Hi there!
So, after a longer hiatus than I'd have liked, v2.0.0 is finally out, and it's a big one. This update has two sides to it: a major engine overhaul under the hood, and a solid chunk of new content on top. As usual, I'll go over the main changes in the article proper, while the rest is in the changelog at the end.
Enjoy!
Under the hood first
This took quite a while to write, but I ported the game from .NET Framework 4.7 to .NET 10, which is essentially a complete engine migration. MonoGame, Penumbra lighting, OpenAL, everything got updated to current modern versions.
The result is noticeably better rendering performance, especially on large maps and underground layers. It also fixes many minor technical issues. The downside being that Windows 10 is now the minimum requirement for 2.0. Version 1.5.1 will stay available in the Game Version/Beta tab in the game's properties on Steam.
Some game mods may demand you to install the Windows .NET 10.0 Runtime. This is an unavoidable side effect. You'll be prompted by a popup if that's the case.
The game should also now be easier to run under Proton/Wine on Linux, untested for now, but the foundations are there. Under Proton, it might need the "Windows Desktop runtime" to be installed in the Proton prefix for things to work.
New content
On the content side, the main additions are drones and the ability for Arakans to unlock the full tech tree at the Sacrificial Pit.
There are two new technologies in the tech tree ("Drones" and "Advanced Drones"), unlocking several new buildable units covering combat, maintenance, and support roles. Additionally, a new Pet Carrier item lets you bring pets and drones along on expeditions where they'll participate in combat. Right now, they'll only help in active battles, they do no count toward automated fights.
I also reworked the hostile raid system a bit with a new generation method and a new raid types to increase variety in the mid and late game. I added a cap to zombie-spawning POIs too (configurable per scenario) to prevent the snowball effect that made some runs miserable. The tech research tree got a tiered rebalance too, with higher tiers costing progressively more in 250-increment steps.
Other notable additions: a water pump for automated water collection, robot charging bays that now actually heal your bots, and the ability to assign your own survivors as guards to your production centers, instead of the usual mercenaries.
Graphics and audio
Sound effects are now directional and distance-aware, which makes a bigger difference than you'd expect. Weather transitions are smoother, no more abrupt cuts between conditions. Raid event popups now have proper images instead of stretched faction logos. The healing effect on patients being treated by a doctor has a nice new particle system. Power and electric connection lines in the overlay got a visual pass too, and a handful of older textures (loom, batteries, electric water purifier) were replaced with more detailed versions. That's on top of a additional particle effects on work stations to make the scene feel more alive.
UI and fixes
Overlay text got a border so it's actually readable over busy backgrounds. The survivor list now shows hurt/sick status at a glance with color-coded indicators, and hovering over a survivor shows housing and medical warnings if something needs attention. Adopting a pet can be done from both the pet's info panel, and the survivor's relationship tab now, making things a lot easier.
On the bug fix side, the long-standing pathfinding issue where survivors would get stuck despite having a valid path has been addressed, along with a handful of other recurring annoyances: doors staying open too long, drones getting assigned random human names, that kind of thing.
General Notes
Savegames from 1.5 are compatible, but will not benefit from some of the changes, as usual. There's no major changes modding wise, so what worked before should still work now, but you will need to install the .NET 10.0 Runtime for some of them to work properly.
As for the future. There might be a couple more smaller updates to smooth the rougher edges, and for me to play with the new toys provided by the engine-level upgrades, but my main focus is currently on the next game. I'll keep you posted whenever I have relevant news on the topic.
Cheers!
Full Changelog
Content
Added two drone-making technologies to the tech tree
Multiple new buildable drones (combat, maintenance, support, ...), and updated existing drones
Arakans can "evolve" to get access to the full tech tree at the cost of many human sacrifices to the spider pit
With the new Pet Carrier you can bring your pets and drones to expeditions. They'll help during combat (live combat only)
Added new tiles and wall types, some of which can be unlocked in the tech tree
Added many new raid types for increased mob variety in mid/last game
Added water pump (electric, automated water collection from adjacent water source)
Robot charging bays should "heal" the robots/drones when used
You can assign your own survivors to guard your production centers, working as "free" mercenaries
Engine
The game is now running on .NET 10 with recent C# 14 features
Monogame version updated to Latest, with a lot of internal code refactoring and optimizations
Updated Penumbra lighting, OpenAL, and all other libraries to latest versions, fixing many issues and improving performances
Much better rendering performances, especially on large maps and in underground layers
Crash logs are now written in a separate file "errorlog-$date.txt" in the game's root folder (no fancy menu anymore)
Graphics
Added properly sized images to all raid event popups
Added weather transitions so it no longer looks so abrupt
Added "healing" effect (with particle system) to patients when treated by a doctor
Better looking power/electric connection lines in overlay
Made pre-existing doors on map look "forced open" to differentiate them from player built ones
Replaced some of the older textures by more modern and detailed ones (loom, batteries, electric water purifier...)
Improved existing drone textures
Modding
New CraftingStations field in recipes allows to add the recipe to one or multiple crafting stations automatically, making it MUCH easier to add new recipes without editing base game files
Drone recipes use the new recipe "CraftingStations" field
Sound
Sounds effects are now directional and handle distance from the camera
Workers can loop sound effects, leading to less silences
Added sounds effects for many actions that were silent before (mining caverns, removing walls, ...)
Added 4 additional music tracks to the selection
Tweaks
Added a cap to the number of zombie-spawning POIs on the world map, to prevent snowball effect (can be changed in scenario difficulty settings)
All scenarios except Contagion and Last Stand have a default cap to zombie-spawning POIs of 4
Rebalanced tech research times (tiered system, 250 increments), higher tiers more expensive
Tanner gives 2 leathers (from 1) per hide now, metal is more expensive, other eco tweaks
Removed "cannibal" faction archetype because too generic (use Mutants or Arakans instead)
Power generators renamed to 'charcoal generator' and 'fuel generator' for clarity/brevity
New method used to generate raids, leading to more variety
Backpacks give a Scavenging skill bonus (used for loot table during expedition)
Decreased scorpion queen's melee damage
Green spores spawned by carnivorous plants have less HP and attack range
Made bandit lairs spawn a bit later (and can spawn farther away)
User Interface
Overlay UI text (storage, names,..) now has a border making it a lot more legible when over similar colors
Added "Hurt" feedback to the survivor list (red means losing health, orange means other sicknesses and pains)
Added housing and medical info (if problem detected) to survivors' tooltip in the people list menu
Robots' battery bar is properly placed below "health" now, like all other secondary bars
Added days left of pregnancy info to animals' info panel
POI menu automatically updates values when recruiting mercenaries
Added button to settlers' relationships tab to adopt a pet/drone
Other minor tweaks
Fixed
Recurring pathing issue where a survivor sees a path but the "PathTo" job doesn't, causing the survivor to become stuck
Crash related to trader encampments' spawn events (my bad on this one)
Some edge cases where the pathfinder's map would be altered mid-search
Doors would stay open for way too long after being opened by a survivor, allowing enemies to enter the base without opening them
Issue where the game would try to name a combat drone when assigning it to a survivor
Eating/drinking sounds played even when emitted from a different layer
When a player-owned construction is on the same tile as a neutral clutter (cracks, rocks..), it could make it difficult to select on mouse click.
Robot raids could spawn before they're supposed to due to a typo in definition file
Once a non-friendly has started to walk a path, it wouldn't check the status of the doors it's about to cross
Travel event to recruit mutant guards was using an unarmed profile
Burnt / destroyed water collectors wouldn't switch to the correct "broken" sprite
Electric overlay's lines wouldn't always connect to the center of the power consumer
Broken power relays and structures found in bunkers would still appear in the power grid view