Vectorio News

[p]An update has been deployed to the live environment! While this patch has been tested, further testing may be required to ensure the issues fixed in this build do not reappear.[/p][p][/p][p]Questions? Comments? Concerns?[/p][p]Let me know below or on our Discord server: [/p][p]https://discord.gg/vectorio[/p][p][/p][h2]Patch Notes[/h2][p][/p][h3]BUG FIXES:[/h3]

• [p]Learned left from right to fix incorrect direction used in tutorial[/p]
• [p]Fixed incorrect research tree being opened by default[/p]
• [p]Fixed space key not working in tutorial[/p]
• [p]Fixed scrolling on the designer palette also zooming the camera in/out[/p]
• [p]Fixed hives not registering collisions with bullets[/p]
• [p]Fixed save system from loading incorrect region upon reload[/p]
• [p]Removed group spawning algorithm (temporarily)[/p]

[h3]Hello Everyone![/h3][p][/p][p]With v0.3 now out on live, this establishes a proper baseline for us to build off of as we head towards the full release of the game later this year. [/p][p][/p][p]With all of the technical debt paid off, my goal starting from now until v1.0 is to deliver frequent content updates on a regular basis. This will include some new features, but will mainly be adding to the new gameplay features introduced in v0.3 (quests, engineering, upgrades, research, regions, etc.)[/p][p][/p][p]I have laid out a roadmap of what will be coming over the course of early access, leading up to v1.0![/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][h2]Road to v1.0[/h2][p][/p][h3]v0.3.1 - Into The Abyss (End of March)[/h3][p]This update focuses entirely on The Abyss, expanding the region with new questlines, encounters, and progression systems.[/p][p] [/p][h3]Highlights[/h3]

• [p]ALTAR questlines continued[/p]
• [p]New ROGUE questline[/p]
• [p]New ZERO questline[/p]
• [p]omniCore Outposts[/p]
• [p]New enemy units[/p]
• [p]New engineering mods[/p]
• [p]Additional level upgrades[/p]
• [p]More achievements[/p]

[p][/p][h3]v0.3.2 - Titans of Cyberspace (April)[/h3][p]This update marks the return of Guardians, massive boss-like units that roam cyberspace.[/p][p][/p][h3]Highlights[/h3]

• [p]New Guardians across The Abyss[/p]
• [p]ALTAR questlines continued[/p]
• [p]ROGUE questlines continued[/p]
• [p]ZERO questlines continued[/p]
• [p]New engineering mods[/p]
• [p]Additional level upgrades[/p]
• [p]More achievements[/p]

[p][/p][h3]v0.3.3 - Ghost in the System (April)[/h3][p]This update focuses on the Phantom Plains, adding new questlines, region challenges, and completing the Phantom Tech research tree.[/p][p][/p][h3]Highlights[/h3]

• [p]Phantom Tech tree completed[/p]
• [p]ALTAR questlines continued[/p]
• [p]ROGUE questlines continued[/p]
• [p]ZERO questlines continued[/p]
• [p]New NULL questline[/p]
• [p]Phantom Dynamics Outposts[/p]
• [p]New engineering mods[/p]
• [p]Additional level upgrades[/p]
• [p]More achievements[/p]

[p][/p][h3]v0.3.4 - Fleet Command (May)[/h3][p]This update introduces controllable units and gunships, allowing you to produce fleets, deploy assaults on outposts, and directly participate in combat.[/p][p][/p][h3]Highlights[/h3]

• [p]Unit and Gunship production[/p]
• [p]ALTAR questlines continued[/p]
• [p]New engineering mods[/p]
• [p]Additional level upgrades[/p]
• [p]More achievements[/p]

[p][/p][h3]v0.4 - Frozen Frontiers (June, Steam Workshop Beta)[/h3][p]This update introduces the Frigid Fields region, a cold and hostile frontier with new temperature management mechanics. It also launches the first beta of mod support through Steam Workshop.[/p][p][/p][h3]Highlights[/h3]

• [p]Steam Workshop modding beta[/p]
• [p]New region: Frigid Fields[/p]
• [p]New tech tree[/p]
• [p]Temperature Management (new mechanic)[/p]
• [p]ALTAR questlines continued[/p]
• [p]ROGUE questlines continued[/p]
• [p]ZERO questlines continued[/p]
• [p]New Anika questline[/p]
• [p]New engineering mods[/p]
• [p]Additional level upgrades[/p]
• [p]More achievements[/p]

[p][/p][h3]v0.5 - Scorched Shores (July)[/h3][p]This update introduces the Scorched Shores, a radioactive wasteland inhabited by a dangerous new class of mutated enemies.[/p][p][/p][h3]Highlights[/h3]

• [p]New region: Scorched Shores[/p]
• [p]New tech tree[/p]
• [p]New unit behaviors and modifiers[/p]
• [p]New quests[/p]
• [p]New engineering mods[/p]
• [p]Additional level upgrades[/p]
• [p]More achievements[/p]

[p][/p][h3]v0.6 - Wicked Wasteland (July)[/h3][p]This update introduces the Wicked Wasteland, a grotesque organic region filled with hostile environments and new enemy types.[/p][p][/p][h3]Highlights[/h3]

• [p]New region: Wicked Wasteland[/p]
• [p]New tech tree[/p]
• [p]New quests[/p]
• [p]New engineering mods[/p]
• [p]Additional level upgrades[/p]
• [p]More achievements[/p]

[p][/p][h3]v1.0 - Terminal Depth (August)[/h3][p]This update marks the full release of the game and introduces the final region, The Void; a vast expanse connecting to deeper and more dangerous layers of cyberspace.[/p][p][/p][h3]Highlights[/h3]

• [p]New region: The Void[/p]
• [p]New endgame mechanic: Depth[/p]
• [p]New quests[/p]
• [p]New engineering mods[/p]
• [p]Additional level upgrades[/p]
• [p]More achievements[/p]

[p][/p][h2]Closing Remarks[/h2][p][/p][p]This roadmap represents the current plan for development leading up to v1.0. While some details may change along the way, development overall will remain significantly more active and iterative, with regular updates bringing new content and improvements.[/p][p][/p][p]Join the Community: https://discord.gg/vectorio[/p][p][/p][p]Thank you to everyone who has waited patiently and allowed me to do this properly; I am more excited than ever to work on the project, and I hope you'll in that excitement as updates start to rollout!
[/p][p]Thanks for reading,[/p][p] ~ Ben[/p][p][/p][p]P.S. Vectorio is on sale for 20% off during the Steam Tower Defense festival![/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p]

[h3]It's finally here![/h3][p][/p][p]After over a year of work, v0.3 is now available to everyone on live. This is a huge step forward for the game, and is the biggest milestone thus far towards the ultimate goal of v1.0! [/p][p][/p][h2]Patch Notes (Summarized)[/h2][p][/p][p]v0.3 represents a fundamental overhaul of the game’s core technology, finally paying down the technical debt that’s accumulated over the past few years. While I’ve done my best to summarize what’s changed, this update touches so many systems that it’s impossible to fully capture everything here.[/p][p][/p][p]Below are the major highlights:[/p]

• [p]Infinite worlds: The game now uses an infinite chunking system, enabling truly infinite worlds. Chunks can be purchased with resources, allowing you to expand endlessly at your own pace.[/p]
• [p]New Model Rendering System: A brand-new rendering pipeline that dynamically generates sprite atlases and batches draw calls using modern GPU features. The performance gains from this change alone are substantial.[/p]
• [p]Engineering: A new system that allows buildings to be modified in ways that fundamentally change how they function. Supports stat modifiers, FSM state replacement, and behavior injection, enabling deep player-driven customization of turrets, drones, collectors, and more.[/p]
• [p]Questing: The first introduction of quests, which serve as the game’s primary storytelling vehicle. While research remains the main progression path, quests complement it by encouraging players to fully utilize what they’ve unlocked.[/p]
• [p]Enhanced Multiplayer: Huge improvements have been made to Multiplayer, offering a much smoother experience overall. This includes new Multiplayer features, like a dedicated chat! [/p]
• [p]Enemies v2: Enemies now use full finite state machines (FSMs), allowing for unique movement patterns and attack behaviors. Only a small selection of units are currently available, but more will be added soon to fully showcase the system’s capabilities.\\[/p]
• [p]Drones v2: An entirely new drone system that redefines how drones are configured and behave. Drones now use the same FSM framework as enemies and can dynamically change roles based on installed extensions (e.g., fixer, cargo, etc.).[/p]
• [p]Turrets v2: Like enemies, turrets now use full finite state machines (FSMs), enabling unique behaviors, targeting logic, and functional roles. Only a small selection is currently available, but more will be added soon to fully demonstrate the power and flexibility of this system.[/p]
• [p]Power v3: Power outages are gone. Exceeding your power capacity now reduces turret efficiency instead of completely disabling them, leading to smoother and more forgiving gameplay. In addition to this, a new Power Pole mechanic has been added to replace Reclaimers![/p]
• [p]Resource Clusters: An early preview of the new clustering system, which replaces the old click-and-drag service areas. Drones are now assigned to clusters, and cluster changes are handled automatically—set it once and forget it![/p]
• [p]Research v2: A complete top-to-bottom refactor of the research system. Progression is now visualized through a node-based tree, making advancement clearer and allowing for seamless support of modded content.[/p]
• [p]Alternate Recipes: Discover alternate recipes for existing resources throughout the world. Unlocking them allows you to reshape and optimize your resource distribution networks.[/p]
• [p]Entity Modules v3: The third (and final) iteration of the entity module system. Modules are no longer tied to MonoBehaviours and are now fully simulated in code, resulting in a more flexible, performant, and maintainable foundation.[/p]
• [p]Entity Manager v2: A complete refactor of the entity management system, redefining how entities are tracked and simulated. This results in a massive performance improvement and enables the removal of physics-driven detection in favor of a fully code-driven solution.[/p]
• [p]And so, so much more.[/p]

[p][/p][p]While this update still has a few rough edges, a significant amount of time has gone into ensuring the game’s underlying technology can properly support the content I want to deliver going forward. Many gameplay systems were rebuilt or refined specifically to make adding new features faster, cleaner, and more sustainable. This was not possible in v0.2, and while that update hosted it's own impressive tech improvements, it ultimately wasn't enough to realize my full vision.[/p][p][/p][p]P.S. Vectorio is on sale now for 50% off during the Steam Tower Defense festival![/p][p][/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p]

[p]Hello everyone![/p][p]A new experimental patch is now available for testing! You can access it on the experimental branch by following the instructions below if you wish to get access to the changes and fixes now. [/p][p][/p][h3]How to opt into experimental:[/h3]

1. [p]Locate Vectorio in your Steam library[/p]
2. [p]Right click and go to "properties"[/p]
3. [p]Find the "betas" branch[/p]
4. [p]Using the dropdown, select "Experimental"[/p]

[p][/p][h3]Experimental Info:[/h3]

• [p]Testing Cycle: ~2 weeks[/p]
• [p]Experimental Saves: Disabled[/p]
• [p]Backwards Compatible: Up to v0.3.0-beta.5 (however, recommend starting a new save)[/p]
• [p]Update Type: Experimental Patch[/p]
• [p]Contains Spoilers: Yes[/p][p][/p]

[p]Questions? Comments? Concerns? Let me know below or on our Discord server: [/p][p]https://discord.gg/vectorio[/p][p][/p][p][/p][h2]Patch Notes[/h2][p][/p][p]The following is a list of changes pushed to the experimental branch. While changes are usually tested beforehand, please note that some may require further testing to validate.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][h3]NEW CONTENT:[/h3]

• [p]Added a new painting tool, enabling the ability to paint buildings & tiles[/p]
• [p]Added a new world feature, Boosters[/p]
  • [p]Requires a steady input of resources to activate the Booster[/p]
  • [p]When activated, will boost a specific stat for all nearby buildings[/p]
• [p]Added a new mid-game unit to The Abyss, Bomber[/p]
  • [p]Starts a detonation sequence when getting close to buildings[/p]
  • [p]If it manages to finsh the countdown, it will explode dealing huge area damage[/p]

[p][/p][h3]BALANCE CHANGES:[/h3]

• [p]Increased Hub starting power from 100w to 250w[/p]
• [p]Replaced Repeater Tier V upgrade "Multi-feed (+1 bullet)" with "Plasma Infusion II (+10% damage)"[/p]
• [p]Reduced Repeater engineering slots from 2 to 1[/p]

[p][/p][h3]OTHER CHANGES:[/h3]

• [p]Disabled the 2-way channels for Gateways, instead defaulting to sending resources to the Hub.[/p]
  • [p]This is being done to simplify cross-region resource transport in the early-game.[/p]
  • [p]2-way channels will be re-enabled for Interstellar Freighters in a later update.[/p]
• [p]Added new fog-of-war mechanic for expansion, which will play into scanning down the line.[/p]
• [p]Removed quest Return Trip, instead unlocking the ALTAR Gateway by default upon entering Abyss.[/p]

[p][/p][h3]BUG FIXES:[/h3]

• [p]Potential fix for Drone's entering a limbo state until being manually kicked out of it.[/p]
• [p]Fixed selection context not being used correctly; will no longer select entities when unapplicable.[/p]

[p][/p][h3]CORE TECH:[/h3]

• [p]Refactored all shaders to use a central shader pipeline. This is purely for maintainability, and shouldn't make much difference in regards to performance.[/p]
• [p]Updated the tile manager, providing a far more robust API. This is used heavily by the new tile painter tool, but again shouldn't make much difference in regards to performance. [/p]

[p][/p][h3]KNOWN ISSUES:[/h3]

• [p]Turrets will sometimes refuse to shoot at enemies after reloading a save[/p]
• [p]The painting tool interactions can be a bit finnicky especially when selecting the default swatch[/p]
• [p]Resources tiles sometimes do not reset across region changes; this is purely visual[/p]

[p][/p][h2]Development Updates[/h2][p][/p][p]This is just a few updates from my end, just so everyone over here on Steam is up-to-date with what's going on in the first quarter of 2026! I posted this over on our Discord, which for those interested in the game is the best place to follow along with development. [/p]

• [p]Development was halted for the last week of January, as I was quite busy with some IRL stuff. I did get back on track at the start of February though, and pushed forward to get this update out[/p]
• [p]HOWEVER, development will be pausing again tomorrow (Februrary 14th) to next Sunday (Februrary 22nd) as I will be travelling during this time.[/p]
• [p]When I return, the plan is to push forward with Phantom Plains and Multiplayer, with the hope of getting them out before the end of February (though that may be a tad optimistic)[/p]
• [p]The hard deadline for the update to go to live is March 9th, which is the start of the Tower Defense Festival. Of course, this is absolutely not the end of development on v0.3, there'll still be much to do once it's live. [/p]

[p][/p][p]To stay up-to-date, I recommend joining our Discord![/p][p]https://discord.gg/vectorio[/p]

[p]Hello everyone![/p][p]A new experimental patch is now available for testing! You can access it on the experimental branch by following the instructions below if you wish to get access to the changes and fixes now. [/p][p][/p][h3]How to opt into experimental:[/h3]

1. [p]Locate Vectorio in your Steam library[/p]
2. [p]Right click and go to "properties"[/p]
3. [p]Find the "betas" branch[/p]
4. [p]Using the dropdown, select "Experimental"[/p]

[p][/p][h3]Experimental Info:[/h3]

• [p]Testing Cycle: ~2 weeks[/p]
• [p]Experimental Saves: Disabled[/p]
• [p]Backwards Compatible: Up to v0.3.0-beta.5 (however, recommend starting a new save)[/p]
• [p]Update Type: Experimental Patch[/p]
• [p]Contains Spoilers: Yes[/p][p][/p]

[p]Questions? Comments? Concerns? Let me know below or on our Discord server: [/p][p]https://discord.gg/vectorio[/p][p][/p][p][/p][h2]Patch Notes[/h2][p][/p][p]The following is a list of changes pushed to the experimental branch. While changes are usually tested beforehand, please note that some may require further testing to validate.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][h3]POWER NETWORKS:[/h3][p]A new mechanic designed around adjusting expansion mechanics to be more in line with the tower-defense / resource management systems in the game.[/p][p][/p][p]Here's how it works:[/p]

• [p]Defenses now require power distributed to them via power poles[/p]
• [p]Power poles function similarly to how Reclaimer's used to function, without the annoyances[/p]
• [p]These power poles must connect back to your hub; if this connection is severed, portions of your base may become unpowered and thus undefended [/p]

[p][/p][p][/p][h3]CROSS-REGION RESOURCE TRANSPORT[/h3][p]At long last, you can now transport resources across your regions using Gateways. This has been months in the making, and I'm very excited to finally have the first iteration of it ready for testing.[/p][p][/p][p]Here's how it works:[/p]

• [p]Gateways can connect to each other across regions, allowing for resources to be transported from one region to another [/p]
• [p]There are 3 requirements for portals to connect...[/p]
  1. [p]Each port MUST target the others region (ex. Abyss portal placed in the ALTAR region would connect with an ALTAR portal in the Abyss region)[/p]
  2. [p]Portals must both be assigned to the same channel; this channel ID is unique and only one connection per portal pair can be established at a time[/p]
  3. [p]The portals must finally be connected to your logistics network; if they are not connected, they will stop transmitting resources ot one another[/p]
• [p]Once connected, portals in the active region (that being the one you are in) can import or export to other regions, which are now simulated while off-screen.[/p]
• [p]This simulation is a WIP; it essentially takes a snapshot of your base when warping, calculating the throughput of each cluster & drone. This calculation is currently approximated, but will become more accurate over time as I continue to iterate on it.[/p]