Alpha Patch 0.0.11 is live!
We added colonist skills, a basic item system, and an illicit drug—space rock
Skills
We added 3 skills to the game.
Laborer
Increases movement speed
Increases max carry capacity (at level 5 and 10)
Note: The colonist can only carry extra items if the source object and destination object are the same
Mechanic
Decreases repair and maintenance duration (so it’s faster)
Decreases break chance of objects after being fixed or maintained (so they break much less frequently)
Farmer
Decreases growth duration of crops (so they grow faster)
Increases crop yield by 1 (at level 5 and 10)
Note: Only the skill of the planter is used. The skill of the harvester or tender is irrelevant
Right now, all skills max at level 10, because 10 is a nice number.
Experience
Going from level 0 to level 1 requires 100 experience. All experience required is increased by 50% each level. So the experience requirements are:
Level 1: 100
Level 2: 150
…
Level 9: 2563
Level 10: 3844
Going from level 0 to level 10 requires 11,333 total experience.
For perspective, the laborer is given 7.5 experience per successful delivery, so it requires 1511 deliveries.
Right now, all skills require the same amount of experience (I copy and pasted the values), but they could each have unique values, if we wanted them to.
Skill Randomization
Colonists are spawned with a random amount of experience between 1 and 5000. This experience is distributed in random increments between 500 and 3000.
The intent is for colonists to be good at certain things, and worse at others (as opposed to having the same level in every skill).
Randomly assigned skill levels
Items
We added a system for creating and using items.
Items are things like wrenches and fertilizer (as opposed to resources, like ore and metal).
We knew the specific items that we wanted: wrenches for mechanics, fertilizer for farmers, and shivs for fighting, but weren’t sure how the colonists should actually acquire these items.
We didn’t want the colonists to randomly “spawn” the item that they wanted, because there’s no way for a player to control that. The solution had to be something that the player would do with good intentions, but could be abused by bad colonists.
So we added the workbench. It’s an object that colonists automatically use to build items that they want. The player doesn’t have to micromanage, but you do have to keep it stocked with metal and biomass.
Fertilizer increases farmer skill by 2
New Food
We added several need food dishes for the chef: Cooked Potato, Carrot Pie, Waffle, Potato Pie, Cake, Salad, Pizza, Carrot Soup, Wheat Soup, and Potato Soup.
I’m not sure what potato pie is, but the colonists seem to like it
We also standardized the morale and hunger restored from foods.
Space Rock
Colonists can now make and use drugs.
When morale gets below +10, colonists have a chance of becoming a Space Rock User—making and consuming tasty space rock.
Space Rock is created by combining ore, biomass, and a metal pot in a sink. Next, they cook this concoction on a stove.
Space Rock increases morale and movement speed, it decreases anger (which is a good thing) and slightly damages colonist health.
Once the effect wears off, there’s a 35% chance that the colonist will suffer withdrawal symptoms: decreased morale, increased anger, etc. Withdrawal goes away over time or if the colonist uses Space Rock again.
Whenever used, there’s a chance that the colonist will become a permanent Space Rock user or become addicted. An addicted colonist never works and their highest priority free time action is to make and consume space rock.
Space Rock, just add water
Colonists will attempt to accrue the raw materials over time. So if you see a colonist with a metal pot, they’re probably a space rock user.
Patch Notes
New Stuff
- Added a skill system. Added skills for laborer, mechanic, and farmer.
- Added a Workbench, colonists can automatically create items here (if it has raw resources)
- Added the wrench, it's created at the workbench and increases mechanic skill by 2.
- Added fertilizer, it's created at the workbench and increases farmer skill by 2.
- Added a shiv.
- The fridge will now request 10 of each raw food.
- Created new food dishes: Pizza, Carrot Cake, Carrot Pie, Potato Pie, Waffle, Cooked Potato, Veggie Mix.
- Adjusted sprites of some existing food dishes.
- Added a metal pot, it's created at the workbench, and used for cooking.
- Added space rock. It's a drug that colonists will create in their free time. They have a chance of becoming a space rock user whenever morale goes beneath +10. Space rock is created by combining ore and biomass in a metal pot in a sink. This creates "raw space rock". Raw space rock is then cooked at a stove. Creating space rock. Space rock increases morale and movement speed, decreases anger, and slightly damages HP. When used, there's a chance that the colonist will become addicted. Once the effect wears off, colonists will enter a withdrawal state, where they have reduced morale, movement speed, increased anger, and receive periodic damage. The withdrawal symptom will be removed over time, or instantly if the colonist uses more space rock.
Bug/Minor Fixes
- Moved the paused button
- Minor UI changes.
- Floor construction stencil is now lit.
- Fixed some issues with nested AI states retaining their passed data.
- Crops now receive damage if you turn the crop spot offline.
- Crops can no longer be tended after being harvested.
Next Week
We’re still finishing up the visuals for fighting, they should be done this week.
I’d also like to add a chef skill, where recipes are unlocked based on chef skill level. Possibly recipes have a chance of failing, but I’m not sure how I feel about that.
I’d like to start on the health system, with a doctor, detachable limbs, and diseases.
Possibly we’ll take some time off for the 4th of July. I don’t know, we’ll see.
Thanks for reading these things!
-Tyler
