Titan Outpost News

This update contains a few minor improvements and fixes. One of the endings gets a proper slide for a rare state and another ending is easier to access.

[h2]Changelog[/h2]

[h3]Improvements[/h3]

• Outpost freezing over has its own death screen.
  
• Outpost temperature warning is now a timelapse-halting event.
  
• Buttons on generator panel more responsive.
  
• Singularity ending where Titan is rammed into Earth easier to access.
  
• New Ending slide for players who power down the singularity and then finish the game another way.
  
• Spacebar dismisses alerts. Can be set in the hotkeys menu.
  
• Roster manual now explains what the tasks are.
  
• Characters with the 'Caffeine Addict' trait can now get the inventory and sleep tutorials even if they skip the fatigue level check by saying they just need a cup of coffee.
  

[h3]Fixes[/h3]

• Leaving the heat off without triggering death exploit fixed.
  
• Outpost no longer reaches temperatures below absolute zero.
  
• Missing audio for reporting crash information to Karl fixed.
  
• Rover would sometimes not trigger regaining its full speed after leaving an area of interest in Shangri-La.
  
• Researching Strange Materials moves that quest entry for the 'Density' quest even if you report it to Magnus out of order.
  
• Can no longer get stuck at the Nanji-Jidi dam control center if you don't have certain skills. A soft failstate option has been added.
  
• The IPMS wealthy ending now correctly shows the player character even if the PC is female.
  
• IPMS remembers the singularity if you don't disconnect it manually, you still have to ask about it.
  
• A powered down singularity will not help earth, and you get the brown eco ending as intended.
  
• Singularity state is now taken into account with the Megiddo ending.
  
• Tom Parker world space avatar through the intercom fixed for Megiddo ending.
  
• Can no longer prevent Tom from contacting Daisuke if you quickly click on something else.
  
• Help Screen in Shangri-La no longer overlaps with other help screen if you press F1.
  

The OST now includes the two new tracks from the expansion content, Shangri-La and Nanji Jidi.

Enjoy this content expansion and interface overhaul!

The game already had plenty of content, but a particular side plot was left open-ended to account for planned DLC. The DLC idea has been scrapped and it is now a free update to the game.

Apart from that, the main complaint people had about the game since it became stable was the interface, which has gotten a lot of love and attention. Is it still old school? Yes. But it's now more responsive and intuitive, consistently legible and easier on the eyes.

Again, I'd like to thank everyone for the valuable feedback.

• A new major mid-game sidequest delves into the mystery of the ‘Strange Materials’ and provides more insight into certain factions in the game. About two hours of new content.
  
• Tied to this quest is a new character who will take you on a wild trip with unconventional science.
  
• Two new locations, one where you get to drive the Rover manually.
  
• Two new tracks added to the soundtrack.
  
• A new ending and ending states for the existing endings.
  
• New research, items and perks.
  
• The entire interface has been redone with better contrast, more awareness of overlapping clutter and better usability. It’s still an old-school affair, but it’s a lot easier on the eyes. Also includes mappable hotkeys and a special mode for people who have problems reading yellow text.
  
• The point-and-click system is now instantaneous and responsive. The character will move to an interactable location and no longer slow down to settle in.
  
• Many optimizations, fixes and updates.
  

Old save games will work with the new content, but not all reactivity with the core game will be in place unless you start a new character.

Is this the final version of the game? Content-wise, yes. It will still be supported and patched if necessary, of course.

These screenshots are scaled down, but just to get an idea:

New Dialogue screenshot:


New Construction Station:

New Map:


Hydroponics:


All other parts of the UI, such as inventory, tutorial, quest log, research, navigation, shipments, searches etc. have also been revamped.

A teaser screenshot from the new quest:




The key points above have been added, as well as:

[h2]Improvements[/h2]

• All backgrounds are consistent and text-heavy areas are darker to improve contrast.
  
• No more overlapping UI elements with too much transparency.
  
• Items now become unselected when processed.
  
• Hotkeys are now mappable in a new 'input' section in the settings. Directional keys can be mapped in the launcher configuration.
  
• Straight from rover to outpost button.
  
• White Text mode is now an option in video settings, for people who have problems reading yellow.
  
• Tiny Toolbar mode option in video settings. Enable this if you think the toolbar is too large.
  
• Jingo Lacus Deploy button now shows even when you can't deploy and will show you the reason why. (Zone is under Chinese control.)
  
• ICE XI purpose made clearer.
  
• Increased plutonium amount in crashed satellite.
  
• Strange Material description no longer references Polelya Macula because it can be found in Guabonito as well.
• Free cam added to Cryovolcano.
  
• Player lights now follow head animation when this is visible.
  
• Can no longer drive the rover with arrow or WASD keys when you're not at the driver's seat. (This would move the player out of a location when typing w a s or d in a savegame)
  
• Vehicle camera doesn't follow tilt as much when driving the manual construction bot.
  
• Max limb size reduced at character creation.
  
• Ambient temperature of outpost reflects slight temperature rise due to fungal growth.
  
• Submarine can now be controlled by the keys defined as horizontal, vertical, roll, and pitch as well as the buttons on the submarine screen.
  
• More ways to get rid of Val when she's in the base.
  
• Pressing F1 (or whatever key you've mapped to 'help') will now open context-relevant help screen instead of main instructions.
  
• IPMS Voice can now be set separately in audio settings.
  
• Skipping the tutorial shuts up IPMS immediately.
  
• Interactable clicks directly responsive, character 'easing in' animation cut.
  
• Research currently researching text more consistent.
  
• Hologram effect for Logistical Map and Research Station improved. This was possible after redoing the interface.
  
• Death now closes search panel, acquire shipment panel and suit alert panels.
  
• Free camera stops moving when you're using the interface in the Frozen Lander.
  
• Frozen lander computer now has a portrait.
  

[h2]Bug Fixes[/h2]

• Stranded Chinese Truck crane skill buttons no longer hide after you use the logistics skill when you could still apply another one.
  
• If Louam is occupying the bed in your rover while you rescue Kuo, Kuo sits next to the bed instead of lying on top of Louam.
  
• Bolsena Lacus has proper double mining rate.
  
• Dialogue with High Command dead end fixed.
  
• Passing a single day wouldn't advance research under certain circumstances.
  
• Dialogue inconsistency where you could mention Val mentioning something to Karl before you talked to Val.
  
• Val inconsistency before the crash fixed.
  
• Fixed rare bug where you couldn't build more tanks.
  
• "cannot sleep while caffeinated" notification no longer overlaps with work menu.
  
• Characters with Caffeine Addict trait recover from lower fatigue levels without stacking debuffs.
  
• Saving and loading in the bedroom at the throat of Kraken will now properly occlude the roof.
  
• Fixed crashed satellite memory module not triggering conversation option for Karl under rare circumstances.
  
• Watching the sculpture at the Cryovolcano no longer has a chance of hiding the skill icons permanently.
  
• Ling properly reacts to your transponder, both when you have it in your inventory or have it equipped.
  
• Kuo no longer immediately tells you about the sub if you somehow fixed it before ever talking to him, he will still talk about his predicament first.
  
• Added missing dialogue audio Kuo when you fail the negotiation with Kuo.
  
• Frozen, dead Adanech would sometimes appear in her bed even if she was still alive.
  
• Clicking on the outpost inventory in the stock room will open the inventory screen more than once.
  
• Leaving multiple rechargeable batteries in the inventory will no longer yield a single superbattery after loading.
  
• Stacked herschel polymers can now be processed, herschel polymers can be stacked.
  
• Picking a profile for NPC now blocks other input. Can no longer get stuck with Ekta.
  
• Ekta is no longer tagged as the player. This would turn the player into Ekta if you saved and loaded at a specific time, very rare and actually quite funny, but still a bug.
  
• Research images cleaned up.
  
• Outline in drone image fixed.
  
• Fixed bug where toolbar would show up after a certain negotiation result with Karen.
  
• Coming down from a caffeine boost while the time panel is disabled shows the correct buff value.
  
• Various typos.
  

[h3]1.211 Changelog[/h3]
Fixed bug where the Rover control was disabled after talking to Magnus.
Fixed overlapping of fungal threshold value when it got too big.
Various typos.

[h3]1.212 Changelog[/h3]
Finishing research will no longer glitch and block input until you click the 'unread research' button
Opting out of negotiation with Karen still leaves negotiation skill icon on screen.
Proper color of yellow on trade panel.
Research trade no longer has overlapping box on the right side.
Using timelapse while in the Rover in Shangri-La and getting a cutscene no longer resets player position.

This is a big one, with new features, lots of small UI improvements, bug fixes and even a new quest!

The new quest is called 'Refuel Enceladus' and starts out as a simple request from Horst. You can choose to simply follow his instructions or go down another path.

This was a late-game, end of 2078 quest cut from the game to be part of an expansion. The expansion is shaping up to be a completely separate entity, though, so part of the threads that were left open for expansion content will make their way into the base game. It's a short quest with three paths and the ability to obliterate an entire faction. It's short, but two paths have major repercussions, a lot of reactivity and tie up loose ends if you work against the Chinese.

That's a convoluted way of saying there's free new content.

Current players take note: The redundant sleep screen is gone. Fatigue level and sleep deficit are now shown in timelapse panel.

Again, thanks to everyone for the continued feedback.



[h2]New features and improvements[/h2]

• 'Refuel Enceladus' quest added.
  
• New ending slide for complete destruction of Helene.
  
• New achievement for destroying Helene.
  
• Helene can now be destroyed to complete Mass Murder Alibi without Yat-Sen's help. Or for people who want to kill everyone.
  
• Can now talk to Ling through the comms channel for menial things like asking about Jingpo Lacus or the Satellite feed. He will refuse to discuss delicate affairs remotely, however.
  
• Chinese quests move to complete (failure) if you kill them.
  
• You can 'rest while tired' when in the rover.
  
• Asking Ling about Jingpo Lacus is more forgiving.
  
• Can't request access to Chinese satellite from Helene without requesting permission from Ling first.
  
• Daxia and Louam will respond to your transgressions against the Chinese. You can convince Louam to stay with Poker Face or Charisma 10, but Daxia will just sneak out.
  
• Set of 5 girders buildable item added.
  
• Tutorial reworked to accomodate getting rid of the sleep screen.
  
• Morale loss for staying in rover reduced slightly.
  

[h2]UI improvements[/h2]

• The sleep screen is gone. Fatigue level and sleep deficit are now shown in timelapse panel. It was clunky, redundant and confusing to new players. Clicking on a bed now shows your sleep deficit.
  
• Timeline clock icon improved.
  
• Mission Log now has checkboxes, checkmarks and status colors.
  
• Mission Log description headers are now a little offset.
  
• Mission Log now uses the correct amber color.
  
• Mission Log more consistent interpunction. (Only on new playthroughs because descriptions are stored in the savegame)
  
• Failed or subverted quest entries are now shown as red.
  
• Vänern Lacus Group title no longer overflows in the 'entering location' panel.
  
• Player driven timed special events now show up in timeline. For example, the Herschel nexus arriving.
  
• Base modules can no longer be placed by right click. (used for scrolling, this prevents accidental placement)
  
• Dates for mission log and 'shipment due' are now consistently formatted.
  
• Available Channels List is updated when you open the panel, not when you enter the command center.
  
• Scrolling through savegame buttons with mouse wheel is faster.
  
• Remaining food display in inventory Stock Panel is split into two lines, food days remaining turns red when you have less than five days of food.
  
• Mission log blocks camera scrolling.
  
• Character names within 2 characters of the character limit no longer overflow the save/load name tags.
  
• Email message headers wider.
  

[h2]Fixes[/h2]

• Searchable area in Vänern Lacus Group now has missing tier 2 item.
  
• Fungal Growth dropbox state in the Roster panel is now saved.
  
• Daxia wasn't clickable on some systems, interactable spot increased.
  
• Daxia no longer sometimes appears at Tuxing Liu when she's at the Outpost.
  
• Val no longer sometimes appears in the Cave when she's at the Outpost.
  
• The elvator room in the base builder view no longer shows an interactable cursor.
  
• Melt/Excavate cursor no longer occasionally disappears on systems that don't support changing the size of the hardware cursor.
  
• Basement computer room size reduced so character doesn't get stuck.
  
• Fixed bug where Karen would keep getting angry about the misappropriated satellite materials if you tell her "It was Karl's idea".
  
• Orbital navigator Herschel Station list button works (you could only select it using the prev/next buttons)
  
• Negotiation Panel now correctly blocks hotkeys.
  
• Missing audio line fixed for Daxia.
  
• Daxia dialogue dead end fixed.
  
• 'Applied Physics' perk exploit fixed.
  
• Drone upgrade 'not enough polymers' color fixed.
  
• Daxia and Louam's corpses will no longer appear at Tuxing Liu if everybody dies there if they are at the Outpost.
  

[h3]Known Issues[/h3]

• Someone reported a disappearing toolbar, but we haven't been able to reproduce this after the latest fix. Getting rid of the sleep screen removes a lot of pitfalls regarding this, so hopefully resolving that issue is a beneficial side effect.
  
• Drones AI is still erratic on very rare occasions.
  
• People really want a rover-to-outpost button so that may make it in.
  
• The negotiation system could be clearer on what's going on.
  
• General Help still references sleep screen.
  
• Tutorial Layout a little wide for optimal reading on some screens.
  

[h2]What's next?[/h2]

First off, as more people start playing the game, different decisions on different systems yield different results, so there are probably a few more fixes on the horizon.

As for content. It's still not a final decision, but the way it's shaping up right now, one more quest from the planned expansion is going to either make it into the base game or become (likely) free DLC. It's a bigger one, with some new items, new research and new buildables as well. The quest is not tied to one of the current main storylines so don't worry about missing out if you want to play the game now.

The rest of the planned expansion will become the base for an entirely new game, but it's too early to make an announcement on that.

[h2]1.181 Changelog[/h2]

• Asking Ling about Jingpo fixed for older savegames.
  
• Tutorial screen moved out of the way of the timeline on the timelapse tutorial.
  
• Help screen no longer references deprecated sleep screen.
  
• Fixed dialogue audio skipping when asking Karl for a new lake.
  
• Clicking on the bed will open the timelapse panel.
  
• Dying on orbital navigator screen no longer shows toolbar or keep the nav buttons in the main menu.
  
• Unread message icon goes away when quitting to menu.
  

Another update with fixes and UI improvements. Thanks again for all the feedback, shoutout to JarlFrank for finding some obscure bugs.



[h2]Improvements[/h2]

• Yat-Sen's clickable area is increased when everybody's dead at Tuxing Liu
  
• Moved one of the ending slide text panels to improve legibility on certain systems (Saturn was in the way)
  
• Added a sentences stating that you still need to go down if you want to explore guabonito if you redirected a drone to get the uranium
  
• "The Gloves Are Off" becomes active after you talk to Rutger, regardless of whether you've read his initial email or not
  
• Communications UI overhaul
  
• Communications window now opens channels tab by default
  
• Channel buttons have audio feedback. Might add this to other menu elements.
  

[h2]Fixes[/h2]

• Fixed bug where dead characters weren't clikable in Chinese base.
  
• Jammer exploit with transponder equipped fixed.
  
• Can now exit Tuxing Liu when you've killed everyone and go onside on certain systems.
  
• Guabonito logistics XP exploit fixed
  
• Stranded Vehicle crane power is now properly saved if you use hacking and/or logistics to increase it but then don't use it before you save your game
  
• Can no longer convince Ekta to help Rutger if you haven't talked to Rutger yet. (Reading his email before talking to him would make this possible)
  
• Can no longer save in stranded vehicle on certain systems
  
• Starting a character with the same name as an old one should work now. They will still be in the same save bin, however.
  
• Fixed bug where quest would sometimes become active again if you re-read an email related to it after already completing it
  
• Fixed some typos
  
• Clickable tank displaying red "This might take a while" message removed from Outpost.
  
• Fixed issue where scrolling would sometimes fail to block camera control
  

[h3]Known issues[/h3]
Saving in front of Ling might still teleport you to the first floor on some systems upon loading.
Deleting all your saves will still keep the character name in the save bin.
Characters will very rarely not have hair for a while when loading a scene. Only happens on slower systems.

[h3]What's next[/h3]
The game will continue to be polished where necessary. An expansion was in the works, but it's shaping up to be its own thing. Some of the content will be added to the base game of TO instead, so you can look forward to that whether you're into expansions or not.

The Soundtrack I promised is caught up in Steam's review process right now. Everything's taking a little longer to process these days.

Stay healthy.