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Transferring Prisoners & Camera Tracking

Hi everyone,

A new version (v0.5.025) is published and contains the mechanic to transfer prisoners from one cell to another cell, a camera tracking functionality for colonists & animals + some smaller fixes.

[h2]Transferring Prisoners[/h2]

With this update it's finally possible to transfer a prisoner from one cell to another cell. To do this, you only have to select an empty prison bed and click on the transfer button.



If a prisoner is marked for being transferred, you can select one of your colonists and command him to transfer / escort the prisoner to his new cell. (This job will also be done automatically if one of your colonists has the highest priority as prison guard)



If a cell where a prisoner should be transferred to becomes invalid (for example, that the path gets blocked), the prisoner will try to escape and run away. This also happens when the escorting colonist gets interrupted in his job. (for example by player command or immobilization)

[h2]Camera Tracking[/h2]
It's also possible to enable camera tracking now and so to follow your colonists or any animals through their daily routines. To enable this mode, I have added a new small button to right upper corner of the colonist info menu.



In addition, the tracking function consists of 3 modes, which define if the buildings & terrain layers will get updated automatically while your are following a colonist.

I have to say, I was not really sure what should be the conditions which disable the camera tracking mode, because it is actually pretty fun to click on other components & use other menu functions while the tracking is active. Therefore you can simply disable it by pressing ESC or clicking the close button in the regarding menu.

Note 1:
By selecting another colonist or animal when you are in the active tracking mode, the cam will automatically switch and follow it instead.


Note 2:
You can still rotate and zoom while the camera tracking is enabled.




[h2]Additional Updates[/h2]

I have also added 2 additional mechanics which were already since the last patch in the game, but only mentioned in the small patch notes updates.

[h3]Prioritize, Forbid & Take Over Items (Area Tool)[/h3]
It's possible now to prioritize, forbid or take over items where you are not the owner of, by a new area tool which can be found in the menu for terrain jobs.



[h3]Prioritize Bed for Prisoner[/h3]
In connection with the prison transferring mechanic I have also added a new button which allows you to prioritize 1 prison bed at the same time. If a prison bed is prioritized, you colonists will automatically transport the next colonist you want to imprison to this bed (if a path to the bed is valid)



[h2]Patch Notes[/h2]
And last but not least, I have listed here all patch notes since the last regular update (including the notes of the smaller patches between):

  • prisoners can be transferred to other cells now
  • added new event (prisoner escapes(no escort))
  • added camera tracking for colonists & animals
  • fixed that squads got not saved for coop-partner (non host)

  • you can prioritize 1 prison bed at the time before imprison a colonist there now
  • items can be prioritized by new area tool now
  • items can be forbidden by new area tool now
  • items can be taken over by new area tool now
  • wood, stone, steel, ore, dirt & currency decays slower now
  • increased weapon upgrade attributes
  • increased some trait attributes
  • colonists can now mine block they are standing on in emergency
  • fixed some translation errors
  • some smaller fixes


[h2]What's Next?[/h2]

I have still on my list to update the start menu, difficulty options & start scenarios, but have to decide here if it would not be better to make that in connection with the terrain generation update (because I plan here that you can also spawn with some pre-built huts or other constructions).

I addition I also have in mind (in connection with the ongoing update of the building system) to finally update the pictures & achievements system (which would also include steam achievements then, and not only the ingame ones).

I hope you all have an awesome day and will enjoy the update,
Cheers!

v0.5.019

Hi everyone,
a new patch (v0.5.019) is out with some smaller fixes:

  • fixed prison priority button sometimes shown on default components
  • fixed error when item got removed from zone in count mode
  • fixed very rare error on animal eat job
  • fixed destroyed colonists sometimes shown in grave select menu
  • disabled prioritize items which are already in a zone (area tool)
  • fixed some smaller things


Cheers!

v0.5.018

Hi everyone,
a new patch (v0.5.018) is out with some fixes & addition:

  • items can be prioritized by new area tool now
  • items can be forbidden by new area tool now
  • items can be taken over by new area tool now
  • you can prioritize 1 prison bed at the time before imprison a colonist there now
  • fixed that marking certain rocks directly for mining can cause an error when loading the game
  • fixed that trait 'party king' got a runspeed boost instead of 'athletic'
  • fixed log message panel slider colors
  • fixed some smaller things


I have to say, this is also some kind of hotfix, because there was an error with selecting rocks directly, but the save files will automatically repair themself now. In addition I am also almost finished with the prisoner transfer mechanic, there is only the escort job missing. So the next regular update should come within the next days.

Cheers!

v0.5.016

Hi everyone,
a new patch (v0.5.016) is out with some smaller fixes:

  • wood, stone, steel, ore, dirt & currency decays slower now
  • increased weapon upgrade attributes
  • increased trait 'wood enthusiast' values by 15%
  • increased trait 'weapon fanatic' and 'strong' values by 5%
  • increased trait 'architect' values by 5%
  • fixed tree planting progress stop (reset of speed controller)
  • colonists can now mine block they are standing on in emergency
  • fixed that forest defenders died from starving after a while
  • fixed carrion snail did not disappear after load
  • fixed transparent layers for tree transparent mode
  • fixed plants & trees on roof where still selectable when invisible
  • fixed transparent mode for chopping block items


Cheers!

Trees and Plants on Roofs Update, Colony Sim Fest & More!

Hi everyone,

A new update is out (v0.5.015), which includes the new mechanic to seed plants / plant trees on roofs or in the underground, a new item + constructions, some additional updates & more!

I have also to announce, that AColony will join the steam city builder and colony sim fest today with a special discount of -50%! (so don't forget to fasten your seatbelts)

[h2]Plants and Trees on Roofs & in Underground[/h2]
With this update a new mechanic will be introduced, which allows you to build special floors for an extended plant seeding and tree planting functionality in unusual places. This means, that you can place them on roofs but also in the underground now.



[h3]Grass Floors[/h3]
To achieve that goal, I have added a new special material for the default floor which has grass or dirt on its surface. It gets unlocked by the basic husbandry technology and can be placed like any other floor in the game.



[h3]New Resource (Dirt)[/h3]
In connection with the grass floors I have also added a new item (dirt), which can be bought by traders or will spawn if you mine grass and dirt blocks now. This resource is required to build the new floors, but also to build the decoration construction house plant.



[h3]Underground Plants + new Construction (Plant Light)[/h3]
Of course, you can also seed plants in the mountains or the underground now, but that comes with a huge debuff which increases the grow time by 400%.

Plants or trees are seen as in underground, when an active terrain block is blocking the way straight upwards to the sky. Because I don't want a penalty for players which want to construct something like a plant skyscraper, I have excluded any debuff if you build floors or roofs over plants.



You can avoid the debuff of underground plants, by building a new construction - the plant light - which works similar like the modern sprinkler and gives a +400% grow boost once per day.

This means your plants can grow with the same time like on the free air, but with the requirement of additional power costs.



[h2]Additional Updates[/h2]

[h3]Mark Plants, Trees, Rocks & Animals Directly[/h3]
I have added a new button to the plants, trees, rocks & animals info menus, which allows the player to directly mark, if the related object should be harvested, cut, mined or hunted.



[h3]Decreased Fire Extinguish Time[/h3]
Based on player feedback, I have reduced the time to extinguish fires by circa 45%. This should increase the speed with which you can stop fires from spreading (mostly during the volcano eruption event).



[h3]Fixed Volcano Event Weather[/h3]
It seems like there was a bug in the weather manager which has often chosen the default volcano weather instead of the default stormy weather (beside the normal sunny one). This should be fixed now.



Note:
If you load a save file from before this update, the volcano weathers for the next 7 days are probably still in the scheduler. You need to play 7 ingame days until the normal stormy weathers will come again.


[h3]Updated Demo[/h3]
And as a side task, I have upgraded the demo of AColony to the newest version (v0.5.015), which should include all bug fixes and some additional functions from the latest early access version.

[h2]Patch Notes:[/h2]
Last but not least, I have here a list with all patch notes:

  • added functionality to seed plants & trees on special floors
  • added new construction (floor (material, grass))
  • added new construction (plant light)
  • added new item (dirt)
  • added that grass & dirt blocks give dirt by mining now
  • you can mark plants, trees, rocks & animals directly in their menu now
  • fixed that volcano weather was often chosen as default weather
  • fire extinguish times are by ~45% decreased now
  • random seed in new game menu can be set back now
  • grass floors can be found under technology 'basic husbandry' now
  • plant lights can be found under the technology 'technical helpers
  • dirt can be bought or sold via traders now
  • fixed sprinkler audio ignored master volume on pause / play
  • reduced wind bend factor on trees
  • construction 'houseplant' requires dirt as build material now
  • increased tree plant value per tree for forest helpers
  • fixed weather info in weather forecast machine (client)
  • fixed some smaller things


[h2]What's Next?[/h2]
The next points on my list (and during the fest) are to upgrade the difficulty & start settings menu to be more customizable and to add some smaller features / QoL stuff which I got recommended by player feedback.

I hope you all have an awesome day and will enjoy the update + the steam city builder & colony sim fest, Cheers!