the bottom if you just want those.
Important: For existing characters and workposts, you will need to change the settings to enable the two new automation types.
Developer Message:
Things are going well, but we wanted to smooth the start for new players with some minor changes to the story steps, and some automation improvements. There's quite a bit of automation in the game, but some of it isn't enabled by default which is causing a little too much friction for new players.
You can fully automate most things, including production, but we've still got improvements to make in both guides and automation features.
In addition to that, this patch introduces the first part of translation mod support, this is experimental and roughly 90% of game text is linked up (we're hoping to link the rest up over the coming week). We are planning to add Steam Workshop support for these translation mods, so that is on the way as well.
Regarding Content, The Main Story Takes Places Across 4 Regions
We've had some players expressing that there may be a lack of content and resources available, we noticed this is usually due to not progressing the story (and not progressing beyond the first region). Some players from our discord have 40 hours and are into the third region, so just want to reassure players that there is plenty of content, some of it just tied to the story progress.
There aren't many steps so you should be able to get through the steps reasonably quickly, but there are some things we aren't happy with and steps we want to simplify and smooth out in the story process. Currently there's more friction than we would like which can trip players up.
If you get stuck on anything be sure to ask for help on the forums or in our discord and we'll be happy to provide guidance.
The full story (which you can play right now) takes place over 4 separate regions, with each region having more sectors than the last and higher tier resources. The first region that you can scout is less than 1/4 of the game.
When you open the map, you may notice the "WORLD MAP" tab at the top, N54 E66 is only the first region where you start.
So currently you need to progress beyond the red keycard and get to the next region to access more of the higher tier resources. I also appreciate that some players prefer a pure sandbox experience, and this is something we are planning out for a future update. The story doesn't require too many steps though, so you should be able to enjoy the mostly sandbox experience as is.
Regarding Music!
Currently music in the game plays for a short period at around hour 4 and hour 14, based on the overall mood of your colony. I know some players might prefer to have music playing all of the time, this is something we will be looking into. Music is not final yet.
Automation Changes
More automation is enabled by default (including full needs instead of idle-only), and we have added new Harvest (all) and Scavenge (all) types which are enabled by default (only for new characters & workposts). This means as soon as you start a new game, characters will get to work by themselves.
To support this we have added a new marking tool to put an X on resource nodes, telling your workers "Don't work here!". Note that this tool on prevents automation, you can still manually command them to work there.
Translation Mod Support (Experimental)
The first stage of support for community translation mods is here! Over the next week there will be more improvements to this, and we are planning to also implement Steam Workshop for this.
Important: You can use this feature, but please keep in mind it is experimental and undergoing more development.
Players can create a translation mod with our in-game tools, and translate the mod with a special online tool we have setup. If you're interested on translating any language please let us know so we can help guide and support you.
Patch Notes
Added a new "Do Not Harvest" marking tool, this prevents nodes from being harvested while the new Harvest (all) automation is on.
New Automation features “Harvest (all)” and “Salvage (all)” have been added to the character sheet and workpost. This allows characters to do these tasks within a workpost area without you having to mark nodes. This is enabled by default for new games/new characters. It can be turned off if you only want them to work on nodes you mark.
When starting a new game, there is now an extra screen that allows you to choose the tutorial enabled settings before starting the game (these can be changed at any time from the escape menu).
Bunker #48 changes (blue keycard bunker). Removed the debris pile to make the initial story steps easier, this has been replaced with copper scrap. Also removed the “bring a shovel” expedition intel. A random hat is now found in the storage room.
An extra fuse will now spawn in the blue sector island, to hint to players to get the other fuses from the blue tinker crabs. This change will only effect new games.
Characters now start with need management on Full instead of Idle-only. This wont effect existing characters.
Recruitable Marcus: Reduced the cost of the first option (10 fewer berries, 2 fewer water, 3 fewer fish). Reduced the skill requirement of the second option from level 5 science, to level 4 science.
Pickup items (all) is now enabled by default in the character sheet, so items within a workpost area do not need to be manually marked.
The Find Blue/Red keycard objectives now show the sector you need to go to find them.
Added search keywords such as bandage, bite and bleed to the medicine tutorial.
Add an accessibility tab in the game settings in preparation for new accessibility options which are coming soon. If you have any accessibility requests please let us know!
The raft builder will now automatically add a mast if for any reason it was removed (which shouldn’t happen).
The raft mast now requires a little extra space, previously you could place it too close to raft edges. This wont effect existing rafts, but may require you to move some things next time you edit your raft.
The trader in region 1 now sells a piece of strongwood and sand crystal, this is to ensure players can upgrade the research table in region 1 even if they accidentally used those resources on other things.
New Translations button added to the main menu, this lets you access community translation mods. This is experimental and a work in progress (but it does work).
Building tooltips now show any relevant beauty values (decoration, mess, waste)
Removed the language setting from options as its now replaced by the main menu translations button.
Removed the recovery stat from floats (it was an old value that was no longer used).
Various UI formatting changes to better handle translations. You may notice an placeholder in some tip
Fixed the Island Collection popup which would not scroll if you had many islands.
Fixed a bug where time would pass while waiting for click to continue after starting a new game.
Fixed some unintended tutorials showing in the side list when tutorial popups were disabled.
Fixed a bug where the insulation value on the character sheet was not correct.
Fixed a bug where the state of the Next button when starting a new game would not refresh after pressing back from the character creator.
Fixed missing descriptions for higher tier tools.
Fixed a display bug with skill level requirements on the recruit & interaction dialogs.