MAJOR UPDATE #2 | ROAD TRIP

With this major update, the rover "The Bear" makes its debut in the game. This first vehicle marks a turning point in the way you approach your adventures on Io. Explore further and longer, protect yourselves from the main threats, carry more equipment, and unlock new unique actions... The rover comes with a plethora of new features and numerous contents added to existing systems. It lays the foundations for a new way of exploring and prepares for future game map overhauls.

This update has also been an opportunity for us to deliver an overall more enjoyable game to you. The road is still long, but we have taken your feedback into account to continue improving ergonomics and balancing in the game. Significant work has also been done to correct as many bugs as possible.

To be completely transparent with you, maintaining the stability of a game like The Pioneers is a gigantic technical challenge. With a growing number of innovative features, interconnected systems, and procedural algorithms that all affect the world, it is very easy to generate new bugs on previously functional systems. From the outset of the game's production, we knew that we would have to climb a mountain, and that's why we opted for early access. Rest assured that we are doing our utmost to detect and correct bugs. However, we are a very small team, and it is certain that we will never be able to resolve all the issues before each patch. You are not our QA testers, but if you come across a new bug, we would be grateful if you could report it to us on Discord. We are generally very responsive in releasing hotfixes.

Thanks to all those in our Discord community who participated in the pre-release of this second major update. This represents a significant step forward in the game's development. The whole team is proud and eager to hear your feedback. Have a great time, and see you on Io!

[h2]Patch notes 0.40[/h2]

[h3]GAMEPLAY[/h3]

• Added the first vehicle "The Bear."
  
  [previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
  
  
• Introduced a new character, Yvonne Delage, the pilot.
  
  
  
  
• Added a new skill, "Piloting," which determines the speed, maneuverability, and resistance of the rover based on the pilot's abilities.
  
  
• Added a new station module: the hangar. Use it to craft, upgrade, and protect your vehicles.
  
  
• Added new rover equipment to be crafted in the workshop:
  - Various types of wheels
  - Various types of chassis
  - Various types of cabins
  - Various types of tools
  
  
• Introduced new exploration features:
  
  - Magnetic rocks:
  They charge with electricity when struck by lightning and discharge on nearby characters and vehicles.
  
  - Glaciers:
  Respond to local temperature changes and may block passages in cold conditions.
  
  - Volcanic rockfalls:
  Avoid being in their path as they can be drilled for additional resources.
  
  - Quicksand:
  Slowing zones where your rover is likely to get stuck.
  
  
• Added new actions related to the rover:
  - Repair the rover.
  - Equip the rover.
  - Use different rover tools and modules to destroy rocks, cool/heat the surrounding area, and recharge its oxygen.
  
  
• Added new environmental interactions:
  - Destroy world elements using lightning, volcanic rocks, or the rover to reduce local temperature.
  - Damage the rover through collisions or navigating dangerous areas.
  
  
• Reworked certain areas of the map:
  - Improved rover accessibility around the station.
  - Added new rover exploration zones.
  
  
• Added new positive and negative character traits:
  - EVA Specialist: Slows down the pioneer's vital parameter depletion while outdoors.
  - Tuning Enthusiast: The pioneer is happier when piloting a vehicle.
  - Former Hacker: +1 to computer skills and extended camera signal range.
  - Pessimist: Reduces nearby teammates' mental health.
  - Weakling: Reduces inventory size.
  - Shaken from the Crash: Crash consequences reduce pioneer skills.
  
  
• Pioneers can now collectively gather sulfur.
  
• Added a new Yvonne-related personal item.
  

[h3]VISUALS[/h3]

• Conducted initial tests of a new character creation process applied to Yvonne. This process enhances the 3D modeling, textures, animations, and 2D portraits. The process will continuously improve and gradually replace existing characters.
  
  
• Added all visual effects related to the new patch's features.
  
• Improved the burn shader for suits.
  
• Enhanced the shader for sulfur lakes.
  
• Improved visual effects at the ship crash site.
  
• Enhanced all animations (attachment points, hands animation, transitions, etc.).
  
• Improved post-processing for scenes (saturation, lighting, fog) for better color readability and terrain changes.
  
• Enhanced the visual of the protective mask equipment.
  
• Improved the visual of the icy wind effect.
  

[h3]UI & ERGONOMICS[/h3]

• Improved text readability for equipment descriptions in the character inventory.
  
• Enhanced the display of skill bonuses/penalties through a new UI.
  
• Balanced and improved the understanding of the vomiting mechanic.
  
• Improved construction interfaces, hiding the "available upgrades" UI text if no elements are present.
  
• Added new icons in various locations throughout the game.
  

[h3]MUSIC & SOUND[/h3]

• Added a new music track for electromagnetic storms.
  
• Added a new music track for rover exploration.
  
• Added sound effects for all new features.
  
• Added new dialogue lines for Yvonne (beware, she has a tough personality, like all French people...).
  
• Implemented a dynamic and contextual sound system for the rover.
  
• Added a new ambiance sound system: The "Soul of the Moon Io."
  
• Improved the sound transition system for better integration of sounds and music.
  

[h3]BALANCING[/h3]

• Introduced new resource locations.
  
• Characters now start with the maximum units of their personal starting item.
  
• Increased the delay between alerts and the triggering of magnetic storms.
  
• Balanced a few starting ability points among the crew: Foster/medicine (1->2), Wiiliams/computers (1->2), Stephenson/Electronics (1->2), Takada/Computers (2->1).
  

[h3]BUG PREVENTION[/h3]

• Implemented several safety features for the climbing system (a complex feature with many degrees of freedom).
  

[h3]BUG FIXES[/h3]

• Fixed a visual bug that occurred when lightning struck the station's roof.
  
• Fixed several bugs related to the mental health effects history.
  
• Fixed various pathfinding issues (ridiculously complex in The Pioneers).
  
• Fixed a bug that sometimes caused camera jumps on the terrain.
  
• Fixed a bug generating incorrect interaction between earthquakes and geological chimneys.
  
• Fixed a bug where the oxygen-sharing action wouldn't stop if the target died during the process.
  
• Fixed a bug that didn't automatically display the roof when a pioneer climbed a connector ladder.
  
• Fixed the timing of the "transformation" tutorial, which didn't trigger at the right moment.
  
• Fixed bugs related to machine installation prerequisites in the station's interface.
  
• Fixed a bug that made the cross to close the biology tab in the crew quarters inoperative.
  
• Fixed a display bug for the canteen button when wearing an EVA suit.
  
• Fixed a bug that occurred during the closing of Jonas' personal item event.
  
• Fixed several bugs related to inventory management.
  
• Fixed some musical tracks that cut off too abruptly.
  
• Fixed a lighting bug in the spatioculture module.
  
• Fixed a bug related to the drilling skill, which had insufficient impact on resource collection.
  
• Fixed a bug that allowed entering the medical bed with an EVA suit.
  
• Fixed a bug in the pioneers temperatures display
  
• Fixed a bug during the random selection of characters.
  
• Fixed a bug that sometimes allowed lightning to penetrate the station.
  
• Fixed several incorrect tooltips.
  
• Fixed several incorrect translations.
  
• Fixed several collision bugs.
  

[h3]To celebrate this major update, we are offering a 20% discount for one week.[/h3]

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1734390/The_Pioneers_Surviving_Desolation/