The Christmas Update
[h3][color]Yuletide Greetings, esteemed colleagues![/color][/h3]
There’s an old saying at GATE - “if you’re not celebrating, you’re not innovating.” By an old saying, we mean Dr. Stern said this once (with much effort) while wearing his tie wrapped around his forehead. No, it’s not the 1992 New Years party, but it’s close - it’s Christmas, the part just before that.
Our first gift to you, a dev vlog from Criss, featuring everyone’s favorite design director, Zag.
[previewyoutube][previewyoutube][VLOG LINK][/previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
If you caught that little bit at the end there about some Dark Energy news and want to research that further, check out our latest Status Report: SR #18: First Look At Dark Energy.
Like any good holiday season, we ask all GATE employees to celebrate whatever they want, and for Dr. Stern to stop leaning on the Security Robots during parties. Enough about Abe, let’s talk about this memo from Abe. He sent us a memo about some infestation in the containment blocks… That can’t be good.
[h3]More Leaks in the Laboratories[/h3]
We’ve got two locations that need investigating, one old, and one new. Both of them are located in the Cascade Laboratories. These instructions will be broken up into two sections. The first section is for scientists who have completed the Cascade Laboratories. The second section is for scientists who have completed the Hydroplant. If you have done neither, skip these two sections and you’ll find these things in due time.
Now onto the (less spoilery) details of the update itself. What has changed, and what’s new this festive season?
Is this temporary only during the winter holidays?
To momentarily demolish the fourth wall with a holiday-themed sledgehammer; as with the Halloween (Canaan) stuff and as will be the case for all of this so-called “holiday” content, the new accessible location is a permanent fixture of the universe of Abiotic Factor.
In other words, this is not really just a Christmas/Holiday event - this is an expansion of the game’s story… And there might be a gift or two as well. Heck, there might even be a tree. 🎁
What other presents do we have in store for you in this festive community-centric update?
[h2]Early Access Gifts[/h2]
If you own Abiotic Factor before 1.0 (that means right now!) you will receive a bundle of Survivor customization. That includes some slightly-askew eyewear, ragged tops, a bedraggled skirt and equally worn pair of pants, new boots, a belt, and even a more-than-scuffed ID card! Need we go on?
[h3]Keeping Busy with the Bees[/h3]
Field reports from Dr. Riggs have indicated the presence of a new strain of invasive bee-like species. They seem to happily nest with any Anteverse (ours or otherwise) that they come into contact with, so you may find them in all sorts of locales. Check the obvious spots first.
To gather a Queen Bee safely, you’ll need some physical protection specifically made to counter their adept stinging capabilities. They also seem attracted to Antejuice. We’re confident you can take it from here. You’re a scientist, after all.
[h3]Charging on the Go![/h3]
Low battery? That’s where Field Batteries come in! Truly a marvel of biochemistry and trans-dimensional study (papers courtesy of Dr. Riggs once again), these one-time use items will recharge any electrical equipment without the need for a charging station.
To use this item, put it in your inventory and right click on the item you want to recharge. Just like repairing with duct tape, you simply have to select "Recharge with Field Battery."
… Ah, and the little crank now works on the Energy Pistol. Yeah.
[h3]You’ve Thrown Your Suggestions…[/h3]
We’ve gotten a lot of feedback about throwing, so we’ve made a few key changes to throwing in this update.
But that’s not all…
[h3]... Now Start Throwing Knives![/h3]
We’ve added a new item type - Throwing Knives! This class of weapon is craftable, and will be crafted in a few varieties as you progress. Much like other throwing items, these are quick and deadly.
One small note… You can stab directly with these, but one of the stacked knives will be used in the process. We don’t recommend it. Instead, hold Alt-Fire (RMB on mouse or Left Trigger on gamepad) and let ‘em fly!
This is a relatively new system and we’ll be keeping an eye on feedback as we go forward.
[h3]Trinket Reworks[/h3]
The long-awaited trinket reworks are beginning to arrive. There have been great innovations in the field of Trinketry, baubles, and other knick-knacks. You will find several of your existing trinkets have changed, some being entirely beefed up. Heck, some might even be useful. It’s worth noting that no trinkets have been removed.
One trinket in particular (the Photon Lantern) has been “deprecated” and will now exist as a nearly-useless item that can no longer be crafted – but the new version can be crafted with a brand new recipe!
Some other trinket recipes have changed, but nothing worth noting here. The patch notes will contain more information if you’re one of those people who likes to dig through the trash.
[h3]Bad Soup - Less Bad?[/h3]
We’ve heard a lot of feedback that the changes to Weird Soup/Bad Soup have hurt the fun in finding soups, or creating awkward soups out of ingredients that don’t quite fit a recipe. In this update, we have changed the system in the following ways:
Enjoy eating your terrible soup, scientists. Oh, and speaking of soup…
[h3]Improvements to Soup Recipes[/h3]
The Compendium, as you know, has this really cool list of soups you’ve collected. However, as you also know, it’s been nearly impossible to find new recipes without booting up the wiki. We would prefer people didn’t feel compelled to spoil everything by reading the wiki, and as we all know, a spoiled soup doesn’t taste nearly as good.
To improve this, we’ve changed the Soup Compendium (Soupendium?) which you can access from your Journal screen.
Once you reach Cooking Level 3 and unlock Soupsmith, all soup recipes will now be displayed in your Soupendium with the items and names hidden until you’ve discovered the items and cooked the soup successfully. This should help you figure out what soups you don’t have yet, and give you an angle on what to try, all without having to probe the interwebs.
We’ve also added a new line to item tooltips, which displays how many soup recipes an item is featured in, just to help out our Soupsmiths a bit.
[h3]New Fish, New Recipes[/h3]
No spoilers! But here’s an image that is definitely unrelated.
[h3]Crystalline Armor[/h3]
Some said this day would never come. Those people are jerks.
Anyway, this new armor set is obtainable at some point somewhere, and you’ll unlock the recipe when you collect the items for it. You can probably guess what one of the root items is. Look, you’ll figure it out and we’re in a bit of a hurry - we still can’t find Dr. Stern anywhere since he put it on and we really need him to clarify some key points on his IS-0083 report!
[h3]Jetpacks and Portals[/h3]
It’s not all good news though. Dr. Thule tells us something is happening to our equipment when we travel through portals. He called it “Portal Sickness” but we felt that was a bit too humanizing for something like, say, a jetpack. He’s such a big softie, that guy.
When you first enter a new portal world, you may notice that your equipment is afflicted with issues. Jetpacks in particular will no longer function until fully calibrated to the new portal environment, which takes about as long as it takes you to complete the area. Once you (or anyone else in the Facility) has completed the area - usually - you can go about your business, using your jetpack as much as you’d like to revisit, requisition materials, and explore further on.
A few places seem to not appreciate jetpacks at all, but Dr. Thule is looking into it. We’ll see if he ever finds an answer. Also, if you’ve already completed an area, you won’t encounter this problem, and really need not worry about it. In the future, you may encounter this when first visiting new portal destinations.
[h3]Jetpack Addendum[/h3]
The Jetpack has also received some small changes to its energy rates, and this will affect how it operates when overheating. If the Jetpack overheats while in use, it will no longer cool off until it returns to a more controlled position - such as the ground. Be careful up there. Gravity is a harsh mistress, and IS-0052 is indifferent to your plight.
[h3]Enemy AI is Going on the Naughty List[/h3]
Many enemies have received improvements. Some might call them buffs. Some might call them scary. I call most of my Pests “Bob.” Gameplay spoilers here-in.
[h3]Accuracy Improvements[/h3]
We’ve generally seen lots of feedback around the Accuracy system being a bit hard to use. We pinpointed one instance where it was particularly annoying and we believe we’ve squashed that problem. In instances where you have the correct accuracy to hit a target, but the wibble-wobble of your crosshair causes it to fall off of the target (and therefore look “beyond” your target) your accuracy sway would previously go out of control.
Now, when aiming at a target in range, your dot will remain much steadier, even if you’re not aiming RIGHT at your target.
This should make landing hits just a bit more forgiving, without affecting the larger accuracy gains you get over time.
[h3]Trypanophobia Mode[/h3]
If you really don't like needles, we added an option in the Accessibility settings to disable seeing/hearing needles and needle animations. Your feedback is welcome!
[h3]Aim-Assisted Interaction[/h3]
In our aim to improve the experience for Gamepad and Steam Deck users, as well as to generally require less precision when picking up items off of the floor or any other surface, we’ve added a new setting called Aim-Assisted Interaction. This system will still prefer the objects directly under your crosshair, but this will make it much easier to grab things without having to be nearly as precise.
This option is located in the Accessibility - Controls section of the Settings menu and turned on with just a click.
We feel many scientists will benefit from this change and are excited for you to let us know how it feels, and if you encounter any issues that we should be aware of.
Thanks for joining us on all of our scientific ventures! Come over to the forums to unwrap the FULL PATCH NOTES!
If you are moved by the spirit of giving then give us your hugs! Through the in-game bug report form link! If you don’t know what to get us for a gift this holiday season we always accept reviews, which we promise to treasure and never re-gift. If you were tantalized by that tiny peek into the Reactors, get your fill by checking out our SR #18: First Look At Dark Energy.
Thank you for all your work in the GATE Cascade Research Facility!
[color]Onward -- to science.[/color]
[h2]Join the Scientific Community![/h2]
[h3]Join the Research Division Today![/h3]
https://store.steampowered.com/app/427410/Abiotic_Factor/
There’s an old saying at GATE - “if you’re not celebrating, you’re not innovating.” By an old saying, we mean Dr. Stern said this once (with much effort) while wearing his tie wrapped around his forehead. No, it’s not the 1992 New Years party, but it’s close - it’s Christmas, the part just before that.
Our first gift to you, a dev vlog from Criss, featuring everyone’s favorite design director, Zag.
[previewyoutube][previewyoutube][VLOG LINK][/previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
If you caught that little bit at the end there about some Dark Energy news and want to research that further, check out our latest Status Report: SR #18: First Look At Dark Energy.
Like any good holiday season, we ask all GATE employees to celebrate whatever they want, and for Dr. Stern to stop leaning on the Security Robots during parties. Enough about Abe, let’s talk about this memo from Abe. He sent us a memo about some infestation in the containment blocks… That can’t be good.
[h3]More Leaks in the Laboratories[/h3]
We’ve got two locations that need investigating, one old, and one new. Both of them are located in the Cascade Laboratories. These instructions will be broken up into two sections. The first section is for scientists who have completed the Cascade Laboratories. The second section is for scientists who have completed the Hydroplant. If you have done neither, skip these two sections and you’ll find these things in due time.
THIS IS YOUR SPOILER WARNING!
Location One, with presents abound!
Anteverse 23 has been reported with new clutterings, gifts, and presents. We recommend taking a stroll over that way to see if there’s anything worth pilfering. The citizens of Anteverse 23 surely won’t miss it. Be sure to look around, not everything is found in one place.
THIS IS YOUR SPOILER WARNING!
Location Two, uncover the mysteries of IS-0083!
If you are currently in the Cascade Laboratories and you have reached the Containment Blocks, you may notice that a new high-level keypad has been added to the door containing IS-0083. This can be opened at a later time in your adventure.
There are also 2 new e-mails and several more Compendium entries, at the very least.
If you can open this keypad due to already progressing further along, we probably don’t need to give you any further instructions. Return to the Cascade Laboratories. Good luck!
Now onto the (less spoilery) details of the update itself. What has changed, and what’s new this festive season?
Is this temporary only during the winter holidays?
To momentarily demolish the fourth wall with a holiday-themed sledgehammer; as with the Halloween (Canaan) stuff and as will be the case for all of this so-called “holiday” content, the new accessible location is a permanent fixture of the universe of Abiotic Factor.
In other words, this is not really just a Christmas/Holiday event - this is an expansion of the game’s story… And there might be a gift or two as well. Heck, there might even be a tree. 🎁
What other presents do we have in store for you in this festive community-centric update?
[h2]Early Access Gifts[/h2]
If you own Abiotic Factor before 1.0 (that means right now!) you will receive a bundle of Survivor customization. That includes some slightly-askew eyewear, ragged tops, a bedraggled skirt and equally worn pair of pants, new boots, a belt, and even a more-than-scuffed ID card! Need we go on?
[h3]Keeping Busy with the Bees[/h3]
Field reports from Dr. Riggs have indicated the presence of a new strain of invasive bee-like species. They seem to happily nest with any Anteverse (ours or otherwise) that they come into contact with, so you may find them in all sorts of locales. Check the obvious spots first.
To gather a Queen Bee safely, you’ll need some physical protection specifically made to counter their adept stinging capabilities. They also seem attracted to Antejuice. We’re confident you can take it from here. You’re a scientist, after all.
[h3]Charging on the Go![/h3]
Low battery? That’s where Field Batteries come in! Truly a marvel of biochemistry and trans-dimensional study (papers courtesy of Dr. Riggs once again), these one-time use items will recharge any electrical equipment without the need for a charging station.
To use this item, put it in your inventory and right click on the item you want to recharge. Just like repairing with duct tape, you simply have to select "Recharge with Field Battery."
… Ah, and the little crank now works on the Energy Pistol. Yeah.
[h3]You’ve Thrown Your Suggestions…[/h3]
We’ve gotten a lot of feedback about throwing, so we’ve made a few key changes to throwing in this update.
- Throwing regular objects (not weapons) will now factor in their weight for both damage and velocity.
- Throwing XP now changes based on damage and range, meaning further away targets will grant more XP.
But that’s not all…
[h3]... Now Start Throwing Knives![/h3]
We’ve added a new item type - Throwing Knives! This class of weapon is craftable, and will be crafted in a few varieties as you progress. Much like other throwing items, these are quick and deadly.
One small note… You can stab directly with these, but one of the stacked knives will be used in the process. We don’t recommend it. Instead, hold Alt-Fire (RMB on mouse or Left Trigger on gamepad) and let ‘em fly!
This is a relatively new system and we’ll be keeping an eye on feedback as we go forward.
[h3]Trinket Reworks[/h3]
The long-awaited trinket reworks are beginning to arrive. There have been great innovations in the field of Trinketry, baubles, and other knick-knacks. You will find several of your existing trinkets have changed, some being entirely beefed up. Heck, some might even be useful. It’s worth noting that no trinkets have been removed.
One trinket in particular (the Photon Lantern) has been “deprecated” and will now exist as a nearly-useless item that can no longer be crafted – but the new version can be crafted with a brand new recipe!
Some other trinket recipes have changed, but nothing worth noting here. The patch notes will contain more information if you’re one of those people who likes to dig through the trash.
[h3]Bad Soup - Less Bad?[/h3]
We’ve heard a lot of feedback that the changes to Weird Soup/Bad Soup have hurt the fun in finding soups, or creating awkward soups out of ingredients that don’t quite fit a recipe. In this update, we have changed the system in the following ways:
- Bad Soup no longer causes sickness. Instead, it causes a new debuff, called Borborygmus, which is the very scientific term for a gurgly tum-tum. This will now warn you - if you eat any more soup, you might get sick!
- You will now only become sick if you eat soup while you have a bout of Borborygmus.
- We have added a new recipe called Gastro Pills, which will cure Borborygmus, allowing you to consume all the crap you want.
- We’ve also adjusted some of the values on Bad Soup, but it’s still not going to be the best option for keeping your hunger at bay.
Enjoy eating your terrible soup, scientists. Oh, and speaking of soup…
[h3]Improvements to Soup Recipes[/h3]
The Compendium, as you know, has this really cool list of soups you’ve collected. However, as you also know, it’s been nearly impossible to find new recipes without booting up the wiki. We would prefer people didn’t feel compelled to spoil everything by reading the wiki, and as we all know, a spoiled soup doesn’t taste nearly as good.
To improve this, we’ve changed the Soup Compendium (Soupendium?) which you can access from your Journal screen.
Once you reach Cooking Level 3 and unlock Soupsmith, all soup recipes will now be displayed in your Soupendium with the items and names hidden until you’ve discovered the items and cooked the soup successfully. This should help you figure out what soups you don’t have yet, and give you an angle on what to try, all without having to probe the interwebs.
We’ve also added a new line to item tooltips, which displays how many soup recipes an item is featured in, just to help out our Soupsmiths a bit.
[h3]New Fish, New Recipes[/h3]
No spoilers! But here’s an image that is definitely unrelated.
[h3]Crystalline Armor[/h3]
Some said this day would never come. Those people are jerks.
Anyway, this new armor set is obtainable at some point somewhere, and you’ll unlock the recipe when you collect the items for it. You can probably guess what one of the root items is. Look, you’ll figure it out and we’re in a bit of a hurry - we still can’t find Dr. Stern anywhere since he put it on and we really need him to clarify some key points on his IS-0083 report!
[h3]Jetpacks and Portals[/h3]
It’s not all good news though. Dr. Thule tells us something is happening to our equipment when we travel through portals. He called it “Portal Sickness” but we felt that was a bit too humanizing for something like, say, a jetpack. He’s such a big softie, that guy.
When you first enter a new portal world, you may notice that your equipment is afflicted with issues. Jetpacks in particular will no longer function until fully calibrated to the new portal environment, which takes about as long as it takes you to complete the area. Once you (or anyone else in the Facility) has completed the area - usually - you can go about your business, using your jetpack as much as you’d like to revisit, requisition materials, and explore further on.
A few places seem to not appreciate jetpacks at all, but Dr. Thule is looking into it. We’ll see if he ever finds an answer. Also, if you’ve already completed an area, you won’t encounter this problem, and really need not worry about it. In the future, you may encounter this when first visiting new portal destinations.
[h3]Jetpack Addendum[/h3]
The Jetpack has also received some small changes to its energy rates, and this will affect how it operates when overheating. If the Jetpack overheats while in use, it will no longer cool off until it returns to a more controlled position - such as the ground. Be careful up there. Gravity is a harsh mistress, and IS-0052 is indifferent to your plight.
[h3]Enemy AI is Going on the Naughty List[/h3]
Many enemies have received improvements. Some might call them buffs. Some might call them scary. I call most of my Pests “Bob.” Gameplay spoilers here-in.
- The Tarasque now has several new concussive abilities which will make your job just a little bit harder. He also has some survivability issues we’re investigating.
- Armored Exor are now a lot more aggressive with their movement and shooting, as well as having a new type of attack entirely.
- Enemies should generally not stand around doing nothing after entering combat. We found a spot where they were getting very stuck for up to 1 or 2 seconds.
- You may notice when damaging certain enemies they change to look a bit more bloody or a bit more scuffed up. This logic wasn’t actually working properly, often causing enemies with low health to just… Not look that way. We fixed that, so you should have a lot more combat feedback from here on out, at least with the tanky enemies in question.
[h3]Accuracy Improvements[/h3]
We’ve generally seen lots of feedback around the Accuracy system being a bit hard to use. We pinpointed one instance where it was particularly annoying and we believe we’ve squashed that problem. In instances where you have the correct accuracy to hit a target, but the wibble-wobble of your crosshair causes it to fall off of the target (and therefore look “beyond” your target) your accuracy sway would previously go out of control.
Now, when aiming at a target in range, your dot will remain much steadier, even if you’re not aiming RIGHT at your target.
This should make landing hits just a bit more forgiving, without affecting the larger accuracy gains you get over time.
[h3]Trypanophobia Mode[/h3]
If you really don't like needles, we added an option in the Accessibility settings to disable seeing/hearing needles and needle animations. Your feedback is welcome!
[h3]Aim-Assisted Interaction[/h3]
In our aim to improve the experience for Gamepad and Steam Deck users, as well as to generally require less precision when picking up items off of the floor or any other surface, we’ve added a new setting called Aim-Assisted Interaction. This system will still prefer the objects directly under your crosshair, but this will make it much easier to grab things without having to be nearly as precise.
This option is located in the Accessibility - Controls section of the Settings menu and turned on with just a click.
We feel many scientists will benefit from this change and are excited for you to let us know how it feels, and if you encounter any issues that we should be aware of.
Thanks for joining us on all of our scientific ventures! Come over to the forums to unwrap the FULL PATCH NOTES!
If you are moved by the spirit of giving then give us your hugs! Through the in-game bug report form link! If you don’t know what to get us for a gift this holiday season we always accept reviews, which we promise to treasure and never re-gift. If you were tantalized by that tiny peek into the Reactors, get your fill by checking out our SR #18: First Look At Dark Energy.
Thank you for all your work in the GATE Cascade Research Facility!
[color]Onward -- to science.[/color]
[h2]Join the Scientific Community![/h2]
- Discord
- Newsletter
- YouTube
- Bluesky ⬅️ NEW!
[h3]Join the Research Division Today![/h3]
https://store.steampowered.com/app/427410/Abiotic_Factor/
