[Game Update] - Public Testing - 698690

[JarrettM]

Changes and Improvements

• All versions
  • The top of the Biodiesel Engine was widened to better match the dimensions of the rocket modules placed above it.
  • Added scale growth penalty to miserable critters.
  • Revised Soda Fountain animation to work better when placed against a wall or the edge of a floor.

Fixes

• All versions
  • Fixed critters sometimes not moving while idling.
  • Improved fix for Steam Input crash.
  • Puft mouths have been restored, and these critters would do well to watch what they say to devs in the future.
  • Fixed a crash that occurred when using the Story Trait sandbox tool on modded story traits.
  • Fixed an issue where right-clicking to close the Skills screen would assign a skill point.
  • Fixed the Schedule screen not updating after renaming a Duplicant.
  • Fixed a bug that could cause a crash when loading a save that had a Sweepy holding an object.
  • Reduced flickering in Power overlay caused by indeterminate state on wires during circuit recalculation.
• Spaced Out! only
  • Fixed a navigation crash during rocket deconstruction.

Modding

• Reversed context, data parameter order in new event handler extension to EventSystem.

View full update

[Ciaphas]

19 minutes ago, JarrettM said:

Added scale growth penalty to miserable critters.

nooooo my infinite nearly-free reed fiber and plastic cruelty farms 😟

(nah fr it was a bit OP, and at least you still get one shear from birth so it's not a total loss)

Edited November 7, 2025 by Ciaphas

[Tigin]

Just now, Ciaphas said:

nooooo my infinite nearly-free reed fiber and plastic cruelty farms 😟

You can still do it. Just put them in more rooms so they aren't miserable (you can fit up to 9 in each 12 tile room)

[imazined]

Quote

• Added scale growth penalty to miserable critters.

Could we get some reasoning about this decision? The possibilities for broken builds like Drecko starvation shearing to run a sour gas boiler from it was for me one of the points that made ONI stand out of a long line of colony/factory sims. And over the last two years there came more "Changes and Improvements" that took possibilities away from players.

Just now, Tigin said:

You can still do it. Just put them in more rooms so they aren't miserable (you can fit up to 9 in each 12 tile room)

That doesn't help so much if you want to do it for example in molten rocket or a minibase.

[Tigin]

4 minutes ago, imazined said:

Could we get some reasoning about this decision? The possibilities for broken builds like Drecko starvation shearing to run a sour gas boiler from it was for me one of the points that made ONI stand out of a long line of colony/factory sims. And over the last two years there came more "Changes and Improvements" that took possibilities away from players.

That doesn't help so much if you want to do it for example in molten rocket or a minibase.

Dreckos haven't been the optimal option for melted interiors for awhile since the new DLC options, mainly because natural gas generators are extremely bulky as a water source. Even with this change the majority of the space is still going to be the natural gas generators and the drecko stable itself.

[Ciaphas]

4 minutes ago, Tigin said:

You can still do it. Just put them in more rooms so they aren't miserable (you can fit up to 9 in each 12 tile room)

True, and I still get the one shear from birth so it's not a total loss even if I don't make more rooms. Still a bummer though, animal cruelty aside lol

[Shinkarr]

2 hours ago, JarrettM said:

 

• Added scale growth penalty to miserable critters.

Yes! Being cruel is less and less optimal! Remembering infinite pacu ranch nerf.

[Tigin]

😨😶

[suicide commando]

Will this also affect the power output of plug slugs?

 

[Carib94]

Some players complain about the OPness of Dreckos being the only critter that can be ranched with no resources(besides pips?) and get free fiber, meat, and phosphorite. Glossy dreckos needs dirt but not much because of the same starvation ranch to shear dreckos coats for free with just hydrogen. The 1st drecko nerf of this beta with newborn dreckos getting 90% scales when they mature was  decent, just takes longer to get the large fiber/plastic surplus.

With this scale growth penalty this just means that you cant just cram 30+ eggs in one hydrogen filled starvation ranch to get 30+dreckos free coats. Starvation ranch for dreckos is still doable with a small number of them, but if you want to get large surplus you just have to build more rooms or make larger shearing ranches for them so they wont be miserable. More rooms means more conveyor system and more shear stations and more Space.

So for me I welcome this change...

2 hours ago, suicide commando said:

Will this also affect the power output of plug slugs?

I actually hope not tbh....

Edited November 8, 2025 by Carib94

[Saturnus]

11 hours ago, Ciaphas said:

True, and I still get the one shear from birth so it's not a total loss even if I don't make more rooms. Still a bummer though, animal cruelty aside lol

Just add a critter sensor to send eggs to be turned into omelettes /or meat) if there's more than 9 critters in the starvation room.
The new starvation ranch size just needs to be adjusted to 2 breeders instead of 3 as that will keep the amount of starving dreckos to 9 or below most of the time (and with a sensor bypass we can just ensure that it will).

So the solution to the animal cruelty issue is just culling the excess critters.

Edited November 8, 2025 by Saturnus

[gigamoi]

11 hours ago, JarrettM said:

Added scale growth penalty to miserable critters.

I'm REEEAAALLY pissed about that one. While I understand the idea, it totally wrecks working builds with virtually no warning. If you are to alter some established system so dramatically, publish a roadmap or something telling us about your intentions a few months prior at least, or don't alter those systems at all. Players invest hundreds of hours on some saves and are reliant on some form of continuity to enjoy the experience. Here I feel like I'm playing something as volatile as a early access game.

 

12 minutes ago, Saturnus said:

Just add a critter sensor to send eggs to be turned into omelettes if there's more than 9 critters in the starvation room.
The new starvation ranch size just needs to be adjusted to 2 breeders instead of 3 as that will keep the amount of starving dreckos to 9 or below most of the time (and with a sensor bypass we can just ensure that it will).

Doesn't work with every setups. I ensure near 100% ranch occupation by pooling all eggs of a desired type in a common hatching chamber and trapping at least one ready to be dispensed in the ranch at all time, and I'm using door based critter droppers to do so as to reduce dupe labor. Adding a drowning chamber implies redesigning the whole tile layout.

Edited November 8, 2025 by gigamoi

[Saturnus]

23 minutes ago, gigamoi said:

I'm REEEAAALLY pissed about that one. While I understand the idea, it totally wrecks working builds with virtually no warning. If you are to alter some established system so dramatically, publish a roadmap or something telling us about your intentions a few months prior at least, or don't alter those systems at all. Players invest hundreds of hours on some saves and are reliant on some form of continuity to enjoy the experience. Here I feel like I'm playing something as volatile as a early access game.

I have a strong feeling this is one of those things that gets thrown into previews now and again but doesn't make it to the live version because, as you say, it will majorily impact existing builds of nearly every player above absolute newbie level. It's simply a too drastic change to make without due warning.

A much better solution would be for scale growth to consume a token amount of hydrogen, and scale that with happiness level. High happiness - low hydrogen consumption for scale growth. Low Happiness - high hydrogen consumption for scale growth.

That would also affect current builds but wouldn't make them impossible, just more costly to maintain.

Edited November 8, 2025 by Saturnus

[DolphinWing]

This is preview branch, isn't it?

I felt this change is similar to Pacu changes and now we get Drecko one. And yes I agree it breaks all current designs. From my point of view, I will take the challenge for a new design.

[asurendra]

19 hours ago, JarrettM said:

• Added scale growth penalty to miserable critters.

I like this! Added a bit of complexity to what-supposed-to-be hard survival game is always good. And starvation ranching is still possible so no actual harm to older builds. Cool decision!

[Shinkarr]

I also remember this post demonstrating fed ranch is no less efficient than starvation ranch. Always happy to see less critter cruelty.

[imazined]

No harm to older builds is a misleading statement if the dreckos are starvation sheared due to space restrictions.

[Twiki]

12 hours ago, gigamoi said:

I'm REEEAAALLY pissed about that one. While I understand the idea, it totally wrecks working builds with virtually no warning.

This is the testing build - it IS the warning.

There's plenty of time to tweak old builds before this change goes live.

Making Dreckos use the same rules as the newer shearable critters is a good change. They're still easily one of the best critters in the game.

[gigamoi]

44 minutes ago, Twiki said:

There's plenty of time to tweak old builds before this change goes live.

Making Dreckos use the same rules as the newer shearable critters is a good change. They're still easily one of the best critters in the game.

While I agree on the last part. Two to three weeks is not what I would call plenty of time. Not that I wouldn't be able to fix something up within a few hours of gameplay, but I may not have said hours of gameplay within said timeframe, and said fix do clash with previously established plans. My builders have just been sent away on a remote asteroid. I will have to either urgently reroute them back or have the skeleton crew slowly build the fix in their stead requiring my now divided attention, not to mention the fact that my dreko ranch being one of the first of my permanent builds, it is at that point surrounded by other builds and I don't know how to accommodate any extra space I will surely require.

[Yalokin]

34 minutes ago, gigamoi said:

While I agree on the last part. Two to three weeks is not what I would call plenty of time. Not that I wouldn't be able to fix something up within a few hours of gameplay, but I may not have said hours of gameplay within said timeframe, and said fix do clash with previously established plans. My builders have just been sent away on a remote asteroid. I will have to either urgently reroute them back or have the skeleton crew slowly build the fix in their stead requiring my now divided attention, not to mention the fact that my dreko ranch being one of the first of my permanent builds, it is at that point surrounded by other builds and I don't know how to accommodate any extra space I will surely require.

You can always switch back to previous stable version once current changes go live to adjust and then update to latest main branch when you feel ready. In the worst case you have a few months of time until next big beta update comes.

[Magheat2009]

The usual sort of rhetoric has emerged to resist a balance change. I have seen this one before many times. Hard to take the complaints seriously any more. 

Edited November 9, 2025 by Magheat2009

[Twiki]

8 hours ago, gigamoi said:

While I agree on the last part. Two to three weeks is not what I would call plenty of time. Not that I wouldn't be able to fix something up within a few hours of gameplay, but I may not have said hours of gameplay within said timeframe, and said fix do clash with previously established plans. My builders have just been sent away on a remote asteroid. I will have to either urgently reroute them back or have the skeleton crew slowly build the fix in their stead requiring my now divided attention, not to mention the fact that my dreko ranch being one of the first of my permanent builds, it is at that point surrounded by other builds and I don't know how to accommodate any extra space I will surely require.

 

I can't think of any reason not being able to shear extra dreckos would destroy a base?

You'll get less fiber and/or plastic, but is your base really so dependent on -that- much of either?

After the early game, I always seem to end up with way more than I need of both, even when I just use the regular ranches.

[gigamoi]

I do think drekos were OP and needed re-balance mind you. It is the perspective of having to adapt my build in short order I am disgruntled by. I don't mind ONI's team habit of keeping their middle to long term plans mostly to themselves (I think it to be an essential element of a healthy development environment in this industry as it shields from player expectations even.) as long as they are about adding stuff. I think we should be told longer in advance when something is intended to be removed without replacement (because it then clashes with (some?, most?) players' expectation of continuity).

While the intent of re-balancing away over powered exploitation of critter mechanics is something the community is aware of, it was, to my knowledge, never explicitly communicated. It is something we deduced from a trend of previous changes and, given that it is only speculation, we have no way to know what's on or off the menu. As the most outstanding exploits are patched out over time, we are left with "clever uses of game mechanics" whose "over powered" statuses are of increasing ambiguity, so everyone is doomed to wonder if what they think is next really is next at some point. Are shinebug reactors (Not that I use those.) to be patched out as well somehow? Who knows?

This reminds me of when atmo suits durability was introduced. We had little to no warning as well, but it was an option. I don't think there should be a toggle for every little balance tweak such as the one we are discussing here, but a fair warning is warranted IMO.

 

7 hours ago, Yalokin said:

You can always switch back to previous stable version once current changes go live to adjust and then update to latest main branch when you feel ready. In the worst case you have a few months of time until next big beta update comes.

Nha, I think I will just quickly fire up a rhex ranch running on the vast amounts of excess meat my regal bammoth ranch is producing (in addition to their own corpses) to compensate for fiber production loss back to satisfactory levels. I don't care for the brine ice and the temperature regulation loop is already there and everything. Worse case scenario, I'm 99% sure someone will mod this change out of the game and I will use said mod in the mean time. It's not that bad (but could have been). I just wish I knew.

[1265578519]

还需要10天才能玩到正式版？