Note: This update includes a fair chunk of new content, mechanics and systems for settlements -- especially the procedural nature of fauna -- which will almost certainly require ongoing tweaking. As such, we consider 1.1.0 experimental; we'll be quick to balance and update in the coming days. If for whatever reason you run into serious issues, the Wild Moons content can be disabled via the Gameplay menu.
Settlements are the focus of 1.1.0, the core of which is a new, unique mission type offered by "Wayfarers". Your Deadnaut will be tasked with eliminating dangerous megafauna and in return for your assistance, the Wayfarers will shield you from the watchful eyes of the Benefactors.
Wayfarers are a resilient faction of scavengers living off the land, who do not harbor ill will towards the Handler or your Deadnaut. Their aid can prove invaluable as they transform into guerilla warriors, aiding you in your next mission against the Benefactors. Their technology is also at your disposal -- powerful autonomous drones that pack a whole lot of ballistic firepower.
Settlements are now teeming with fauna, new entities that coexist in groups, non-aggressive until provoked. Be wary, for their behavior escalates in intensity at higher tiers and once turned hostile, they'll spare neither your Deadnaut nor your enemies.
Finally, prepare for the arrival of storms on settlements. While a planet with a storm system will be clear of a toxic atmosphere, the storms themselves may prove dangerous. Your atmospheric hazard meter will warn you of their approach. Brace yourself, for as the storms rage, anything can happen.
Alright! With that out of the way, here are the patch notes for 1.1.0:
Added
- New mission type: Wild Moons. A friendly group of settlers have been overrun by dangerous megafauna. They promise to hide your location from the Benefactors on this mission - but you have to kill the megafauna. To help you, the settlers give you a few powerful drones.
- Wayfarer faction. It comprises of settlers and scavengers that are not hostile to the Deadnaut.
- New mission reward: Wayfarer guerillas. When you complete a Wild Moon mission, Wayfarer guerillas will spawn into your next mission to hunt down Benefactors.
- Wayfarer drone. A special drone given by settlers to the Deadnaut to help attack dangerous creatures.
- Settlements now have fauna. These are new entity types and are typically found in groups. They are usually not aggressive, but will attack if you get close. Fauna properties are randomly generated for each settlement and do not appear as scanned lifeforms. Fauna will attack all other enemies except for Sentinels and Rovers. They become more dangerous in higher tiers - for the Deadnaut and all other enemies.
- Storms on settlements. Storms can have different effects, sometimes positive. If a settlement has storms, the atmosphere will be non-toxic. The Deadnaut’s toxicity meter will start to countdown when a storm is approaching. While a storm is active, a range of effects may occur.
- More clarity on location scans related to environmental hazards. Hover over the atmosphere icon to check the effects of the toxic environment or storms on settlements.
- Gameplay option ‘Wild Moon features’. The features in this patch alter the gameplay in significant ways. Players can use this setting to adjust - or disable - all the Wild Moon features.
- Option in Gameplay settings to control how long scrolling text messages remain on screen before fading.
Balance
- The first T4 mission always has either a Foundry or Black Market codes on easy and normal difficulties.
Enhancement
- Rangers and Lancers can now coordinate when hunting the Deadnaut.
- Toxic atmospheres are now tinted based on the type of debuff: vigor (light red), acuity (green), wits (yellow), grit (purple).
- Reworked location and mission distribution to reduce repetition and increase likelihood of getting different missions throughout the campaign.
- The ADAD icon on location scans will flash with a cyan circle if security systems at the location are disabled or offline.
- Data file changes that should significantly reduce the download size of minor updates.
Fixed
- Additional checks for edge cases where starter sigils may not have been awarded to a new player.
UPDATE: We've just pushed out a hotfix that addresses the following issues:
- Degraded performance on settlements related to Wayfarer drone pathfinding.
- An issue with carryovers that could cause settlements not to load.
- "Downsample settlements textures" option in the Video & Audio menu. This setting is unsupported, and should only be used on VRAM-constrained systems where settlements fail to load as it has a noticeable impact on the quality of settlement heightmaps.
It can be lonely out there Handler. But never fear, company can be found on the Screwfly Discord server.
