Hey folks, we've got a new update ready for ya. This update is largely about tying up loose ends in the various gameplay systems and cleaning things up as we get closer to release. The high points are a re-worked melee system, improved ore refining, chemistry, and an expanded food and cooking system. We also put a good bit of time into various quality of life features that we'd been putting off, including the ability to scale the entire game for folks with very high resolution monitors.

Melee Rework

One of the things we've been wanting to do for a long time was to add more depth to the melee combat, so we've done a pretty significant rework. We added combo attacks, running attacks, aerial attacks and charged heavy attacks to almost every weapon. We also added some new weapon types that we'll be expanding over time.

• Combo Attacks - Every weapon has a string of 3 combo attacks that are triggered by using the primary attack button (left click by default) shortly after hitting a creature. If you just hold down the attack button, it will pretty much act like it used to and just loop the first attack of the combo.
  
• Running and Aerial attacks - If you're running or in the air and you tap the alternate attack button (right click by default) then you'll do the relevant attack. Each weapon has different running and aerial attacks so they all have a bit of a distinct feel.
  
• Charged heavy attacks - If you hold the alternate attack button then you'll charge a heavy attack. Partial charge will result in a weaker attack. While charging or holding a charged attack you will walk slower.
  
• The platinum weapon tier has been renamed to "Piezo-Electric" and instead of being made mostly of platinum, they are now built primarily with steel and they use platinum for the electronic components which enable the weapon to have a built-in Static Capacitor that add 25% extra damage with a 3 second cooldown.
  
• We also added Dagger, Greatsword, Warhammer and Skillet weapon types, although there are still only a few of them as we're still fleshing out their various tiers.
  

New Weapons

Daggers

• Curved Dagger - Iron Ingot + Stick
  
• Combat Knife - Steel Ingot + Plastic (Requires Steel Anvil)
  
• Scalpel - Steel Ingot + Plastic (Requires Steel Anvil)
  

Clubs

• Copper Club - 4x Copper Ingots (Requires Hammer)
  
• Iron Club - 4x Iron Ingots (Requires Iron Anvil)
  
• Bronze Club - 4x Bronze Ingots (Requires Iron Anvil)
  
• Silver Club - 4x Silver Ingots (Requires Steel Anvil)
  
• Steel Club - 4x Steel Ingots (Requires Steel Anvil)
  
• Jewel Club - 2x Bornite Ingots + 4 Refined Rose Quartz (Requires Steel Anvil)
  

Refining Rework

Prior to this update, the metal refining and cooking has been kind of messy. In this update we've split cooking and refining into their own devices, and added a tech tier that lets you refine metals and cook using batteries instead of fuel. All of the basic refining devices have also been made into structures rather than items because they are just too big and awkward to be items, but we also added some portable options.

• Campfire now can cook any single ingredient food and can be used to make bricks
  
• Replaced the "Basic Smelter" with a clay Draft Furnace, that can refine Copper, Iron, Lead and Tin
  
• Replaced the "Advanced Smelter" with a Blast Furnace that can refine Bronze, Steel, Aluminum, Bornite and Silver
  
• Added the Induction Furnace that is powered by batteries rather than fuel and can refine Platinum, Titanium and Energite
  
• Removed firestarter requirement from all refiners
  
• Added a Steel Anvil and a Drop Hammer as requirements for various recipes
  

Chemistry

While reworking the refining systems we realized that we needed dedicated devices for chemistry processes.

• Mortar and Pestle - Can process chemistry recipes that require up to 2 ingedients. Portable.
  
• Chemistry Bench - Can process chemistry recipes that require up to 3 ingredients.
  
• Chemistry Lab - Can process chemistry recipes that require up to 4 ingredients.
  

New Chemistry Recipes:

• Ammonia - Lye + 10x Dirt + Empty Glass Bottle
  
• Antiparasitic Medicine - 3x Pumpkin, Bana or Delicious Seeds
  
• Chunky Nut Butter - Buttery Nut
  
• Cornmeal - Corn
  
• Glycerol - Fat (Tallow, Plant Oil, etc) + Lye + Empty Glass Bottle
  
• Ipecac Medicine - Ipecac Herb
  
• Lye - Charcoal
  
• Nutmeal - Hard Nut or Spray Nut
  
• Organic Acid - Citrica Fruit or Spitter Gland + Empty Glass Bottle
  
• Organic Black Powder - 2 Bust Nuts
  
• Plant Oil - Nutmeal, Cornmeal, or Nut Butter + Empty Glass Bottle
  
• Poison - 3 Cooked Grey Mushrooms + Empty Glass Bottle
  
• Saltpeter - Animal Waste + Charcoal
  
• Smooth Nut Butter - Chunky Nut Butter
  
• Stimulant Medicine - 3x Sweety Fruit Seed
  
• Sugar - 3 of the same Fruit
  
• Sulfuric Acid - Sulphur + Saltpeter + Empty Glass Bottle
  
• Wheat Flour - Wheat
  
• Yeast - Wheat Flour + Sugar
  

Cooking Rework

For a long time we've had a functional cooking system, but it was pretty thin and wasn't very interesting, so we've reworked it considerably. Like the rest of our game, we've come up with a fun mix of procedural and hand-crafted foods. You'll be able to make straightforward foods like hot dogs, sandwiches and sweet rolls, but you'll also be able to make custom meals that let you combine different ingredients with stacking effects. You can make a Plated Meal with egg and bacon, or a Big Salad with raw crawler meat and buttery nuts. That last one will probably give you parasites though.

• Added the Brick Oven that can cook any food with 2 ingredients
  
• Added the Iron Stove that can cook any food with 3 ingredients
  
• Added the Kitchenette that can cook any food with 4 ingredients
  
• The Iron Grill now works like the Iron Stove, but it has 1 slot instead of 3 and it is portable.
  
• The "Portable Tech Grill" has been renamed to the Portable Electric Stove, and it works like a portable Kitchenette but it has 2 slots instead of 4. It runs on batteries.
  
• Added a Blue Cooler for organizing cooked food
  

New Cooking Recipes

Basic Recipes

Up to 2 ingredients, and can be cooked in a Brick Oven, Iron Stove, or Kitchenette

• Roasted Nuts - Any Nut
  
• Bread - Dough
  
• Bread Loaf - Dough + Dough
  
• Sweet Bread - Sweet Dough
  
• Honey Glazed Meat - Honey + Any Meat
  
• Plated Snack - Clay Plate + Any Raw Ingredient
  

Intermediate Recipes

Up to 3 ingredients, and can be cooked in an Iron Stove or Kitchenette

• Cornbread - Cornmeal + Egg + Any Fat (Tallow, Plant Oil)
  
• Pancakes - Batter + Egg + Any Fat (Tallow, Plant Oil)
  
• Plated Meal - Clay Plate + Any Raw Ingredient + Any Raw Ingredient
  
• Pie - Sweet Dough + Any Fat + Any Raw Ingredient
  

Advanced Recipes

• Feast - Clay Plate + Any Raw Ingredient + Any Raw Ingredient + Any Raw Ingredient
  
• Cake - Batter + Any Fat + Sugar + Salt
  
• Baklava - Honeycomb + Wheat Flour + Any Fat + Any Nut
  
• Artisanal Pie - Sweet Dough + Any Fat + Any Raw Ingredient + Any Raw Ingredient
  

Preparation Recipes

These are recipes that do not require cooking, and they can be made in your inventory through the crafting menu.

• Simple Salad - Clay Bowl + Lettuce
  
• Topped Salad - Clay Bowl + Lettuce + Pretty much any ingredient
  
• Big Salad - Clay Bowl + Lettuce + Pretty much any ingredient + Pretty much any ingredient
  
• Dough - Wheat Flour + Yeast + Any Fat + Salt
  
• Sweet Dough - Dough + Sugar
  
• Batter - Wheat Flour + Egg + Any Fat
  
• Sandwich - Bread + Any Cooked Meat + Lettuce
  
• Big Sandwich - Bread Loaf + 2x Any Cooked Meat + 2x Lettuce
  
• Sweet Roll - Sweet Bread + Any Fat + Sugar
  
• Hot Dog - Bread + Any Meat
  

New Dungeon

For awhile now there have been 8 alien temples scattered around worlds that allow you to unlock abilities of the Strange Alien Gadget. In the last update, we expanded on the "Spacetime" temple that always generates under the mining base, and in this update we expanded on the "Heat" temple. There is a new boss, and a new dungeon to explore.

Quality of Life

• Added an AGIS assisted automatic journal that records "important" things that happen during gameplay. The intention here is to strike a balance where we can give folks something to reference if they get lost or stuck, without just blatantly telling the player what to do in the form of an explicit quest objective. This is something that we'll be fleshing out over time, and we're very much open to suggestions about places where we could add additional entries.
  
• If you have a refiner open and you are looking at a relevant refiner recipe in your crafting menu, you can now click a "Transfer" button to put the items in the appropriate slot in the refiner with one click.
  
• Added an option to scale the entire game up in 25% increments. This should help folks that have trouble with the tiny UI on high resolution monitors.
  
• Complete overhaul of recipes and their organization
  
• Added a Change Ammo Type keybind (C by default) that will cycle through the valid ammo types for your weapon.
  
• You can now hide items from the Automatic Item Slots in the HUD by clicking the "hide" icon in the item details in your inventory.
  

Gameplay Changes

• Adjusted tutorial asteroid boss fight - It was brought to our attention that it was pretty darn irritating that the very first thing we give you to fight is immune to damage from the player, so we added a first phase to that encounter where you get to beat up on a weird tentacle creature. After dealing enough damage, the boss creature will wake and engage the player. We also made the destructible block in that boss area more obvious.
  
• Creatures will now only spawn on natural blocks (dirt, mud, etc)
  
• A bunch of small changes to various structures in the world to fix a variety of issues.
  

Ipecac

We added an ipecac herb and made it so you can turn it into medicine. When consumed, it... clears you of status effects and empties your uh... fullness meter.

What's Next?

Our immediate goal is to do a slight revamp of the intro/tutorial areas to make them flow a bit better and to file off some of the rough edges. After that, we're mostly going to be working on one of the last story related areas of the game deep underground on the planet.

This update was primarily about tying up the loose ends with the basic systems of the game, and now we need to do the same with the story content. Right now the story content just sorta ends abruptly, and nothing is really resolved, but hopefully we'll fix that in the not too distant future.

This update ended up having us touch just about every part of the game from top to bottom, so it is entirely likely that there are some issues we haven't caught and I encourage you to let us know if you run into any issues or have any suggestions. As always, we would love to hear from you, so feel free to comment on this post, get in touch through the Steam Forums, join the Official Discord Server, or email us at playsignsoflife@gmail.com.