Hello everyone!

We’re getting very close to wrapping up development on the shapez 2 Early Access release build. At the end of last week we released Alpha 23 with 23.1 and 23.2 – the last Patreon-exclusive Alpha build – following shortly after. We’re moving to Beta builds where Patreons can test the release candidate and report any remaining issues they find.

In two weeks, we’ll officially reveal the exact release date (which is set in August) of shapez 2. If you don’t want to miss out, be sure to follow and wishlist the game here on Steam and join the Discord!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2162800/shapez_2/

If you really want to get your hands on this build before the release, be sure to check out our Patreon! You’ll also get access to the betas to help us iron out the last couple bugs, the first of which released today! Your savegame will be compatible with the Early Access build from Alpha 23.2 onward, barring any unforeseen issues.

This devlog will be a bit shorter as we’re currently very busy, but let’s walk you through what Alpha 23 brought to the game. Final note, even at this stage everything is technically still subject to change.

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As teased in the last devlog, Hexagonal shapes are now real! Added as a separate scenario, a layer now holds 6 segments (sextants), 90° Rotators now rotate 60° and there are three new shape types exclusive to this scenario:

• H – Hexagon
  
• G – Gear
  
• F – Flower

Hexagon (left), Gear (middle), Flower (right)

The shape code works as you’d expect, with an example below. We’ll leave the rest for you to explore for yourself :)





We added the Rail Loop and Twister to spice up your trains. Wildly inefficient, but I'm sure you'll be forgiven. They're unlocked as part of the shapez 2 Supporter Edition alongside a whole lot of additional soundtrack!


Gif contains some placeholders


Aside from that big ticket addition, there are a handful of other new bits of content and balancing changes.

• Added train speed and capacity upgrades, as well as an upgrade to allow you to dunk a train directly into the Vortex to deliver all its cargo at once.
  
• Rebalanced fluid buildings to be more intuitive and added more information in the panels.
  
• Supplying a different fluid to fluid buildings now makes them slowly drain and eventually consume the new fluid instead of waiting for the previous fluid forever.
  
• The same system also applies to trains loading a different shape or fluid.

We added brand new visuals for Shape Miners, Fluid Miners and their respective Extensions.



Train locomotives finally have their visual!



Added new visuals for train loaders and unloaders.



Added animations for belt/fluid launchers launchers towards space belts/pipes.



There’s a new animation for shapes going into the Vortex.



Also included are several animation fixes and improvements across the board, including improvements to fluid shaders.


As we’re finalizing a lot of things, there were lots of rendering, blueprint and simulation performance improvements. Placing blueprints and large islands should now be much faster, various issues with wire logic were fixed and we’ve vastly improved savegame loading times.

To show off the current state of performance optimization, here's the game running on a Mac Book Pro M1 Max at full HD with 420,000 buildings. The goal is still 1 million buildings at 60 fps, but we're happy with our progress!

Video contains some placeholders


The origin point (the part of a building that’s placed where your cursor is) of the Painter and Crystal Generator buildings was moved to the conveyor belt instead of the tank. This makes placing these buildings feel a lot better, but it does break any blueprint made prior to Alpha 23 that uses them.

There’s now a button to clear the selected platform, space belt/pipe or train (un)loader of all its contents.

Additionally, rail placement and the Feedback dialogue have been improved, the latter of which now has a link to report translation issues. Speaking of translations, the translations for almost all of the languages we wanted to include were added.

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That’s it! As we said, a shorter devlog this time. The Beta has started in order to hunt down the last issues. Once that’s done, we can freeze development on the Early Access release build. We’re super excited to finally release shapez 2 next month, so be sure you have the game wishlisted (sorry for asking so often) and we’ll see you again with a big announcement in two weeks.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2162800/shapez_2/


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https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/2162800/view/4220517501549404713

On July 12th, maintenance work will be carried out on the game servers. Due to this, the game may not be available from 17:00 to 17:30 Moscow time.

Please note that completion times are indicative and subject to change.

Please apologize for the temporary inconvenience.

• New BANK layout to enhance the variety of missions.
• Level cap increased to 155.
• New Boss skin for THERESA (enhanced variant).
• New Boss skin for VAMP (enhanced variant).
• Rebalanced XP and cash rewards for all missions (mainly Multiplayer).


• Goldcup stealth gives full mission reward (previously reduced)
• Playing with friends (other people) gives XP bonus
• Bigger XP difference for completing a mission with 3 stars vs 1 star
• Special thanks to Flavio93Zena for cooperation on XP and cash reward rebalance
• Boss points increased for expensive assets (since they are one-time purchases) with tweaked prices and reduced unlock levels
• Dragon Dogs main area can be accessed even after progressing to lower sewers part

• Sentry turret is stronger (boosted damage and health)
• Robot heister has lower HP (-20%)
• Camera jammer is uncommon and can be unlocked earlier.
• Sensor grenade is now a rare gadget.

• Loop of refreshing assets when all assets are bought is fixed.
• Achievements should correctly unlock when transferring saves from one system to another
• Character class modifiers for Damage Received and Holster Speed are now applied correctly
• “Don’t overheat the buzzsaw” bonus objective can now fail
• Typos fixed on dozens of locations
• Stability improvements
• Optimizations

• Dragon dogs join in progress may end up in loading lock up, we are trying to determine reason why. Only in case there is full lobby.
• AI may slide in animation if doors are closed on their path.

It took longer than I had hoped, but it's finally here, 0.3.2!
Added Set Bonuses. the tags I introduced in the last update have been turned into set bonuses, granting up to 10 of their respective stats. the goal is to reduce reliance on equipment charms to get builds off the ground.
The equipment charms have had some of their stats shifted into the set bonuses. Overall stats should end up higher for completed builds

• All base charms now give 2 of their stat (-1)
  
• All path 1 charms now give 5 of their stat (-2)
  
• All path 2 charms now give 3 of their primary stat (-2)

Some of the player stats needed to be nerfed due to the overall higher stats

• Base Regeneration is now 50% less. This affects all increases to Regeneration
  
• Base Dash Distance is now 14% Shorter. This affects all increases to dash distance

Additionally, enemy and player scaling was in need of some adjustment

• Enemy Count Scaling Adjusted
  
• All enemies now deal at least 1 contact damage. this allows every enemy to trigger certain effects
  
• Item Rarity Chances Adjusted

I also wanted Ironskin to be more in line with the other player buffs

• Ironskin is now +1 armor per stack, no longer has speed penalty

• [new]A Healing and Pickup item
  
• [new]A Healing and Dash item
  
• [new]A Healing and Standing Still item
  
• [new]A Healing and Taking Damage item
  
• [new]A Healing and Experience item
  
• [new]A Healing and Enemy Spawn item
  
• [new]A dodge and Enemy Spawn item
  
• [new]A dodge and Healing item
  
• [rework]Reworked Topaz Tunic and upgrades
  
• [rework]Reworked Chalice of Blood and upgrades
  
• [nerf]Tome of Elven Curses is now legendary
  
• [nerf]Winged Boots is now Epic
  
• [buff]Magic Stopwatch is now Epic
  
• [buff]Intagibilit-Orb is now Rare
  
• [nerf]Root Boots no longer gives armor while standing still, in regards to the set bonuses
  
• [nerf]Emerald Entity now deals 20 damage (-10)

We invite everyone to plunge into the world of passion and pleasure. be bold, fulfill your most secret desires!

💀 SURPRISE DOUBLE XP EVENT ALERT! 🌵

Hot on the heels of the Battle of Arizona update, we've got a Bonus Event for you this month and it's already in full swing! 🎉

Play WWZ and earn 1.5X Blue Coins, 1.5X Yellow Coins, and Double XP. 🙌

Be sure to jump in soon, as it will last until July 16 at 8am ET. ⏰

https://discord.gg/wwz?event=1260964264970289233

• Web view menu now only show close action (Another action is default and not working action)
• Close this app will not close another qt instance now

In this devlog we want to let you know about the progress of work on the upcoming Major Update.

This upcoming update is revolutionary in many ways and as such requires thorough testing. Our hope is that this update will answer to many reported issues and feedback we have collected during the first year of Early Access. We are working hard on testing the build, but as of today it's not yet ready for release, even to public_testing branch, but we will let you know as soon as it's possible.

Due to changes in the core game mechanics it was hard to predict how long some those features will take to implement, so we prioritized those which take the most time first and divided this update into parts. Here's what we have achieved so far (Anniversary Update - Part #1):

1. We have improved player animations - it's not perfect yet, but you should notice many improvements in the quality, smoothness and responsiveness of the animations. During first launch of the new version, you will be shown the new game settings screen where you can adjust gameplay to your preferences. Hand animations will be disabled by default, so that default gameplay is even faster.
   
   
2. Overall responsiveness should be better. Our goal was to get rid of the feeling of "controlling the astonaut" and instead to achieve better feeling of "being the astronaut". 🤖
   
   
3. We have improved using tools and targeting, now grinding small objects will no longer be a problem and drilling should be easier both in FPP and TPP modes.🔨
   
   
4. The mechanism of opening the airlocks was overhauled, it is now much faster, and the automatic doors are almost instant allowing for smoother gameplay while running between base sections.💨
   
   
5. Positions of doors and cupboards are now saved, we've also fixed doors and cupboards, which were opening again after closing. 🚪
   
   
6. We have fixed astronaut’s feet colliders which were a little bit too high + now each feet stands independently on the ground when placed on different heights and the player will step over small obstacles instead of requiring a full jump - this also makes the astronaut feel more alive. 🥾
   
   
7. Improved tablet opening animation and position. We have also made it possible to open the tablet and take helmet off while crouching - as requested 😉

1. We have made huge changes in electricity & substance flow system - no more thinking about percentages when splitting power, from now on - only numerical values! Also: now outlets have priorities - the lower the ordinal number of an electrical outlet, the higher the priority (same applies to pump splitter).⚡
   
   What does it mean in practice? For example: if your electricity input drops then it will not cut off every connected building but instead it will supply energy first to socket #1, then if it has enough power - to socket #2 etc. Many of you have requested this change and we hope you will enjoy it. This should allow for easier energy management while also opening new possibilities. 🔢
   
   
2. Be careful about connecting electricity to buildings - if you transmit too much power to one outlet - the external fuses will burn and you will have to replace them. 🔌
   
   
3. Electricity & Substance Flow System have been rewritten for more accurate and faster flow calculation. They will now be refreshed every 1 in-game minute instead of previous 10 in-game minutes. Also now only the amount of energy/water actually used by connected building is consumed, instead of everything that's set as the socket output🌀
   
   
4. Added new detailed infopanels with advanced information about electricity and substances to devices like ECU Transformer, Battery, Pump Station etc.🪫
   
   
5. We have changed buildings costs, positions, electricity usage and overall balance of the game.📊
   
   
6. We've also changed Early Game balance: faster tech tree progress and less grind at early stages.🪚
   
   
7. Stack size of many items have been changed to make more sense. 📐

1. We have added technology for printing circuit boards. This functionality will be moved to special workbench in future update, but for now this technology will enable printing circuit boards using 3D printers. 📟
   
   
2. Added new mechanic: Decorations - scanning furniture and decorations in abandoned bases using additional mode in "Spectral Detector" tool will let you use them for decorating your own base using new "Cordless Drill" tool. Unlock different variants of furniture and decorations and place them where you want.🛋️
   
   
3. We've improved building placement and snapping to grid and other buildings.🏭
   
   
4. Added short descriptions for In-game locked blueprints.💳
   
   
5. Added a special repair kit for buildings and vehicles - so you can instantly repair vehicle or a building.🛠️
   
   
6. We've made it easier to build inside buildings: if you equip a welder you'll be shown a list that tells you what you can build on a given slot; if you prefer to build by selecting a device from the blueprints tab - no problem, we've added a marking that shows on which slot you can place it as well.🪑

1. Double progress bars on HUD for Oxygen, Hydration and Stamina - in the new version the bottle system will change. When the water bottle runs out you still have additional hydration level bar to know how long you can survive until the bottle is refilled. When your oxygen bottle runs out then there's a little bit of oxygen left in your suit which is shown by the thinner progress bar at the bottom. The Stamina bar also has second thinner bar which shows your Tiredness (maximum stamina regeneration level).🧴📊
   
   
2. Added options to disable or change weather duration and effects in the Freeplay Start Menu 🌪️
   
   
3. Sleep deprivation will now cause damage, but Astronauts can sleep during the weather events! (we had to implement sped-up weather-damage simulation during sleep to achieve this)🧑‍🚀
   
   
4. We've reworked the bottle refill system while also adding auto shut-off to sinks after water is replenished to prevent water waste.💧
   
   
5. We have added technology to unlock, to automatically refill the oxygen bottle from environment when inside.🫁

1. From now on you will be able to mix different plant types in single device, like: shelves, fields, incubators and domes! 🌱
   
   
2. We have finally converted the plant breeding facilities - they all now have an equal number of plant slots for easier replanting ⿻
   
   
3. Trees will finally start to act like real trees - after harvesting fruit, the tree does not disappear, but continues to bear fruit (if you get bored with the tree - use the grinder to get rid of it) 🌳
   
   
4. It's also now possible to collect all plants to the plants crate with one click. 🖱️

1. Hotbars are now visible in all inventories and containers.🔨
   
   
2. Added search and sorting options to tablet: Blueprints menu, Inventory and FAQ! 🔍
   
   
3. We've modified CO2 Scrubber and Battery Rack UI to make them more intuitive and easier to use.🖥️
   
   
4. We've improved the grading of colors on the map to have better control over the condition of your buildings.🗺️
   
   
5. We've improved the target points - now you can have more colors and their names from the map are displayed above the target point on HUD.📍
   
   
6. We've have made changes in the Tech Tree and added additional technologies like: "Cleaning Nanobots" for automatic cleaning of solar panels.💻
   
   
7. We have moved rear camera of rover behind the HDS Arm.📹
   
   
8. Rover and Truck now also require battery and oxygen bottle to build, they also require charging after construction.🚚
   
   
9. We have improved optimization, now there are much smaller FPS drops while driving.⌛
   
   
10. We have added new types of abandoned outposts.🏚️
    
    
11. We have moved Quick Load to F9 - it will be harder to miss-click quick save and quick load. ⌨️
    
    
12. Added new video-tutorial system to the game.🎬
    
    
13. Hundreds of bugs fixed! 🪲
    
    
14. We are adding main purpose quest to the Freeplay Mode 🚀 (more details about it later 😉)
    
    
15. and much more! 🎇

🚀 That's not all of the changes, as we still have many tasks to add and implement, but first we want to stabilize the build with the core changes mentioned above. Join our Thursday development stream on Twitch and YouTube where we'll be showing some sneak peaks and talking about those changes in detail.

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If you missed the 🌟Steam Summer Sale remember that there are still many bundles available which allow you to get our games cheaper while also helping us with the development of updates!

https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/31567/Pyramid_Games_Bundle/

https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/28017/Occupy_Mars_Universe_Bundle/

Click here for full list of game Bundles available together with Occupy Mars!

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Thank you very, very much for your continued support! 🙏

Take care,
Occupy Mars team

Commanders!

We’re happy to announce that the Tales from the Dark Battle Path campaign has just begun.



This four-month-long campaign returns to the roots of realistic-themed Battle Path in the sense that it offers you the access to modern real-life camouflages as well as cutting edge European technology. The reward vehicles this time are:

• BTR-82A Tier 8 Premium AFV for reaching Level 20
  
• BMP-2M Tier 9 Premium AFV for reaching Level 35
  
• T-90M Tier 10 Premium MBT for reaching Level 50

Additionally, the following vehicles can be obtained by collecting 100 blueprints in the Battle Path Shop:

• Object 787 Gadyuka
  
• 2S38 Derivatsiya
  
• CV90120T Ghost
  
• ZTL-11

And last but not least, four Russian Loot Crates are available for completing various missions.

Please note that the chain missions are temporarily disabled. They will return with the next update. We apologize for the inconvenience.


This Battle Path is mechanically similar to the previous one although we have enhanced the prizes and added more boosters. Many additional items have also been added to the Battle Path shop.

Additionally, this Battle Path will last four months, not three. You can find more information about the changes in our dedicated article.



In order to join the Battle Path campaign, please enter the game and click on the Tales from the Dark icon on the upper bar. From there, you can simply purchase the Battle Path access:

• Standard pass (access only)
  
• Golden pass with access and 50.000 Battle Coins

Please note that there might be a delay of up to 10 minutes between the purchase and the access to the event.

The access can also be purchased in our Web Shop:



Enjoy the event and see you on the battlefield!

If you loved Jecka from Class of '09 then you'll love her very own game... Class of '09: The Flipside. Get a peek at some other perspectives in the C09 high school as well as some insight into post grad life!

Wishlist this today!
Class of '09: The Flip Side store page