Our longest Experimental period so far is ending. Update 6 has made it’s way onto the Early Access branch! Some of you already know all about what we’ve added and changed, but for everyone else we will go over it in detail one more time.
As the old saying goes: A trailer on YouTube says more than a thousand patch notes, so definitely check out the Update 6 trailer before you continue reading. While it contains substantially less information than the actual patch notes, it comes with a little surprise.
While we have your attention, a little PSA: As we move on to our next development goals, we will be spending some time to wrap up remaining issues with Update 6. You can help us with that by reporting any issues and sending us feedback via our Questions Site: https://questions.satisfactorygame.com/
Some content that we briefly had on Experimental hasn’t made it to Early Access. Specifically, there are several Wall options that we are hopefully bringing to Early Access with a little delay. If you have suggestions on what Satisfactory is still missing, you can also look at the Questions Site for that. Upvote anything that you agree with and add new feature suggestions if you can’t find what you are looking for. It’s the best place to let us know about these things!
Now let’s take our final look at Early Access Update 6: It shines with some major world updates, the Boom Box, impactful changes to Equipment and the MAM progression, several great quality of life updates on the UI side of all things Satisfactory, a full overhaul of our creature AI system, and some under-the-hood changes of major systems. We break all of this down in more detail below.
We hope you all will have a fantastic time with the new content and changes. Looking forward to hearing from you!
Cheers from the Satisfactory Team <3
World
Spire Coast
This is probably the most significant single biome change that we still had in the pipeline, and now it is here: The island paradise that is the Spire Coast. We’re very excited to see what you will build in this area, constricted (and hopefully inspired) by the verticality of the spires. There are still oil nodes in the area, but their locations have changed.
We also managed to do a full visual update of the cliff wall separating the Spire Coast from the Dune Desert, so that large empty plateau is finally ready to be built on as well.
Swamp
The Swamp has received a full vegetation and atmosphere overhaul to better represent the icky vision we have for it. A place for daring pioneers to test their mettle in the future.
Sky, Atmosphere & Weather
We haven’t been idle on these high impact world topics either, with a generally improved day and night sky, clouds, and the addition of rainy weather. Hopefully you’ll enjoy the new variety as a myriad of days pass on Massage-2(AB)b.
The overall changes to our atmosphere system have also been put to use with more specific tweaks of the updated areas mentioned above, as well as some of our starting areas: Dune Desert, Northern Forest and Grass Fields. We’ve adjusted the specific lighting, fog, and feel for all those places.
Equipment & MAM Progression
Hand Equipment & Ammunition
The most obvious content is the addition of different ammunition types for all the Pioneers ranged weaponry. It’s quite a wide range of new useful and dangerous tools, from utility options like the Pulse Nobelisk to advanced homing ammunition for the rifle. And there is a mini nuke, which honestly is a terrible idea in the best way.
We’ve also improved the UI feedback for switching through your hand slots, making it easier to identify quickly which gadget or weapon you are switching to, and we finally implement a Holster interaction to put away your current hand equipment.
MAM Progression
We integrated the new ammunition types throughout different research trees in the MAM and did some rebalancing and reshuffling in the process! On revisiting them you’ll find that costs and placement might have changed.
A major change in terms of general progression is that we’ve moved some of the most popular energy related alternate recipes to standard MAM unlocks. Now you can find both Turbo Fuel and Compacted Coal there, as they are a great addition to the general power progression of the game.
Multiple Body Equipment Slots
Update 6 introduces the ability to equip almost all existing Body Equipment at the same time. Instead of a single slot, we now have a slot each for: Head, body, back, and legs. The main progression for Body Equipment is now that you can combine them as they get unlocked and you’ll only have to switch your back Equipment between the Jetpack, Hoverpack, and Parachute depending on your preference and the situation.
Boom Box
Brand new for the Early Access release is the Boom Box! It’s featured in the trailer and allows you to play some tunes for yourself or with friends while going about your business in Satisfactory. The Boom Box and several tapes can be unlocked in the AWESOME Shop, and you can even find a few hidden tapes in the world.
The Boom Box also comes with a Turbo Bass feature, which goes a little bit beyond playing tapes. Get it from the shop and try it out!
Creatures
Mostly visual updates
The most major change you will be able to find here is that the Crab Hatcher got a completely new look and no longer destroys itself when spawning the Flying Crabs. While we made the Flying Crabs themselves far less annoying to deal with, you will now have to destroy the Hatcher to stop them from coming after you.
The Spitters also received a visual change, with several awesome distinct variants! There is a total of three that have adapted quite differently to their environments, as well as a minor variant of the new Forest Spitters to better camouflage in the red forests of Massage-2(AB)b.
AI System Overhaul
We’ve been working on a new AI system that will allow us to introduce more variety to creature behaviour in the future. For this update we tried to largely recreate the feeling of the existing wildlife with some tweaks here and there using this new system. We are aiming for more improvements in the future to expand upon these changes.
Map and more UI changes
Map & Radar Tower
The Map feature now no longer unlocks in the MAM, but during Tier 1 instead. On top of that it has received some significant upgrades with Markers that replace the Beacons, Stamps that can be used to highlight points of interest both on the Map and in world, and an updated interaction menu. It now also takes up almost the entire screen to give a better overview.
Radar Towers are still unlocked in the MAM, but they come with additional functionality. If powered they now immediately reveal a set radius on the map around them, highlight all resource nodes in said radius, and give information on exploration rewards and wildlife that can be found there. All this makes them much more useful than they have been before!
To-do List updates
This planning feature has received a major boost. The To-do List can now be accessed from any menu by clicking on the right side of the screen. It also received some visual polish, is height adjustable, and can be customised with written notes, which makes it a much more versatile tool than before. You can take personal notes only visible to yourself, as well as global notes that can be seen and edited by anyone in a multiplayer session. It’s even possible to do some light formatting! We’re very excited to see how you use this to your advantage.
Codex recipe improvements
The recipe section of the codex has significantly more information available than before. All recipes can now be expanded to show the per-minute stats of all ingredients and products. You can also simulate overclocking in there now and see how that affects the recipes requirements and output.
Technical improvements & changes
Telemetry overhaul
Since the original early access release, we’ve been collecting gameplay data on play sessions, but we saw the need to upgrade our systems and data set to better prepare for the final release of Satisfactory (whenever that is coming). With this Update we are releasing those changes for the first time, and we will probably adjust the data we collect in the future as well.
All data we collect is strictly there to help us answer questions about how you all play, so we can improve the game and make better informed decisions. We don’t collect any personal data and nothing that is sent can be traced back to you.
Sublevel Saving
We’ve made a change to the save system that you hopefully won’t notice, but that is quite significant on our end. Basically, this allows us to migrate world elements that need to be saved onto streaming tiles, where previously they were always loaded. While this won’t significantly affect load or save times, it paves the way for us to add more interactable/saved game features to the world in the future without performance drawbacks.
This does mean that saves from Update 6 onwards are in no way backwards compatible, since the old save system is unable to read the new save files.
Patch Notes
EQUIPMENT
Added additional equipment slots for the Pioneer: Head, Back, and Legs
Added support for several ammunition types per weapon
Hold R with the weapon equipped to open the selection wheel
New Nobelisks
Gas Nobelisk: Releases a cloud of toxic gas that deals damage over time
Cluster Nobelisk: Detonates into multiple explosions over a larger area
Pulse Nobelisk: Generates a powerful shockwave. Double jump!
Nuke Nobelisk: Creates a massive explosion
New Rifle Ammunitions
Homing Rifle Ammo: Corrects projectile trajectory to hit targets more easily
Turbo Rifle Ammo: Shoots a massive amount of bullets at an accelerating pace
New Rebars
Stun Rebar: Can Stun creatures for a short moment
Shatter Rebar: Highly effective at shorter range
Explosive Rebar: Yes, even more explosions
Added the Boom Box
Plays a variety of music tapes unlocked in the AWESOME Shop or found in the world
Has a Turbo Bass. It might not do what you think it does.
Added holster functionality for the currently equipped Hand Slot
Default keybinding is H
Overhauled equipment HUD to fit all those additional equipment
Added HUD feedback for scrolling through Hand Slots
Equipment tool tips have additional information such as slot type, compatible ammunition, and a damage indicator
Consumables now prioritise stacking with Hand Slots when picked up
Double clicking equipment in the inventory now equips it to the first empty slot if available and otherwise replaces the currently active equipment
Updated all weapon crosshairs
Reworked Chainsaw audio
Reworked Rifle audio
Equipment will now be coloured to the default factory colour selected in the Customiser
WORLD
Spire Coast
Full overhaul of landscapes and cliffs
Complete foliage overhaul
New lighting and fog setup
Dune Desert cliff wall and plateau
Cleaned up all cliffs on the Spire Coast side
Landscape and foliage overhaul on the plateau
Swamp
Major overhaul of foliage
Reworks to lighting and fog
Minor landscape changes
Added new music
Added dynamic clouds and rainy weather
Updated night sky visuals
Updated lighting and fog in:
Northern Forest
Dune Desert
Grass Fields
Tweaked Western Dune Forest ambient sounds
CREATURES
The AI system, navigation, and spawning have been overhauled
Creatures now have separate visual and audio perception (and they won’t hear you crouch)
Creatures can now panic and run when certain conditions are met
New Spitters
Desert Spitters
Aquatic Spitters
Green and Red Forest Spitters
Crab Hatcher changes
Full visual overhaul
Now persists and spawns new Baby Crabs until destroyed
Baby Crabs have more predictable behaviour
Hog changes
Both Hogs no longer circle around the player
Hogs now have a rear up animation before their standard charge
Stinger changes
The Stinger leap attack now hits more reliably
Small Stinger attacks are much harder to dodge but deal significantly less damage
Added unique loot for all aggressive wildlife
Added optional HUD indicators for aggressive wildlife (can be turned on in the options menu)
MAP
Increased the Map window size significantly
The Map is now unlocked in the Tier 1 – Field Research milestone
Added new Marker system
Added new Stamp system
Stamps can be placed in the world by pressing ALT + RMB
Added support for Markers & Stamps to be highlighted in world
Added support for viewing, copying, and inputting map coordinates
Removed Beacon map functionality
Beacons currently disappear when used and are automatically converted to a Map Marker
All previously placed Beacons will automatically be converted to Map Markers
BALANCING
Minor changes to the cost of multiple MAM researches
Changed all MAM research to complete within 3 seconds
This change does not include the Hard Drive scanning timer
Most research visibility in the MAM has been expanded, causing research to be visible earlier in the research progression
Removed Beacons from Building costs and unlock requirements
Beacons are currently still used for the Alternative Uranium Fuel Unit recipe
New parts
Alien Protein: Produced from the bodies of your enemies
Organic Data Capsule: Produced from Alien Protein
Smokeless Powder: Produced by combining Black Powder and Heavy Oil Residue
The Polyester Fabric alternative recipes is now available in the MAM Mycelia research tree
The Compacted Coal and Turbo Fuel alternative recipes are now available in the MAM Sulfur research tree
Compacted Coal and Turbo Fuel can still be unlocked in Hard Drives
The other alternative Turbo Fuel recipes are still only available in the Hard Drives
Moved the Blade Runner research from the Caterium to the Quartz research tree
Moved Expanded Pocket Dimension research from the Caterium to the Quartz research tree
Added an additional Hand Slot +1 unlock in the Mycelia research tree
Increased Quartz Crystal stack size to 200 (from 100)
QUALITY OF LIFE
Players can now hold E to collect foliage
Content, content, content.
AWESOME Shop unlocks with unlock prerequisites are now always visible and display their prerequisites
Added feedback to MAM research and HUB Milestones that unlock AWESOME Shop unlocks prerequisites
MAM research trees now show when they are completed
Added sound effect when collecting Power Slugs
Markers for inactive Pioneers are now hidden
Recipes in the Codex can now be expanded to show the same information that is available in buildings
Tobias attempted improving the accuracy of building guidelines
Power Poles and Wall Outlets can now snap to and be built on existing Power Lines
UI
Increased Build Menu size to fit 6 items in a single row (was 5 before)
Sign settings now have a revert button instead of a save button, and save automatically on closing the settings
Added a welcome animation for the Awesome Shop when opened for the first time in a play session
Optimised the Save and Load UI
Polished Awesome Shop visuals and feedback
Updated the Lock icon in the Milestone Menu
Added a new icon used in character related unlocks such as additional Hand/Equipment Slots
Resource node icons on the compass now distinguish between occupied and unoccupied nodes
Updated the Health Bar visuals
Reorganised Workshop recipe order and categories
Inactive Pioneers now show last used username when they go offline (not retroactive)
Updated Hand/Inventory Slot Upgrade icons in unlocks
Updated a whole bunch of icons
FACTORY
Changed Radar Tower functionality
Shows resource node locations in radius on the map and if they are in use or not
Indicated which exploration rewards and wildlife can be found in the radius of the tower
Reveals the area in its radius immediately now
Radius has been decreased
Added several new Foundations
Half Foundations (1, 2, and 4 meters)
Inner and Outer Corner Quarter-Pipe Extensions (1,2, and 4 meters for each type)
Foundation Customizer Materials now work on Quarter Pipes and all new Foundations
Updated Conveyor Multi Pole visuals
Updated Portable Miner visuals
Added “No Indicator” Pipelines to the AWESOME Shop
Added lights to the Electric Locomotive
OPTIMISATION
Added scalability settings in the options menu
Overhauled the Foliage System
Implemented Sublevel Saving
Optimised Splitter & Merger visuals
Optimised Conveyor rendering
Optimised Signs rendering
Optimised Freight Station loading
Parallelized fluid system
PLAYER
Pioneer health now regenerates to full over time
BUG FIXES
Stingers can no longer get stuck on the Pioneers head
Golf Cart and Portable Miner now show when there is no room in the inventory to pick them up
Hello again everybody, here’s another small patch inching us closer to EA release, mostly UI fixes and a fix for a really annoying crash with no crash report that seems to be affecting some of you.
If we introduced any new issues or are forgetting anything please let us know over at our QA Site: https://questions.satisfactorygame.com/ We’ll look into it ASAP
See you all again very soon <3
BUG FIXES
Potentially fixed the no callstack crash related to the navmesh (This time for real™️)
UI
Updated Geyser icon
Updated Compass visibility
Fixed Equipment icon in HUD flickering when equipping an item for Clients
Fixed some visual inconsistencies for the schematic rewards in the HUB
Fixed Markers and Stamps placed on the map disappearing when reconnecting to a Dedicated Server
Fixed Markers and Stamps not saving properly on Dedicated Server
Fixed issue where the shopping list buttons would show up incorrectly in the Build Menu
Hello again everybody, here’s a small patch inching us closer to EA release, lots of fixes for a bunch of stuff.
If we introduced any new issues or are forgetting anything big please let us know over at our QA Site: https://questions.satisfactorygame.com/ We’ll look into it ASAP
See you all again soon <3
NEW
New Alpha Hog and Spitter Sounds
Alpha Hog and Alpha Spitter improvements and general creature improvements
Improved the lighting in Grass Fields during the night, also increased blend distance to improve differences in fog heights
BUG FIXES
Fixed pings being invisible for other players
Fixed “Press RMB To Respawn” still being displayed after a player is revived
Potential fix for Resource Well Pressurizer and Extractors not working properly when booting the game (Would otherwise be fixed by rebuilding them, but now you shouldn’t need to rebuild them for them to work again)
Potential fix for one of the no callstack crashes related to the navmesh
UI
Fixed issue where the text in the Map filters would stay when closing and opening the Map
Fixed Steel Inverted Ramp 2m and 1m icons being reversed
Relevant items now shows fuel types
Potential fix for softlock when respawning with a menu open
Fixed issue where option sliders wouldn’t change their values if focus was lost from their textbox
Record Vehicle Path button now updates properly
Editing a path node and setting the wait time to 0 now warns that the time needs to be over 0 seconds
Added a notification to indicate a path cannot be loaded because there are no paths
Fixed issue where the Map couldn’t be closed with M or ESC after entering coordinates
Fixed Vehicle paths being deleted from the Load Vehicle Path Menu not actually disappearing until the menu was closed
Fixed Options menu tooltip changing size when hovering different options
Added a warning when trying to record a vehicle path on a vehicle that has no fuel
Hello again everybody, here’s a patch with a lot of goodies, most impactful of them all here’s a potential fix for Creatures being completely gone for some of you, alongside a bunch of goodies like new icons for a lot of stuff, plus Tilted Concave Walls (Corner Walls)
If we introduced any new issues or are forgetting anything please let us know over at our QA Site: https://questions.satisfactorygame.com/ We’ll look into it ASAP
See you all again soon <3
NEW
Tilted Concave Walls
Part of the Tilted Walls pack in the AWESOME Shop
BUG FIXES
Potential fix for Creatures not spawning for some players in specific saves
Fixed some wonky animations when switching equipment in Multiplayer
Potential fix for Crab Hatchers displaying incorrectly when joining for Clients
Fixed Valves having no character limit on their textbox
UI
Updated Icons for Update 6 related content (And a lot other icons)
Hello again everybody, Turns out there were some more crashes as a side effect of the last few patches so here’s some fixes along with a bunch of goodies :)
If we introduced yet another crash or any new issues please let us know over at our QA Site: https://questions.satisfactorygame.com/ We’ll look into it ASAP
See you all again soon <3
NEW
Pretty stuff in the skybox
CREATURES
Adjustments to the Spitter VFX, Animations, AI and Attacks
Adjustments to Hog and Alpha Hogs Physics, AI and Attacks
BUG FIXES
Fixed crash related to Hatchers on Dedicated Server
Fixed up Low spec Skybox
Potential fix to a crash related to DroneAction
Potential fix for creatures becoming stiff when ragdolling
Fixed player placement while riding the Explorer
Fixed an issue where the player could open the Customizer menu before it was unlocked
Fixed Crab Hatcher not spawning crabs in certain scenarios
Fixed headlift issues when using pipe floor holes
Modified pipe hologram so that it now looks better when running from a floor hole to a pipe pole
UI
Increased build menu size to fit 6 items in a single row (Was 5 before)
Shortened build menu Category “Transportation” to “Transport”
Updated visuals for offline player name tags
Fixed issue where consumables wouldn’t show their total amount when holstered
Fixed a bug where Far/Infinite settings on the Map markers were switched
Fixed an issue where the weapon crosshair would display while the Build Gun is active
Updated icons in the Icon Library to add new content
Fixed up the Creature Warning to be on screen for a shorter time, changed its position and made it not show up again until you’ve left a previous combat encounter
BALANCING
Reduced the size of the radius for Factory buildings preventing creatures from respawning
Increased the individual Cluster Nobelisk Explosion damage to 40 (was 30 before)
Reduced Xeno Basher damage from 10 to 9
Increased the Flying Crab sphere radius to 60 (Was 32 before)
Hello again everybody, we’ve heard a LOT of you are having issues with crashing when saving or auto-saving, so here’s a small patch to fix that.
Thanks a lot to everyone who sent us saves when we requested them, we really appreciate your cooperation <3
Hopefully everything should be fine now but if the issue comes back or new issues arise, please let us know over at our QA Site: https://questions.satisfactorygame.com/ We’ll look into it ASAP
See you all again soon <3
BUG FIXES
Potentially fixed crash when saving/autosaving introduced in CL 198647
Hello everybody, it’s been a while but here we are again with a patch full of fixes and other goodies, alongside some new things, Creatures have gotten another big round of overhauls to fix some of their previous issues, so please give them a try again and let us know what you think.
There are probably some other things that aren’t mentioned in the patch notes that I might have missed so hopefully you find something unexpected fixed that makes you happy :D
As usual, this patch might have introduced more new issues or not fully fixed some things so if that’s the case please let us know over at our QA Site: https://questions.satisfactorygame.com/ We check your posts every day.
See you all again soon, Hope you enjoy the update <3
NEW
Added “No Indicator” Pipelines to the AWESOME Shop.
Added Lights to Electric Locomotive
Unpaintable buildings should now be paintable
Other Player characters in the world should now show last used user name when they go offline (Not retroactive)
Quarter Pipe Foundations now feature the same materials as all other foundations. Like with all other foundations, these materials can be used when the Quarter Pipes and the relevant materials are unlocked in the AWESOME Shop
CREATURES
Hog behaviours have been updated
Passive creature behaviour has been updated (Space Giraffe, Lizard Doggo, Non-flying Bird)
Flying Crabs (Spawned from the Hatchers) behaviour has been updated. They should feel more lively now
Spitters are still WIP, so they might be pretty wonky
BUG FIXES
Potential fix for Foliage not being interactable sometimes on Dedicated Servers
Fixed Bacon Agaric displaying incorrectly in conveyors
Truck Station names are now saved
Fixed Lizard Doggo not giving loot sometimes
Fixed Lizard Doggo showing “Open inventory” prompt when defeated
The crashes related to fighting Spitters have been more persistent than we thought, but we are pretty sure we’ve got a fix for them with this patch. Thanks for hanging in there and your patience!
As usual, if there are new issues or something we claim to have fixed still occurs, let us know over at our QA Site: https://questions.satisfactorygame.com/
Hope you all are having a good time mauling Spitters again <3
BUG FIXES
This time we definitely fixed the crashes happening when fighting Spitters. Hopefully 100%. Totally fixed.
KNOWN ISSUES 1. A potential workaround for Foliage not being pickupable on Dedicated Servers is restarting the server and re-joining it. Sometimes moving very far away from the area you spawn in also results in Foliage being pickupable again, both in the new area and the old area. Worth noting that when Foliage is pickupable, it usually tends to break when disconnecting/reconnecting to server until the server is restarted. None of these workarounds are super reliable but they might help people play the game on the Experimental version on Dedicated Servers until we finish working on a proper fix for this
2. Resource Well Satellite Nodes have a few different issues on Dedicated Servers, from not working at all, the extractors not working or them working but producing Nuclear Waste instead of the correct resource and Clients not being able to interact with them. From version 194290 you should be able to dismantle and rebuild the Pressurizers and Extractors on a Resource Well and Satellite Nodes, this is a potential workaround for this issue while we work on a proper fix for this.
This is a little hotfix addressing another crash that became more visible with our latest patch. This crash fix is related to Spitters specifically.
As usual, if there are new issues or something we claim to have fixed still occurs, let us know over at our QA Site: https://questions.satisfactorygame.com/
Hope you all are going to have a nice weekend! <3
BUG FIXES
Fixed crash occurring when fighting Spitters in close combat
KNOWN ISSUES 1. A potential workaround for Foliage not being pickupable on Dedicated Servers is restarting the server and re-joining it. Sometimes moving very far away from the area you spawn in also results in Foliage being pickupable again, both in the new area and the old area. Worth noting that when Foliage is pickupable, it usually tends to break when disconnecting/reconnecting to server until the server is restarted. None of these workarounds are super reliable but they might help people play the game on the Experimental version on Dedicated Servers until we finish working on a proper fix for this
2. Resource Well Satellite Nodes have a few different issues on Dedicated Servers, from not working at all, the extractors not working or them working but producing Nuclear Waste instead of the correct resource and Clients not being able to interact with them. From version 194290 you should be able to dismantle and rebuild the Pressurizers and Extractors on a Resource Well and Satellite Nodes, this is a potential workaround for this issue while we work on a proper fix for this.
We’ve got another patch incoming with the latest translations and a few fixes that hopefully resolve seemingly random crashes and freezing up of creatures on Experimental. As usual, if there are new issues or something we claim to have fixed still occurs, let us know over at our QA Site. The known issues haven’t changed, but we are keeping the section in for now so the info is readily available.
Hope you all are doing well! <3
LOCALISATION
Updated all languages with the latest translations
BUG FIXES
Potential fix for several creature related crashes
Potential fix for creatures freezing up randomly
Fixed Drones flying through cliffs and similar terrain
KNOWN ISSUES
1. A potential workaround for Foliage not being pickupable on Dedicated Servers is restarting the server and re-joining it. Sometimes moving very far away from the area you spawn in also results in Foliage being pickupable again, both in the new area and the old area. Worth noting that when Foliage is pickupable, it usually tends to break when disconnecting/reconnecting to server until the server is restarted. None of these workarounds are super reliable but they might help people play the game on the Experimental version on Dedicated Servers until we finish working on a proper fix for this.
2. Resource Well Satellite Nodes have a few different issues on Dedicated Servers, from not working at all, the extractors not working or them working but producing Nuclear Waste instead of the correct resource and Clients not being able to interact with them. From version 194290 you should be able to dismantle and rebuild the Pressurizers and Extractors on a Resource Well and Satellite Nodes, this is a potential workaround for this issue while we work on a proper fix for this.