Mercury Fallen News

Howdy Folks!

A huge thank you to everyone that checked out the Update 26 Experimental Branch and provided feedback, suggestions and bug reports. There is a lot packed into Update 26 :: Traveler and now it's on to the final round of testing and feedback on the Test Build branch. Be sure to check out the Test Build branch if you want to help test and provide feedback on new mechanics.

Update 26 Test Build Info
https://steamcommunity.com/app/704510/discussions/3/2949251578277051674/

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.

Howdy Folks!

There are a lot of changes and additions coming in Update 26 and some of these changes are ready for feedback/testing on the Experimental Branch on Steam!

The Experimental Branch includes some of the changes and additions in development for Update 26. The Experimental Branch will continue to be updated with content and changes based on feedback.

Update 26 Experimental Info
https://steamcommunity.com/app/704510/discussions/4/2919976282217631462/

What is the Experimental Branch and how do I access it?
https://steamcommunity.com/app/704510/discussions/4/1869497660774052612/

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Howdy Folks!

Hope you all are staying safe out there. I’m hunkered down inside working on update 26. I had hoped to shift it over to the experimental branch by now, but there is a bit to do yet. Here are some of the things being worked on.


A minor change to doors will allow them to be locked and unlocked. This will allow you to keep colonists from exploring or lock them in a room to see what happens.


Sleeping bags or a sleep spots have been highly requested and I couldn’t agree more. Sleeping mats don’t require any research and allow your colonists to sleep on something slightly better than dirt before you’re able to construct bedrooms.


As mentioned in the previous developer log, POI locations on the surface map are getting a big overhaul. A lot more POI types are being added to help provide more variety as well as more specific rewards.

Instead of the dense population of repeatable POI locations, there will be less over all POI locations, but with far more unique locations to visit.



Additional POI location icons are being added as well. The above image shows some of the new icons in progress, but does not accurately depict POI density as not all of the new POIs have been added yet.


New surface mining mechanics are still under development and coming along nicely. The new system, as covered in the previous developer log, will generate mining locations on the map. This means no more infinite mining on any tile. The new mining sites will be finite deposits that have different depths: Surface, Sub-Surface and Deep.

Expedition parties will now have the ability mine, but can only mine resources at surface depth.

Mining vehicles will be able to mine up to sub-surface depth and in order to mine deep deposits a mining platform will have to be constructed.

Surface mining will also see some automation mechanics added. The mine action now requires that a target mining site be selected. After selection a mining vehicle or expedition party will mine the resource and take resources back to the closest resource depot. They will continue to do this until they’ve gathered all the resources they can.



The resource depot shown above (artwork not final) is a new surface construction that miners or resource transports can use to drop off and pickup materials. The resource depot acts as an extension to the shipping/receiving inventories available in the facility.

There are still a lot of loose ends I need to tie up before I can push Update 26 to the experimental branch for feedback. I’ll have more information as development progresses.

Thanks for all of the great feedback on the game. Certainly stop by the Mercury Fallen Discord and leave some feedback/suggestions.

Update 25 Feedback Survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/PDXSRZG

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Howdy Folks!

Thanks for the great feedback on Update 25 :: New Horizons. Now that the more critical issues have been patched up, I’ve started work on Update 26. Update 26 will continue to expand and improve upon surface side content.


Resources are getting an overhaul and you’ll no longer be able to mine anywhere or infinitely. This will make expansion and resource acquisition on the surface more varied and engaging.



Each surface side resource deposit will come in varying depths. This determines the quantity of a resource and what is required to mine all of it. A resource can be mined by either an expedition team, mining vehicle or mining platform, with each being able to mine deeper.

Deep resources could still be mined by an expedition team, but the expedition team will only be able to acquire resources closer to the surface. A resource deposit could then be mined further by a mining vehicle or mining platform.

How these resources appear on the map and additional scanning mechanics are in development.


I can’t say too much about it at this stage, but surface construction is in development. This will include new surface side structures and construction mechanics.


There are currently far too many POI locations and far too little variety. I had originally planned to just add more POI location types to increase variety.

While this is still something that will happen I’m also re-working how POI locations are generated on the map. POI locations will have a limit to how many times they can appear on the map. This means some repetition will occur, but far less so.

There are a few repeatable POI locations that have a random chance of several different types of rewards. I’m working to create new POI locations that are targeted towards specific rewards. This will help to decrease the need for repeatable POI locations as well as offer more overall variety.

The end result will be less POI locations, but more unique POI stories and rewards.


The colonist, understandably, was something that was coded very early on in development. It’s seen a lot of additions to it, but I finally got around to breaking it down and re-working colonist data. The rework focused on splitting the visual elements of a colonist from the underlying data that represents a colonist.

What this means is the ability to better handle colonist data without having them visible in the facility. Starting colonists can now have their data generated before leaving a stasis capsule.



Starting colonists will now have a predefined job role with proper attributes. While these colonists can still be assigned other job roles they will at least start out being good at something.

In a future update this will allow me to provide control over starting colonists in the new game interface.


There are a lot of things being worked on for Update 26 and I’m really excited about all the changes and additions. I’m actively working to get Update 26 ready for the experimental branch and hope to have something ready next week.

Thanks again for all the great feedback and if you haven’t had a chance to check out the Feedback Survey, now is a great time.


Feedback Survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/PDXSRZG

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Howdy Folks!

Thanks for all the great feedback and reports. Patch Update 25.4 is a small, but important, update to address some critical issues that have been reported.


While this update focuses primarily on bug fixes, I did sneak in a minor addition to the Construction Queue. Line items now only show management buttons for the item the mouse is hovered over. There is also a new cancel construction button that allows you to quickly remove items from the construction queue.


If you haven't already checked it out and have a few minutes to spare, be sure to take the Update 25 Feedback Survey. Let me know what you like and what you don't.

Survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/PDXSRZG

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• Added Cancel Construction button to objects Construction Queue window
  
• Construction Queue now only shows interaction buttons for the item the mouse is over
  
• Fixed: Wild plants selected for harvest are no longer selected after loading a saved game
  
• Fixed: Storage container capacity meter doesn’t change after installing a storage expander upgrade
  
• Fixed: Issue with selection collider on Hexagon BookCase
  
• Fixed: Deconstructed objects dropping double resources in some instances
  
• Fixed: Game crashes to desktop when loading save game that has many poi locations on the map
  
• Fixed: Colonists not hauling to storage if the item quantity of the items on the ground is greater than the available/remaining storage amount
  
• Fixed: Some game data not properly destroyed when quitting to menu or loading save. This causes newly loaded games to load incorrectly.
  
• Fixed: Incorrect object placement when dragging mouse while placing objects in some instances.