Mercury Fallen News

I’m very pleased to announce that Update 21 is now available! This is one of the largest releases to date.

A huge thank you to everyone that helped test this update on the Test Build branch. Your feedback and bug reports helped immensely. An additional huge thank you to everyone for your support and patience.




Scan the surface for points of interest using the comms station, and extend the available scan area by converting survey vehicles into radar towers.



You will now be able to set out on expeditions on foot as well as in a vehicle. Expeditions to points of interest on the map yield new rewards — or grave danger, depending on your colonists’ skill and your decisions.


The Vehicle Assembly Station replaces the Vehicle Bay, which will require construction on the surface.

Mining vehicles can be converted into mining platforms, which allow resource filtering and automated resource acquisition using assigned transport vehicles.


Unlock research projects by spending research points, tech fragments and/or bio samples. The computer station will generate research points instead of researching specific projects. Research point storage is limited and can be increased by constructing Data Servers.



The research window now has additional sections for recipe and crop research, and new discoveries that are required for several research projects.



When you start a new game, you can now set a game scenario that affects starting colonist count, limited job roles and more. Additional gameplay options will be tied in with this mechanic in future updates.


Mine sand underground to allow for earlier access to glass and silicon carbide.


There is now a population cap for human colonists. Build O2 generators to sustain a larger population.


Colonists will now gather materials to craft multiple instances of an item depending on their job level.

Craft queue items now have a “Deliver To Storage” option. When not active, a colonist will drop the crafted items on the ground instead of delivering them to storage.

Storage containers now have a priority setting. Items are delivered to the highest priority valid container.

Update 21 brings quite a few changes, improvements and fixes. Check out the release notes below for a full list of all the changes in Update 21 :: Expeditions.


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New :: Surface Construction

• Added construction category buttons to bottom of plant map interface
  
• Added Vehicle Bay building which can be placed on surface tiles adjacent to the facility. This new building is where vehicles are constructed. Vehicle Assembly Station removed.
  
• Added new Shipping Container object. A shipping container is required for colonists to deliver Items for surface construction/delivery.
  
• Added new Receiving Container object. Items delivered from the surface are placed here. Items from surface no longer appear next to the elevator and are only accessible from the receiving container. Items will still be delivered, but are only accessible at the receiving container.
  

New :: Expeditions

• Added Comm Station. Comm Station used to scan for points of interest on planet surface.
  
• Added Comm Officer job role.
  
• Added Expeditions section to planet map interface
  
• Added scan coverage planet map display mode
  

New :: Population Cap

• Added human colonist population cap.
  
• Added O2 Generator which can increase colonist cap
  
• If colonist population is over capacity then some colonists will suffer from oxygen deprivation and perish
  
• Added Life Support research to unlock O2 Generators
  

Changes :: Graphics

• Added real time shadows on high quality setting
  
• Night time now darker on planet map
  
• Minor change to post processing effects to reduce bloom and re-work color correction
  
• Updated look of all ingot icons
  
• Map table texture detail increased
  

Changes :: UI

• Colonist cards now show current colonist action
  
• Infinity Corp. logo now looks more sinister
  
• Job role selection window no longer shows attribute requirements if playing on default/easy difficulty
  
• Game HUD now shows human and robot population counts separately
  
• Changed utility build category icon
  
• Added a drop shadow to HUD button icons to make them pop a bit more
  
• Added a drop shadow and hover animation to object build menu buttons
  
• Notification tabs no longer overlap facility management close button
  
• Notification tabs no longer overlap color picker
  

Changes :: Vehicles

• Removed vehicle cap
  
• Minor change to vehicle info on the planet map interface vehicle list
  
• Added an auto explore action to D.O.G.E. and Wasp vehicles
  
• D.O.G.E. and Wasp now have an action to convert them into a remote radar station. This increases the scannable area where points of interest can be found.
  
• Beetle Miner and Whale Miner now have an action to convert them into a remote mining facility. Remote mining facility mines from a range of adjacent tiles and includes new mining options.
  
• Added new resource transport vehicles. These can be assigned to mining stations to automatically collect and deliver resources to the primary facility.
  
• Added new rover vehicles for expeditions.
  
• Vehicles are now set as camera focus when embarking
  
• Vehicle and building models are now smaller.
  

Changes :: Discoveries

• Discoveries button shows the number of new discoveries
  
• Added section for resources/flora and fauna
  
• Added sections for tier 2 equipment blueprints
  
• Added section for vehicle blueprints
  
• Added section for additional data logs
  
• Updated the discoveries that are found in various biomes
  

Changes :: Research

• Active research no longer applicable and removed from game HUD
  
• Added research projects button to game HUD button bar
  
• Research Projects button shows the number of available research projects
  
• Computer Station now generates research points instead of researching towards a specific research project
  
• Research projects now unlocked by spending research points, tech fragments and/or bio samples
  
• Accrued research points have a starting cap
  
• Items unlocked in research description now have better tool-tips
  
• Research projects now have tool-tips
  
• Updated look of research project info section
  
• Data Servers can now be constructed to increase research point cap
  
• Added new recipes section to research screen to unlock recipes
  
• Added new crops section to research screen to unlock discovered crops
  
• Equipment items moved to recipes section
  
• Tier 2 equipment item research now requires their own blueprint discoveries
  
• Added several new research projects
  
• Utilities research renamed to Plumbing
  
• Robot Recycler now unlocked under separate research project
  
• Research tree structure and costs has been revised
  

Changes :: Misc

• Allowed Items interface for storage containers now has select all and select none buttons
  
• Craft queue items now have a “Deliver To Storage” toggle option. When checked colonists will deliver the produced item to storage, otherwise they will drop the item on the floor.
  
• New game interface now has a scenario drop down which includes easy, default and challenge options.
  
• Default game scenario no longer limits colonist job roles based on attributes. This is now only in the challenge scenario.
  
• Fertilizer now optional when setting crop type in both crop field and aeroponics farm.
  
• Colonists will now strictly adhere to the construction queue order. If the object in the first position of the construction queue can’t be constructed colonists will not skip it to build other objects.
  
• First construction object in build queue now highlighted green
  
• Build info now has a Low Priority button to set object to the last place in the build queue
  
• Mine-able sand added to facility world generation
  
• Glass recipe uses 5 sand instead of 3
  
• Silicon Carbide now uses 4 sand and anthracite instead of 2
  
• Updated existing guide topics to reflect changes
  
• Added Points Of Interest guide topic
  
• Added Expeditions guide topic
  
• Mineral chests now have a much higher chance of having ingots instead of raw ores
  
• Updated notification system to allow for unique and repeatable notifications. Existing notifications migrated to new system.
  
• Added notification if low on food
  
• Unpausing the game will now resume at the previously set game speed
  Colonists will now craft multiples of an item based on their job role level. Example: A level 1 engineer will gather materials for and craft 1 item at time from a craft queue. A level 5 engineer will gather materials for and craft 5 items at a time from a craft queue.
  
• Decreased durability of mineable resources
  

Fixes

• Fixed: Craft queue add item menu freeze when changing type in some instances
  
• Fixed: Colonists not affected by light sources from placed objects
  
• Fixed: Colonist attempting to drop off items on a floor tile that they can’t get to
  
• Fixed: Particle effect missing when opening stasis capsule.
  
• Fixed: Deconstruction selection highlight on floors/conduits rendered on top of other objects
  
• Fixed: Vehicle Move To action not cancelled when deselecting vehicle with right click
  
• Fixed: Crop Fields can be placed on floor tiles
  
• Fixed: Robot running in place when crafting at tech printer
  
• Fixed: Colonist not repairing machines if repair kit exists but they can’t get to it
  
• Fixed: Colonist rosters reset after loading saved game
  
• Fixed: Some data generating invalid id values which causes issue when loading saved games in some instances
  
• Fixed: Some object component data not cleared when reloading save game.
  
• Fixed: Colonist stuck in a loop trying to pick up items off the floor in some instances
  
• Fixed: Pressing space to unpause not working after clicking speed buttons
  
• Fixed: Colonist death from doctor states death as unknown causes
  
• Fixed: Vehicle not saving/loading its active action
  
• Fixed: Wall Debris missing mining effects
  
• Fixed: Wall Debris shows enable/disable button
  

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Be sure to let me know what you think about Update 21.

Update 21 is now available to check out on the Test Build branch! Let me know what works and what doesn't.

I need your help to test out and provide feedback regarding many new features. There are some large changes to game balance as well as a lot of new content.



Update 21 Test Build release notes and tester information:
https://steamcommunity.com/app/704510/discussions/3/1643170903487757609/


About Test Builds
The optional Test Build branch is for testing the latest features before they go live to everyone. As it is a testing version there are generally 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.

For information about how to access the Test Build branch click the link below:
http://steamcommunity.com/app/704510/discussions/3/2381701715712468002/

Update 21 is shaping up to be a very large update. It’s being put through its paces in private testing and coming along very well.

Get your testing cap on because Update 21 will be coming to the public Test Build branch very soon. Here are a few of the things you can expect to see.


There are many changes to game balance in the coming update. A big one is the addition of sand as a mine-able resource underground. This allows you to access glass and, by extension, the cloning chamber much sooner.


A population cap is being added for human colonists. You will need to construct O2 generators to increase the starting population cap.


Huge changes to research include the ability to unlock research with research points, along with data servers, recipe and crop research, and more.


The tech tree has also been extensively restructured.


The first step towards surface construction is coming as well. The surface side vehicle bay replaces the vehicle assembly station. You can now convert mining vehicles into mining platforms, which will allow for resource automation through a resource transport vehicle.


You will now be able to set out on expeditions on foot as well as in a vehicle. Expeditions to scanned points of interest on the map will yield new rewards — or grave danger, depending on your colonists’ skill and your decisions.

Join The Community On
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I’m super excited about all the new stuff coming in Update 21. What are you most excited about?

Big changes are coming in the next update that I’m really excited about. While the last update focused on colonists and job roles, the coming update will focus on planet surface content.


Vehicle construction will now be done after constructing the vehicle bay on the surface. The existing vehicle assembly station will no longer be used.

The next update also adds auto exploration for survey vehicles, along with the ability to convert vehicles into remote surface outposts. Remote outposts will offer new opportunities, but once a vehicle is converted, it is a permanent installation.

Mining vehicles will be convertible into remote mining platforms that mine a range of surrounding tiles, and have more control over what resources are mined. Resource delivery from the mining station can be automated with a new resource transport vehicle.



Survey vehicles can also be converted into remote radar stations. These will add additional area that can be scanned to find points of interest for expeditions.


Colonists will take expeditions to explore points of interest on the surface after scanning the surface to find them.

The scanned planet surface area is expanded by remote radar stations. A POI will only appear in scannable areas.

Once a POI is found on the surface map, an expedition party can be sent out to explore it. There is still a lot of work going into this new feature, and there are bound to be some changes before it’s available.


The coming update will also feature radical changes to the research tree and researching mechanics. Computer stations will no longer research toward a specific project, but will generate research points instead. These research points can then be spent to complete research.



The number of research points you can store will be limited, but you will be able to raise that limit by constructing data servers.



Recipes and crop research have been removed from the tech tree and put under their own sections on the research screen.

In addition to research points, some research items may require tech fragments and/or bio samples. These new items will be found via expeditions on the surface.


Scenarios are being added to the new game interface which, for now, offers difficulty settings. This will affect game mechanics such as the number of starting colonists, world generation, limits on job roles based on attributes, and more.

Modders will have the ability to add their own scenario definitions.


Various quality of life features are also being developed. Storage containers will have a select all/none option in the allowed items screen. The research button will show how many research projects are available for unlock.



Storage container priorities will more effectively manage resources. Colonists will drop off items at the highest priority container.

A new “Deliver To Storage” toggle option will be added to the craft queue system. When toggled off, a colonist will drop the produced item on the ground instead of delivering it to a storage container.

I’m super excited about the new content, and greatly appreciate all of your feedback and support. A huge thank you to all of you awesome people.

Join The Community On
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Howdy Folks,

I returned from vacation a couple of days ago and hit the ground running on a new patch update. This small update addresses some critical bugs and adds some minor tweaks.

Thanks for all the reports and feedback on the game. If you have not done so already, please be sure to give your feedback via the the latest feedback survey.

Update 20 Feedback Survey
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/QHNF3SF

Progress continues on the next major content update.




Changes

• Migrated game code over to Unity Engine 2018
  
• Minor update to post process visuals such as bloom, color correction etc.
  
• Colonists will now go to the closest available bench/chair when sitting down to recover stress.
  
• Object/Colonist now automatically deselected when clicking on the mini-map
  
• Overlay mode buttons moved to top of mini-map
  
• Object warning icons no longer show if object hasn’t been built yet
  

Fixes

• Fixed: Colonist action planning failed if unable to find a valid item to craft in a craft station in some instances. This would have the additional side effect of causing extreme lag.
  
• Fixed: Colonists unable to haul items to construction if not able to carry all items for a single object. Commonly affected construction of the aquarium.
  
• Fixed: Object warning icons showing in corner of map instead of over the respective object when loading a saved game in some instances.
  
• Fixed: Object warning icons showing in corner of map instead of over the respective object when placing new objects.
  
• Fixed: Possible game crash when quitting to main menu
  
• Fixed: Performance issue when fog of war changes
  
• Fixed: Performance issue when updating HUD inventory display
  

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