Mercury Fallen News

Howdy Folks!

A huge thanks for all the feedback and bug reports on the experimental branch. There are still some additions in development for Update 28 :: Stressed Out, but a majority of the content is ready for final testing and tweaking.

Should you check out the Test Build branch, be sure to let me know what you think of the new content.

Here are some of the things coming in Update 28 :: Stressed Out.

Updated Quirk System
The quirk system has been completely overhauled to allow for new types of colonist quirks. All the existing quirks will remain, but many new quirks are added that affect colonists in various ways.

Janitor Job Role
The janitor job role has been added to clean up the mess left when colonists make mistakes as well as some especially stressed out colonists.

Entertainment
The rec room is getting some new objects. More items in development for the Test Build branch, but the first one is the Arcade Cabinet.

Biofuel
Seeds finally have a use in the form of a new Biofuel recipe. The solid fuel generator has been updated to allow for different fuel types. Allowed fuel types can now be toggled in the generator ui.

There are some other great additions such as being able to shift+click a placed object to quickly construct more of that object, xeno mold, ui tweaks and a whole load of fixes.


Update 28 :: Stressed Out Test Build Info
https://steamcommunity.com/app/704510/discussions/3/4763089742395858452/

About Test Build Branch
The optional Test Build branch is for testing the latest features before they go live to everyone. As it is a testing version there can be more bugs/issues than in the normal version. If using the Test Build branch, please report any issues you encounter or any feedback on new game play mechanics. Your feedback and/or reports will help to ensure the final version is the best it can be.

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Howdy Folks!

Thanks for all the great feedback so far on the experimental branch. The stressed out update is coming along great and I’m super excited about the new content included. I wanted to go over some of the content currently available in the experimental branch and some of the additional things in development.


As mentioned in the previous dev log, I’m re-working the quirk system to allow for far more variety. While all the existing quirks have been migrated to the new quirk system, there are several new quirks that can make colonists a bit more special.


Quirks are will now be visible in the colonist management screen for easier viewing as well.


Stress effects will no longer add a flat value to stress, but slowly increase stress over time. Keeping stress low is more important with the addition of high stress reactions


When stress reaches 100% a colonist will attempt to relieve that stress in various ways. Each colonist will now have one type of stress reaction quirk. Some are easier to deal with than others.


The janitor job role has been added to help cleanup messes that can occur. Both human and work bot colonists are capable of this new job role.


While some colonist stress reactions can lead to spillage, spills can also occur from critically failing certain actions. Water spills will occur from critically failing at cooking, gathering from water traps, feeding the fish and more. Fuel spills will occur when a colonist critically fails at refueling the generator.


Some new stress management objects are in development to help your colonists relieve stress in a better way. More information coming soon.

I’m super excited about the new content in development and would love to hear your thoughts as well. Thanks for all the great feedback so far.

Update 28 Experimental Info | What is the Experimental Branch and how do I access it?

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Howdy Folks!

Hope everyone is doing well and staying safe out there. The Update 28 :: Stressed Out update changes how colonist quirks function and adds in some new ones. While it’s not 100% done, it is ready for some testing and feedback.

Update 28 :: Stressed Out is now available on the Experimental Branch. The experimental branch currently includes changes to quirks and some various fixes/tweaks. Colonist reactions to high/low stress is still in development and will be added to the experimental branch later.

Update 28 Experimental Info | What is the Experimental Branch and how do I access it?

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Howdy Folks!

The Spatial Awareness update added functional rooms and new stress affects. The, in development, Stressed Out update will continue to focus on colonists with a re-work of the quirks system as well as new reactions to high and low stress.


The quirk system was originally designed as an extension to colonist attributes and attribute effects. Attribute effects are applied to attributes and modify the attribute values such as hunger rate, max health, max athletics etc..

Quirks were a special type of attribute effect. While this worked, it meant that quirks were limited to only having an affect on attributes and needs. I wanted the ability to have some more interesting and varied quirks, which meant a bit of a re-work to how quirks were defined.

The new quirk system will be a bit more robust and allow for a much wider array of quirk types. While the existing quirks will remain, new quirks are being added that will provide more individuality to colonists.

Examples of some of the possible new quirks:

• Loved/Hated Food – Stress reduction/increase from eating specific food item
  
• Loved/Hated Job – Stress reduction/increase from performing specific job
  
• Charming – Chance to add stress reduction to nearby colonists
  
• Annoying – Chance to add stress increase to nearby colonists
  
• Light Sleeper – Stress increase from sleeping in a room with other colonists
  
• Aquaphobia – Won’t cross water tiles
  

There are more planned quirks and be sure to let me know if you have some fun ideas for new quirks.



The colonist management screen is also getting an update to make quirks more visible.


While colonists have been able to gain and reduce stress for a while now, there hasn’t been much penalty or reward from it. I’m reviewing the stress system over all to better balance how stress is generated and add reactions to high and low stress.

This means colonists will have negative reactions to high stress as well as some benefits for keeping stress low.



Some new objects in development that will help colonists reduce stress.

While the primary focus is on quirks and stress, there are some various other tweaks, fixes and changes in development. One useful new feature is an eye dropper tool. Holding shift and clicking on placed/constructed objects will allow you to easily place down more of that object for construction.

I’m currently planning to release a testing version of the update to the Experimental Branch later this week. I look forward to your feedback on the new quirks and stress content.

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Howdy Folks!

Few days late, but happy new year! Thanks for all the great feedback and bug reports. To start off 2021 here is a small patch update to fix a couple of issues.


The Update 27 :: Spatial Awareness survey is now available. I’m trying out of a new survey platform so let me know if there are any issues.

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• Added visual effect to colonists when they level up in a job role
  
• Minor reduction to cave-in frequency
  
• Fixed: Grammar error in Tendril Forest description
  
• Fixed: Deselect All: Gather Plants button shows Deselect All: Mine
  
• Fixed: Colonists become stuck if mining a tile that contains another object