Surviving the Aftermath - Dev Diary #25 - Rebirth DLC
[h2]Greetings survivors![/h2]
Our third DLC is now available! “Rebirth” offers a new way to literally transform your colony into a post-apocalyptic paradise! Clear the waters and purify the soil with new terraforming discoveries to bring back the once green fields and lush forests. The journey is not without its perils though, as a new threat is on the rise. A mysterious fungal disease called the blight has infected both animals and plants, creating new challenges for the player. But their wild mutations also hold the key to victory!
IMAGE: Surviving the Aftermath: Rebirth
The DLC includes a modular Blight Lab, which allows players to advance in the new “Discoveries” tech tree. This can be used to unlock new buildings and permanent improvements for your fight against the blight, eventually turning the threat into an advantage. Seeing the colony’s grim and hostile beginnings turn into a beautiful and inviting landscape is truly something special.
[h3]Terraforming[/h3]
New terraformers allow players to transform the barren soil and murky waters into a healthy, vibrant environment. These advanced buildings can be discovered via the Blight Lab, which players unlock after completing a special quest. Once built, you can order its workers to plant new soil within the work area, transforming the very earth patch by patch.
The terraformers are fueled by blight samples that you collect from numerous sources during your fight against mutated creatures that seem oddly determined to stop your progress. In addition to striking visuals, terraformed soil offers superior production with fields and water wells in its area.
IMAGE: Terraforming the soil
[h3]The Blight[/h3]
The fungal blight is tainting the very soil and everything living on it. It grows fast, infecting animals and plants alike, centering on blight cores, which infect the soil and cause blighted nests, hives and lair to emerge. You’ll see its effects everywhere from strange-looking fungi to enemies that roam the lands. The blight is not without its merits though, as it can be studied and turned into beneficial discoveries in the blight lab. These blight samples can be collected from multiple sources such as carcasses, blighted trees, deposits and even farmable crops and mutated ranch animals.
[h3]Blighted creatures[/h3]
New blighted enemies are a constant, evolving threat to the colony. They spawn from nests, hives and lairs around the colony. The initial encounters with these creatures should pose little problems, but their dangers become stronger as the colony grows. The largest enemies can infect the colonists with an incurable condition with horrific consequences. These creatures can also appear on the world map and might attack your specialists if you cross their path. So stock up on weapons and build guard towers to protect the colony.
IMAGE: New enemies
[h3]New anti-blight buildings[/h3]
Rebirth has several new buildings which allow the player to fight against the blight and turn the rapidly mutating threat into an advantage. It all starts after unlocking the new Blight Lab by completing a special quest. This modular building grows in size as you unlock new discovery tiers by supplying it with blight samples to study.
Purification Posts clear blighted trees and corpses to extract blight samples from them, but can also clear small pollution patches early in the game. It’s highly polluting, though, so build it on the outskirts of your colony. Its "Exterminators" upgrade allows clearing enemy-spawning nests, hives and lairs for a brief respite from enemy attacks and as an additional source of blight samples. And finally, upgrading your Environmental Station to a new Hazmat Station unlocks the ability to clear the blight cores - the root cause of the infestation.
IMAGE: New buildings
[h3]Other Improvements[/h3]
Scout Towers and Guard Posts have been revamped and are now more efficient than ever before as a stationary line of defense. New attack animations have been added to emphasize their new role. On the world map, some of the early research outpost spots have been turned to regular science locations, allowing easier access to your first science points. Colony has more metal deposits than before and pollution spreads more evenly. Pollution overlay is also now clearer on which areas are affected. Several combat-heavy quests have been pushed back so the player has a better chance of completing them with multiple specialists.
IMAGE: Guard posts shooting at blighted creatures
On the visual side, buildings remove less foliage when placed, creatíng a nicer-looking colony. Various user interface and usability improvements include “Specialist ready” indicator pulsing faster, more visible blocked tile overlay in build mode, reworked soil overlay color with color-blindness in mind and an “exit vehicle” icon for the vehicle UI. Society list also shows all tradable resources instead of just the first five.
IMAGE: Community-created specialist
[h3]Community-created specialist[/h3]
A while ago we asked you to design a new specialist. After considering all your wonderful applications, we ended up with "Gloriosa"! She’s a born-and-raised doomsday prepper who turned scavenger and can be selected as a starting specialist in a new game.
We’re eager to see you turn the inhospitable wasteland into a lush and green paradise!
Surviving the Aftermath: Rebirth is now available both as a part of the Ultimate Colony Edition or separate purchase.
[h2]Change Notes[/h2]
[h3]General[/h3]
[h3]Gameplay[/h3]
[h3]Graphics[/h3]
[h3]Balance Adjustments[/h3]
Our third DLC is now available! “Rebirth” offers a new way to literally transform your colony into a post-apocalyptic paradise! Clear the waters and purify the soil with new terraforming discoveries to bring back the once green fields and lush forests. The journey is not without its perils though, as a new threat is on the rise. A mysterious fungal disease called the blight has infected both animals and plants, creating new challenges for the player. But their wild mutations also hold the key to victory!
IMAGE: Surviving the Aftermath: RebirthThe DLC includes a modular Blight Lab, which allows players to advance in the new “Discoveries” tech tree. This can be used to unlock new buildings and permanent improvements for your fight against the blight, eventually turning the threat into an advantage. Seeing the colony’s grim and hostile beginnings turn into a beautiful and inviting landscape is truly something special.
[h3]Terraforming[/h3]
New terraformers allow players to transform the barren soil and murky waters into a healthy, vibrant environment. These advanced buildings can be discovered via the Blight Lab, which players unlock after completing a special quest. Once built, you can order its workers to plant new soil within the work area, transforming the very earth patch by patch.
The terraformers are fueled by blight samples that you collect from numerous sources during your fight against mutated creatures that seem oddly determined to stop your progress. In addition to striking visuals, terraformed soil offers superior production with fields and water wells in its area.
IMAGE: Terraforming the soil[h3]The Blight[/h3]
The fungal blight is tainting the very soil and everything living on it. It grows fast, infecting animals and plants alike, centering on blight cores, which infect the soil and cause blighted nests, hives and lair to emerge. You’ll see its effects everywhere from strange-looking fungi to enemies that roam the lands. The blight is not without its merits though, as it can be studied and turned into beneficial discoveries in the blight lab. These blight samples can be collected from multiple sources such as carcasses, blighted trees, deposits and even farmable crops and mutated ranch animals.
[h3]Blighted creatures[/h3]
New blighted enemies are a constant, evolving threat to the colony. They spawn from nests, hives and lairs around the colony. The initial encounters with these creatures should pose little problems, but their dangers become stronger as the colony grows. The largest enemies can infect the colonists with an incurable condition with horrific consequences. These creatures can also appear on the world map and might attack your specialists if you cross their path. So stock up on weapons and build guard towers to protect the colony.
IMAGE: New enemies[h3]New anti-blight buildings[/h3]
Rebirth has several new buildings which allow the player to fight against the blight and turn the rapidly mutating threat into an advantage. It all starts after unlocking the new Blight Lab by completing a special quest. This modular building grows in size as you unlock new discovery tiers by supplying it with blight samples to study.
Purification Posts clear blighted trees and corpses to extract blight samples from them, but can also clear small pollution patches early in the game. It’s highly polluting, though, so build it on the outskirts of your colony. Its "Exterminators" upgrade allows clearing enemy-spawning nests, hives and lairs for a brief respite from enemy attacks and as an additional source of blight samples. And finally, upgrading your Environmental Station to a new Hazmat Station unlocks the ability to clear the blight cores - the root cause of the infestation.
IMAGE: New buildings[h3]Other Improvements[/h3]
Scout Towers and Guard Posts have been revamped and are now more efficient than ever before as a stationary line of defense. New attack animations have been added to emphasize their new role. On the world map, some of the early research outpost spots have been turned to regular science locations, allowing easier access to your first science points. Colony has more metal deposits than before and pollution spreads more evenly. Pollution overlay is also now clearer on which areas are affected. Several combat-heavy quests have been pushed back so the player has a better chance of completing them with multiple specialists.
IMAGE: Guard posts shooting at blighted creaturesOn the visual side, buildings remove less foliage when placed, creatíng a nicer-looking colony. Various user interface and usability improvements include “Specialist ready” indicator pulsing faster, more visible blocked tile overlay in build mode, reworked soil overlay color with color-blindness in mind and an “exit vehicle” icon for the vehicle UI. Society list also shows all tradable resources instead of just the first five.
IMAGE: Community-created specialist[h3]Community-created specialist[/h3]
A while ago we asked you to design a new specialist. After considering all your wonderful applications, we ended up with "Gloriosa"! She’s a born-and-raised doomsday prepper who turned scavenger and can be selected as a starting specialist in a new game.
We’re eager to see you turn the inhospitable wasteland into a lush and green paradise!
Surviving the Aftermath: Rebirth is now available both as a part of the Ultimate Colony Edition or separate purchase.
[h2]Change Notes[/h2]
[h3]General[/h3]
- Added a new specialist to the game called Gloriosa.
- Gloriosa was created by you, the community. She is a born and raised doomsday prepper and can be selected as a starting specialist in a new game. A big thank you to all participants!
- Gloriosa was created by you, the community. She is a born and raised doomsday prepper and can be selected as a starting specialist in a new game. A big thank you to all participants!
- We’ve heard many reports from players that they cannot find enough metal. Because of this, we adjusted the way metal and concrete deposits spawn in the colony.
- There is now a higher likelihood that metal deposits spawn closer to the starting location. Scouting is still likely necessary, though.
- Some metal can also be scavenged in the world map.
- There is now a higher likelihood that metal deposits spawn closer to the starting location. Scouting is still likely necessary, though.
- Added six new Rebirth DLC related achievements.
- Tower Defence - Build 5 Guard Posts.
- Timber! - Cut down 100 blighted trees.
- Pest Control - Kill 40 blighted creatures.
- Core of the issue - Destroy a Blight Core.
- Rebirth - Complete “Rebirth” quest.
- Post-Apocalyptic Paradise - Terraform the majority of the map.
- Tower Defence - Build 5 Guard Posts.
[h3]Gameplay[/h3]
- Changed the way pollution spreads from pollution deposits and buildings. The pollution area remains mostly unchanged, but the intensity is now spread more evenly.
- Blocked some achievements from unlocking in a custom game. Previously, some achievements could be unlocked by playing a custom game which was not intended.
- Increased the amount of resources shown in the society trade menu. Previously, only six resources were shown, but now it shows everything a society has to offer.
- Consoles only: Fixed an issue that caused Wind Turbine, Martian Wind Turbine, Lightning Rod and Lightning Tower to be unrepairable if Ultimate Colony DLC was enabled. This issue was already fixed on PC versions some time ago.
- Fixed an issue that caused the meteor storm catastrophe to only drop one meteor.
- Fixed an issue that caused the game to get stuck if the camera moved over a combat location when trying to confirm combat victory in the world map.
- Fixed an issue that caused combat disasters (for example rat beetle or boar attacks) to stop working after the endgame quest started.
- Fixed an issue that caused a colonist to get stuck if its workplace was close to the colony border and the colonist had no home.
- Fixed an issue that caused deposit guardian animals to not return to the deposit properly after disengaging from combat.
- Fixed a repair related issue caused by selecting a destroyed building right after a save was loaded.
- Fixed an issue that caused a colonist to get stuck when multiple colonists were gathering resources and the deposit was cleared at the right time.
- Fixed an issue caused by pressing the demolish mode hotkey while hovering a building right after loading a save.
- Fixed an issue that caused the colonist cause of death to be incorrect if it died from combat damage.
[h3]Graphics[/h3]
- Adjusted the colors in soil fertility overlay and in the circle around Water Well to be more color blind friendly.
- Added a combat animation for the Scout Tower and Guard Post.
- Made the red color brighter when placing buildings to make it easier to see unavailable building placement.
- Buildings remove a smaller area of foliage and props around them when placed.
- Added an exit vehicle icon to the vehicle panel.
- Vehicles now show the correct amount of passenger slots available.
- Made the overlay info panel darker and more readable.
- Updated higher resolution icons to multiple places in the game, for example building info, top bar etc.
- Updated two child portraits to higher resolution versions.
- Decreased the light intensity of heatwave catastrophe in the world map.
- Removed the by-product UI element from animals in the ranch that do not produce a by-product.
- Increased the visibility of the wheat crops in fields.
- Updated the model for the Lightning Rod and adjusted the build menu icon accordingly.
- Fixed an issue that caused Martian Wind Turbine to not play animations during winter.
- Fixed an animation issue that caused concrete extractor workers to move out of bounds instead of working in the cabin.
- Fixed an animation issue when moving the camera very close to the radar building.
- Minor polish to the following UI elements:
- Deposit info panel.
- Specialist ready indicator in the specialist bar.
- Specialist action done indicator in the world map.
- Buttons in the building info panel.
- Loading bar.
- Energy and water consumption/production icons.
- Repair/demolition/overtime mode tooltips.
- Deposit info panel.
[h3]Balance Adjustments[/h3]
- Replaced some medicine, weapon and clothing scavenge locations with metal, corn and firewood locations in the world map.
- Removed the lowest tier of science outpost locations and replaced them with regular science point locations that can be scavenged.
- Added a minimum starting date for combat quests. This should make quests a little bit easier in the beginning of the game.
- Adjusted the shooting and reload times of specialists and guards so that they cannot attack repeatedly. Stutter stepping allowed them to attack very quickly.
- Reduced the patrol range of guards in the Guard Post.
- Increased the attack damage and range of the Scout Tower slightly.