Forever Skies News

[h3]Greetings scientists…[/h3]

The day has finally arrived, our Combat Update is out of beta and is now playable for all on Steam Early Access!



EA.1.6.0 is packed with content. Including a new location type, with two variants, combat mechanics, new resources, story route changes, artifact trading & reward system, performance improvements, bug fixes, and QoL improvements, including the two highest-voted requests on Feature Upvote, moving full storage boxes and suit upgrades! Check out the combat trailer to get your first look.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h2]DISCOUNT AND YOUR FAV BUNDLES[/h2]
First off though, as part of this update, we've made Forever Skies 25% off. We've also partnered with our friends at Sengoku Dynasty, Survival: Fountain of Youth and Volcanoids to create some great survival game bundles.

If you already own any of the above games, you can get an extra 10% off Forever Skies or vice versa. Already got Forever Skies? Then check out the bundles to get an extra discount on any of these three games!

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https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/44700/Survival_Fountain_of_Youth_x_Forever_Skies/
Survival: Fountain of Youth is a challenging single-player open-world adventure game set on the Caribbean islands. Survive as a shipwrecked 16th-century explorer, craft tools and shelter, and uncover the secrets of both an ancient civilization and your own fate.

https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/44627/Sengoku_Dynasty_x_Forever_Skies/
In Sengoku Dynasty, build and manage villages in an open-world feudal Japan. Survive, explore, meet unique characters, and establish your legacy. Play solo or in co-op multiplayer.

https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/41771/Volcanoids_x_Forever_Skies/
Volcanoids is a base-building open-world survival shooter that replaces your typical base with a giant drill. Alone or with friends, explore an island plagued by eruptions, upgrade your drill, and fight robots to uncover what's been hiding beneath the surface.

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[h2]INTRODUCING COMBAT MECHANICS[/h2]

As always, we recommend starting a new game with this update, as EA.1.6.0 makes significant changes to the “golden path” in the game, which becomes apparent towards the end of your first visit to the Underdust.

After failing to enter the Infected Garden, players are now tasked with finding ingredients for the Immunity Booster at two different locations nearby. Players also now only need to visit the one Infected Garden, as we felt that visiting three was overkill.



The two Dust Territories, Wild Habitat and New Nature, are slightly different to any other location you have previously visited. You will land on them with your airship just like any other tower above the dust, but it won’t be long before you descend into the smog on foot!



The Crossbow has received an overhaul with new SFX, a new reload animation and an advanced model with better handling and more bolts per round.

Our Animator, Adam, prototyping the new reload animation with items from around the studio and also the final look

As well as the standard Crossbow Bolts, players will also be able to get their hands on Poison Bolts, Charged Bolts, and Charged Mines, giving them quite a few options when facing hostiles.



But we also understand that not every player wants to engage in lethal combat, as such there are a few passive ways to deal with threats. Players will be able to craft Decoys and Stunning Traps to overcome enemies non-lethally.



Combat has also been added to the Underdust - Suburbs location as we originally promised when we released the Gardening Update back in Spring. If players choose not to start a new game to experience the story changes and have completed all current objectives, then a unique quest will be available where you can experience some of the new content via that quest



[h2]ARTIFACT TRADING STATIONS[/h2]

Before the collapse of humanity, smugglers resided within these territories to hoard artifacts of the old world they believed still carried value. Here, in the vaults of these Dust Territories, players will discover a brand new mechanic, Artifact Trading Stations.



Here, you can bring all of the excess old-world artifacts you’ve found and trade them in for other items to complete your collection.

Earn Tech Fragments to increase your Trading XP which unlocks new reward tiers. You can even unlock upgrade blueprints for you, your pet companion or your airship here. FINALLY, a use for those 60 “Join Project Oxygen” posters you’ve been hoarding.



[h2]WHAT ELSE IS IN THE COMBAT UPDATE?[/h2]

1. Suit upgrades such as armor and backpack levels 1-3 can now be discovered and unlocked. These have dedicated slots in your inventory. This was the most popular request on our Feature Upvote site!

2. Moving full storage boxes QoL feature is available with EA.1.6.0! Players can now move Storage Boxes with contents wherever they like onboard their Airship, making customization easier than ever. This will also work with Freezers and Cookers containing food and Engines containing fuel. This was the second most popular request on Feature Upvote, and we’re excited to make this live for all!

3. Two new outfits for the Friendly Insect, Camo Gear in the traditional green and in black.

Here is a little bug buddy tribute to remind you to never go into the ruins alone.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

4. A radial menu is now available by holding down “C”. Use this to quickly access different ammo types, health, food and water.

5. A whole new range of Retro-Futuristic furniture is now available to craft. Oh, and that periodic poster you all wanted for your airship can now be picked up from the labs in the Infected Garden.

Below you will find the complete changelog for the whole update.
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[h2]PATCH NOTES[/h2]

[h3]NEW CONTENT:[/h3]

[h3]World:[/h3]

New combat locations: Wild Habitat
New Nature Territory Combat added to locations: Underdust: Suburbs New resources added to locations: Underdust: Suburbs Enemies: Mantis
Webling Larva
Webling Larvae Nest

[h3]Tools & Devices:[/h3]

• Crossbow bolt: Charged
  
• Crossbow bolt: Poisonous
  
• Upgraded Crossbow
  
• Decoy
  
• Charged Mine
  
• Stun Mine
  
• Backpack Upgrade Small (5 additional slots)
  
• Backpack Upgrade Medium (10 additional slots)
  
• Backpack Upgrade Large (20 additional slots)
  
• Chitin Armor Suit Upgrade
  
• Artifact Trade Station
  

[h3]Player:[/h3]

• Radial UI menu added for quick interactions with consumables and Crossbow ammunition select (hold C/D-pad Down)
  
• Crossbow auto-reload
  
• Using Consumables animation added
  
• Ability to relocate devices with items inside added - actions Pick Up and Move separated
  
• Crafting from Storage is now available for the Airship Builder
  
• Crafting from Storage is now available for the Research Station
  
• New Radial Menu UI added
  
• New player parameters - damage resistance & virus resistance
  
• New Inventory slots - Armor and Backpack
  
• Added icon for Armor in HUD
  
• Prestige system, related to Artifact Trade Station, allowing players acquiring new artifacts and blueprints via selling unneeded artifacts
  

[h3]Airship[/h3]

• Retro-futuristic Furniture Set Added
  
• New Poster: Blasphemous Mantis Anatomy
  

Pet:

• Pet Tactical Set (headwear, footwear, backpack): Camo
  
• Pet Tactical Set (headwear, footwear, backpack): Black
  

[h3]New resources:[/h3]

• Fiberglass
  
• Motion Detector
  
• Liquid Oxygen
  
• Liquid Neon
  
• Moss Needle
  
• Tech Fragment
  

[h3]New plants:[/h3]

• Eelair
  
• Dust Firecracker
  
• Diver Pearls
  
• Summer Balm
  
• Siren Crown
  
• Moss Needle
  

[h3]Consumables & Customizations:[/h3]

• Mobility Booster
  
• Advanced Medkit
  

[h3]Other:[/h3]

• Charged Growth Gate added
  
• Show Virus effects toggle in Settings
  
• PS5 Controller features (adaptive triggers, haptic feedback)
  
• Overall performance improved
  
• Additional quests guiding through combat update locations for players who have finished the storyline
  
• Added Controller Motion Input for ADS (this option can be disabled in the Gameplay tab in Settings)
  
• Added info about possibility to change difficulty during the game
  

[h3]CHANGED:[/h3]

• Main Quests changed from the 1st Underdust to include combat locations.
  
• Major sounds and music update.
  
• Basic stamina allows to run 18s instead of 10s, and hit 12 times instead of 10.
  
• Crossbow shows indicators when reload or shooting is not possible.
  
• Crossbow shows “Reload” widget only when reload is possible.
  
• Crossbow differentiates ammo spread between default and aiming mode.
  
• Crossbow has a new set of animations, sounds and UI.
  
• Wrecked Crossbow has been moved in progression and can now be found in the Underdust: Tunnels location.
  
• Pyrexia visual effects decreased when stamina is depleted.
  
• Crosshair swing while being infected with Pyrexia reduced.
  
• Raw Breathnut no longer infects player with Gastroenteritis virus.
  
• Some posters were resized.
  
• Quest log is scrolling when there are many unfinished quests on the screen.
  
• Immunity Booster’s recipe changed to include new plants.
  
• Bloom Airship modules’ recipes changed–they now require Fiberglass to build.
  
• Fuel Tank’s recipe changed–it now requires Fiberglass to craft.
  
• Moth Aquarium’s recipe changed–it now requires Fiberglass to craft.
  
• Big Water Tank’s recipe changed–it now requires Fiberglass to craft.
  
• Decorative Wings’ recipes changed–they now require Fiberglass to craft.
  
• Moss Furniture set recipes changed–they now require Fiberglass to craft.
  
• Lamps’ recipes changed–they now require Liquid Neon to craft.
  
• Chitin now grants Hemorrhagic Fever sample when put into VSA.
  
• It’s possible the player can get infected with Hemorrhagic Fever when being hit by a Mantis .
  
• Mantis Gland resource was removed from both Underdust locations.
  
• Periodic Table Poster from the Infected Garden can now be picked up.
  
• “Stairs Room” name has been changed to “Staircase.”
  
• Renamed Neon Plant to Glowweed.
  
• Changed name of the item from "Moth Aquarium" to "Moth Vivarium."
  
• Changes in FOV for Sprinting and ADS.
  
• Breathnut oxygen balancing.
  
• Quest descriptions for the tutorial area corrected to fit gameplay changes (Engine scan).
  
• Updated the Chronic Hemo Fever and Hemo Fever entries to indicate that they can be contracted from Mantis.
  
• Dead Mantis’ now grant 3 Chitin, each body part grants max 1, recently killed Mantis now grants 4 Chitin.
  
• Dead Mantis corpse disappears after gathering all Chitin resources from it.
  
• Moved the position of Noah's tablet in the Infected Garden.
  
• Hemoglobin Purifier’s Crafting Recipe now requires Summer Balm fruit.
  
• Removed Hemorrhagic virus from Glass Shards
  
• Stamina doesn’t regenerate during knife swing.
  
• Underdust: Tunnels’ tablet now gives research for Crossbow & Bolts.
  
• Advanced Access Module study recipe should now be unlocked by scanning Access Terminal.
  

[h3]FIXED:[/h3]

• Fixed an issue with Pipes rotating with the airship movement.
  
• Fixed an issue with missing mass/weight of decorative Wings.
  
• Infected Garden performance tweaks.
  
• Overgrown Lift performance tweaks.
  
• Wind Farms performance tweaks.
  
• Small Town performance tweaks.
  
• Removed duplicates from the Small Town Location’s Scan Progress.
  
• Fixed an issue where the engine rotated after relocation.
  
• Fixed an issue where the player wasn’t getting the temporary immunity to a virus after they cured themselves and then died.
  
• Fixed a bug where interactions on the Virus Sample Analyzer stopped working if the player fell asleep.
  
• Fixed an issue where the player character’s movement slowed down after crouching and aiming with the crossbow.
  
• Fixed an issue where the combat plants’ seeds entries were not included in the Studies menu.
  

[h3]KNOWN ISSUES: [/h3]

• Charged Growth Blockade’s material doesn’t show that it can be scanned.
  
• Inventory Full error message can sometimes stay on the screen.
  
• Sometimes using Deck Extractor for a longer period of time separates player’s mesh from player’s camera - it gets back to normal upon disengaging from Deck Extractor.
  
• Sometimes the airship is not responding to handling its controls - the quickest way to solve this is to leave an airship completely and return.
  
• Rarely using Knife consumes all stamina at once - we’re investigating this issue.
  
• Locations shouldn’t spawn near or in the mountains anymore, any further issues with that happening should be investigated as a separate issue.
  
• 
  

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That is all for now, please keep sending in your Steam reviews! They help us out a great deal. We will be in touch very soon about our Steam Gift Card giveaway and our next update.

And yes…it’s the one you’ve been waiting for ;)

Speak soon.
- Team Far From Home

Greetings scientists,

This is the last hotfix on our beta before the Combat Update goes live - it's this Friday!.

Here is what changed:

[h2]ADDED:[/h2]

• Translations added.
  
• Armor HUD icon.
  Icons added for: Webling Larvae Nest
  Dead Webling Larvae Nest
  Charged Growth Blockade
  Wrecked Small Backpack
  Wrecked Medium Backpack
  Boiled Summer Balm Fruit
  Boiled Dust Firecracker Fruit

[h2]CHANGED:[/h2]

• Combat Arena shortcut in the Wild Habitat location’s Vault should be more visible.
  
• Icons changed for:
  
• Summer Balm Fruit
  
• Dust Firecracker Fruit
  
• Changed costs for crafting Backpack and its upgrades:
  Small Backpack: Chitin 50 -> 15
  Moss 30 -> 15
  Plastic Scrap: 15 -> 10 Medium Backpack Small Backpack 1 -> 1
  Liquid Neon 10 -> 10
  Fiberglass 12 -> 35 Large Backpack: Medium Backpack 1 -> 1
  Liquid Neon 20 -> 10
  Fiberglass 50 -> 50 Changed cost of Chitin Armor: Chitin 10 -> 6
  Moss 10 -> 6
  Plastic Scrap 5 -> 6
• Changed Armor’s durability from 8 to 10 hits.
  
• Adding more space to the Artifact Trade Station’s shed in the Vault.
  

[h2]FIXED:[/h2]

• Hitboxes for harvesting Dust Firecracker plants improved.
  
• The player is now able to shoot from the Upgraded Crossbow immediately after reloading it.
  
• Dust Fertilizer typo fixed.
  
• Mantis’ projectile attack splash sound now plays correctly.
  
• Vendor doesn’t show 0% prompt while looking at it anymore.
  
• Kickstarter Poster double-sided material fixed.
  
• The sound of the Artifact Trade Station spawning should no longer play after the player loads the save.
  
• Scan/Extraction materials added for: Advanced Medkit, Medical Reagent, Glowweed, Fiberglass Panel, Seed Bags, Hare Figure, Poster: Crossbreeding, Dust Daisy, Small Backpack, Medium Backpack, Webling Larvae Webs.
  
• Background Icon added in the Database Entry for Wrecked Small Backpack.
  
• Fixed the bug that would cause the player to not be able to shoot from the Crossbow.
  
• Siren Crown Fruit can now be scanned.
  

[h2]KNOWN ISSUES: [/h2]

• Dust Fertilizer does not decrease Dust Firecracker’s cultivation time.
  
• Blueprints already printed in the Artifact Trade Station will still be present in the device. Printing those again will result in an empty Memory Card.
  
• Low vitality bars and viruses’ visual effects sometimes stay on the screen. This is fixed by going back to the main menu and loading the save again.
  
• Missing collisions on new plants, there’s only collision for the fruit.
  
• There’s no error when the player can’t craft an upgrade for the Backpack, when there are items in the Backpack’s inventory slots.
  
• Prompt for splitting stack does not show for the items in the Backpack’s inventory.
  
• Dead Webling Larvae Nest shows a knife icon, but the knife can’t be used for harvesting it.
  
• Photosensitivity warning: Charged bolts' electric VFX is intensified by Underdust's fog
  
• Upgraded crossbow sounds are not synced with the reload time.
  
• Dead Impious Mantis shows a knife icon while looking at it, even though we don’t harvest it this way.
  
• Dead Webling Larvae Nest shows a knife icon while looking at it, even though we don’t harvest it this way.
  
• Underdust: Suburbs location’s combat balance needs to be improved.
  
• Fourth knife hit on Moss Needle doesn't add the resource.
  
• Sometimes using Deck Extractor for a longer period of time separates the player’s mesh from the player’s camera - it gets back to normal upon disengaging from the Deck Extractor.
  
• Sometimes an airship is not responding to handling its controls - the quickest way to solve this is to leave an airship completely and return.
  
• Rarely using Knife consumes all stamina at once - we’re investigating this issue.
  
• Locations shouldn’t spawn near or in the mountains anymore, any further issues with that happening should be investigated as a separated issue.
  
• In the study menu, the Eelair Fruit and Eelair Seed are assigned to the wrong location. They are currently listed under Wild Habitat, but they should be under New Nature Territory
  

That's all for now. More news to follow on Friday!

[h3]Greetings beta testers,[/h3]

More hotfixes for you. We're very close to the Combat Update going live now, more news to follow. Here is what we fixed:

[h3]CHANGED:[/h3]

• Upgraded Crossbow’s mesh changed to differentiate it from the basic Crossbow.
  
• Resistance to viruses provided by the Armor will only work for viruses which are a consequence of physical damage.
  
• Removed Hemorrhagic virus from Glass Shards
  
• Hemoglobin Purifier’s Crafting Recipe now requires Summer Balm fruit.
  
• Wild Habitat location level-art improvements.
  
• Artifact Trade Station UI improvements.
  
• Items in the Artifact Trade Station are now differentiated by their tiers.
  
• Added posters to Artifact Trade Station.
  
• Artifact Trade Station’s balance improved.
  
• Added sounds to Mantis’ spawn.
  
• Added sounds to Mantis’ ranged attack.
  
• New model and materials for Artifact Trade Station.
  
• New materials for Charged Growth Blockade.
  
• Added icon for Armor in HUD.
  

[h3]FIXED:[/h3]

• Combat locations (Wild Habitat and New Nature Territory) should no longer spawn in the mountains.
  
• Added the missing material to wrecked airship in Vault.
  
• Combat music no longer plays outside of combat.
  
• Crossbow's ammo display is no longer doubled and offset.
  
• Removed objects from combat locations platforms that would collide with the airship and cause it to bounce off.
  
• Added Charged Bolts as an exploration reward in Underdust: Suburbs.
  
• Motion Detector can no longer be scanned through walls.
  
• Mantises should spawn correctly when the player goes back from the Vault to the airship.
  
• Artifact Trade Station now shows an “Inventory Full” error when the player wants to sell something with no space in their Inventory.
  
• The Mantis spawn animation is fixed.
  
• Extraction is no longer possible when inventory is full.
  
• Moss Needle can now be scanned.
  
• Dust Firecracker can now be scanned.
  
• Artifact Trade Station’s icon added.
  
• Siren Crown boiled fruit’s icon added.
  
• Dust Firecracker fruit’s icon added.
  
• Webling Larvae’s icon added.
  
• Webling Larvae Web’s icon added.
  
• Fungal Markings’ icon added.
  
• Charged Growth Blockade’s icon added.
  
• Crossbow icons for Accuracy, Magazine Size, and Reload Speed added.
  
• Artifact Trade Station model and materials changed.
  
• Fiberglass scan results now shows the name of the item.
  
• Biomass source added to combat locations.
  
• Combat locations should no longer spawn in the mountains.
  
• Artifact Trade Station should now show proper log message.
  
• Disabled picking up and moving the Artifact Trade Station.
  
• Energy Crystals are back on Wild Habitat location.
  
• Wild Habitat location’s optimization improvements.
  

[h3]KNOWN ISSUES: [/h3]

• Hitbox for picking up Dust Firecracker plants from the Small Garden Pot is not precise and it might be tricky to harvest those.
  
• Dust Fertilizer does not decrease Dust Firecracker’s cultivation time.
  
• Blueprints already printed in the Artifact Trade Station will still be present in the device. Printing those again will result in an empty Memory Card.
  
• Low vitality bars and viruses’ visual effects sometimes stay on the screen. This is fixed by going back to the main menu and loading the save again.
  
• The Studies tab information for some objects found on the new combat locations might still be incorrect.
  
• The player can hear the sound of the ATS spawning while they’re on the airship.
  
• Missing collisions on new plants, there’s only collision for the fruit.
  
• There’s no error when the player can’t craft an upgrade for the Backpack, when there are items in the Backpack’s inventory slots.
  
• Prompt for splitting stack does not show for the items in the Backpack’s inventory.
  
• Feedback for selling items in the ATS is not clear enough, there’s a notification for this action which shows under ATS’ menu.
  
• Dead Webling Larvae Nest shows a knife icon, but the knife can’t be used for harvesting it.
  
• Photosensitivity warning: Charged bolts' electric VFX is intensified by Underdust's fog
  
• Shortcut between the Vault and the first Arena on Wild Habitat location is not visible enough.
  
• Upgraded crossbow sounds are not synced with the reload time.
  
• When the player reloads the Upgraded Crossbow, they still have to wait 4 seconds to be able to shoot.
  

Thats all the fixes for now.
- Team Far From Home

Greetings scientists!

Thank you for all of your initial feedback following the changes we made to the Combat Update (EA.1.6.0)

Here are the patch notes for everything we have addressed today:

[h3]CHANGED:[/h3]

• Crossbow Level 2 name changed to Improved Crossbow.
  
• Crossbow Level 3 was removed.
  
• The Crossbow’s Spread during Crouch changed from 0.25 to 0.4.
  
• Improved Crossbow’s Magazine Size changed from 6 to 8.
  
• Improved Crossbow’s Spread during Walk changed from 0.8 to 0.5 .
  
• Improved Crossbow’s Spread during Sprint changed from 1.0 to 0.65
  
• Improved Crossbow’s Spread Recovery Speed changed from 0.7 to 0.9.
  
• Improved Crossbow’s Spread rises after Shooting changed from 0.34 to 0.25.
  
• Improved Crossbow crafting moved to Upgrade Station
  
• Crossbow’s ammo display’s visuals changed.
  
• Chitin Armor’s durability increased from 4 to 8 hits.
  
• Eelair Fruit Seed growth time changed from 8 to 5 minutes.
  
• Crossbow, Armor, and Backpack Upgrades’ descriptions changed.
  
• Poisoned bolts name changed to Poison Bolt.
  
• Poison Bolt now requires Crossbow Bolt to craft.
  
• Modish furniture set’s names changed to Retro-futuristic.
  
• Mantis enemy’s scan information changed.
  
• Scavengers Printer’s name changed to Artifact Trade Station, the description also changed.
  
• Adjusted output position for printing items in Artifact Trade Station.
  
• All items available to be bought in Artifact Trade Station should now be visible. There is currently no distinction between tiers.
  
• HUD Log messages changed for Artifact Trade Station to suit the device’s use.
  
• Tech Sliver name changed to Tech Fragment.
  
  Small Backpack Module crafting recipe (CR) cost changed Chitin: 50-> 50
  Moss: 50-> 30
  Plastic Scrap: 15 -> 15
  
  Medium Backpack Module (CR) cost changed Small Backpack Module: 70 -> 1
  Liquid Neon: 25 -> 10
  Fibreglass: 50->50
  
  Large Backpack Module CR cost changed Medium Backpack Module, 0 - > 1
  Liquid Neon: 0 -> 20
  Fibreglass: 0 -> 50
  Tech Fragments: 50 -> 0
  
  
• Basic stamina allows to run 18s instead of 10s and hit 12 times instead of 10.
  
• Stamina doesn’t regenerate during knife swing.
  
• Mantis jump spawner has a proper mesh, animation, SFXes and VFXes
  
• Improved VFXes when a player hits an enemy (both a Mantis and a Webling Larva).
  
• Dead Mantis corpse disappears after gathering all Chitin resources from it.
  
• Both combat locations further level design and level art updates.
  
• Glass Shards do not infect with Hemorrhage Virus anymore.
  
• Hemoglobin Purifier Study Recipe and Crafting Recipe now need Summer Balm fruit.
  

[h3]FIXED:[/h3]

• When the player puts on or takes off the Armor or the Backpack, it should not affect the flashlight’s icon anymore.
  
• The Tactical Pet Set (Black) can now be unlocked in the Artifact Trade Station.
  
• Prestige bar is not visible anymore in devices other than the Artifact Trade Station.
  
• Artifact Trade Station can now be scanned.
  
• When the player has items in the backpack and uses sort, the backpack will not get locked anymore when all the resources from it go into the Player’s Inventory.
  
• Chitin Armor prints as a box, instead of a flashlight.
  
• Moving an item from Storage box to Backpack should not crash the game anymore.
  
• Backpack does not disappear anymore after loading a save.
  
• Armor does not disappear anymore after loading a save.
  
• The already destroyed Charged Growth Blockade should no longer re-appear after loading the save.
  
• Corpses found on the New Nature Territory & Wild Habitat locations should no longer have “Noah’s body” scan info.
  
• Low stamina knife swing is no longer broken.
  
• Player now keeps their temporary immunity to a virus after death.
  
• Charged Mine and Stun Mine no longer stuck to walls.
  
• Immunity Booster study recipe (SR) is no longer obtained by gathering Chitin from Impious Mantis Corpse - it has to be researched via Virus Sample Analyzer.
  
• Icons were replaced for: Siren Crown Fruit, Dust Firecracker Fruit, Dust Firecracker Seeds, and Moss Needle.
  

[h3]KNOWN ISSUES: [/h3]

• Combat locations can still spawn in the mountains. We recommend flying to another location of the same type, if this is the case.
  
• On the Wild Habitat location, when the player enters the arena for the first time, there should be only one Mantis. The second Mantis that jumps out from behind the wall shouldn't be there at that moment
  
• Hitbox for picking up Dust Firecracker plants from the Small Garden Pot is not precise and it might be tricky to harvest those.
  
• Artifact Trade Station’s mechanics are still a work in progress.
  
• Artifact Trade Station’s model is a placeholder.
  
• Blueprints already printed in the Artifact Trade Station’s will still be present in the device. Printing those again will result in an empty Memory Card.
  
• To sell anything at the Artifact Trade Station’s, player has to have space available in their Inventory. There is currently no error visible when the player tries to sell artifacts with no Inventory space.
  
• The Crossbow upgrade lvl 2’s mesh is identical to the regular Crossbow.
  
• The Wild Habitat location has been modified and is still a work in progress.
  
• Low vitality bars and viruses’ visual effects sometimes stay on the screen. This is fixed by going back to the main menu and loading the save again.
  
• Chromatic Aberration seems to affect Crossbow’s ammo display.
  
• The Studies tab information for objects found on the new combat locations.
  
• Moss Needle cannot be scanned.
  
• Dust Firecracker cannot be scanned.
  

Thats all for today, keep sending in your feedback!
- Team Far From Home

Greetings scientists!

We’ve just pushed a massive amount of content and changes to our Beta Branch which you can now play for yourself.



Some of you have noticed that this beta has lasted a little longer than previous ones. We’ve been cooking some changes to what we first released based on your initial feedback.

We also wanted to try reward players willing to come back and give us more feedback which you can read about below. So let's get into what we’ve been up to.



[h2]WHY WE'RE TAKING MORE TIME WITH COMBAT[/h2]

Back in late July, we launched the beta for our next update. The overall sentiment from players was that it was fine and that we added some decent content to the overall game loop.

However, we felt we wanted to create something a little better than just "fine". We genuinely value and take into account player feedback so we saw this as another chance to truly show that. We went over all beta gameplay feedback again and together the team mapped out what additions and improvements could be made with an extra month of development time.

We’ve made some massive changes and feel we’ve added some great features and changes not just to combat, but the whole game loop.

[h2]WHAT IS BEING ADDED/CHANGED?[/h2]

The changes/additions we decided to implement can be sorted into 1 of 3 major categories:

1. Combat Overhaul Improvements to Crossbow, ammo types and traps. Suit upgrades - armor and backpacks. Mantis has improved player tracking, logic with new attacks and animations, including a ranged attack.



2. New Locations Overhaul
Mantis “arena” completely revamped from scratch, expanding the size & scale of the area. Visual improvements made to both new locations, making them easier to navigate. New high-voltage gates added to locations.



3. New Mechanic (Scavengers Printer)
A completely new mechanic/system was added to both new locations. Trade artifacts found in the world for others to complete your collection. Earn “Tech Sliver” to increase your Prestige and unlock new reward tiers.



You can see the full breakdown in the patch notes further below.

[h2]SOME ADDITIONS TO THE BETA ARE WORK IN PROGRESS[/h2]

While playing the beta you will notice that some elements are whiteboxes/missing textures, which while they function as intended, still don’t have the finished visuals, textures etc. We wanted to test this content with our players sooner than later to see if we’ve hit the mark so we decided to release this to testing now. Rest assured, missing textures will be added very soon.

At this stage, we're mostly interested in your feedback about the changes to combat and all the new content additions, (listed below) and less interested in bug reports. Gameplay feedback is the priority right now.

Backpack tiers and armor can now be discovered and unlocked in the new locations.

[h2]NEW UPDATE RELEASE WINDOW[/h2]

With all these additions, changes, and additional time for community feedback, we of course needed some extra development time. We opted to give the part of our team working on this the whole of August to make these improvements.

Therefore as it stands, this update will launch into the main game in early September.

Use Charged Bolts to clear pathways blocked by Growth Gates

[h2]SEND FEEDBACK AND STAND A CHANCE TO WIN 1 OF 10 STEAM GIFT CARDS WORTH 25 USD[/h2]

We know that taking time out to provide in-depth feedback is time-consuming, especially for content we've had available for some time now.

So as a thank you to those who are helping us make the game better for everyone, we have put together a raffle where 10 beta testers who fill out the feedback form for the latest beta update will be sent a digital Steam gift card equivalent to 25 USD

[h2]REQUIREMENTS:[/h2]

Please play the latest beta update and when once you have experienced the bulk of it fill out this feedback form

[h3]➡️https://forms.gle/PW9kYc7MjGdVktBx9⬅️[/h3]

[h2]HOW ARE WINNERS SELECTED?[/h2]

We will select 10 survey participants at random and will assess their feedback to see if feels legit and was filled in with actual intent and thought. So please don't just give everything a 10/10 as this will indicate to us this wasn't filled out with thought or intention to help.

The 10 winners will then be contacted by us via Steam where they will need to accept a friend request from one of our dev accounts.

[h2]STEAM PROFILE REQUIREMENTS EXPLAINED:[/h2]

In the survey you see we are asking you to provide your Steam username and set your Steam profile to public. We are doing to so that we can:

1. Be sure you own Forever Skies
2. Can see the number of hours you've played in total
3. Allow us to send you your Steam Gift card

We are doing this to avoid rewarding people who simply submit answers to try win the gift cards and also to ensure we can get you your gift card if you are selected.

Details on how to change your profile privacy settings are here:
https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/588C-C67D-0251-C276

If you are not open to changing your profile to public for the duration of this raffle, we totally understand and you are of course still welcome to provide feedback on the beta. However, if your name is picked in the raffle we will need to pick someone else in your place if we can't find and view your Steam profile.

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[h2]Patch notes[/h2]

NEW CONTENT:

• Mantis ranged attack added
  
• Crossbow Upgrade, level 2 with 10 bolts magazine size
  
• Crossbow Upgrade, level 3 with 20 bolts magazine size
  
• Destroyed Webling Larvae Nest model added (source of Chitin)
  
• Scavengers Printer device available on the Wild Habitat and New Nature Territory locations
  
• Prestige - Player reputation system (Scavengers Printer-related)
  
• Tech Sliver - currency used in the Scavengers Printer
  
• Artifact Lure
  
• Backpack Upgrade Small (module level 1 - 5 additional slots)
  
• Backpack Upgrade Medium (module level 2 - 10 additional slots)
  
• Backpack Upgrade Large (chitin suit - 20 additional slots)
  
• Chitin Armor Suit Upgrade
  
• Charged Growth Gate
  
• Throwable Mines range indicators added
  
• New player parameters - damage resistance & virus resistance
  
• New Inventory slots - Armor and Backpack
  

CHANGED:

• Mantis combat behaviors, parameters and animations improved
  
• General Crossbow handling and performance improvements
  
• Wild Habitat location - new level design overhaul for mantis arena
  
• New Nature Territory location level design overhauled
  
• Webling Larvae Nest model and VFXes updated
  
• Improved look of the Siren Crown plant
  
• Improved look of the Dust Firecracker plant
  
• Improved look of the Moss Needle Plant
  
• Printer-type devices will now display blueprints in alphabetical order
  
• Player Inventory Upgrade Slot now contains icons instead of names
  
• Dust Firecracker now grows on Wild Habitat locations & Eelair Plants now grows on New Nature Territory locations
  
• Study for Charged Bolt received after scanning Charged Growth Gate
  
• Explosive Bolt / Mine name changed to Charged Bolt / Mine
  
• Pickable Dust Firecracker plant changed to Dust Firecracker Seed
  
• Motion Detector item now gives Motion Detector study and Charged Mine study
  
• Pet Tactical Set in now possible to unlock in the Scavengers Printer
  
• Modish Set is now possible to unlock in the Scavengers Printer
  
• Artifacts are now available to buy through the Scavengers Printer
  

FIXED:

• Speed Booster effect name fixed to Mobility Booster
  
• Traps are not destroyed by an airship movement anymore
  
• Dust Firecracker plant now gives seeds upon harvesting
  
• Siren Crown plant now gives seeds upon harvesting
  
• Cozy Furniture set models’ LOD adjustments
  
• Missing scan materials for various objects added
  
• Advanced Access Module icon fixed
  
• Missing Fiberglass Database description fixed
  

KNOWN ISSUES:

• Hitbox for picking up Dust Firecracker plants from the Small Garden Pot is not precise and it might be tricky to harvest those.
  
• The Scavengers Printer mechanic’s are still in heavy development.
  
• The Scavengers Printer model is a placeholder.
  
• The already destroyed Charged Growth Blockade doesn’t save its state and will re-appear after loading the save.
  
• Prestige bar is present in all Printer-type devices (Fabricator, Ship Workstation, etc). This bar should only be visible in the Scavengers Printer device.
  
• Blueprints already printed in the Scavengers Printer will still be present in the device. Printing it again will result in an empty Memory Card.
  
• To sell anything at the Scavengers Printer, player has to have space in their Inventory. There is currently no error visible when the player tries to sell artifacts with no Inventory space.
  
• The Crossbow upgrade lvl 2 and lvl 3 mesh is identical to the regular Crossbow.
  
• Corpses found on the New Nature Territory & Wild Habitat locations have “Noah’s body” scan info.
  
• The Wild Habitat location has been modified and is a work in progress.
  
• New Nature Territory & Wild Habitat locations may have incorrect entries in the study.
  
• The Tactical Pet Set (Black) can’t be unlocked in the Scavengers Printer.
  
• Low vitality bars and viruses’ visual effects sometimes stay on the screen. This is fixed by going back to the main menu and loading the save again.
  
• Mantis Corpse in the Vault is not disappearing after collecting all of the chitin
  

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Thats all for now, scientists.
Let us know what you think of the new content!
Speak soon!