Ghoulish greetings, esteemed creatures!
It’s that time of year again – the one where absolutely nothing special or spooky occurs and we all go about our lives in the Facility like normal. Unless of course, you somehow found yourself teleported somewhere outside of the Facility? Somewhere even more cursed, if that is such a possibility?
Behold, the unassuming seaside hamlet of Canaan!
What mysteries lie in ye olden town, secreted away from time… and perhaps even space?
”Denial of the flesh, devils in every doorway, the world a giant demonic lie – hardly original, isn't it?” - Dr. Lenora Riggs
A new portal world has made its presence known somewhere in the Cascade Laboratories.
If you have not yet ventured through the entirety of Security Sector…
THIS IS YOUR SPOILER WARNING! You will be able to discover this portal world through the normal course of events, but if you're beyond Security Sector, you may need a quick hint on where to backtrack to. Here is that hint: Return to Security Sector and move along the roadway. You may find something new that leads you to this forgotten realm. You’ll still have to do the figuring out on your own. You are a scientist, after all. Just make sure you prepare before you step on through any portal - especially this one.
Now, onto the (less spoilery) details of the update itself. What has changed, and what’s new this spooky season?
Is this temporary only during Halloween?
Not in the slightest! It’s important to note that this update is a permanent fixture of the world of Abiotic Factor, and links directly to the game’s story, which you’ll unravel as you explore. It just so happens that this new portal world and chunk of lore fits ever-so-nicely alongside our favorite autumnal season.
In other words, this is not really just a Halloween event - this is an expansion of the game’s story… And there might be a pumpkin or two as well. 🎃
Please tread lightly among the Canaanites. They are prone to superstition, to say the least, and if you’re lucky, you might even get to meet their leader.
Reeling in the Frights
Fishing-inclined scientists may find they can (or already have) unlocked a new Fishing Trap, which can be placed in a body of water. Fishing traps are slower than regular fishing, require bait being placed in the bait slot, and will never catch anything too precious – but they will catch fish from time to time!
However, if you’re more of a fisherman and less of a farmer, you might be interested in the next generation of Fishing Rod, which has increased reel speed, and some other traits as well. What are those? Why do you need to upgrade it? You’ll learn all this eventually through the course of events.
If you get stuck on this one, just ask any friendly fisherman that you might happen to come across in your travels.
Fiendishly Festive Foods
Time to stalk through the pumpkin patch and fish in those oily waters in search of new ingredients. What you find may shock you.
Though don’t go eating every new food you see, certain crops are not so palatable…
To assist in making the new (edible) recipes, there is now a Cooking Radial Wheel so that you can quick-select cooking utensils and foods from your inventory when looking at a stove. This is still a work in progress, so please report any issues or if you feel we can improve this in any way.
Devilish Deployables
There are new ingredients, and new things to be made. We won’t enumerate them all here, but we’ll show a few in the images below and leave the rest up to you. We wanted to provide a few more fun items for your bases, and the Cauldron is no exception. Pour in some ink, slap it with paint, see what results you get!
For those who wish to live the spooky life year round, we understand.
With pumpkins comes pumpkin-carving! When you make a Jack O’ Lantern, it can be placed, carved with a swing of the knife, and painted to emit light in any color you’d like.
Also, does anyone else find wooden mannequins a bit eerie? Oh, and speaking of mannequins…
Armor Swapping
Do you ever wish that your skeletal base buddies could spring to life and fight with you? Well they can’t do that but they can save you some time in a completely unrelated way.
Many of you already use armor stands to hold specific sets or combinations of armor, and now you can get the most out of that with the new Armor Swap option, which will change your current armor for what’s on the armor stand.
You can also toggle a new checkbox in the Armor Stand UI, which will allow the swapping of empty slots - otherwise empty armor stand slots are ignored. We’re sure our brave scientists will find some interesting ways to utilize this.
Get a Lode of This!
Would it really be a portal world without new overworld weapons to discover? There are a couple archaic weapons you can swing about, each with their own special trait, but there are also several new and stranger objects to find in Canaan, granting access to new recipes for even more powerful inventions.
We’ve also continued to add new ammo types that can be used on either the new Crossbow or the Makeshift Crossbow. This brings the total number of Crossbow Bolt variations to FOUR. We look forward to your research and development in this area, and no, we won’t give you any hints.
Hair-Raising Customization Updates
We’ve added a few new hairstyles (less spooky) and fabrics (more spooky) just for the occasion. We’ve also updated the original ponytail (you might know it as “The Janet”) and the barbers at Cascade tried to stay true to the shape and form. What, you thought GATE wouldn’t have barbers in Residence Sector? Think again.
These hairstyles and fabrics are now immediately available to everyone, forever.
Leyak Containment
If this update has added too many spooky things for you, how about we let you perform some de-spookification?
Spoilers within.
Dr. Thule’s various experimentation has borne fruit and IS-0091 has been proven to be contained (at least for a while) in a new quantum glass containment unit. Simply craft one - once you have the technological prowess - and deploy one where you wish. Lure IS-0091 nearby, give her the ol’ zap and she will become entrapped. Just make sure you keep the containment structure intact with a routine helping of biological reinforcement…
You’ll figure it out. You’re a scientist, after al- wait, didn’t we say this already?
Possessed by the Ghost of a Good Game Designer
A small balancing note from Zag (or Spooky Zag, as we call him this time of year): We've rebalanced a few things as well, including armor values on the high end. We have more to do here, but we noticed a bit of a stagnation with armor, and less variety in choice as a result. If you know someone who was running one of the heaviest armors in the game, that is because it used to make them almost invincible. That has changed. Armor now gives diminishing returns once you get past 20 armor (on a piece-by-piece basis, not your armor total.) Keep in mind, however, armor only protects the limb(s) it covers, not your entire body.
More Tricks, More Treats
There are about a dozen plus other things to find in this update, but we really don’t like spoiling all the treats (and tricks) we’ve sprinkled throughout Canaan. That’s part of the fun, after all. We are sure you will find many surprises, new characters, and… Well, we’ve said far too much already. The road is treacherous before you; go carefully.
See you by the seaside.
Pumpkin… patch … notes… alright, we’ve run out of energy for puns. Go ahead and click those highlighted words to be portaled off to the full list of changes, and try not to join a cult along the way.
Please keep submitting your bug reports and feedback through the in-game links! It’s tremendously helpful and it lets us know what our scientists want to see in the future.
Thank you for all your work in the GATE Cascade Research Facility!
Onward -- to science and scares!
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Join the Research Division Today!
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