“Update 1 – The Colony” patch notes

News / 2019-11-14

Greetings, survivors!

 

We just released the first update for Surviving the Aftermath, called The Colony! This update focuses on the Colony management aspect of the game – let us know what you think of the changes by using the in-game reporting tool.

 

After downloading the new content, your game version should be 1.1.0.5107 on PC and 1.1.027 on Xbox.

 

General

  • FMOD updated to 1.10.17 version.
  • The loading process now supports Multithreading.
    • This implementation will prevent the game from blocking during the loading screen – an issue that caused undesired behaviors when the game is running in parallel with certain streaming software.
    • The loading indicator now rotates properly during the loading screen.
  • Gamepads can now be connected while the game is running.
  • Added an option to disable the gamepad controls.
    • Sometimes, connected wheels or pedals cause gamepad mode to be constantly turned on. The new option allows players to prevent this from happening.
  • Added hotkey options for the Radio, Statistics, and Help Menus.
  • Pressing the Tech Tree hotkey while in the Tech Tree menu will now close it properly.
  • Players can now zoom out of the Colony view to the World map, and zoom in from the World Map to the Colony.
    • We added an option to disable this feature.
  • Statistics menu now shows production and consumption per resource. The Graph view will be implemented in a future update. [Community request]
  • The top bar happiness tooltip now only shows five most affecting Needs.
  • You can now rename colonists and specialists.
  • Patch notes will now be shown at the first startup.

 

Gameplay

  • [Community request] World map combat now shows a prediction and damage range of the outcome that helps to estimate how dangerous it is to engage in combat. 
  • All storages now have an option to define what resources should be stored there.
  • New buildings:
    • Maintenance Depot – automate colony repairs within its work area.
    • [Community request] Metal Extractor – scavenge Metal from barren soil.
    • [Community request] Concrete Extractor – scavenge Concrete from barren soil.
    • [Community request] Plastic Extractor – scavenge Plastic and Fiber from barren soil.
    • Nuclear Waste Storage – stores dangerous waste from Environmental Station.
    • Large Battery Rack – Store massive amounts of Energy.
    • Gate Level 2 – Shows more information about incoming survivors.
  • Tech tree updates:
    • Battery Stacking: Unlocks Large Battery Rack (Production)
    • Industrial Mining: Unlocks Metal, Plastic and Concrete Extractors (Production)
    • Reinforced Gate: Unlocks Gate Level 2 (Reinforced gate) (Security)
    • Centralized Repairs: Unlocks the Maintenance Depot (Security)
  • [Community request] Science Points added as a tradeable resource for new and existing events. This increases the availability of science points.
  • Work area improvements:
    • The efficiency of the work area placement is now shown in the placement info UI, and it affects production.
    • Soil types, trees, and water tiles affect building efficiency.
    • Wells can no longer be placed close to each other.
    • Added different indicators for the Work area circle to indicate resource availability.
    • Arrow indicators added to Work Areas to indicate the resource movement direction.
  • Tutorials updated to match the latest features.
  • Pregame selections (Environment) now affect the amount of Energy and Water generation.
  • Solar panels no longer produce Energy during the night.
  • Corpses lying on the ground now cause a happiness penalty in the colony.
  • Destruction/demolishing of a (not empty) burial pit inflicts a happiness penalty to all colonists.
  • The Area of influence is now shown for all buildings while constructing a new building of the same type.
  • Educated state for Colonists is now handled as a Trait. This will make it visible.
  • Added a new notification that tells if there are resources on the ground, but no storage to store them.
  • Fixed an issue that occasionally caused Bandit health to be shown with a negative value.
  • Fix for issue where bandit health was sometimes shown with a negative value.
  • Meteorites, Lightning, Falling satellites, and Overcharge now cause splash damage instead of targeted damage to a single building.
    • They also harm the colonists and not only buildings.
    • Catastrophes involving Falling items do not always hit buildings after this update, but they cause damage inside a larger radius.
  • Nuclear waste deposits on the ground sometimes eject a toxic cloud of radioactive waste that causes damage to nearby buildings and colonists.
  • The Tech tree Menu now shows more detailed information about the requirements and unlockable features of each technology.
  • Events and Tech tree now show resource icons within the tooltip.

 

Graphics

  • Improved terrain materials in the World Map.
  • Improved look and performance of the volumetric fog effect during catastrophes and night/morning.
  • Added visuals for destroyed Med Lab, Electronics Factory, and Auto Extractors.
  • Fix to an issue where colonists sometimes used tools from a previous stage of their animation path.
  • Corpses now decay over time and are eventually removed.
    • More visual improvements will come with a future update.
  • Improvements to the visual effects for the following buildings: Radar, Mess Hall, and Movie Theater.
  • Events now have exit animations (like cars properly leaving the Gate after an event).
  • Heightmaps around the colony now generate more blocking geometry, to make the colony area look more isolated.
  • Survivor groups are now visually shown at the gate.
  • Sped up several world map animations.
  • Introduced new flag symbols inspired by notable members of the Paradox community.

 

UI

  • Improved readability for the Build menu category icons.
  • World Map button has a “return to colony view” image while in the World Map view.
  • The colors for placement restriction in construction mode have been changed.
  • Added dividers between resource types in the top bar.
  • Firewood and Junk tooltips added to the top bar.
  • The World Map now shows combat damage after the damage has been applied.
  • Increased readability for the Combat prediction menu in the World Map.
  • Improved visualization of the remaining event time in the event floater.

 

Balancing

  • Reduced the maximum impact of Nuclear Fallout and Pandemic.
  • You now need 2 Fibers to produce 1 Clothing, down from 3.
  • Tool and Clothing production is now 20% faster.
  • Specialist Scavenging, Research, and Recovery rates boosted by 25%.
  • Amount of resources increased on the World Map, especially on the outer edges
  • School capacity raised to 10 children.
     Schools now require a teacher to work in the building.
  • Added variety to distant locations in the World Map.
  • The Merchant now offers better value deals.
  • Reduced the cost of the Blackmail and Slaver events.
  • Reduced the Component cost for Solar Panels.
    • This change is implemented to compensate for the lack of Energy production during the night.
  • Removed early game events from late game.
  • Improved the clarity of Happiness building differences.
  • Location hazards should no longer be able to one-shot a full health Specialist.
  • Reduced maximum survivor group size in most instances.

 

Modding

  • Building ID ranges no longer overlap with the game buildings
  • Implemented fixes to address the issues occurring when loading savegames with mods active
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