Underground Update 0.5.0 Released!

As promised, and only a week late, here's the Underground update for After The Collapse. This is quite a massive update including both the promised underground layer and multiple new features.

I wrote a long article detailing the changes on our official website. I strongly urge you to read it, especially the last part regarding performances and known issues.

Thank you!



AI

• New semi passive animal AI (move around designated area unless hostiles go near it)
  
• Settlers are better at not getting stuck inside building locations (they get teleported out if need be)
  

Content

• Procedural map generator for underground caverns
  
• Stairs building to access the underground
  
• Ability for your base to be built underground
  
• New weather patterns, some of which might apply special traits
  
• New underground (hostile, nasty) critters
  
• Integrated the cotton mod (loom + cotton seeds for fabric production)
  
• Ability to convert giant spiders' webs into cloth using the loom
  
• Underground critters spawn meat on death that you can cook (preliminary step toward taming and meat production)
  
• Stone chairs, tables, doors (masonry)
  
• Added "Damaged Gear" item category for all damaged weapons, armors and headgear
  
• Stone 'statue' crafting for trading purpose (Valuable item category)
  
• Underground contains randomly generated loot crates
  
• Underground specific events
  
• Added Death sound for most creatures (giant animals)
  

Engine

• Ability to understand walled off maps: different groups of settlers can now live separated from each other
  
• A lot of "future proofing", standardizing the code, removing duplicate, etc. it's not sexy, but still necessary
  
• Reduced CPU cost of main UI and other functions. Should compensate a bit for generally more complex code
  

User Interface

• In building mode, when you can't build something (placement blocked by another object), the dummy cursor is highlight in red
  
• Added a red warning icon on top of depots you can't path to, and economical logic will ignore them until it's fixed
  
• Added a red warning icon on top of paused factories and power relays
  
• Added button and hotkeys (up/down) to toggle between overworld and underground
  
• Clicking some clutter/object will display what you'll get when razing it
  

Settings

• Menu option to enable/disabled experimental scene multithreading
  
• Option to enable/disable underground critters
  

Combat

• People with high military skill more likely to hit the less armored part of an enemy (head for instance)
  
• People gain military skill points hitting weak points
  
• Armors provide a percentage based protection against damage types instead of a flat number.
  
• Max armor protection capped at 90%
  
• Minimum damage from hit capped at 2 points instead of 1 to compensate for generally higher armor values
  
• Strength influences melee damage [base damage + (str-50)/10].
  

Balance

• Removed pacifist trait (until overhaul)
  
• Depressed trait no longer prevent people from hauling or fighting (as it leads to a downward spiral)
  
• Some items can only be built in the outside (solar generators, rain collectors, that kind of things)
  
• Tweaked skill gain for building and razing
  
• metal smelting: increased stone cost from 1 to 2 to account for all the undeground stone
  
• Hostile animals from raids no longer beeline toward your base, they'll use the less "active" FaunaAI module instead
  
• Given the semi passive animal AI, the event system won't wait for them to be killed them before resuming activities
  
• Water collector building time halved
  

Modding

• Raid event files can select which AI module raiders are supposed to run (should normally be RaiderAI or FaunaAI)
  
• Raid event files can select in which layer they want to spawn (overworld, underworld, any)
  
• Windows, blood, and some proc gen data can be overwritten by data mods (wasn't the case until now)
  
• Ability to set if an object can be built outside, underground or both (default)
  
• Weather patterns can be altered/added/removed
  
• NPC definition files contain new options: slight/full/no randomization of stats, and ability to generate traits or use those provided, etc.
  
• Body data files (limbs sprite and placement) are now properly accessible through data modding
  

Bug Fixes

• Disassembling some types of objects wouldn't properly clear the associated path, leading to blocked objects
  
• Sealing off a part of the map (walling off a storage zone for instance) no longer blocks the AI
  
• Multiple issues preventing a much higher use of multithreading (still experimental)
  
• Cars, fauna, shamblers having randomized stats (leading to "fast" shamblers, weak giant crabs, etc.)
  
• Cars and fauna having a "profession" (not visible to the user, but still a bug)
  
• Setting up building locations for things that wouldn't normally block path (beds), would still block path until the item is built.
  
• The same (wound type) trait could be applied over and over instead of being refreshed (causing people to have 20 broken arms for instance)
  
• Engine not fully understanding ranged weapons that don't use or need ammo
  
• Crabs and other animals could get depressed due to needs they should normally ignore
  
• Dozens of barely significant bugs that were made obvious when adding the underground layer
  
• Potential expedition + doctor related crash
  
• Some more missing french translation strings