Sneak-Peak of Alpha 13?

[LouisTBR]

•Self-reproducing, spreading underground insect hives
•Social relationships with friends, rivals, family, chats, arguments, and fights
•Many more animals, some of which will hunt people
•"Components" resource used for machinery and electronics
•Ground-traveling trade caravans from other factions
•Character records which keep stats on each character like number of kills, injuries, surgeries, etc.
•Extreme desert biome

Wow. Let's begin!

•Self-reproducing, spreading underground insect hives
This sounds awesome! Not sure exactly what their purpose would be, apart from digging up your colony and causing you to spend all your silver on ant powder, but, nevertheless, this looks interesting!

•Social relationships with friends, rivals, family, chats, arguments, and fights
YES! I made a detailed suggestion about this, and so did many others, and I am so happy it is being put into place! I never thought of arguments, which in hindsight seems stupid on my part, but anyway... YESSSSSS!

•Many more animals, some of which will hunt people
More animals is gonna be great! I can see some additions like:
Horses
Polar Bears
Cats
Big Cats
Sheep
The truth is, the game needs so many more animals, and this seems like the right step to take. Plus, some hunt humans, so watch out for that!

•"Components" resource used for machinery and electronics
Interesting. I'm sure this is based on a mod I saw a couple of alphas back. I can see some cool, logical uses for these new items. Maybe they could be used in later alphas to fashion mechanoids and labour robots? Who knows?

•Ground-traveling trade caravans from other factions
I'm pretty sure I saw this in a mod too, but in the form of tents. I made a suggestion about this too. It would definitely be a welcome addition to trade ships, which are few and far between in the current game.

•Character records which keep stats on each character like number of kills, injuries, surgeries, etc.
I don't think that I would use this much, but I can see many ways it would come in handy for others. Would be a good way of remembering that guy who can't eat properly. Or the one with brain damage.

•Extreme desert biome
Other than the social interactions, this is my favourite addition. The current desert is a stretch to survive in, but it does need a ice-sheet-like upgrade for more interesting, extreme colonies!

Wondering where I got this from? https://ludeon.com/blog/

[Coenmcj]

Louis, I think there's a ship part in the area, you're clearly going insane.
I'm not seeing anything in the blog, most recent post is November

Edit : Oh wait, nevermind you are referring to the post from November.
In which case, can't wait until the next testing phase comes around. It's gonna be as awesome as a cargo pod full of berries during a long solar flare.

[Panzer]

Misleading title, this is no sneak peek, just a discussion of 2 months old info.
And here I thought you guys already got a testbuild...

[LouisTBR]

Well I'm sorry. I just wanted to share some information with everybody, that's all. Why bother reading it?

[wakko151]

wondering where he is. There is always a lul around the end of the year. Holidays and what not. But we haven't had an update since November of 2015... WE MISS YOU MOFO!!

[LouisTBR]

I think he's on sabbatical. He goes around this time every year.

[Andy_Dandy]

Here is a quick overview of some other stuff that's been added:

•Colonist family and social relationship system.
•Brothers, sisters, parents, children, aunts, uncles and so on are all randomly generated. So e.g. your colonist's brother can appear as a refugee (or a raider!)
•Colonists develop lover relationships – and break them off.
•People have opinions of each other which change with circumstances (e.g. you botched my surgery and cut my eye out – I hate you! Or, you're my brother – I love you!).
•Social interactions play out different ways with different effects, depending on who is communicating and what they think of each other.
•People can have "social fights" from social interactions gone wrong.
•Marriages with ceremonies. Divorces. Love and heartbreak.
•Multi-person beds.
•Social bonds with animals.
•Tons more in this system. But no kids (yet – that's a whole other ball of wax).

•People who leave the map while traveling, fleeing, being kidnapped, etc. can come back later as raiders, visitors, joiners, etc.
•New diseases with new mechanics.
•Carcinoma (on any body part).
•Fibrous mechanites, sensory mechanites.
•Gut worms.
•Muscle parasites.
•Trauma savant.
•Asthma.

•New "firefoam popper" provides a way to combat fire besides punching it.
•Prison breaks. Prisoners pick the locks, get out, seek weapons and work as a group to escape.
•Tons of other over and under-the-hood improvements.

I promise you lads will loooooooove this update!

NB! Tynan is back in circa a month from now!!!

[RickyMartini]

Fucking amazing I'm drooling over here.

[LouisTBR]

Aww sweet! I didn't know about all that stuff! This is gonna be the best Alpha yet!

[Toggle]

Aww sweet! I didn't know about all that stuff! This is gonna be the best Alpha yet!

Yep, new blog post out.

[Keychan]

The prison break mechanic seems awesome!!!  Can't wait to see how that plays out.  Hopefully the chances of that happening decreases according to the prisoners' happiness.

[Fluffy (l2032)]

And every modder's dread: "various under the hood changes"... Expect a mass crash and burn of your favourite mods....