Both Vulcan and Europa have received visual update - with the sun on Vulcan being replaced by a supermassive black hole. Tuning your solar panels has also been made more difficult and gravity slightly increased. Europa now features bumpy, mountainous terrain, a new cloudy jupiter to fill the sky and modified atmosphere. Both of these will be available for newly created worlds, while any existing saved worlds will retain their old configuration.

This solves a major performance problem universally experienced with the game. Now players in large bases will experience a much more stable framerate; without the stuttering that plagued them.

Of the many bugs that come and go throughout development, one has stuck around since the very early days. As your base gets larger, or even in the early stages of the game while terrain is being generated, players could experience occasional micropauses or freezes every few seconds. These would happen no matter what your framerate was and happened even on very high-spec machines. I won't get into too much detail here (a quick google search should yield a lot of resources) but due to the amount of simulation going on in the game it wasn't a simple thing to remedy.

As of this release, we've updated the game to be running on the latest version of Unity engine, which introduced an experimental feature called 'Incremental Garbage Collection'. Typically garbage collection is run once memory usage reaches a threshold. In some circumstances this threshold would be reached every few seconds, resulting in the pause or stutter that many players experienced. This new experimental feature runs garbage collection far more regularly, meaning a tradeoff of much more regular pauses at a much shorter duration. Early reports suggest this resolves stuttering for most players, and due to other engine optimizations introduced with the same update, same or improved framerates.

As mentioned above, this feature is still labelled as experimental, so we'll be closely following how it develops further and what sort of effect it is having on Stationeers.

Many of the models in the game have undergone a visual update, ranging from spraycans, to signs, to some food and plants. This takes care of many of the models that were created as prototypes, but as we spot things that could use a similar makeover they'll be replaced as well. This should have no impact on your saves as the objects are just replaced in-place.

In order to better wrangle your starting crates and canisters, your starting gear will now arrive safely bolted onto a lander. Items can be removed using the wrench (but not reattached) and the whole lander can be deconstructed using your angle grinder.

Yet another tool in the explosives arsenal, Stationeers can now manufacture plastic explosives and a remote detonator. Mines must be tagged using a remote detonator using left-click and all currently tagged mines can be detonated with right-click. ItemExplosive and ItemGrenade can be produced in the Fabricator, whereas ItemRemoteDetonator can be made in the Tools Manufacturer.



We've added the first-pass of our Automated Independent Mechanical Entity or AIMEe. These can be set it up to use one of several behaviours and switch between them based on your own IC logic. They'll then venture out and find ores to mine and when full (or when you tell them to) return to unload their cargo into chute bins or inputs and to recharge. As this is a first-pass they will be available only in creative mode, while we get feedback on them and iron out any bugs.

Script example for controlling Mining Robot
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1864713778

• Updated StructureElectronicsPrinter model.
  
• Fixed issue where LED Displays failed to display decimal points if your OS is set to regional settings that use commas instead.
  
• Fixed IC code input window caret position
  
• Removed build states for glass doors until we can investigate rendering issue further.
  
• Fixed Large Tank incorrect Blueprint and Destroyed mesh.
  
• Fixed Security printer materials were displayed incorrectly.
  
• Fixed lander jumping around on network clients due to constantly colliding with attached gas canister(s).
  
• Fixed errors caused when auto-rotating StructureSateliteDish.
  
• Fixed missing recipe select button on the StructureElectronicsPrinter.
  
• Fixed missing blueprint for AIMEe Robot (creative only).

• Added Destroyed state for Small Tank.
  
• Added Destroyed state to Security Printer.
  
• Added Destroyed state for Big Tank.
  
• Added Destroyed state for Small Tank.
  
• Added Destroyed state for Iron Frames.
  
• Added Destroyed state for Autolathe.
  
• Added Destroyed state for Electronics Printer.
  
• Added additional damage state randomization; applied to frames and wall currently.
  
• Added ItemRemoteDetonator linked explosives will now persist through save/load.
  
• Added per-world trader weighted selection, this can be changed in the worldsettings.xml (Currently only on Vulcan).
  
  
• Changed the rate at which NpcChicken lay eggs.
  
• Fixed LandingPad locking issue. It wasn't updated landing pad state when loading world.
  
• Fixed Screen effects (such as the red damage effect) persisting on the menu if you quit a game while they're active. [Thanks Xetanai]
  
• Fixed errors caused when auto-rotating StructureSolarPanel, StructureAreaPowerControl and StructureSign.
  
• Fixed error when trying to save a blank label with the labeller.
  
• Fixed error where NpcChicken would sometimes lay eggs too often after loading a save.
  
• Fixed StructureAreaPowerControlReversed being the incorrect model.
  
• Fixed animation issues related to the ItemRemoteDetonator display.
  
• Fixed animation issues related to the StructureRecycler on/off button.
  
• Fixed ItemFertilizedEgg not spawning correctly.
  
• Fixed an index out of bounds issue related to custom traders.
  
• Fixed traders appearing with no inventory due to recipe lists containing items with no trade value.
  
• Fixed an index out of range exception occurring in atmospherics.
  
• Fixed broken dedicated server builds
  
• Fixed missing sprites for Europa.

• Added first pass of Mining Robot, currently only available in Creative. Programmable via IC. Modes are used to set behavior of the robot. RobotMode.None = 0, RobotMode.StorageFull = 6, RobotMode.Follow = 1, RobotMode.MoveToTarget = 2, RobotMode.PathToTarget = 5, RobotMode.Roam = 3, RobotMode.Unload = 4. Note these are subject to change. Some are automatically assigned by the robot (like, StorageFull). Robots are able to unload their cargo to ChuteBins or ChuteInputs, but must be within 3 meters of them to do so. TargetX, TargetY, and TargetZ are used for navigation and can be set via IC.
  
• Added frost animation screen effect when in extremely cold external temperatures.
  
• Added build states for Composite Glass doors, same as for composite doors just requires more glass.
  
• Added Cartridge (GPS). Used for getting X,Y,Z world positions, which is useful when inputting destinations for the Robot via IC. Constructed at the Electronics Printer.
  
• Added ItemCoffeeMug. This can be created using the Fabricator.
  
• Added "Depart" button to trading panel. You can keep trading unless you depart trading shuttle.
  
  
• Upgraded Unity engine to 2019 and enabled experimental feature to test improvements to framerate 'stuttering' issue.
  
• Upgraded Europa. Updated terrain, atmospheric scattering, and a new Jupiter with animated clouds. Additionally, the atmosphere has been reduced slightly.
  
• Upgraded Vulcan. New atmospheric scattering, and the sun has been replaced with a supermassive black hole. Solar angle has been made significantly harder and gravity has been increased.
  
• Increased view distance for Dynamic Crates and Dynamic Gas Canisters.
  
• Increased render distance of Lander from default (30m) to 200m. (Credit: Kamuchi via Discord)
  
• Updated Main Menu background to be a little more attractive.
  
• Updated Default starting condition to begin on a lander, so all your crates are mounted safely. Kits for the portables are now included in a crate in the lander also.
  
• Reduced Atmospheric Scattering lense flare on mars, as it was very big.
  
• Updated ItemAreaPowerControl, StructureAreaPowerControl and StructureAreaPowerControlReversed models.
  
• Updated StructureSolarPanelDual and StructureSolarPanel models.
  
• Updated ItemKitSign, StructureSign1x1 and StructureSign1x2 models.
  
• Updated all the ItemSprayCan models.
  
• Updated the ItemAlienMushroom model and the models for all the ItemAlienMushroom plant growth states.
  
• Updated the ItemHealPill and ItemPillHeal model.
  
• Updated the ItemTomatoSoup model.
  
• Updated the Wheat item model and the models for all the Wheat plant growth states.
  
• Updated Energy weapon firing animations.
  
  
• Fixed ore gas duplication method using furnace. Now when an ore is smelted, but not turned into Ingots, it will come back as out ore (or slag if not a pure mix). This created object stores the quantity that had gases extracted, and will not allow gas to be extracted if attempted again. This data is transferred even when stacks are merged. All ore that is produced through a centrifuge will have no gas when smelted, no matter it's source.
  
• Fixed Wheat being mature on first stage.
  
• Fixed Battery size when in the Battery slot for the StructureAreaPowerControlReversed
  
• Fixed StructureSign1x1 and StructureSign1x2 not dropping a Kit on deconstruction.
  
• Fixed issue where SolarPanels would generate energy when the sun was not visible.
  
• Fixed Lava plane not being cleaned up correctly on exiting game. [Thanks Risu]
  
• Fixed trading contract inventory sync on dedicated server
  
• Fixed error related to ItemWheat not growing correctly.
  
• Fixed error related to eggs throwing errors.
  
• Fixed errors when trying to delete line 0 in the IC Code Editor.
  
• Fixed various text layout and parsing issues with IC code (mostly) caused by the engine upgrade. [Thanks Risu]
  
• Fixed error if leaving a world while a stacker wheel was animating.
  
• Fixed Trader types being stuck as Undefined.
  
• Fixed Electronic reader breaking when trying to look at Gas Canisters.
  
• Fixed fire lights not always being destroyed.
  
• Fixed energy pistol and energy rifle having the incorrect bounding boxes.
  
• Fixed trading contract bugs. It generated new inventory when shuttle was already landing without warning message.
  
• Fixed Tooltip for plant harvesting not being properly displayed on multiple lines.
  
• Fixed issue where source code could be loaded or imported containing invalid characters.

Since Europa was added we were already thinking our next planet would have to be a 'hot' one. As with a lot of our content in the game, adding Vulcan resulted in building a lot of reusable systems we can apply elsewhere. The end result may have been a new planet, but making gameplay survivable on this fractured planet forced us to expand on several things already in the game:

• Planet-Specific Ore Spawn Rates. Previously these were moddable, but not on a per-planet basis. It didn't make sense for a planet as hot as Vulcan to have any ices spawning on it, so now they don't.
  
  
• Gas Traders. If you can't get gases from ices, where do you get them from? Since we had recently added the trader to the game, it made sense to have traders who sell it.
  
  
• Trader Profiles. In its first implementation, traders arrival and inventory was completely random. As it was a core part of survival on Vulcan, we needed a bit more control. Through the use of trader profiles we can dictate spawn chances and inventory types, as well as multipliers on buying and selling prices on a per-trader basis.
  
  
• Landing Craft. With the large crevasses that appear on Vulcan, we had a common issue during playtesting where one or more of your starting crates/canisters could fall through into the abyss never to be seen again. The lander serves as a way to keep all that starting equipment together. Crates and canisters can be removed using the wrench, but cannot be re-attached so be sure the area is clear before you attempt to remove anything. The entire lander can be disassembled using your angle grinder.
  
  
• Updated Visuals On the art side, we also had to improve some old shader code to support the new ground and lava textures on Vulcan, and took the opportunity to refresh the old terrain on the Moon and Mars.

Besides the aforementioned changes to ore spawn rates and tradeable modding, we also added the ability to spawn Incidents to the game. Currently experimental, Incidents are small script-driven events that can be initiated to provide a little extra flavor (or perhaps challenge) to your Stationeers experience. The event pool is still a bit small and untested for us to be throwing them at you at random as part of the base game, but the dozen-or-so in game now serve as an example to modders what sort of thing is possible for those who want to try their hand at authoring their own. They can be accessed via the in-game pause menu by clicking 'Incidents'.





Despite being in early-access, we've tried to not be one of those games who force you to restart your saved world every time we bring out a significant update. Since it was available for purchase on Steam, there's only been 2 occasions where we've players have been forced to start new worlds - one unfortunately was the stable build prior to this one. While we can't guarantee these won't happen in the future, we have added an in-game menu to view the backed-up versions of your world and allow you to easily load one of them. Lets hope it is never neccessary!

A lot of work has been done in the past month on optimizing the multiplayer experience. The process of joining servers, especially those featuring large worlds (15'000 objects+) should now be a lot smoother and several items that were not previously synchronized between server and client are now doing so.

As mentioned in last weeks preview post, we're seeing encouraging results from people testing out the latest version of the engine on the experimental branch. Unfortunately, as with any significant engine version change there's a few issues we've got to sort first. We didn't want to delay the whole update any longer, so have decided to get this update out then look at upgrading the beta branch early next week. The engine feature we're enabling to resolve stuttering (incremental garbage collection) is also experimental, so we'll want to ensure it's adequately tested before updating accross the board.

As always a big thanks to everyone playing the game and providing your input through the Steam Community boards and Stationeers Discord. The Localization team are doing a great job at translating the names of the new things we're putting in the game and your bug reports are immensely helpful for a small team like ours. We know we can't please everyone or implement every crazy idea, but being able to interact with people who are as passionate about the game as we are really makes the whole process smoother and more rewarding. Go forth and try out Vulcan, and we hope your base fares better than Araon's testing one.

• Fixed missing network sync on aspects of things that are dependent on atmosphere changes such as engine and furnace burn colour and furnace result tooltip.
  
• Fixed trading lock issue when loading world. Saved and loaded station contact properly
  
• Fixed missing powered display animation for ItemRemoteDetonator.
  
• Fixed Lava sound glitching & reduced range of sound.
  
• Fixed spatialization settings on Sounds for Hard Suit/helmet
  
• Updated the health of the StructureFrame allowing it to withstand more damage.
  
• Updated the point at which the StructurePassiveVent will take damage from Temperature.
  
• Updated the StuctureShuttleLandingPad lighting animations.
  
• Fixed the Rover power button not having a switch animation and missing the light on the button itself when powered.
  
• Fixed broken trader inventory when more than one vending machine connected to network.
  
• Fixed null reference to CableFuse when breaking.
  
• Added TimeOfDay setting to the WorldSettings, allowing worlds to start at different times of the day.
  
• Changed Vulcan's start time to midnight instead of morning.
  
• Fixed Lander tipping over when on a slight angle.
  
• Fixed ItemSprayCanOrange item itself being the incorrect color.

• Fixed Lander loading in Vulkan. Spawning Lander 1 meter higher position with upright rotation.
  
• Raised the lava level on the Vulcan planet.
  
• Fixed error related to the in-game name of the ItemRemoteDetonator and ItemExplosive.
  
• Fixed null error which would occur when detonating multiple ItemExplosive's near each other.
  
• Fixed broken ArcFurnace when it's saved while active state
  
• Fixed broken atmosphere

• Fixed electric tool issue on client
  
• Fixed null reference in leak visualizer on suit

• Added Lander to the starting conditions for Vulcan to alleviate problem with some starting supplies falling through the cracks in the ground. Crates and tanks can be removed using the wrench but cannot be reattached. The entire lander can be deconstructed with your angle grinder.
  
• Added values for various gas types including 1st pass support on Gas Canisters in Trading (No more NaN's).
  
• Added ability to add/edit custom trader profiles through mods (example found in Data\CustomTraders.xml).
  
• Added Gas Canister recipe list for use in populating trader inventories. Is not used for any crafting machine.
  
• Added first pass of 'Compositions' allowing mod authors to save-out and load-in/spawn saved groups of items, structures and circuits through events.
  
• Added a couple of missing pre-filled spawnable Dynamic Gas Canister prefabs in creative (Pollutants and Nitrous Oxide).
  
• Added ability to set mineable overrides in world settings. Previously the game used one set of ore types and probabilities for all worlds. If a world setting does not contain any override, those original default values will still be used. Mod behaviour for mineables should remain unaffected.
  
• Added first pass of player-invoked incidents to the game. The list of incidents available can be accessed via the pause menu, with individual incidents being invoked by clicking on them.
  
• Added a reference ID to tooltips while wielding the Authoring Tool to help with the authoring of scenarios.
  
• Added TickSpeed to Settings > Advanced > Experiments. It's sleeping time between thread tick and effects on CPU usage.
  
• Added wreckage which spawns when certain structures are damaged/destroyed.
  
• Added new interface within the load world screen to allow loading instead from a backup of the selected world.
  
• Added new terrain textures and materials for Mars and the Moon.
  
• Added new fire particles.
  
  
• Changed Explosion damage be more forgiving to the terrain.
  
• Improved multiplayer stability by syncing far more information between server and client on load, such as world settings.
  
• Improved multiplayer stability issues stemming from large worlds by streamlining the load process so the client wouldn't attempt to load in too much, too fast.
  
• Improved multiplayer stability by syncing several logic objects that weren't being synced between client/server previously.
  
• Removed several uneccessary network messages being sent to all clients on load.
  
  
• Fixed issue where battery status would cease to update while in a Battery Charger.
  
• Fixed an issue that could cause the landing pad to be locked on the server but unlocked on clients.
  
• Fixed traders trading type is now serialized allowing for more traders than just the Random one.
  
• Fixed default Gas Canister value & trade values for Gas Canisters. [Thanks Neouni]
  
• Fixed incorrect material applied to Credit Card.
  
• Fixed long-standing bug causing air conditioners to use twice as much power as intended. [Thanks Risu]
  
• Fixed devices occasionally being locked after load due to animations being stuck in a looping state.
  
• Fixed Gas Canisters can now be renamed using your Labeller. [Thanks Risu]
  
• Fixed players becoming stuck on the loading screen if they lose connection while loading.
  
• Fixed bug where ability to mine could be broken if you died while mining. Players can no longer die to get out of mining duties in multiplayer.
  
• Fixed World backups now included the world_meta.xml file.
  
• Fixed addition of hidden characters occurring when using the 'Copy' button inside the IC editor. [thanks Risu]
  
• Fixed tank/crate connection range was too far on the rover, reduced from 100 to 30.
  
• Fixed issue where loading a save with a broken worldsettings.xml file would error and stop loading. Will now show an alert with the location of your broken save. [Thanks Kamuchi]
  
• Fixed ConsoleDebug occasionally causing errors on start [Thanks Duke]
  
• Fixed Incorrect loading text being displayed when joining a server.
  
• Fixed occasional atmosphere replication issue in multiplayer causing Index out of Range errors on clients.
  
• Fixed players are now forced to be the Human species in the tutorial.

It's coming up on a month since our last update, so we thought we'd give you a sneak peek at what is coming up in the next update. It should make its way to stable in the next week or two.

Introducing Vulcan - a tough new challenge for experienced Stationeers. You'll rely on trading to obtain gases as you won't find any ice on this fractured planet. The dense atmosphere of Volatiles and its close proximity to the Sun also mean any Oxygen that gets a chance to mix with the air outside will have potentially explosive consequences.

Internal testing is underway for an upgraded engine version, this will address the infamous stuttering issues that have crept into the game throughout development. As this is still experimental at an engine level it is subject to change, but if it improves the situation then we'll look at rolling it out to the beta branch as soon as possible for public testing.

Additionally, a lot of work has also been done on stability in large bases - particularly in multiplayer. So if you're one of the groups who have had to retire a base around the 15'000 object mark due to players not being able to connect - now might be the time to revisit those bases on the beta branch.

This is just a short summary of the main points, so keep an eye out for the full patch notes when the patch goes live. As always, thanks to everyone playing on the beta branch and keeping us posted with your bug reports and suggestions and don't forget you can check out the Stationeers Discord for the latest patch notes for the beta branch.

We had a couple of technical issues in the previous stable build that didn't present themselves until we'd already added quite a few drastic changes to the beta branch - so consider this a bit of a hotfix with extras!

This bug resulted in games not saving correctly, and requiring a bit of fiddling to get them working again, so apologies to those affected.

Expect the detailed write-up of the new additions once some of the other work surrounding these features is complete.

As always, we'd love to hear your feedback, suggestions and bug reports in the Stationeers Discord!

• Disabled floating origin until all side effects can be resolved.
  
• Added ability for Ores to stack when mined via an explosion on the same grid.
  
• Fixed connection problem joining huge worlds in multiplayer. Instruction to spawn objects on network clients was not being throttled, and in the case of large worlds (18000 objects+) attempts to join would likely fail.
  
• Fixed various null exceptions when receiving network messages of non-existant things.
  
• Fixed issue where Grenades failed to explode when taking damage.
  
• Optimized network configurations.

• Added the ability to damage Gas Canisters on dedicated servers.
  
• Added wreckage spawning on broken structures when they are in the their damaged state.
  
• Added new variants of Stairs available on the usual kit featuring rails on either or both sides.
  
• Added new models for the energy pistol and rifle.
  
• Added missing color setting to Diode and DiodeSlide.
  
• Added a unique health stat to all Things.
  
• Added feature where Dynamic Gas Canisters take damage when the pressure if over the limit.
  
• Integrated floating origin to fix spatial jittering due to limited floating-point precision. It's available only for host player when saving and loading world.
  
• Changed Players no longer ejected from Sleepers when regaining consciousness.
  
• Changed how explosion force and radius is calculated for Canisters and Dynamic Canisters (Based off pressure).
  
• Changed the mesh on the Dynamic Gas Canisters.
  
• Changed how collision damage is calculated slightly to prevent scaling issues that could occur at low framerates. (Thanks Risu)
  
• Altered the cooldown on the energy weapons, these are also now affected by the outside temperature of its environment.
  
• Fixed broken Atmospheres in rooms on load due to their location not being saved correctly. This was a result of the floating-point precision change noted above.
  
• Fixed issue where time would persist from the previous loaded World to a newly created World.
  
• Fixed issues where gun shots were sometimes hitting invisible objects, this included a pass on the way the gunshots are calculated (Bullet drop, bullet spread).
  
• Fixed null error related to atmospherics.
  
• Fixed null error related to Logic Displays and setting their digits when destroyed.
  
• Fixed Gameplay settings page was prompting for a folder path when you tried to reset to defaults.
  
• Fixed issue with character suits casting darker shadows than everything else on terrain.
  
• Updated Localization Dictionaries (Current 24th July)

We've got a few new things coming to the beta branch in the near future that could be disruptive, so this is just a small update to get the stable the latest batch of fixes and improvements.

The main thing is the implementation of the zero-point shifting we started investigating ages ago. This will allow us to start to push the game futher away from your start point without the risk of bugs caused by dealing with large numbers in object positions.

In addition, we're going to start experimenting with content for the Incident system - which initially will be small challenge events you can invoke via the communications computer. Depending on how these go, we could look at introducing them as part of a random event system to make the standard survival game a bit more interesting, such as short periods of drastic outdoor temperature changes, meteor strikes etc.

As always, keep an eye on the #beta-changelog channel in Discord!

• Added World type (mars, moon etc) to the load game info pane.
  
• Added save world delay of 5 seconds to prevent saving world multiple times when repeatedly pushing the button.
  
• Added Multiplayer and dedicated server support to Trading, however a limit has been put in so only one landing pad used or trader be contacted by one player at a time.
  
• Added Stylized loading screens, with a few options for each base world type chosen at random.
  
  
• Changed minimum Clearallinterval to 60 sec on dedicated server. Can still be disabled with 0 or -1.
  
• Fixed an issue where a trader would be locked if the person interacting with them were to die.
  
• Fixed an issue where a trader ship would depart when another player tried interacting with a locked trader.
  
• Fixed an issue related to when a player left game while contacting a trader, it would be locked indefinitely - the contact will now be reset.
  
• Fixed "Cartridge wasn't destroyed properly" message on client when server shut down.
  
• Fixed issue where load world screen would not correctly select the first world in the list automatically.
  
• Fixed wrong overwrite popup and workshop file name on save world panel.
  
• Fixed player name in chatting panel. It couldn't get player's name before spawning player.
  
• Fixed save world having a small chance of not properly saving the world settings.
  
• Fixed issue where loading a world that was missing the world settings file would result in an exception error.
  
• Fixed issue where the SatelliteDish was providing incorrect logic values.
  
• Fixed a null sent to clients when the server interacts with landing pad.
  
• Fixed traders de-spawning when still being interacted with (Thanks Clever)
  
• Fixed filters and foods quantities are now the correct value displayed in the trading interface.
  
• Fixed stackable item merging issue on client. It was trying to merge stackable item without authority.
  
• Fixed missing spawn prompt when human is already dead or unconscious. Toggled spawn prompt by ESC key.
  
• Fixed possible null spam and permanent lockout when interacting with a trader. (Thank you Clever!)
  
• Fixed Trading currency not being synced correctly, also the cost of an item is now correctly removed from a credit card.
  
• Fixed Index out of range error caused by the incorrect contact index being passed through. (Trading) Thank you Atom Heart!
  
• Fixed an issue on vending machine where index started from the wrong point. (Thanks Risu)
  
• Fixed Mars scenario gravity, reset it back to -3.7.
  
• Fixed lag spiking when placing landing pad.
  
• Fixed Colliders for each seat in the rover are now sized and positioned around the door handles rather than the door themselves, so they no longer obscure vision when looking out the side windows.
  
• Fixed Issue spawning multiple Rovers in multiplayer upon completion of the structure version, due to a missing server check. This meant that each client in the game at the time also sent a message to the server, telling it to spawn a Rover.
  
• Fixed world setting sync issue and missing planet prefab in saved world. Local world setting wasn't loaded property once joined another server.
  
• Fixed NetworkAnalyser issues when too many cables are connected. It couldn't output data and broke game logic when disconnected a network cable while holding NetworkAnalyser on the other hand.

This patch was a while coming, but I'm sure when you see everything we've got crammed into it you'll understand why!

The first pass of traders is complete. By using the satellite contact system we added in a previous update you're able to request that traders visit your base to exchange resources. You'll find on your uniform a new slot to store a Credit Card (can be manufactured in the Electronics Printer) that will track your credits obtained via trading. The traders have varied inventories and pricing is based off the materials used to craft items - helped by raw material costs based on the rarity of minerals on your world. You'll need a landing pad and computer with a Communications motherboard in order for them to be able to land. We'll be looking to expand the range of things you can do with these satellite contacts in the future.


The first land-based vehicle can now be manufactured via a Kit (Rover Frame) on your Fabricator. This lets you place the foundations and progress through several build-states before you get your completed Rover. They'll require batteries to run and oxygen tanks if you wish to utilize the internal atmosphere. They also have a couple of storage slots on the rear to carry around Dynamic Crates or Portable Gas Tanks which can be attached using your Wrench from nearby.

So as most of you following the game know, we've spent the last few months investigating several large technical refactors as detailed in previous patch notes. Instead of letting our asset backlog grow even further, the art team were tasked with creating something we could implement with minimal programmer input, outside of the already promised scope of the game, to not only gift to the various contributors that have been particularly dedicated to helping the community, but also to allow those who had asked for a way to further support the game the means to do so.

All those in Discord with the rank Community Developer or Community Contributor should now have been sent their redemption keys for one or both of the new species packs. We'll detail these more below, but while they'll be available in any game, only those with the packs will be able to actually take control as one to play with.


The Zrillian Species Pack introduces the Zrilians, who feature a startlingly similar physiology to our own - except requiring Hydrogen to breathe and exhaling Nitrous-Oxide. This makes their ideal breathing environments particularly hazardous, and any attempt to create a breathable atmosphere for both them and humans even more-so.


The Hazardous Environment Mechanical Droid or H.E.M Droid was created to venture into the most dangerous areas of space without risking human life. They don't need to breathe like we do, but need to carefully manage their power usage as they rely on batteries to function. If unable to draw sufficient power from their battery, they'll slowly lose consciousness until they pass out.

The way Stationeers is designed made these gameplay changes incredibly simple to apply. We were able to just make a copy of the existing human lungs and change the gas values it consumed. For the Droids we were able to use our existing power consumption code, but apply consciousness damage if none was available. We already had the fade to black and passing out done for humans, so got that for free!

We did a pass several long-standing bugs around mod data loading for recipes and items, as well as made all mod data now sync from server to clients on join. This should reduce instances of issues caused by server and client having mismatched mods or mod load orders.

As always, we like to include a bit of information about what is being worked on but didn't make it this update. Work continues on the session abstraction, meaning a game lobby will be able to exist independently of the game world. This will smooth the way towards round-based play, as well as other game modes that take place across multiple worlds with the same players/inventories. We're also looking at a large optimization pass on terrain saving/loading to prevent the issue we've currently got where spawning in a lot of terrain can blow out your save size significantly. In addition to this we'll continue to evolve the Rover and trading mechanics, and start looking at expanding some systems that were put on hold so that we could focus on the recent technical refactors - like the incident and expanded scenario system. No doubt this time will also include numerous optimizations and quality of life improvements based on the feedback we receive on Discord.

Last but not least, the potential replacement for the existing tutorial is available for testing on the workshop! We're committed to improving the new player experience in the game, so as soon as we have the last few bugs squashed on this one we'll make it available to everyone.

• Fixed missing recipes for Satellite Dish Kit, Landing Pad Kit and Comms Motherboard.
  
• Fixed DLC characters not appearing for players that haven't purchased the DLC.
  
• Changed some of the trader names due to readability issues.
  
• Updated the LandingPads turned off animation.
  
• Fixed robot main menu characters eyes floating about. (Thanks GhostMan)
  
• Fixed world setting data sync and mod issue. It didn't override world setting data(SkyBoxMaterialName, TerrainPrefabName, etc) from mod or saved world.
  
• Updated Localized Text (Current 14th June).

• Fixed issue causing many object textures to appear incorrectly.

• Added first-pass of resource trading. There is a chance one of the signals will be a trader when you first contact them if you have a powered landing pad connected to the same network as the computer with the Comms motherboard, they'll be able to request to land. Your inventory is calculated from the contents of any vending machines on the same network as the computer, and this is where goods will be delivered to. See future patch notes for more details.
  
• Added Rover to survival mode. Recipe for the 'Kit (Rover Frame)' can be found in the Fabricator. You'll then need to go through several build stages before it turns into a functional Rover.
  
• Added storage connections to the rear of the Rover. You can now load up both storage slots with either a Dynamic Crate or Dynamic Gas Canister using your wrench.
  
• Added credit card slot to both the Marine and Commander uniform alongside a new Slot icon addition.
  
• Added two logic values for Satellite Dish. Strongest Signal which is pretty self explanatory, and SignalID which is a unique ID applied to each contact.
  
• Added a credit card item which can be made through the Electronics printer to handle currency.
  
• Added a new slot to the uniform to hold your shiny new credit card.
  
• Added Debug Key to help capture data for bug reports. Left CTRL + G will now print out the targeted items grid coordinates to the in game console window and the games output_log.txt.
  
• Added World settings, modded items and recipe data now properly sync to clients when joining a server.
  
  
• Fixed Debug tool for grid locations now performs a null check and added small grid coordinates if available.
  
• Fixed Rover now ejects its contents if it is destroyed.
  
• Fixed input panel popping up on client when server accesses hash reader. (Thanks spunky)
  
• Fixed only the Fertilized variant of eggs was spawnable via the creative menu and appeared in the Stationpedia. [Thanks Austin]
  
• Fixed issue where loading mod data for some items would break their functionality elsewhere in the game, ie. when being smelted. [thanks Risu]
  
• Fixed null reference exception when the game tried to select a default recipe of Fabricator before fully spawned character on creating or loading a world.
  
• Fixed mouse not appearing upon interacting with landing pad.
  
• Fixed Modding recipies for the Fabricator. It didn't update screen job correctly.
  
• Fixed Consumable and Food mod data. It didn't update mod data properly.
  
• Fixed Loading issue when modified specific item in mod. It threw null exception while loading Stationpedia.
  
• Fixed Loading issue on dedicated server. Game data wasn't initializing properly.
  
• Fixed Reagents recipe bug. It didn't correctly initialize pressure and temperature values.
  
• Fixed Config cartridge values. It now returns 3 fractional digits.
  
• Fixed headlamp not using power.
  
• Fixed missing world data loading step for Centrifuge recipes. [thanks Risu]
  
• Fixed signals not being read correctly from logic reader.
  
• Fixed contacts spawning outside of scannable range on planets.
  
• Fixed credit card visual display not refreshing after purchases (Thank you for your feedback everyone!).
  
• Fixed SatelliteDish out of range spam.
  
• Fixed incorrect consumable displaying in trading interface.
  
• Fixed world loading failure when there are more than 5 worlds setting and fixed mining effect in Europa, where the wrong mining effect was being used.
  
• Fixed localized text in mods.
  
• Fixed broken Atmosphere when mining. It would sometimes throw an "Argument is out of range" exception and crash the atmospherics thread.
  
• Fixed long-standing issue preventing the proper display of bedrock textures when deep mining.
  
• Fixed display issue with the main menu characters eyes when idly looking around.

Our second patch for the week closely follows the pattern of the first. This might otherwise be a hotfix if it weren't for the impromptu addition of another new piece of kit, the new Heavy Mining Drill! We've also replaced the model on the old one.



We've also put in a couple of overlooked aspects of the Arc Welder added in the last update, namely the recipe required to craft one.

This will (hopefully) be the last couple of urgent fixes required for the main branch until we officially release the next major features to the game, so keep an eye on the beta branch and the news page for an announcement in the next few weeks!

• Added particle effect to new Arc Welder.
  
• Added Mining Drill (Heavy). Much more effective than basic mining drill but requires advanced materials to make and uses more energy.
  
• Replaced Mining Drill with new model that looks more consistent. Also is now paintable. Animation improved.
  
  
• Fixed issue with helmet being visible in first-person view after exiting any entity slot, such as a Chair, Sleeper pod or Rover.
  
• Fixed repeating error when attempting to smelt an item (eg. in the furnace) that has no reagent mixture defined.
  
• Fixed Arc Welder not using power correctly. Now consumes 2kW per weld, which equates to roughly 72 full frames per large battery.
  
• Fixed missing Mode interaction button on both old and new mining drills preventing players from selecting 'Flatten' mode.

Another little patch this week, which would typically be a hotfix post if not for the sneaky little addition of the Arc Welder. It'll take a lot of power, but is significantly less prone to exploding. You'll still have plenty of time to explode though, as the materials to craft this won't be available to you until you've been able to smelt some of the more advanced alloys.

The most impactful bug we're patching is one where eating something will result in you hearing yourself eating that thing forever, even after loading a new world - and nobody likes a loud eater. Sorry for this one, and doubly sorry it took so long to get the fix across to the main branch!

Work continues on the Rover and Trading features planned to be live on beta in the very near future, with the Rover just getting an audio pass and some tweaks on some extra features besides just personnel transport. You're able to take the Rover for a spin already if you wish, it can be spawned in creative mode. Keep in mind this is still very much in testing though, so let us know in Discord if you encounter any bugs.

• Added Arc Welding tool. This is a welding tool that uses power, rather than fuel, to weld. Useful for late game. Requires advanced resources, constructed from Tool Manufactory.
  
• Updated Localization Files (Current 14th May).
  
• Added event so that scenario authors can trigger events based on suit temperature changes.
  
• Added event so that scenario authors can set entity nutrition levels.
  
  
• Fixed null reference exception when displaying tooltip over a structure while holding non-item thing in your hands.
  
• Fixed Error caused when the game couldn't find a player to attach a 'harvested' sound to (in the case of Automated Hydroponics etc). [thanks Eearslya]
  
• Fixed Error on Dedicated Server when it tries to process its own notice message due to not having the same type of chat window as clients. [thanks Eearslya]
  
• Fixed stuck in loading screen when there is a duplicated recipe in ChemistryStation, Microwave, PaintMixer, ReagentProcessor.
  
• Fixed incorrect interaction cursor. It displayed wrong interaction cursor when picking up an item into an empty hand.
  
• Fixed hidden slots items [Thanks Risu]
  
• Fixed null reference exception when reloading world mod on workshop. It didn't clear cached data.
  
• Fixed client unable to destroy with Authoring tool fix.
  

Just a mini-update this week, we're back working on some big features. We'll save a big write-up of these for when they're fully released but a large portion of the implementation is already done, so don't expect they'll be too far away.


Your customized character can now be set on the options screen and will now be your default for any new worlds you create or join. The menu character will now also reflect these options.

You can now destroy draggable items, for those of you sick of excess crates and dynamic canisters cluttering up your little corner of Mars. This is as simple as just targeting them with an Angle Grinder equipped. Any objects contained within the destroyed item will appear in-world, and any gas remaining inside will be released when you cut into it - so be careful as a destroying a pressurized tank will be very dangerous.

A much-requested feature of the authoring tool was the ability to remove objects quickly and completely, without extra cleanup of loose dynamic items being required. You can now do this with the tool wielded by holding down your QuantityModifier key which is C by default.

These features are still being fully implemented and tested, but to give you a bit of an idea what to expect in our next big update - here:

• Added the ability to see your customized character in the main menu screen.
  
• Added the ability to deconstruct various portable atmospheric devices using the angle grinder.
  
• Added the ability to delete items and structures using the authoring tool. Delete Structures with Authoring tool by holding down the QuantityModifier key (C by default).
  
• Updated Localization Files (Current 17th April)
  
• Improved Destruction of large dynamic items with the Angle Grinder. Now applies to all draggable things, not just atmospheric devices. Also now properly ejects the contents of all slots and atmospheres when deconstructed.
  
  
• Fixed issue where chute junctions placed directly next to device inputs/outputs would not always 'connect' correctly through save/load. [thanks Risu & Zaneo]
  
• Fixed slot numbering on Battery Charger. [thanks Austin]
  
• Fixed interactable order caused by yesterdays slot number fix on Dynamic Crates. [thanks Rob The Dude]
  
• Fixed issue with DynamicCrate slot ordering. [thanks Sharidan]
  
• Fixed double brown hair issue & not being able to change hair colour without hair.
  
• Fixed authoring tool deletion; you must now hold the modifier key to delete anything, also increased the time it takes to delete from 0.1 seconds to 0.5 seconds.
  
• Fixed facial hair is now displayed on the main menu character.
  
• Fixed bug preventing automatic rotation button from automatically setting values for objects with a single rotation plane that aren't face mounted.
  
• Fixed automatic rotation on FlagSmall.
  
• Fixed atmosphere being released when destroying gas canisters with authoring tool.
  
• Fixed typo in description of bdseal and bdnsal [thanks Andir]
  
• Fixed bug that set IC stack pointer value to 0 on load regardless of what it was when saved.
  
• Fixed Inability to unwrench gas canisters from connectors.
  
• Fixed 'InvalidCastException' when targeting certain objects.
  
• Fixed Object fall-through-world protection. Made more reliable and now removes any forces applied on the falling object in an attempt to prevent any more 'accidents'.
  
• Fixed sleep command on IC only working first time it was called.

Still working through the big-ticket technical backlog, but as usual we have a bunch of fixes and your requests that are worth getting into the stable branch. We're also going to endeavour to keep the 'what we're working on' section of these notes going every patch, to more clearly illustrate that what you see in these patch notes every few weeks is not the totality of what has been done since the last update.

We've added the ability to search for recipes in manufacturing machines. For the IC programmers, we've also added a sleep command. They're small things, but many of you have been very passionately requesting them so we hope you enjoy it.

The first of many audio improvements have taken place in the last couple of weeks with the addition of a new team member dedicated to audio. In addition to bringing across some audio functionality from another project at the studio, we've been able to start looking at some of the most noticeable holes in what you hear while playing the game. We'll be experimenting with a lot of the systems and sound, so give us your feedback and keep in mind that it'll be a continually evolving thing as development continues.

Work continues on the new tutorial, and we'll look at getting this up on the workshop in the next week as well as making available the documentation for authoring your own tutorials or scenarios. Once it has been thoroughly tested, we'll look at introducing it in the beta branch. As this will ideally be a brand new replacement tutorial, we need to ensure it is a bug-free and comprehensive introduction to the game before it makes it to people playing for the first time.

Some of these have been posted in past patch notes, but rather than regularly field questions about it in Discord and on Reddit, we'll try post more regular updates for works-in-progress here.

Session Abstraction
We're working on a lobby system to break up the multiplayer and the game world. This will allow players to join a game before the world is created. The next step will be the preserve this lobby/player data even while cleaning up the world, then once we support being able to transition into a new one with the same set of people then round-based play is just around the corner.

Optimization
While we're trying to leave the bulk of optimization until more of the core features are into the game, occasionally certain things stand-out as being strong candidates for optimization. We've identified a couple of these in the last week or two, so it's too soon to speculate on how impactful they'll be - keep an eye out on the beta branch patch notes.

Audio
As mentioned above, the team now has a dedicated audio tech/programmer! The focus in the immediate future will be sounds local to the character (ie. suit noises), with additional movement sounds to go with the just-added footstep ones.

• Fixed various side effects of refactoring.

• Fixed several missing references to NitrousOxide in tooltips etc. [Credit: Risu]
  
• Fixed issue where randomize on the Character Customization screen allowed invalid selections, which if retained would prevent save games with that character from loading correctly.

• Added the ability to search when using various printers.
  
• Added sleep command to IC that pauses execution for the supplied number of seconds.
  
• Added new audio pipeline allowing greater control and supporting simpler addition of new audio assets to the game.
  
• Added first pass on footstep sounds.
  
• Added ability to include custom translations to mods, not just scenarios.
  
• Updated all prefabs that play sound as part of new audio manager.
  
• Updated Suit audio parented to local player are now 2d.
  
• Updated Localization Files (Current 19th March).
  
• Removed audio-sources form prefabs that shouldn't have them.
  
• Fixed Duplicated entries in the IC Code entry help windows.
  
• Fixed bug where IMergeable structures could be used to change ones already flagged as indestructable.
  
• Fixed null reference exception that could be caused by exploded gas canisters.
  
• Fixed broken AtmosAnalyser when accessed to already destroyed atmosphere.
  
• Fixed issue where nutrition was not being consumed, leading to hunger never increasing.
  
• Fixed issue where the printer search bar text was not resetting.
  
• Fixed bug when items leaving Sorter could get stuck when items were already in chute (props to Risu and Kamuchi)
  
• Fixed error that could occur on ListenerEffectManager when loading some Steam Workshop saves.
  
• Fixed AudioSources that are not playing are disabled.
  
• Fixed Missing font causing fabricator construction list entry titles and quantities not being displayed.
  
• Fixed error when attempting to change objects that are in the process of being destroyed since engine upgrade.
  
• Fixed remote control save command. It failed to save world.
  
• Fixed bug that would cause some structures to lock when accepting stuff from chute
  
• Fixed an issue where Hunger critical was playing at the wrong time
  
• Fixed ReadByte out of range error when receiving atmospheres from server.
  
• Fixed bug with IC Library containing 'ghost' entries at the top for missing library entries, with buttons that weren't clickable.
  
• Fixed bug preventing aliases from highlighting correctly.
  
• Fixed bug that allowed pipes/cables to be placed inside objects.
  
• Fixed fabricator recipe selection dropdown entries only displaying thumbnails without labels due to font change resulting in size value being incorrect.
  
• Fixed issue with text not appearing on the manufacturing computer due to an invalid font being specified.
  
• Fixed Fabricator bug that could cause it to lock if it export chute weren't clear.
  
• Fixed issue with character hair occasionally not loading correctly. [Thanks Tassyr]
  
• Fixed if a player changed their identity in game, after death they would revert to their old identity.
  
• Fixed volume not being applied correctly to speakers when loading a save due to move to new audio system.
  
• Fixed bug that made merging on some cable arrangements difficult.
  
• Fixed human being unable to respawn if completely dead.
  
• Fixed if you fall below the world you will now be teleported to the surface again.