Greetings, esteemed colleagues!
Summer is fast approaching and the weather is soon to heat up. Well, we can’t have that so let’s cool things down with our first close look at some Cold Fusion content. This one is a doozy, and it’s just a fraction of what we’ve been pulling out of our science brains.
Put on your coat, eat a spicy Royal Pepper, and make sure you’ve communed with the █████ ██████ and let’s head to…
Residence Sector
Something is causing Residence Sector to fall well below optimal living temperatures…
Is this the result of an experiment gone awry? An incursion from an unknown Anteverse, perhaps? Maybe it’s just the consequences of your actions made manifest. The important thing is that you must science your way through it to see this journey to an end. Or at least, that would be the hope, wouldn’t it?
The New Upgrade System
We’ve all been there. Your favorite armor or weapon was crafted long ago when you were just a wee, unhatched egghead – and it’s now out of date for the current foes you face. You may love the buffs but not the numbers once you’ve delved to deeper levels of the Facility and you wish you could upgrade that trusty Tech Spear or improve that Makeshift Armor. In science, we try not to wish. We create, we strive, and we test. And the culmination of this work is the Enhancement Bench, and it can surely make your dreams come true.
Building this new station (unlocked around Manufacturing Tier) will give scientists access to an upgrade system for weapons, armor, and a few other item types. For weapons alone, we have about 15 to 20 permutations in the works, but don’t quote us on that exact number - we’re still working out a few of the details.
Haters and Gatekeepers
An additional bonus of the Enhancement Bench is that any military-grade weapons you send through this process will come out the other end with substantial improvements, and no more biometric locks. These firearms will often be a bit more science than military and can even change the way the weapons operate, dealing additional damage types and changing them from the more rapid-fire bullets.
Upgrades are optional and not always the immediate best choice - sometimes they’re aimed at specific playstyle preferences! If you prefer the original design, you can still proceed as normal.
Speaking of proceeding as normal, what about that one military-tier gun you keep asking for?
The Gatekeepers utilize a tier of weapon we classify as Artifact weapons, which essentially means you’ll need to find another tier of Biometric something or other. Why didn’t we say Biometric Armwraps? Because we’re not doing Armwraps for Tier 3 military weapons. We’re doing something better.
The Amnesia Threshhold
We’ve heard a demand for resetting characters after you begin. Here’s an IMG below that surely has nothing to do with that.
This feature will be available to anyone at any time, unless the host has disabled it in their Sandbox Settings.
Weathering the Storms
Cold Snaps, Rolling Blackouts and a mysterious Black Fog have all been reported throughout different areas of the Facility. Surely nothing to worry about.
Stay observant and please report any strange weather phenomena to your Sector supervisor.
Base Assaults
On top of our existing plans, we’ve heard a lot of feedback about base assaults and how they just… Kinda stink. Portal Storms are working largely as intended, but there are several cases, mostly non-Pest related assaults, where they will simply spawn inside your base or in the same spot over and over. We’ve done some major overhauls to how bases are detected, looking instead for “gatherings” of furniture and things that seem to constitute your outer walls. It’s all pretty complicated stuff, but this should give you a rough idea of some of the methods we’re using.
While this will never be absolutely perfect, we expect assaults to feel a lot more unique and varied, and starting, generally, well outside of your base. We’re also working on some other quality-of-life, such as a waypoint showing which base is under attack, and little things of that nature.
Now, you’re probably wondering; what happens if my base is UNASSAILABLE? What if I, the genius scientist that I am, have made a base so impervious (or so tiny, crammed into a little ventilation shaft) that no enemies can possibly get to my location? Well… That is a bit of a problem, isn’t it?
Leeches
There are reports of instances of another entity from, we presume, Anteverse 17. IS-0211 found leeching on batteries and power supplies… It doesn’t seem to react until bothered, but it’s certainly going to be a problem from time to time. … We’re sure you’ll sort it out, scientists.
Trashcans Can Be Used As Trashcans
The title says it all. But if not, here’s a GIF.
Various Other Things
There’s a lot more coming (including paintable T2 beds) but we’re not going to reveal any of that stuff right now. Not even in some kind of GIF format.
Core Keeper x Abiotic Factor
As you may recall, in Dark Energy there was an Encroachment from Anteverse 299 (though some of you may refer to this colloquially as the Core Keeper universe). Well, it looks like Anteverse 299 wasn't done with us yet, and we've heard reports of stray portals from Cascade opening inside the Forgotten Ruins of the Core Keeper underground. We encourage all scientists and explorers to check it out.
But be careful! We heard an Electro-Pest or two might be loose as well.
Thank you for reading this Status Report and furthering your scientific knowledge. We are very much looking forward to seeing you in the Residence Sector!
Onward -- to science.
Join the Scientific Community!
You can also join the Research Division today on Steam!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/427410/Abiotic_Factor/