Development ·
Where the trees fall
Test build 0.1.405 works through the last round of playtest notes: sleep for as long as you choose, logs left where the tree falls for a builder to fetch, Melanie keeping an eye on the colony, the sounds of work, and chairs and bunks aboard the Meridian.
Development update. Everything here is in the current test build, 0.1.405. Details will change.
Playtest notes, item by item
The last test build came back with a list of two dozen notes, from the keys the movement checklist showed too early to the way the helmet stretched when you turned your head. This build works through every one of them. These are the changes you will notice most.
Sleep for as long as you choose
Sleep used to mean the whole night or nothing. Now, shut in somewhere with nothing about, you lie down on a bunk or press Z and choose how long: 1, 2, 4 or 8 hours, or until morning if it is night. Sleep mends your health and uses a little water and food, so a long sleep is something to plan for. The colony carries on while you rest, and trees grow back while you sleep. In co-op everyone chooses, and the shortest choice wins.
The bunk, the shower, the desk and the chairs also used to work only once. They now work every time.
Logs where the tree falls
A felled tree used to vanish into the colony's storage. Now its logs stay on the ground in a pile beside the stump, along the line it fell. Until the colony has a robot on transport, a builder walks out and fetches them to whichever building site needs them, and Melanie points out that once there is more to move about, a transport robot will keep the builders building. Building by hand and the sawbench both take logs from the pile where it lies.
Melanie keeps an eye on the colony
She now tells you when a building site has been waiting a while for materials, when a robot is standing about with nothing to do, and when a builder has run out of things to build. She does not nag: each reminder waits a good while before it comes round again. She also turns to water as soon as the woodcutter's hut is up, so the next job is clear.
Out on the planet she no longer drifts about while you talk. Stop, and she stops with you and turns to face you.
The sounds of work
The axe bites, the hammer rings and the rock drill rattles. The robots have found their voices too: now and then one beeps, whistles or burbles to itself, more often when it has nothing to do, and never so many at once that the colony turns into a chorus.
Chairs and bunks aboard
On the Meridian you can now sit in the bridge's crew chairs and at the comms station, and lie down on the lower bunks in the crew quarters, and in co-op the rest of the crew sees you there. The valve wheels turn as you work them, the boards beside the pod doors carry the hatch instructions, and in third person the helmet turns with your head on its collar instead of stretching.
A hot landing
The drop pod's landing is hotter than it was: the grass round the capsule burns for a few seconds after touchdown before the scorched ground shows through.
Smaller things
- Crouch is held, not toggled.
- The movement checklist shows a key only once Melanie asks you to try it.
- Unscrewing and refitting a panel keep their progress when you let go.
- Held tools stay in your hands when the camera is zoomed out.
- With the lights off at night, a room stays dark instead of brightening as your eyes adjust.
- The game menu counts days by the planet's own clock.
- The game has its own icon on the taskbar and its own startup screen.
Thank you, testers
Keep your notes coming through the tester feedback page.
