Greetings Golems! With Summer coming to a close, we're thrilled to finally be dropping Major Update 0.3 - Strange Encounters! We thank everybody for their patience and also want to shout out our wonderful Beta Testers and the additional folks who have participated in the Experimental build the past few weeks. [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//44253482/a4e1fce57a04828611f90ae9e6037d4929f22447.png[/img] In case you didn't catch any of our recent posts, when we started working on 0.3, we quickly realized it required prioritization of other features to better support what we were building. That means this update is has a lot of big improvements both visible and invisible that not only offer the necessary foundation for the base defense and invasion systems but also QoL groundwork for much else to come. We're talking fast travel, a better map system, upgrades, as well as huge performance gains benefitting all current and future hardware (Steam Deck we're coming for you!). This has meant that character customization has been pushed down the line a little, but we think it's worth it. Oh, and Steam Cloud Support also now joins us for those of you bouncing between multiple systems! [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//44253482/8c08c92c7d431a29de6570f415ef91b30161a5b5.jpg[/img] With all that said - the meat and bones of Strange Encounters is a vastly improved invasion system, new invaders, a new Warfare branch on the Research tree and tons of new tunable structures for base defense. Maybe it's time to just get into those patch notes? [h2]Patch Notes for 0.3 - Strange Encounters[/h2] [h3]Major Changes[/h3] [list] [*] Mainframe has acquired a new upgrade enabling Fast Travel between Mana Conduits [*] Technology Tree has been greatly expanded upon with Warfare Technologies via a new Martial Essence [*] New automated defensive structures can now be researched including Elemental Turrets and Sky Sappers capable of deploying Skymines [*] Factory repair structure also now available via Warfare Technology [*] Fully overhauled Invasion system with better frequency and communication [*] Several new monsters have been spotted during invasions [*] Invaders now use proper pathfinding (resulting in them digging up a fraction of the ground relative to before) [*] Map has been reworked with Markers for discovered landmarks (with toggleable categories via a Map Legend) [*] Additional New Upgrades for Inventory offering a Trashcan as well as the ability to quick transfer/deposit items [*] Steam Cloud Support [/list] [h3]General Improvements[/h3] [list] [*] Greatly improved performance of lighting which significantly reduces both CPU and GPU load [*] Rebalanced and designed Mana Conduit system with new interface [*] Technology Tree can now be zoomed in and out with mouse wheel [*] Selecting an item on the toolbar now sets that as your active item even when an item is already grabbed [*] Selected toolbar item is now highlighted [*] Reworked HUD featuring: [list] [*] New Heart-based health system [*] Improved active mode interface including the currently selected build range [*] New directional indicator showing structures under attack [*] Cursor targeted entities are now highlighted with a soft white pulse [/list] [*] Added Input and output numbers for many structures [*] Improved several inventory interactions [*] Added option to toggle inventory auto-sorting [*] Pressing Escape key now closes the map [*] Ancient Tech and Void Matter are now currencies stored outside of player inventory slots [*] Concrete is now a place-able block capable of withstanding increased damage from monsters [*] Power Relay can have scaffolding placed over it now [*] Increased the duration of the on hit effect [*] Added some tooltips for several various UI elements [*] Tiles can now be placed on top of grass, vines and other "fragile" tiles [*] Torch's supporting tile can now be destroyed without first displacing the torch [*] Various graphical tweaks and improvements [/list] [h3]Balance Changes[/h3] [list] [*] Magical Essence recipe has changed - Distillers currently making these need to have the recipe changed to update it properly [*] Initial inventory was increased from 30 to 40 [*] Mana Conduits now only have a single infusion step per tier [*] Mana Conduits now require slightly more Mana per tier [*] Mana Conduits now has a single input point [*] Monster invasions occur less frequently [*] Assembler II maximum collection range was changed from 2 to 3 [*] Plant Supports now output seeds first [*] Increased Otto's gathering range by 30% [*] Item gathering now has a much shorter delay [*] Jump time is now a little longer so you can jump up 8 blocks [*] Decreased knockback of flying monsters [*] Matter Refiner can now be crafted by players [*] Magical Essence now uses and depends on Gadget Technology [*] Significantly increased Ore Node richness [/list] [h3]Critical Issues[/h3] [list] [*] Resolved crash caused by attempting to render too many things [*] Resolved crash caused with animation system [*] Resolved major performance issues on Steam Deck [/list] [h3]Minor Issues[/h3] [list] [*] Collection range is now copied and applied with pipette tool [*] Resolved issue with manual crafting not working as intended when crafting dependencies [*] Resolved issue with power display numbers being multiplied by 4 [*] Resolved issue with UI sometimes not resizing vertically to fit content [*] Resolved issue with putting more of an item into an item slot than allowed [*] Resolved issue with unlocking a item slot [*] Resolved issue with an unavailable item being required for unlocking a region [*] Resolved issue with quickly unlocking two neighboring regions resulting in one remaining locked on the UI [*] Resolved issue with progression technologies not working properly [*] Resolved issue with settings UI getting into a back state when reselecting the selected category [*] Resolved issue with power connection with Mana Conduit not being shown [*] Resolved issue with soil rendering [*] Fixing issue with audio settings not working [*] Fixing HUD vitals misalignment that occurs from UI scale change [/list] While this major update brings many features and improvements, there are still many issues lurking about, so please let us know if you encounter any instabilities or have any feedback to share. As always, our [url=https://discord.com/invite/dBECMZ2mwG]Discord[/url] remains the best place for support but our [url=https://steamcommunity.com/app/1960480/discussions/]Steam Discussion Forums[/url] are still good too for those who prefer! This is only the first of many major updates to come and we will continue to be active with player support, balancing the game and fixing any issues you may come across. As one last note; AutoForge will also be on sale for 15% off for the next week to celebrate the launch of this update! Thank you as always for continuing this journey with AutoForge through Early Access. We look forward to sharing more about our next content-driven update 0.4 - 'The Stargazer' with you soon! Now, let's get cranking!