Sep 20, 2022

Satisfactory - Snutt

Hi Pioneers!

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

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