Update 0.5.3: Summary
This version was released a bit in a hurry to fix a crash in 0.5.2 caused by the advanced kitchen. This fix should apply to existing save-games as well. As such it contains some partially implemented features (which are optional and marked as such in game).
Procedural Generation
I've mostly been working on the procedural generation and began to make the necessary changes for the soon to be implemented world map.
But more visibly for the user, there's now an "underground" tab in the custom game menu. It allows you to change the settings for the underground layer. There's 2 different cavern generators, all completed. There's a sewer generator, which is a work in progress (layout & terrain are ok, but there's no clutter yet), and a bunker generator which is in very early stage and which is definitely not recommended to play with (as it's completely empty).
Internally, there's a lot of new options for the surface as well (arid terrain has a sandy ground noise compared to the other terrains) and it will ensure a more varied procedural generation in the near future.
Custom Game Settings
The menu got cleaned up a bit. Some of the options moved to the difficulty tab (no hostiles, unlimited points). A 'technology' tab was added too, it allows you to give your group some starting technologies to quick-start your game.
Equipment presets can now be saved for later use, so it's no longer necessary to go through the trouble of editing one of the presets each time you start a new game.
Oh, and unlimited points really mean unlimited points now. It will disable achievements, though.
Misc Changes
It is now possible to set containers to ONLY accept input from adjacent factories (you'll still have to make sure it's set to the correct filters), further facilitating automation.
Something a bit more controversial. Our latest changes to combat and group selection made any encounter trivial to deal with. The option for your fighters to move & attack at the same time basically meant that you were immortal. As such, it is no longer possible for people under your direct command to use a ranged weapon while executing a move order. This is theoretically making some melee weapon a bit more viable while making enemy encounters more tense.
Closing Words
Expect a much larger update in the coming month :)
Full Changelog
+ Balance: Military units under the player's direct control can no longer move & shoot at the same time with ranged weapons
+ Balance: Changed costs to embark with armor (400->250) and weapons (200->250)
+ Content: Preliminary sewer generator (still very much in process, right now the layout is ok, but no proper textures & content is applied yet)
+ Content: You can now setup depots so they only accept input from nearby factories
+ Content: Option to start a game with some of the specific technologies
+ Engine: Made the game more robust when meeting bad data (factories with missing or faulty recipes)
+ Modding: Tile data can set if over or below ground noise
+ Modding: Terrain data can change ground noise color & intensity and be set for outside or underground layer
+ ProcGen: Procedural map generator handles ground noise color for each biome
+ UI: Removed "close" button from depot menu (use a right-click like everywhere else)
+ UI: New Game menu overhaul
+ UI: Added the 'cavern' tab to the "new game" menu where you can tweak the underground generator
+ UI: Starting equipment presets can be saved for later use
+ Fixed: Disassembling pool tables (from the procedurally generated map) would never give fabric
+ Fixed: Giving unlimited points on startup wasn't cancelling achievements
+ Fixed: The 'unlimited setup points' option now properly gives unlimited points instead of a very large number
+ Fixed: Fixed crash caused by the change in data format implemented in 0.5.2 (modern kitchen)
Hotfix 1
+ AI: Settlers will more often drop stuff in containers instead of hoarding
+ Engine: Added a "previous autosave" to the auto save system (last autosave will be renamed previous-autosave instead of being erased by a new one)
+ Fixed: Crash if the game encounters a corrupted zip file (as in the zip itself, not the savegame inside)
+ Fixed: People would try put stuff into "factory only" containers, causing their AI to freeze (0.5.3 bug)
+ Fixed: Potential crash in Storage Screen (not happening in-game, but future proofing)
Hotfix 2
+ Fixed: Potential crash in PathTo job if trying to access something outside of the game's location (potential issue with spider spawn)
+ Fixed: Crash in armor calculations under specific conditions
+ Fixed: Under very sound intensive combat (lots of smg and turrets), the game could queue so much sfx that the fight would continue to play long after being over
+ Fixed: Multithreading settings not properly applied at game start (enabled by default even if manually disabled)
+ Fixed: Rare crash related to bullet and explosions
+ Fixed: Logic issue that could cause agents to be placed outside of the map
+ Fixed: Secondary and minor issues