Mercury Fallen News

Howdy Folks,

Thanks for all the great feedback on Update 20. While update 20 focused on new colonist mechanics, the next update will focus on adding more surface content.


Colonists will finally be able to leave the facility and explore the surface via expeditions. A scanning station will allow colonists to scan the surface to find points of interest.



The area available for scanning can be extended by converting the D.O.G.E. or Wasp into a remote radar station.



Once a POI is discovered, an expedition party can be sent out to investigate. A POI will offer a mini-story with choices on how to handle what has been found.

Expeditions will offer a new way to find discoveries, items, story content and research data.


Research points are being added which will offer more depth and flexibility to the research system. Instead of targeting a specific research project, colonists will generate research points at the computer station.




These new research points can be spent on the research screen to unlock research projects. Some research projects may additionally require tech fragment or bio samples which can be acquired through expeditions.

The research tree is also being expanded.


Inventory priority is being added to containers. Colonists will bring items to the highest priority container.


I’ll be away next week on vacation. I’ll still be checking the forums and social media. Development will continue when I return.

Thanks again for all the awesome feedback. If you haven’t had a chance be sure to check out the latest survey and let me know what you’re interested in most.

Follow Mercury Fallen development on
Twitter: https://twitter.com/mercuryfall
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mercfall/
Website: http://www.mercuryfallen.com
Discord: https://discord.gg/WdndeXx

Hot fix #3 is now available to fix up some more of those reported pesky issues. Thanks for the great feedback and reports.

• Fixed: Possible game crash/freeze if colonist is not able to calculate task actions
  
• Fixed: Poor performance issue when colonists are determining items to pick up off the floor and bring to storage
  
• Fixed: Lag spike when colonists harvest from a crop field
  
• Fixed: Lag spike / low performance after load game screen disappears
  
• Fixed: Deep miner continues to mine even when low on power
  

Follow Mercury Fallen development on
Twitter: https://twitter.com/mercuryfall
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mercfall/
Website: http://www.mercuryfallen.com
Discord: https://discord.gg/WdndeXx

Another hot fix is hot out of the oven. Update 20 Hot Fix #2 squashes a couple more reported issues. Thanks for all the feedback and reports :)

• Fixed: Technician not crafting repair kits at Tech Printer
  
• Fixed: Colonist stuck picking up and dropping items on floor if can't generate a path to a valid storage container
  

Follow Mercury Fallen development on
Twitter: https://twitter.com/mercuryfall
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mercfall/
Website: http://www.mercuryfallen.com
Discord: https://discord.gg/WdndeXx

Thanks for the great feedback on Update 20. An update 20 Hot Fix is now available which fixes up several reported issues.

• Item chests are now set as avoid tiles instead of unwalkable
  
• Fixed: Some colonists unable to perform any jobs when loading a saved game created in Update 19
  
• Fixed (Mac): Main menu buttons not functioning
  
• Fixed: Colonists not crafting anything if unable to reach required materials for one of the queued craft recipes.
  
• Fixed: Colonist not constructing if unable to collect all items for first object in construction queue.
  

I’m happy to say that Update 20 is now available! Updates generally take longer than I would prefer, but this one has been in the oven for a bit now.

Thank you all for your patience.

As you may or may not know my father had a heart attack a couple of months ago and required a quadruple bypass. It’s been a long road to recovery, but he is doing much better now.


Colonists can now be assigned up to three jobs. Job order also determines their job priority.



The colonist management screen has been completely overhauled. Colonist cards are an easy way to assign jobs, equipment and see how your colonists are doing.


Job actions now have a success chance. Hovering over an assigned job will show the success chance, which is based on the job level and that colonist’s attributes. Different jobs are affected by attributes differently.

Every time a colonist fails at an action, they have a small chance to critically fail. Critically failing at a job action may result in an ailment, injury or lost materials, depending on the action.

Success chance will increase as colonists gain more levels in that job or have their attributes increased via equipment items.


All jobs now require certain minimum attributes in order to be assigned. This means that not all colonists are capable of doing all jobs. Attributes can be modified, however, by using equipment items. When starting a new game there is always one colonist capable of all jobs to ensure you are able to progress.


Durability drains as a machine remains in operation or is operated by a colonist. If the durability drops below 5%, the machine breaks and will require repair.

The new technician job role is responsible for repairing machines. Craft-able repair kits have been added that can speed up machine repairs.

The durability meter has been removed from objects that are not applicable.


Storage containers now show a visible capacity meter and can be assigned a custom color.


The tech tree has been visually updated. New research projects have been added for repair kits and tier II equipment items.

There are a lot of tweaks, changes and additions in this update. Be sure to check out the release notes below.

Existing save games from Update 19 are expected to function correctly in Update 20. Job roles will need to be re-assigned.


Follow Mercury Fallen development on
Twitter: https://twitter.com/mercuryfall
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mercfall/
Website: http://www.mercuryfallen.com
Discord: https://discord.gg/WdndeXx



Colonists

• Added failure chance to various job actions. Colonists have a small chance to also critically fail and cause various undesired results.
  
• Colonists can now only have three jobs assigned at a time
  
• Colonists are now incapable of some jobs depending on their attributes
  
• Updated selection audio for robots
  
• Robot starting attributes now randomized when activating an inactive robot
  
• Robots are now randomly assigned attributes when constructed. Points are no longer used to assign attribute points. New construction system in development for a later update.
  
• Changed age of starting robots
  
• Added new technician job role. The technician is responsible for repairing machines and installing object/vehicle equipment items.
  
• Colonists will now restore a little bit of health when sleeping in a bed
  
• Robots will restore a little bit of health while recharging
  
• Increased duration of various ailments
  
• New colonist visual/audio effect when taking damage
  
• New visual effect when patient is being healed
  
• Updated colonist death notifications.
  
• Updated colonist attribute calculations for improved performance
  
• Decreased amount of time before colonist starvation
  
• Starting robot is now inactive instead of walking around by default
  
• Colonist now automatically selected after opening a stasis capsule or activating an inactive robot
  

UI

• Mining UI info now shows progress meter and updated resource info
  
• Colonist management interface completely overhauled with new colonist cards
  
• Smarts/Muscles/Athletics attributes no longer show a max value in tooltip
  
• Removed jobs tab from colonist info panel
  
• Added job selection section to primary tab of colonist info panel
  
• Objects now show more detailed information on why it is not getting power/water
  
• Buildable objects that require research no longer show in the object build list
  
• Changed look of object build menu items and item header
  
• Tech tree visual update
  
• Color selection window now highlights currently selected color
  

Graphics

• Storage containers, fridge and food dispenser can now be assigned a custom color
  
• Storage containers, fridge and food dispenser now have a capacity meter
  
• Updated look of frying pan graphic at cook station
  
• Updated look of water/power conduits view mode
  
• Updated look of thermal vents
  
• Improved overall graphics performance
  
• Robot assembler has new construction effect
  
• Mineable dirt/ore now has visible effect while being mined
  
• Added particle effect to deep mining animation
  
• Aeroponics farm graphical update to show occasional water mist effect
  

Misc.

• Object and machine durability now functional. Machines will break down when below 5% durability.
  
• Reduced robot construction times
  
• Increased robot construction materials as points are no longer used to assign attributes
  
• Removed research projects that unlock robot construction points
  
• Added Repair Tech I and Repair Tech II research projects
  
• Tier 2 equipment items now unlocked under new research projects
  
• Equipment item research now comes after tech printer research
  
• Reduced range of various colonist action sounds
  
• Mining no longer based on durability of tile, but a separate work amount value.
  
• Reduced amount of structure resin received from mining wall debris
  
• Crop fields now slow movement when walked over
  
• Colonists will avoid walking over crop fields if possible
  
• Added sound effect to cook station
  
• Added colonist equipment to boost smarts
  
• Improved performance when in water/power conduits view mode
  
• Updated in game guide content to reflect new mechanics
  

Fixes

• Fixed: Colonist stuck if unable to find a path to an eating table
  
• Fixed: Colonist stuck if unable to find a path to a crop field/aeroponics farm
  
• Fixed: Damage not being applied from ailments
  
• Fixed: Nutrition from food not being applied correctly
  
• Fixed: Nutrition effect not displaying correctly under colonists stats tab
  
• Fixed: Possible game crash when deconstructing power generators
  
• Fixed: Mods from Steam Workshop not loading when reopening the game
  
• Fixed: Game freeze if not running Steam client
  
• Fixed: Colonist action text not showing correctly for idle action in hover tooltip info
  
• Fixed: Robot assembler drop down not showing robot names
  
• Fixed: Colonists not properly avoiding objects marked with avoid tiles
  
• Fixed: Missing language string for Vehicle Assembly header
  
• Fixed: Missing language string for Equipment header
  
• Fixed: Missing language string for population counts in colonist management interface
  
• Fixed: Missing language string for change rate in attribute tooltip
  
• Fixed: Missing language string for attribute effect target in colonist stats and tooltips
  
• Fixed: Missing language string for Quirk tooltip