Greetings, esteemed colleagues!
Take your iodine, because Dark Energy has arrived. The second major update for Abiotic Factor is here, and right on schedule, expanding again on the main story and adding a whole new sector - nay, a new region to explore!
Beneath is the fuel for a future unheralded. Darkness blending with light. An energy awakened, a path unveiling.
As is standard, in a less serious tone - we’ve also got a dev vlog from Criss & Zag, which is sort of like a podcast but less entertaining, much shorter, and just a little bit of the good kind of cringe. If you prefer, you can skip over that and get to readin’! If you’d prefer no spoilers at all, feel free to also just launch into the game and take the update for a spin.
The Maw of the Depths Opens Wide
As you venture downwards and prepare yourselves for the battlefields below, linger a spell in beautiful Power Services. We won’t say much more about the areas you’ll be entering, or how you’ll come to do so -- the Reactors is a large and unusual place, and we do like to let the Facility speak for itself. You will hear its voice soon enough.
New Faction: The Gatekeepers
If you’re the brains of GATE, we would like to introduce you to the brawn, and their agenda leaves little room for negotiation. Some questions will be answered. Some questions will be asked. Why have they gathered in the Reactors? What are they looking for? Who is holding the reins, if reins exist at all? Will we see [DATA REDACTED] again? And who are you in all of this? Well, you’re just a scientist from Office Sector, and you don’t belong down here.
Good luck navigating this landscape, egghead.
Traveling Trader: Marion
To start off, one of our favorite friends has found his way to the GATE Cascade Research Facility and offers a few odds and ends. All traveling traders will be lure-able by placing a unique object in your base, and they’ll come and go on various days of the week.
The other traders throughout the Facility will utilize this new UI as well, so say goodbye to dropping items into a bin – at least in these instances.
Remembering the Places We’ve Been
As you venture through the Reactors, new technology will find its way to you. Some call it inspiration, others call it luck, but either way, Teleporter Pads are a boon indeed. Placing down a teleporter allows it to link to another, creating an instant gateway between two points. It’s a bit expensive, but that is the price you pay for instant transportation.
Until then, take the trams. It’s always a nice time with friends.
Hardlight Technology
Who thought light could be hard? Someone at GATE, it seems. And by jove, they figured it out! Now it’s your turn to figure it out too. Hardlight technology can create bridges, bounce bullets (and maybe more?), and even provide a bit of protection the likes of which you’ve not yet seen. Enjoy this newfound tech in whatever way suits you best.
From Enemies to Allies
While we’re not quite ready to talk about our future wants for Pets 2.0, a few more creatures are making their way into your arsenal - and hearts. As with most things, we won’t be telling you when or where to find these fellas, but we want you to know they exist nonetheless. The rest, as usual, is up to you.
Friend? Foe? Froe? Either way, IS-0128 loves pets and is looking for his forever home. Keep it well fed, and maybe it’ll return the favor. It’s full o’ goo and ready to spew.
A vengeful spirit stalks you, but… The Anteverses are a complex place.
Corn Control Facility
Flathill has seen a couple small additions. Take a visit back there sometime, won’t you? For old times’ sake. … And maybe bring your unsavory corn while you’re at it.
Nyxshade
You need no longer fear the lack of plantability. But your enemies will fear the output of this new plant. This sounded cooler in our heads - anyway, enjoy.
Fish & Foods
Yes, yes, there are several new places (and new types of places) in which to fish, which means more fish, which means more dish…es. Dishes. Fishes and dishes. Enjoy these delicious… foods. This all sort of rhymes and that’s good enough for us, just like most of the strange dishes we cook up.
That Green Armor You Keep Seeing in Videos and Screenshots
There's a handful of new armor you can get your hands on, but this one is definitely here now. For real this time. We mean it. Here's a picture of the armor standing in the woods. There could even be a scientist inside it. That scientist could be you.
Harpoon Spear
Abe told us about a crazy idea he had, so we went and built it. It kinda works, actually. You can snag this around the time you enter Hydroplant, which makes sense, because, well, you know.
”Exor” Weaponry
There are several new weapons (and some say there could even be some armor) that stem from the more savage corners of the Anteverses. Sometimes we must arm ourselves with the tools of the enemy, sometimes we must become the enemy to defend ourselves. Sometimes, we just like spikes on things because it looks kind of cool.
High Explosives
The Order has brought military-grade explosives to the Facility, and you would be a moron to not wield them for yourself. You’re not a moron, are you? … Be careful with that stuff, ya big genius.
Laser Improvements
Many improvements have been made to lasers. More reliability, a little less annoying, diminishing beams as the power decays (previously not visible), and easier recipes.
But is that all we’re doing with Lasers? Oh, please. Have you ever heard of a Laser Grenade? And was it a rechargeable throwable? It was not. But this is.
Another small quality o’ life update: for the most part, any recipe involving Lenses AND another thing that requires lenses no longer requires the Lenses. There were just too many lenses already in the lens-based recipe.
[REDACTION] Grenade
‘Nuff said.
Spawn Inhibitors
Tired of that one little Pest in the corner of your base just out of reach of the Crafting Bench who keeps coming back for MORE BEATDOWNS? Well, tire no longer. Put up the right kind of inhibitor (if it’s available) and keep it powered. That should keep the pesky enemies at bay. There will be a few inhibitors at first, with plans for more later. Let us know how those work out. Dr. Ross worked very hard on getting the frequency juuuuust right.
Treasures for the Taking
If you can locate the key…
Long Jump Pack
There’s a fine line between backpack and jetpack, and this thing not only straddles that line, it can leap over the gap in a single bound, line be damned! Forwards, backwards, sideways, Careful, though. It’s as useful as it is dangerous.
Pocket Dimension Pack
Looking for the biggest backpack you’ve ever seen? Maybe something less jetpack and more backpack? Bigger, backpackier, betterer? This oughta do it. Dr. Thule found a whole dimension you can just stuff your things into and they probably won’t go missing.
Construction Gauntlet
Improve those tinkering fingers with the power of scientific engineering. It’s a glorified screwdriver, really. Some scientists even theorize we’ll get better animations someday. Nice try, Thule. We’ll see about that.
Even More Trinkets
Even more trinkets have been added - some found earlier, some only found in the depths of the Reactors. Can you find them all? And don’t forget about Kylie. You made her a promise, after all.
The Encroachment - Another Anteverse Invades!
As you may have inferred from our pitchfork pickaxe announcement last week, something new can be found squirming its way into the Old Mines. If you are well beyond Mines, venture back. If you are just getting into Manufacturing, venture onwards! Here’s a few hints on how to uncover this location; a peek from Anteverse 299, and one that, we are told, some of you may be familiar with…
- There is a new E-Mail on a laptop in the Mines Check-In Building, adjacent to the Roadway Tunnel, referencing a new seismic event.
- In the Old Mines, you will find a new Check-In station that we recommend you utilize.
- Further on, beyond the previously boarded up tunnels, you will find a faint light. Follow it, and see where it leads. Please be careful as you investigate The Encroachment, and don’t forget to bring a light.
A new fabric, ID Card and hair style are available to all scientists who own Core Keeper on Steam. That’s probably unrelated to the above, but maybe it isn’t. Who’s to say? There is also a new customization outfit to unlock, but you’ll need to do a little exploring to find that one.
A massive thanks to our friends at Pugstorm and Fireshine Games for allowing us to share a piece of their world, and we hope everyone enjoys the new enemies, resources, foods, and more to be found within. Be safe down there, Explorers.
New Online Subsystem
With this update we’ve migrated off of the basic Steam networking to a new online subsystem to give everyone a slightly better experience overall and unlock a few more features. What does this mean for you? Effectively, nothing, but this may change the experience slightly for those who run dedicated servers and the like. As for new features included with this change: - The game will now attempt to connect to the server browser when you first launch the main menu. If this fails (or you’re offline) you’ll simply be notified that you can continue playing offline or LAN.
- The server browser in general should be much quicker and more responsive, and able to display more servers at a time.
- You can now use direct connect to join someone directly. This can be done by IP.
- You now also get a 5-digit Lobby Code when you run a game, allowing friends to join your game simply by typing in that code.
- Networking bandwidth has been increased, allowing players with massive worlds to load properly and they should see some improved stability here in general.
- Inviting and joining through Steam should still work as before!
- The Steam Server Browser should also still work as before!
- There are a few more benefits of this change, giving us more options (like crossplay) in the future, in the event we choose to pursue it.
We hope you enjoy the new networking setup, in whatever way one enjoys such a thing.
Year of the Snake
Happy Lunar New Year, scientists! This new fabric is now available to all.
Heaps More
We really can’t begin to articulate all the things, the features, the quality-of-life, and bug fixes featured in this update, and we would rather not try. It is up to you to find out more of what lies below. Rest assured, you are why we do the jobs we do here at GATE.Full Patch Notes
We also heard you wanted an updated roadmap, so here’s a few further peaks into what comes next. We’ll probably have another roadmap update in the near future, so enjoy this while you can!The Updated Roadmap
Thanks for exploring Dark Energy and for submitting your dark bugs through the in-game bug report form link!
Thank you for all your work in the GATE Cascade Research Facility!
Onward -- to science.
Join the Scientific Community!
Join the Research Division Today!
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