Graphics improvements * Added sun, dynamic fog, and dynamic sky that change based on weather. * Newhigh-quality terrain textures for nearly all materials. * New simulated ocean that adapts its wave pattern and color properties tothecurrent weather conditions (old ocean is still available as alow-fidelity setting). * Newtree models: spruce and fir. * Added rocks totheterrain. Rocks are impassable for vehiclesbutbuildings can be built on topofthem. Excavators can also remove rocks when onminingdesignations. * Newterrain grass coverage system, mixing multiple types of grass and flowers. * Refreshed all maps with better resource placementand improved tree distribution. * Trees leave stumps after they are harvested. Stumps decay over time. * Productsare now visibly stacked on conveyors, trucks, and around storages. * Storage units now show icons of what isstoredinthem. * New models for Excavator T1 and T2, Truck T1 and T2. * UI improvements. Music * Added 8 new tracks totalling 30 minutes ofnew music. Forestry * NewForestrytowerandtree planter vehicle can perform tree replanting and fully automated harvesting. * Trees are planted usingsaplings that grow onfarms. * Tree harvester now visibly slices trees into smaller logs. * World map lumber mill was removed. Vehicles improvements * Mixed mining: Excavators can mine mixed products, always scooping a full bucket. * Mixed hauling: Trucks can be loaded by excavators with mixed cargo, significantly increasing mining efficiency. For now, mixed cargo can be onlyloaded by excavators. * New widget for vehicles that allowsa choice for their replacement withadifferent tier. Replaced vehicles keep their assignments. * Newvehicle scheduling that ismore performant andallows assigning jobs tothe closest availablevehicles. Major features * Pipes can now be constructed vertically, taking up less space when changing levels. * Added levelingterraindesignation (combination ofmininganddumpingdesignation). * Stacker: allowsdumpingof loose materialfrom conveyors directly ontheterrain. Nuclear energy changes & newcontent * Brand new model for Nuclear reactor I. * Added anew MOX reactor (tier II reactor), allowing to reprocess spent fueland minimizing waste that needs to bestored. Also providesextra 33% of power compared tothe previous tier. * Added anew Fast Breeder Reactor (FBR) (tier III reactor), allowing to reprocess and burn allthe waste while providing twice more power than the MOX reactor by generating super-pressured steam (anew type of steam). * Added anew Nuclear reprocessing facility that was designed towork together with FBR and MOX reactors. * Added more than 12 newproducts: Enriched uranium (4%, 20%), Reprocessed uranium, Depleted uranium, Plutonium, MOX rod, Core fuel, Blanket fuel, Fission product, Spent MOX, Retired waste, andmore. * Introduced anew Super pressure steam turbine to be used with FBR. * Reduced capacityof nuclear waste storage from 5k to 1.6k since all waste can be now processed eventually. * Nuclear reactor now needs to be turned off before an upgrade is possible. * Fuel gets loadedintothe reactor without requiring positive target power. Quartz & sand changes * Added anew mineable resource: quartz, availableonall maps. * Sandisno longer made by crushing rock but by crushing quartz instead. * Silicon production now requiressand instead of quartz. * Introduced manufactured sand that is produced by crushing Rock and can be used toproduce Concrete and Filter media. * Reduced unity cost for world map Quartz mines from 0.5 to 0.4. Computing changes * Added mainframe: predecessor to datacenter, making bootstrapping of microchips easier. * Made microchip production 25% fasterand also 25% cheaper oncomputing. * Increased server rack cost from 20 to 25 servers but doubled itscomputingoutput. This means that a datacenter still requiresthe same maintenance while providing twice morecomputing. New machines & buildings * NewCaptain’s office I - Makes blueprints available much sooner andprovides basic edicts. - The previous office is nowCaptain Office II andprovidesaccesstoadvancededicts. * Thermal storage: enables storing heat anduse it later inthe form of Steam. * Tier 2 diesel generator: more efficient and 6x more powerful than tier 1 andallowsto filter exhaust. * Tier 2 electrolyzer, both tiers also got new models. * Tier 2 mixer, both tiers also got new models. * Tier 2 crusher: 4x thesizeand 6x the throughput compared to tier 1. * Waste incineration plant: allowsto burn waste more efficiently while also providing free Steam. Also outputs exhaust for potential filtration. * Compactor: Allows compacting trash in 1:3 ratio. * Shredder: Allows reversing compacting and also can shred wood. New recipes & changed recipes * Hydrogen can be created more efficiently fromwaterusing super-pressure steam. * Dirt can be made out of compost and gravel usinga mixer. * Wood can be converted into woodchips and burned intheboilertoproduce steam. * Newproduct paper that can be made from wood and limestone and used inlab supplies instead ofanitrogen tank. Removed nitrogen tank as aproduct (nitrogen gas remains). * Chicken can be converted directly into trimmings instead of having to go through meat. New mechanics * Electricity surplus: Entities can now be set as "surplus consumers", only consuming power generated by "surplus generators". * Conveyor belts and storages can now operate in three selectable modes: 1) Belts and storages do not consume any power. 2) Belts and storages consume power withthe highest prioritybut still function without power. 3) Belts and storages consume power and won’t work without it. * Landfill now decays over timeandproduces pollution. It takes 4 years to fully decay, at which point the pollution stops. Balancing and changes in production chains * Major - All food types now feed +20% morepeople. - Reduced costs of pipes and conveyors by 30%. - Minimum intervals between diseases were increased by 30-100% (based on disease). - Gold ore yields half the gold and comes with increased crushing costs. * Electricity inflation - All machines consume 4x moreandall generators generate 4x more. - Conveyors only consume 2x more, reducing their consumption by 50%. - Settlement transformers only consume 3x more, resulting ina 25% decrease. * Electricity production - Increased steam energy density by 50% (less steam is needed for the same amount of power, but it costs moreto make to compensate). - 50% increased mechanical power throughput on turbines and mech. power generators - High-pressure andlow-pressure turbines now havethe same throughput and their layouts have been changed as well. * Bricks - Brickworkshas double throughput and costs 10 CP less. - One brick now costs 1.75 dirt instead of 2. - Startingbricksin ruins reduced from 800 to 600. * Wood - Wood now yields almost twice as much coal ina charcoal burner. - Reduced wood required inconstruction partsfrom 4 to 3. - Doubled wood inputin household goods but reduced steel from 2 to 1 and glass from 10 to 8. * Refinery - Fixed that the cracking unit was returning less diesel (6) than it should (8) (based onthe energy density oftheinput). - Increased ethanol yield from sugar cane by +50%, making it more energy efficient. - Increased diesel yield from canola and sugar cane by 40%. - Increased hydrogen reforming yield from 12 to 14 (to account for extra 2 hydrogen frominput steam). The recipe for fuel gas takes extra 2 hydrogen to compensate for that. - Fuel gas to diesel recipe now returns water as a bi-product instead of Co2. - Decreased cooking oil needed in diesel production from 12 to 9. - More acid yield from 2 sulfur increased from 8 to 12. * Fertilizer - Fertilizeris now made with ammonia + oxygen instead of ammonia + nitrogen + water. - Sour water stripper ammonia output reduced from 4 to 3. - Fertilizer I was made cheaper as the chemical plant produces 10 instead of 8 inthe same recipe. - Fertilizer II production increased from 10 to 12 by accepting extra sulfur and limestone. * Electronics rebalance - Reduced cost of Electronics II by requiring half of Electronics I and Polysilicon. - Increased cost of PCB by requiring 2x more glass. - Electronics II and PCB production throughput increased by 100%. - Reduced cost ofConstruction Parts IV by requiring half of Electronics II. - Labequipment 3 now costs 2 electronics II instead of 8 glass. - Labequipment 4 now costs 2 electronics III instead of 2 electronics II. - Servers now require 5 Electronics III instead of 4. * Desalination - Reduced desalination cost by 15% (energy-wise). - Thermal desalination plant throughput increased by 85% when using HP steam, by 400% when using LP steam, and by 300% when using Depleted steam. * Electrolysis - Electrolyzer I throughput for hydrogen production increased by 100% (power demand increased as well) - Electrolyzer can no longer be boosted. - The volume of depleted steam returned from burning hydrogen inaboiler changed to be equaltothe volume ofwater it takes to make the hydrogen using an electrolyzer. * Maintenance - Crushers now cost maintenance. - Maintenance II requires 25% fewer mechanical parts. - Maintenance II depot throughput increased by 100%. - Maintenance III depot throughput increased by 50%. - Reduced maintenance costs of robotic assembler I from 5 to 4. - Changed robotic assembler II to require maintenance II (7x) instead of tier III. - Moved several machines and tier III vehiclestouse maintenance II as it now comes * Other - Crushing is now 2.5x more power-hungry. - Decreased ocean pump outputfrom 20 to 18 water. - Decreased effectiveness of cooling of HP steam from 12 to 10 outputwater. - Waste burning ina regular burner changed to take twice as long. - Sludge digestion and composting are now 30% faster. - Settlements now return biomass for wood consumed from household goods - Increased radiation tolerance due tonew, more radioactive products. * Rewards - Increased world map rewards by 10-20%. - Added more rewards after goals completion. - Removed microchips and servers as rewards fromthe world map. Changes inresearch * Electronics II is now available earlier due tothe removed Quartz input. This also allowed making Construction Parts IV and Maintenance II available earlier as well. * Solar panels, Power generation IV, Household appliances, and Hydrogen Reformer all come before ResearchLab IV. * Moved cooling tower II from nuclear researchto power production IV. * Ship weapons II areno longer locked by Electronics II * Merged reforming and cracking so cracking comes earlier. * Early researchisfasterto unlock. * Research locks: Someresearch nodes now require a certain amount ofproducts created in order to be researched. Quality-of-life and UI * Added a quick remove unity action for storage units when they are being cleared. * Added new dashboards that provide a breakdown oftheconsumptionand production of electricity, computing, workers, and maintenance. * Blueprints now automatically downgrade their locked items onplacement. * When ablueprintis locked, a list of locked entities is shown on hover. * Notifications in entity inspectors are now shown ina panel onthe side, eliminating jumping UI. * Clicking onamachine icon ina recipe book now starts building it. * Power, computing, andworkers displays in entity inspectors are now grayed out when theisnot consuming the resource. Other changes * Transports can no longer turn and initiate a ramp up/down atthe same time. These types oframps were removed as they were not extendable once placed. * Recycling plant now returns sorted products via a single conveyor, final sorting hasto be done using sorters. Thisprovidesmore extensibility inthe future. * World structuresare now paused after repair. * Advanced tools such as cut orcopyare now locked behind initialresearch. This increases discoverability and makes the game less intimidating for new players. * Main folder with save files and blueprints has been moved tothe appdata folder to prevent issues with their accessibilityon non-standard systems. * Chained storage units automatically disconnect corresponding vehicle import/export settings to improve vehicle jobs scheduling and performance. * Added difficulty setting to allow to increase contracts profitability. * Added more generous difficulty options to reduce maintenance. * Added more options for autosave intervals. Terrain performance & physics * Newterrain representation storing data in contiguous arrays. * Terrain can be up to 65k tiles squared large (260 km^2). * Terrain now supports up to 256 different materials (up from 28). * Terrain now properly distinguishes between solid materials (cliffs) and mined ones (mined rock), each type having its own physics parameters. * Improved terrain physics now takes material layer thicknessinto consideration, allowing thin layers to stick at steeper angles. Performance * Various internal improvements increase the simulation speed of many components by 10-30%. - Completely rewritten simulation of machines - Increased performance when exchanging products between portsand buffers * Newterrain rendering tech improving FPS by 1-8x (based onmapsizeand view) and reducing memory consumption by 4x. * Terrain operations such asmining, material collapse, or disruption after vehiclesare 2-4x faster. * New conveyor and pipe rendering system resulting in 3x speedup. * Ocean accessarea checking is 10x faster, not lagging the game when placing docks orashipyard. * Optimizing products rendering touse batched GPU instancing (rendering multipleproducts per single instance). * New LOD system that adjusts ocean quality based on view distance. If the oceanisnotinthe view, it isnot even simulated. * Newterrain details rendering system (grass, flowers, etc.) with LOD support that also adjusts density based on camera distance and does not render details that aretoo far fromthe camera (previously, all details onthe entire map were rendered). Rendering infrastructure improvements * Switched to Forward rendering pipeline (from Deferred). This allowed theuseof multi-sample anti-aliasing and greater control over rendered pixels. * Terrain now uses tri-planar rendering (onahigh-quality setting), removing texture stretching from steep slopes. * Added rendering quality options and presets to be able togetthe game to run smoothly ona wider range of hardware. * Added three separateFPS limits for the game, menus, and when the game isinthe background. * Shadow distance is now dynamically adjusted based onthe camera zoom. * Fully unlocked game camera, which can now look up atthe horizon. * Small objects such as grass, flowers, orcropsonfarmsno longer disappear when zoomed out slightly. Small Quality-of-life * Holding shift while adding or removing servers tothe datacenter adds or removes 8 ata time. * Recipe book now showsradiation levels for products. * Contracts view now sorts contracts by output so that similar contractsare near each other. * Changed machine UI todisplay "waiting for products" status instead of "missinginput" together witha list ofproductsmissingon mouse hover. * Added a notification strip when transport snapping is disabled. * Added a legend for the shortcut which allows preventing applying copied config when placing entities. * Terrain grid is now visible when modifying Mine Towers areas. Fixes * Game no longer freezes when onthe loading screen. * Music now does not stop onthe loading screen. * Made ocean pumps anddumping entities stop working when the oceanisno longer present. * Edicts effects are correctly combined withother effects, such asdifficulty options. * Fixed that datacenter racks didn't appear on load. * Fixed that global products statistics kept increasing when machines ran partial recipes (e.g. cooling towers). * Fixed that storage units that were not built yet were already reporting their capacity. * Fixed that blueprints would add locked recipes into machines. * Fixed that launching a rocket returned its scrap value back. * Lots of improvements and fixes in how productsare handled in quick buildandremoval. - Storage units now havepriorityoverShipyardto store products. - Shipyardhaspriorityoverstorage unitsto provide products. - Cargo depot that is exporting productsno longer providesthem for a quick build. * Balancers and sorters now show power consumptioninthe entities menu popup. * Camera, even "free look", cannot go underground. * Fixed issues withmap borders and added support for cargo depots built near the border. * Fixed that thefuel station had itsinput buffer registered into logistics instead of solely relying on piped input. * Fixed fuel station that was often sending partially loadedfueltrucks. * Trees areno longer moving when mined underbut fall down instead. * Increased maximum numberof rendered characters per element from 15k to 18k to accommodate Update 1 changelog. Contracts balancing & changes * Contracts removed: - Glass => Coal - Diesel => Quartz - Diesel => Limestone - Coal => Limestone - Coal => Gold ore - Vehicle Parts II => Uranium * Contracts added: - Household goods => Coal - Labequipment III => Coal - Rubber => Wood - Household appliances => Wood - Labequipment II => Copper - Vehicle parts II => Quartz - Sulfur => Sludge - Consumer electronics => Crude oil - Labequipment IV => Uranium - Servers => Gold ore