[Game Update] - 464793

Update Information:

Hi friends!

This update to the testing branch brings increased resource renewability with the introduction of Space Points-Of-Interest! Equip a rocket with the new Drillcone and start dredging those interplanetary riches! This system is still pretty raw though, with lots of balance and UI changes coming. Let us know how it's working for you so far!

We've also started putting artifacts back into the game, along with a number of new and updated points-of-interest to host them. And once you're done gathering them, you can teach your Duplicants the "Demolition" Skill and wipe those Gravitas buildings off the map (if you feel so inclined).

(Please note that both these features require regenerating the world, and both are subject to more tuning, so if you're not comfortable with re-restarting, it's probably best to wait for a few more patches before starting a new game.)

We're doing a rebalance of the tech tree, with two major parts. First, we'd always intended that the new research points were "Generic", but the Atomic Collider and Atomic Research Points made it seem overly specific. These are being rebranded as the Materials Study Terminal and Materials Science Research to make this more clear. Secondly, we're shifting around techs and costs (including moving all Orbital Research costs up one tier) to reduce the burden on unlocking tier 5 techs. We're still investigating further to try and balance the integration of the new mechanics nicely into existing gameplay.

We've made changes to the Radbolt Generators and overall radiation balance. There is  increased control over Diagnostics criteria on the Diagnostics screen. Biome Codex entries have been finished up. And, be aware of some changes to bottled gasses and liquids: they can now liquefy/solidify if they get cold enough!

There's still more tuning and polish to come, but thanks in advance for checking out the test branch and letting us know how these changes are working out. And as always, please let us know if you find any bugs!

What does this testing branch contain so far?

Here are the changes we've made so far in this update, loosely categorized:

 What is open testing?

"Open testing" means players get to test-drive new content early and give us feedback and suggestions before it goes live. Because this is an unfinished and in active development version of the game, it's pretty likely you'll encounter bugs, crashes or balance issues while playing these builds. We'll try to fix any problems that crop up as quickly as we can, but it's possible you'll lose progress in your games while playing on the Testing branch.

Regarding performance, the Testing branch has additional debugging tools enabled to help us track down crashes. This makes the game run more slowly than the live version of the game.

Please also be aware that once a save is loaded in the Testing branch, it cannot be reopened again in the previous Live branch or previous builds.

What do I do if I find a crash or a bug?

Post it up on the Bug Tracker and we'll fix it as soon as we can. If you can attach a copy of your save file to your report, that helps us even more as we can pinpoint the source of problem more quickly.

Do I have to play the open testing build?

Nope! If you'd prefer to only play a stable build, you can continue to play in the current Default branch until the game launches in full. Playing the Open Testing build isn't necessary, but it helps us a lot to receive your feedback and reports - if you're interested, try it out!

How do I become an open tester?

There's no sign up or registration for becoming an open tester. If you own Oxygen Not Included plus the Spaced Out! DLC and want to join the Testing Branch, all you have to do is play the Open Testing build on Steam.

How do I play the open testing build?

You can switch your branch on Steam using the instructions below: