Scrap Mechanic News

[p][/p][h2]Hi Mechanics![/h2][h3]It’s good to be back with another devblog![/h3][h3]Where should we start? Let’s address the big question first![/h3][p]
[/p][h3]Where is the next chapter?[/h3][p]Believe it or not, it is coming along, but it hasn’t been without challenges. Earlier this year, we ran into some significant design and technical issues with the underground digging gameplay. Simply put, it wasn’t meeting the quality bar we expect from Scrap Mechanic.[/p][p]
Once we reached a version that felt right from a gameplay perspective, it also required a heavy optimization pass to make sure it performs well in a large underground world. That meant more iteration and testing than originally planned.
[/p][p]We could have made development easier for ourselves by lowering the bar or simplifying parts of the feature, but that’s not how we approach Scrap Mechanic. We care deeply about delivering something that feels fresh, solid, and worth the wait, even when it means taking longer. We’re now genuinely happy with where it’s headed, and we believe that will be clear when you finally get to play it. [/p][h3]
So when is it coming out?![/h3][p]It’s not this year, unfortunately. But we are very sure you will finally get to play the next chapter next year! The release date will be announced in the coming months, as well as the name! That’s all we can say right now.[/p][p]
Let’s jump into some new stuff![/p][p]We noticed that we had enough spoiler-free content to make a new devblog.[/p][p]So here goes!
[/p][h3]New Survival Terrain[/h3][p]The survival terrain has received a really big overhaul, and we finally got around to adding all the things that we always wanted for the generated survival world. The aim was to create more varied and visually interesting places: beautiful forest roads as well as bridges, new mountain formations, and better desert biomes. We also added new ruins, secrets, as well as making sure road systems are better and easier to navigate with improved linking. Here are some new shots from the new survival terrain.
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Raid Redesign[/h3][p]Another part of survival that got a very big overhaul is the raids! We have turned it into a much more well-designed game element with a lot more depth than what’s currently in survival. The difficulty scales a lot better now. Enemies are a lot smarter, choosing better paths. We redesigned the raid UI and made the raids start right away when they get triggered instead of making Mechanics wait for a day. They are much more engaging and fun now, including a lot of our newer bots as well.

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The Cornade[/h3][p]We are excited about this one![/p][p]This is a new weapon in Scrap Mechanic called the Cornade. We noticed that some players ended up in really tricky situations in the warehouse and decided to add a grenade-type weapon to help in these certain unfair enemy encounters. Now that we’ve added it, we can’t understand why we didn’t do it sooner. We also made it super satisfying to use—simple, but a great addition to Scrap Mechanic.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][h3]


Multishape Parts[/h3][p]Something that was always a bit of a problem with the building parts in Scrap Mechanic is that parts could not have multiple shapes within a single part. This is now resolved, and with that we’ve added a few new parts that have this new possibility. It’s a bit of a niche thing, but we want to have it included since it offers quite a few new and fun ways to interact with parts.

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Useful Ladder[/h3][p]Ever wanted to build a fire truck with a folding ladder? Maybe just have a ladder to keep your creations tighter without the need for a big staircase? Well, we added a ladder. Since Scrap Mechanic is a very creative and free game, we had to make sure the new ladder works on moving vehicles but also is possible to climb at angles you would expect to climb. Is it more superior than the toilet seat? You be the judge.[/p][h3]
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[/h3][h3]Freezer and Ice Blocks[/h3][p]The ice block is a very low friction block, making the Mechanic slide on top of it. Together with slants, it’s possible to build slides among other things. To craft the ice block, the player has to obtain a freezer and add water! Using this block in creative ways can be very beneficial. Especially with transportation systems.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][h3]Duckie Outfit[/h3][p]As a returning devblog tradition, we have to include a new outfit. This time, it’s time to reveal the Duckie outfit. It was on our drawing board for a very long time, and we finally got it made. Maybe one of our more wacky outfits, and really fun to mix with other outfits.

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Updated Trashbot[/h3][p]Some of you Mechanics who have been following previous devblogs might remember the stinky Trashbot. We iterated on him quite a bit after that. We ended up doing a lot of changes and improvements. He is now a lot more intense than what we started with, but also way more fun to fight.

[/p][p][/p][p] [/p][p][/p][h3]There is a lot more content that we’ve been working on, but that is saved for the release. [/h3][p][/p][h3]We wish you an amazing holiday and a happy new year![/h3][h3]Please keep a close eye on our channels in the coming months.[/h3][p][/p][h3]Stay creative, Mechanics![/h3]

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Hi Mechanics!
We’ve got a surprise update for you today:
The “Physics and Wedge Update”!

While the next chapter is still in development, we didn’t want to hold back some exciting features that could enhance your gameplay experience right away. Plus, this gives us the chance to test these features with all of you!

So what’s in here?

Improved Physics
This update brings a major overhaul to the physics system, unlocking new possibilities and significantly reducing lag. Creations can now collide with each other, and loose items can be thrown around or stacked in larger amounts.

Our team has worked hard to optimize the physics in Scrap Mechanic, tackling this challenge head-on. While the performance boost will vary depending on your hardware, these improvements should make a noticeable difference!
However, this update doesn’t fix issues with large, super-complex creations lagging within themselves, as that’s a separate issue we’re still addressing.

IMPORTANT: New worlds will have the new smart physics on by default. However, old worlds will need to be set to the new physics setting manually. You find this setting under
Options > Gameplay > Physics quality – Then select: Smart (Recommended)
Good to keep in mind that only the host in multiplayer can adjust the physics quality.

Wedges!
We’re thrilled to announce that wedges have finally arrived as a new building block! All block materials now have a wedge version, making it possible to create shapes and designs that weren’t achievable before. We’re excited to see what amazing builds you’ll come up with using this new addition!

Network Optimizations
We’ve also made significant improvements to multiplayer performance. With these changes, along with the updated physics, playing with friends should now feel smoother and more enjoyable than ever.

New & Updated Parts
This update includes some exciting new parts and tweaks to existing ones. The Farmbot Target Part lets you create your very own shooting range, and the Window with Curtains adds extra flair to your builds by allowing you to open and close them. Additionally, we’ve unlocked some spaceship parts in Creative mode that were previously only available in Survival mode.

We hope you enjoy everything this update has to offer!

At last, a note about the next chapter.
We’ve made some amazing progress this year!
But we are still not happy with some segments of the chapter that require more
work and fixes. We are sorry to keep you waiting so long.
We are still hard at work on the next chapter!


Stay creative,
The Scrap Mechanic Team

Fixes Dec 6 (0.7.1):

• Increased max networked velocities of objects
  
• Disabled max velocity limitation in single player
  
• Fixed ragdoll sync issue
  
• Fixed missing shadows on some parts
  
• Kinematic visuals not updating fixed
  
• Restored collision changes on Concave Wedge and Metal Storage Ramp
  

Fixes Dec 9 (0.7.2):

• Fixed a net code issue where save files with long play time would fail to sync game data
  
• Fixed day counting in the Logbook for game hosts
  

Fixes Dec 10 (0.7.3):

• Improved wedge parts physics calculation
  
• Switched Metal Storage Ramp collision back to wedge
  
• Fixed issue with oversized wedges in blueprints
  

For all the latest news, follow us on Twitter

• Blocked sm.json.save from saving to invalid locations
  

Calling all Mechanics!
We are back! After spending the last few months in the content mines, it's time for us to report on our latest progress. While we’d love to show off details from the next chapter, It’s getting increasingly harder to do so without spoilers, but rest assured: you will get to see all of it on release.
That’s why we decided to do a bot reveal special for this devblog instead, so here’s a peek at just some of the new bots:





Yellow Totebot
Get ready to re-adjust your base walls or crank your vehicle’s engine a bit higher when you see this new bot jumping into the scene!
Originally designed as a fully autonomous power trowel, the Yellow Totebot has since gone renegade. Now, it stomps its way across the planet, eager to flatten any Mechanic it sees, no matter how many ceilings and floors it has to smash in the process.






Blue Totebot
Just when you thought it was safe to get back in the water…Originally designed for offshore drilling, the Blue Totebot has since decided to become an underwater torpedo instead. To make matters worse, it can also move fast enough on land to catch up with any Mechanics that aggravate it, so watch where you dive!






Red Totebot
We’ve teased this clanker before, but we’ve never shown him in action until now. Originally designed to clear away mine shafts using explosives, some of the Red Totebots have since wandered up to the surface.
When they encounter a Mechanic, they will ignite their payload before rushing at their target, and they won’t stop until they’ve reduced their target (or anything standing in their way) to smithereens.






Green Tapebot 
You’ve already seen this little bot on our Twitter. Once, this unassuming clanker would only bubble wrap fruits and veggies, until the latest firmware update made it run amok. 
Armed with a roll of weaponized bubble plastic, it might not pack much of a punch by himself, but a bunch of them can ruin any Mechanic’s day!






Yellow Tapebot
An elegant bot for a civilized age, the Yellow Tapebot was perfectly harmless, designed to keep everything neat and tidy in storages by painting labels with its special four-color ink.
Following the disastrous firmware update that made it run amok, however, this clanker has found a new purpose: now, it uses the same sorting ink to hurt and slow down any Mechanic it sees!






Grow labs 
Ruin runs are great, but we’ve been working hard on populating the game world with additional cool places to explore and loot during the course of your Survival mode adventure.
One of those places are the underground Grow labs! Fit to burst with Green and Yellow Tapebots, these little dungeons offer exciting combat and some cool plunder at the end for those that venture inside them.






Ore Prospector
Get more out of your ore with this latest addition to the game, the Ore Prospector: a machine designed both for Mechanics that love to build automated crafting chains, as well as those that like to do things manually.
With its help, you will be able to filter the finely ground gravel produced by the Ore Crusher, in order to retrieve rare materials like gold and more!






New Glass
We haven’t just been working on Scrap Mechanic’s content. After introducing the new and improved lighting system we mentioned in the last devblog, our elite team of graphics engineers have been working on updating the game’s visuals according to modern standards.
This time, we’re excited to introduce our newest glass shader, which allows in-game glass to shine and distort like the real thing, so your buildings, vehicles and other creations can look better than ever before. And that’s just one of the graphical updates we’ve got in the works!






General rebalance and Item Schematics
We have also been working hard on rebalancing Survival Mode’s gameplay; specifically, the crafting recipes and how items are obtained during the course of the game, so the gameplay can flow better than ever before.
Our latest addition to Scrap Mechanic’s features are Schematics. When found, these collectible items will allow your Craftbots to create additional items.
Furthermore, we’ve been focusing on changing the way farming raids work, while reworking the existing hunger and hydration bars to be less annoying. More on these later!






Woc Outfit
Introducing the wackiest outfit we’ve made (so far): the Woc outfit, complete with a corncob themed backpack!
It might not be up to profession regulation standards, but it sure is a welcome change from all that stuffy workwear. 
What do you think? Will you rock this outfit?  Let us know.




Next Chapter update

At the risk of sounding like a broken bot: while we still don’t have an exact release date for the next chapter, we are still aiming for this year. 
It’s worth mentioning that the next chapter has turned into a behemoth of an update, with a ton of new content. We remain confident that it will be worth the wait. We know that it can be frustrating and boring, but we have to make sure it’s great.

That’s it for this devblog, Mechanics! Stay tuned for the next one!

For all the latest news, follow us on Twitter

Calling all Mechanics!

New devblog, coming though!
It’s been a busy month for us, as we have been moving the Scrap HQ to a bigger and better office; the team out-grew the old space, and things were getting as cramped as a Woc Crate. Not to mention all the exciting new additions we have been making to the game that we can’t wait to share with you!
So let’s get to it!








 Minerbot
What’s that coming up from the mine? It’s a new bot! Introducing the Minerbot: Scrap Mechanic’s first flying bot!
These heavily overworked bots are flying on fumes: after all, they’ve been digging random holes underground in every direction, slowly overheating for who knows how long. If spotted, the Minerbot will spray any Mechanics it detects with a shower of rocks. While Minerbots are not as accurate or alert as the Tapebots, they can become very dangerous, very quickly in large numbers. But even if you do shoot them down, watch out; Minerbots can still crash into you! 
The Minerbot is shaping up to be something that can even top the current bots. 



UV Grow Bed
Plant a farm underground or on your creations, with the aid of the new UV Grow Beds! This new farming item gives you greater flexibility than ever, in exchange for electricity. 
But be careful: bots can still find you and your precious crops, so you’d better encase those veggies in some sturdy material. And while you’re at it, why not make a gun turret, for good measure? 



New Lighting System
This has been a long time coming, and it’s almost done: the lighting system in Scrap Mechanic has been completely reworked for the next chapter.
This significantly improves the game’s visuals and further optimizes the frame rate for players. Now, you can enjoy better performance, even with higher resolutions like 4K. We can now run double the amount of light sources and are no longer limited to 24 cast shadows anymore; any light that casts a shadow can now render in real-time. 
But wait, there’s more: we now also have volumetric lighting in our engine that looks stunning. Even the particles are volumetrically lit! This all helps create the look and the mood that we always wanted to evoke in Scrap Mechanic, especially in the next chapter. 





 Builder Quests 
We know that the world of Scrap Mechanic Survival is very pretty, but that it’s also pretty empty at the moment. That’s all about to change with the new builder quests: while you’re out exploring and collecting resources, you will come across characters that need your help to build a variety of things. Help them out and they will all have some great rewards in return!





 Fire in Scrap Mechanic
Ever wondered what those “flammable” entries in the item descriptions mean? At long last, we have added a fire game mechanic; now, fires will spread if you do not put them out.
And with its introduction to the Red Totebots, we expect that things are going to get a lot more heated. This might be a good time to check whether your base is fireproof. 
We thought it might be interesting to also show you how the fire mechanic in action; fire is a lot of fun to play with in creative mode, and it’s certainly satisfying to watch!




New Warehouse
The new warehouse is finally done! There are new sections, secrets, better rewards, and some really interesting content hidden away on the top floor and the rooftop that are waiting for you to discover it. We did manage to sneak out some images from the dev team that don’t spoil too much, so here goes!






 Outfits
Our digital fashionistas have been hard at work putting a lot of new outfits together and we are getting close to having them done! Of course, we will be leaving a few for you to discover on release. 
This time, however, we will be revisiting two old outfits we had gotten wrong the first time: apparently, the farmhand and farmer outfits had been missing their backpacks, so we fixed it! Which one do you like best?






 Drill Spawner
Even under the ground, there’s no peace for a farming Mechanic. When you’re hard at work in the bowels of the earth, watch out for these burrowing enemy spawners!



So what’s the status of the next chapter, devs?
Time for some dev transparency. 
We are fully aware of all the Mechanics that are waiting for the next chapter to finally come out. We see you on our Twitter, and we really do understand! 
We always try to be optimistic when it comes to our releases. But making quality games is a lot of work. We know that you have high expectations and we want to live up to them with the next chapter.
A new thing that is currently slowing things down is our decision that the huge release of the next chapter is also going to be the update that will take Scrap Mechanic out of early access. So this changes a few things:
It means that a lot of extra polish and optimization have to be in place as well on release. This doesn't mean it’s the last update, however; it just means that Scrap Mechanic will be in a released state. 
So to reiterate, we are polishing up the game, adding a ton of new content on top while also adding more things to our game engine at the same time. The next chapter is shaping up nicely on our end, but we have to let it take the time it needs to become something worthy of your time and expectations as well as something that we can be proud of. 
We are sorry for the long wait, and that Mechanics will have to wait a bit longer but we will deliver Mechanic awesomeness! And that’s a promise. 

We are considering setting up another dev Q&A, so if you’d like us to dig away at your questions, please let us know!


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