[p]Howdy Exofarmers! Summer is here, and we're about to take a long-awaited break from our hard work to get a proper farmer's sunburn, but before we crawl out of our little indie studio, we've got some things to share with ya! [/p][p][/p][p]As the big update is alive and kicking, we know that many of you are having fun figuring out the new world, but some of you are probably wondering - What's coming next?
Grab a cold beverage of choice and get ready to learn some more about our thoughts and more detailed plans for 2025!🍹[/p][p][/p]
A bright future☀️
[p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/41007923/79bf1babfa15838622f750f3cc24d216f686bec9.png"][/p][p]This year so far has been a process of exploring and thinking a bit outside the box. The Shifting Gears update was the result of a massive effort to sharpen our focus on what makes the game exciting to play and to live up to the fantasy we're promising players.[/p][p][/p][p]Since the update, we've done a bunch of hotfixes to solve issues and adjust features based on feedback. Some of these fixes include making the tornado less fond of stalking you, or making the game autosave to keep your hard-farmed progress safe. In July, we will be away for a month to rest and return with full, renewed energy to continue developing, fixing, and improving Lightyear Frontier![/p][p][/p][p]Hotfixes are one thing, but when can you expect the next fun update for Lightyear Frontier? We're hoping to drop another 1 to 2 updates for you in 2025! If you're curious, you can already find our updated Roadmap, which reflects some of the exciting new features to come, potential additions, and early concepts we're exploring![/p][p][/p]
Let us know! 📢
[p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/41007923/7ec802b48e6e4db0ef0dd1c7eb53a2b88ac94517.png"][/p][p]Some feedback we got from this update is that you felt that the new map felt a bit empty, and we agree! Making the world nine times larger than the original sure was a massive effort in a short amount of time! After the update, we've continued to polish the map in some of our hotfixes so far, and we intend to continue with this to make the world feel more alive and to deepen the planet’s mysterious past.
We're also exploring small ways to strengthen your purpose and adding more depth and meaning around farming when you provide for the neighbouring colonies in need. [/p][p]As we previously mentioned, we want to involve our players earlier in our game meching process and hear your thoughts and opinions on what is important to you. Therefore, we've prepped a survey for you!👇[/p][p][/p][p]This 2-minute survey will provide us with invaluable information we want from our community, including those of you who are about to join us! [/p][p]Let us know what you think! ➡️Lightyear Frontier Roadmap Survey⬅️[/p][p][/p]
A Little Teaser 👀
[p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/41007923/6164b7526fb539bb67cf5d5e17424e909fdc98a3.gif"][/p][p]Use your powerful mech to pick up, carry, and throw logs, stones, and other big stuff. Carry it home to the farm and process it for lots of extra resources! This is something we're exploring, and we think this could be a fun addition to the gathering aspect of the game! What do you think?[/p][p][/p][p]Tossing logs like Swedish Kubb? Yes, thank you![/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/41007923/18a29cfff1e4e921b71b5743bae69236958370b4.png"][/p][p][/p][p]Don’t forget to rest your boots and soak up some sun! Have a nice summer! ☀️⛱️[/p][p]// The FRAME BREAK team[/p][p] [/p]
HOTFIX JUNE 25TH | V 0.5.1628
[p]Howdy! We cleaned up the field from some new bugs and made some changes for ya! 🧑🌾[/p][p][/p]
🔁 Changes
[p]Farm Center & Resource Delivery Cannon construction costs changed from later game resources to Copper Ore[/p]
[p]Recycling the Farmech Ship now yields 30 Copper Ore (to prevent a previous softlock if a player lost any of the resources from the ship before they unlocked the technology to make them)[/p]
[p]Improved mech damage visuals[/p]
[p] [/p]
🪲 Bug Fixes
[p]Fixed issues with buying mech power cores from Lola[/p]
[p]Fixed Artifact Findings entries not rewarding blueprints for "Strange" constructs[/p]
[p]Fixed vertex paint on spirepot trees so they sway correctly in the wind & updated color on them[/p]
[p]Updated collision on hexagonal rocks[/p]
[p]
Have a good one! ✨
// The FRAME BREAK team[/p]
HOTFIX JUNE 23RD | V 0.5.1619
Howdy Exofarmers!
[p]In this week's Hotfix, we've added some new content, like an upgraded Seed Extractor in direct response to your feedback wishing for more efficient seed production, but also made various changes and bug fixes! 🌱⚙️
A change we want to highlight for this hotfix is that we have updated the environment around resource-rich areas, so this may cause floating resources and extra plants in existing saves! We tried our best to avoid your homesteads, but keep your tools ready since there is a possibility that some extra resources might appear in your home! 🌳🪚 Check out our chunky fix list below! ⬇️✨[/p][p] [/p]
🚀 New Content
[p]Added the Seed Extractor II blueprint to Milestone 5. The Seed Extractor II creates seeds with 5x the input and output in the same amount of time as the regular Seed Extractor[/p]
[p]Lola now sells Power Cores, which increase Mech Power by 1. (Their cost increases after every purchase)[/p]
[p]Added a ruin close to the starter area (To quicker get introduced to ruins and the artifacts)[/p]
[p]When starting the game for the first time, you will be presented with a short list of important settings[/p]
[p] [/p]
🔁 Changes
[p]Updated environment around resource-rich areas in Outset Grasslands (some floating resource nodes and extra plants may occur in existing save files)[/p]
[p]Overhauled environment in the lower part of Outset Grasslands (some floating resource nodes and extra plants may occur in existing save files)[/p]
[p]Updated environment around resource-rich areas in the mountain(some floating resource nodes and extra plants may occur in existing save files)[/p]
[p]Updated environment outside the Hall of Fame ruin[/p]
[p]Increased drone watering speed by ~30% (in response to player feedback to make the drone feel more rewarding)[/p]
[p]Mech and Exofarmer damage scaling settings are now personal instead of controlled only by the host of a session[/p]
[p]Increased maximum queue in crafting constructs from 10 to 20[/p]
[p]Crafting queues now calculate the amount of time left and progress all queues by that amount of time at day transition[/p]
[p]Slightly increased Floater environment damage so they now break small trees in one hit (Have fun lining those shots up!)[/p]
[p]Moved Barrel construct recipe unlock from Milestone 6 to Milestone 3[/p]
[p]Moved Spike Saw Sweeping Strike Mod Chip recipe award from Milestone 2 to Milestone 1[/p]
[p]Spike Saw Mk. 1 is no longer listed as a reward for Milestone 1 (since you already have it)[/p]
[p]Changed the categorization of several decorations to be more intuitive[/p]
[p]Reduced the cost of several constructs[/p]
[p]Reordered available deliveries in the Resource Delivery Cannon menu to be closer to the expected order of discovery[/p]
[p]Made other players' Mechs look less floaty as they move around[/p]
[p]Honeybottle growth time increased from 3 to 4 days (existing saves with fully grown honeybottles may find them reverted to the growing stage, but they will be fully grown the next day instead)[/p]
[p]Mech tools are no longer unequipped from the Mech model when docked (to allow tool repair while docked)[/p]
[p]Added more resources all over the map and replaced resources that were floating in the air or were positioned weirdly[/p]
[p]Moved some existing nodes further away from mountain sides for easier extraction[/p]
[p]The wall preventing players from entering the ??? area is now visible from further away[/p]
[p]Increased the weight of several items that weighed less than 0.1 units and were incorrectly displayed as weightless[/p]
[p]Increased the Stone drop rate from Gravelgourds, upping the average yield by ~50%[/p]
[p]Added Spirepot Tree Sprouts to Lola's store[/p]
[p]Added some more Unstuck Safespot locations in Hexagon Valley[/p]
[p]Added a way to more easily get out of the Landing Pad and Loading Dock ruins in case you went in there without your Mech[/p]
[p]Removed a small beach where it was easy to get softlocked without upgrades[/p]
[p]Adjusted sun rotation[/p]
[p]Adjusted the color of the sky and grass[/p]
[p]Adjusted fog density and color during dusk/dawn[/p]
[p]Improved the collision of Ulf's house to make building his decorations easier[/p]
[p]Reduced Fuel Efficiency Mod Chip Lv 1 & Lv 2 power costs to 0, max fuel efficiency is capped at 90%[/p]
[p]Added a tooltip to explain how to select Mech Transform Modes[/p]
[p] [/p]
🪲 Bug Fixes
[p]Fixed various crashes[/p]
[p]Drone fuel consumption reduced by 75% (Drones were using much more fuel than intended)[/p]
[p]Fixed issue where you were unable to find all artifacts for the Landing Pad and Loading Dock ruins[/p]
[p]Fixed a state that could leave the exofarmer without tools after a save file crash[/p]
[p]Lost Inventory can no longer spawn in water after exofarmer getting knocked out[/p]
[p]The Exofarmer now teleports to their mech when falling into the void inside the Vault[/p]
[p]Fixed issue where ranch animals would sometimes become "Sleeping Beauty" and sleep forever[/p]
[p]Fixed client seeing other Mechs sliding around after they had transformed back into Biped mode from another mode[/p]
[p]Fixed issue where player-made paths would sometimes fail to load for Clients[/p]
[p]Fixed a couple of issues that caused performance stutters for Clients when walking away from large groups of constructs[/p]
[p]Fixed an issue that caused eggs to not spawn correctly in multiplayer[/p]
[p]Fixed issue where "Drink Coffee" emote would not work properly in Photo Mode[/p]
[p]Fixed issue where Wheat Trophies would turn into Polyberry Trophies after saving and loading the game[/p]
[p]Crystal Shards' final delivery now correctly requires 100 items instead of only 10[/p]
[p]Resources shouldn't respawn incorrectly after a save and load[/p]
[p]Most likely fixed the issue where Behemoth would sometimes stop spawning[/p]
[p]Fixed issue where the textures of the flying Behemoth would often be very blurry[/p]
[p]Fixed issue where Phosphoric and Nitrogenic Fertilizer had the Potassic Fertilizer icon[/p]
[p]Villagers can no longer get stuck inside their lander if you're far away when they arrive[/p]
[p]Fixed the locations of the inspection points in the Loading Dock that were floating in the air or had obscured vision[/p]
[p]Fixed issue where coziness buffs would stop saving properly after 30 days of playtime[/p]
[p]Fixed issue where Floaters would deal a lot more damage to the player than intended[/p]
[p]Plants far away should now respawn as intended[/p]
[p]Adjusted collision on Hexagon cliff and Alien Fence to easier to step up as the Exofarmer[/p]
[p]Fixed issue where some models were slightly floating in the Loading Dock ruins[/p]
[p] [/p][p]Next month, we are slowing down with hotfixes as many of us are starting to take some well-deserved time off for summer! But we always aim to have some of our cool team members available, so please share feedback or bugs you encounter. 🐛[/p][p] Thank ya'll for hanging around! 🤗
// The FRAME BREAK team[/p]
HOTFIX JUNE 11TH | V 0.5.1603
[p]A new week with more bug squashing, and we're back with some improvements! ✨ Check out below what we caught and cleaned up thanks to our community's diligent bug reports 🦾🐛 [/p][p][/p]
🚀 NEW FEATURE
[p]The game will now automatically save every 5 minutes (real time) in addition to once at the start of each day[/p]
[p][/p]
🪲BUG FIXES
[p]Fixed issues with offline play, including getting stuck on the loading screen when starting a new game[/p]
[p]Fixed issue where Silver would not appear[/p]
[p]Deliveries can no longer be sent if all available milestones have been completed[/p]
[p]Fixed issue where ores sometimes respawned right when harvested[/p]
[p]Mitigated (hopefully eliminated) the issue where distant items fall through the ground[/p]
[p]Interacting with the fallen satellite interaction point now properly unlocks a figurine construct[/p]
[p]Fixed issue where one could get stuck inside the vault by using the "Help, I'm Stuck!" command or running out of fuel[/p]
[p]Adjusted iron nodes so they no longer get stuck on top of the pillar[/p]
[p]Fixed issue where personal Quests would not function properly in offline play[/p]
[p]Fixed various crashes[/p]
[p]Fixed text header issue on Ruin region artifact counter UI element on HUD[/p]
[p]Fixed issue where death caches would sometimes spawn in the air[/p]
[p]Updated collision on mech tools, fixing Sprout Cannons not being repairable[/p]
[p]Fixed the Repair Tool showing "No Ammo" prompt when it shouldn't[/p]
[p]Fixed issue where you'd sometimes get hundreds of Refillite spawning in a small area[/p]
[p]Fixed issue where some wild crops would sometimes disappear when walking far away and coming back[/p]
[p]Fixed issue where some wild crops would sometimes be invisible[/p]
[p]Fixed issue where wild Polyberries would change to a low detail version very close to the camera[/p]
[p]Made item ejection more consistent on the Seed Extractor and Oil Presser[/p]
[p]Fixed issue where Znorks would have a solo party instead of going to sleep at night[/p]
[p]Fixed a collision issue with the Single Hardwood Fence Gate that prevented passage[/p]
[p]Fixed issue where snapping for normal constructs stopped working inside buildings[/p]
[p]Fixed the collision missing from part of the broken alien crane[/p]
[p]Fixed faulty Spike Saw hit detection on crops (wild and planted) and Refillite that made the range of the tool feel shorter than intended[/p]
[p]Fixed issue where neighbours wouldn't stand still when talking to them[/p]
[p]Fixed issue where contributing items to holograms by physically carrying them there with the P.I.C.K Axe could be finicky, as the items would block the hologram[/p]
[p]Fixed multiple Behemoths spawning on top of each other[/p]
[p]Fixed an issue where tools and transform modes that weren’t currently active got damaged when players got knocked out or entered water[/p]
[p][/p]
🔁CHANGES
[p]Populated island between the Canyons[/p]
[p]Made tornadoes appear less, last a shorter duration, and not chase players as aggressively[/p]
[p]The Mech will now always have at least a bit of fuel in the tank if fuel consumption is turned off[/p]
[p]Adjusted early game fuel scaling with mech power, reduced initial fuel consumption by ~50%[/p]
[p]Refillite will now be used as fuel before any oils, when available[/p]
[p]Added landscape backdrops to the world[/p]
[p]Decreased strength of pushback when the Mech bumps into something[/p]
[p]Slightly increased minimum Mech speed required to take damage from collisions[/p]
[p]Increased minimum Mech speed needed to play animation where Mech reacts to an impact[/p]
[p]Added Standard Farmech mech parts to appearances from the start[/p]
[p]Added more Wheat to the crashed ship[/p]
[p]Mech baseline weight capacity increased from 80 to 100[/p]
[p]Increased durability of all tools & transform modes across all levels[/p]
[p]Reduced crafting cost of the Plant Fiber to Wheat Seeds recipe from 100 to 20[/p]
[p]Reduced crafting cost of all Spliced seeds from 5 to 2[/p]
[p]Adjusted the build cost of all troughs to match available resources better when players usually unlock Diane[/p]
[p]Added new visual state to Fuel Bar UI for over-encumbrance to indicate increased consumption[/p]
[p]Iterated on the floater amount and location near the starter area[/p]
[p] [/p][p]A huge shoutout to everyone who are sending us bug reports and feedback! We are working hard to resolve the issues you've been facing and hope to patch another hotfix soon!🌱🚀
Until then, keep those farms going!😊[/p][p]//The FRAME BREAK TEAM[/p]
HOTFIX JUNE 5TH | V 0.5.1593
Heya Exofarmers!
🔥Steaming Hotfix Incoming! 🔥
A huge thank you to the community for sending bug reports and feedback our way after the update! 🐛We put in fixes for some of them already in this hotfix and added some changes. This is what we fixed so far:
Patch Notes
V 0.5.1593
🪲BUG FIXES
Removed various holes in the landscape
Fixed camera snapping when Mech falls over
Fixed issue where saving & loading during intro could cause a quest to be missed
Fixed issue where clients would sometimes fall through the world when joining a session
Fixed Notification Marker UI issue in the Customization page on the Mech Dock
Made damage caused and received by Mech collisions more consistent for clients
Fixed issue where the Mech could get moved to the starting location when loading a save file in a specific circumstance
Fixed issue where faraway neighbours could fall through the world and disappear for the rest of the day
Fixed issue where Fence Gates would only provide coziness when closed
Fixed issue where players were sometimes able to interact with Mech parts from within the Mech
Fixed issue where interacting with inspection points would make you partially invisible to other players
Fixed parts of certain transform modes briefly appear when installing them on the mech
Fixed Compost Box processing effects not playing
Fixed doors not opening or closing if an Exofarmer was standing too close
Getting knocked out now exits photo mode - would previously make inputs unresponsive
Fixed the Field Plow, Pathmaker, and H.O.E. not working on snow
Potentially fixed issue where foliage could look unhealthy even when far away from restorable trash
Fixed grass and other elements that in certain circumstances moved in a choppy manner or froze completely, particularly at very high frame rates
Fixed issue where you could build on the water in the underground lab
Fixed issue where you were incorrectly allowed to build on some constructs, like the Merchant Dock and Farm Center
Fixed Delivery Cannon not playing any animations when performing a delivery when loading a save with an in-progress delivery (Will now complete delivery right after loading in save instead)
Fixed some goo disappearing without clearing it
Center-aligned UI of coziness buffs on HUD
🔁CHANGES
Added descriptive text to save files that are not compatible with the current game version
Mech collisions can now damage large trees
Overhauled the environment around the vault
Floaters don't target Refillite anymore
Auto-move is no longer cancelled by opening selection menus, inventory menu, etc.
Overhauled the environment around the landing pad ruin
Populated area around the harbour ruins
Caroot and Chromaize now glow at night
Reduced scale of Caroots to improve visibility of the mounds and adjacent plants.
Added foundations to some constructs that didn't have them previously
All planted large plants now have the same size water indicator
We're aiming to have another beaming hotfix ready for you all next week! Until then, get em' farms growing! 💪✨
//The FRAME BREAK TEAM
OUT NOW - SHIFTING GEARS UPDATE!
It's here, it's finally here! Check out the new content, changes, bug fixes, and find information about our updated Road Map at the end!
We've been elbow-deep in the gears to bring this update to you, our community, and we are beyond excited to open up our barn doors and show our harvest! ⬇️
Added Types to Crops and Mounds with various effects when they interact to encourage crop rotation
Added drones to automate the watering process, accessed by building a Watering Drone Station
Added Mech and Exofarmer health
Damage can be scaled for each in the Settings menu
Added the Mech needing fuel to operate
Fuel consumption rate can be scaled in the Settings menu
Added Home Area system to streamline various home-related systems like crafting from storage, Coziness, and fast travel
Added the ability for Exofarmer to pick up resources, instantly moving them to the Mech's inventory
Overhauled core progression with a new crop delivery system, accessed via the Delivery Cannon
Added inspection points that players can interact with to get information about things in the world
Added loadout functionality to make it easier to quickly swap parts and tools on the Mech
Added "Queue Max" accelerator button to timed crafting Constructs, instantly queues as many of a resource as possible
Added an indicator to show new recipes and Constructs
Added "Quick Deposit" accelerator in storage Construct menus
Exofarmers can now cycle between equipped tools on unpiloted mechs by interacting with the equipped tool
Constructs can now be recycled with a shortcut while in build mode
Added "Auto-hide HUD" setting
Added new Exofarmer emotes
Added several events and hazards to the game world
Added new lore text unlocked by finding artifacts
Added "Day Length" setting
Added additional Decorations
Added new minerals to the game world
Added snow and gravel materials to the landscape
Added more artifacts in various places in the world
🔁 Changes
Improved Exofarmer animations
Made physics simulation, including Mech movement, start slowing down when below 19 FPS rather than 30 FPS
A Mech colliding with an object can now deal damage to that object
Items placed directly into storage now count towards discovering new recipes
Storage constructs can now be relocated without having to empty them first
Available items will now be automatically contributed to a construct when placing it
Overhauled Mech animations and effects
Changed build mode controls to allow full movement capabilities
Many larger objects will now appear to break apart when destroyed, e.g., trees and large bushes
Split resource nodes between respawnable and one-time nodes, with new art to distinguish the two
Overhauled Mech customization to allow for easier and expanded control over parts appearance and colors
Recoloring is now done via a menu instead of via the Exofarmer’s Paint Gun
Removed Paint Gun’s secondary color mode
Overhauled game world
Overhauled fertilizer to make it easier to get and apply with a new transform mode
Overhauled scale of game world objects and constructs to be more suitable for the exofarmer and properly convey the mech's size
Overhauled the Irrigation Hose's secondary ability to make it more viable for larger fields
Overhauled the Artifact system to unlock lore texts and rewards over time
Split the Field Plow and Harvester into two separate Transform Modes
Changed the third-person camera for Exofarmer
Added distance blend to cliff materials, leading to sharper textures up close
Overhauled narrative and game introduction
The mech can now absorb water simply by standing in it
Updated the world map, including a more granular fog that clears as you explore
Changed the shape of respawning resource bases so that dropped resources are easier to retrieve
Updated and added many Mech and Exofarmer sounds
Completely rebuilt crop systems to support much larger fields
Removed hazardous events that occurred on your farm (Slime Bubbles, Noxious Weeds)
Increased the render distance of player-made paths
Exofarmers can now be submerged deeper in water before getting teleported back into the Mech
Increased Mech acceleration and turning speed
The Vacuum Harvester can no longer be used to harvest crops
Renamed to “Resource Vacuum”
Adjusted achievements to fit the new progression and world
Made the Mech stick better to the ground when running at high speeds
Drastically reduces the frequency of situations where the Mech stops running on slopes
Overhauled tutorial missions
Updated main menu visuals
Increased queue size in timed crafting Constructs
Added amount slider to timed crafting Constructs
Made trees and other landscape features visible from further away
Updated item pick-up and discovery HUD notification
Updated water tank HUD element
Made the mech heavier - faster falling, more stable, rolls less when falling over, can't be pushed by exofarmers anymore
Updated water materials for more variety and improved visuals - there are now differences between rivers, ponds, and lakes
Water now reacts to the Mech and Exofarmer moving through it
Added and improved various animal animations
Overhauled various ruins
The alien-themed music now stops playing when players have found all artifacts in a larger ruin area
The Mech now assumes a different, slightly crouched pose when unpiloted
Improved collision on several objects
The Seed Shooter can now be fired continuously by holding down the shoot button
Significantly improved Seed Shooter lock-on performance, especially network performance, to allow for more simultaneous targets
Adjusted Seed Shooter lock-on behavior to make the acquisition of many targets much easier
Made the Irrigation Hose's primary mode cover more area, requiring less precision aiming
Rebalanced resource progression and changed nearly all construct costs
Mech thrusters will now fully recharge in the same amount of time, regardless of duration upgrades
Recycling a painted construct will now give back the applied paint
Crops no longer wither 3 days after reaching the mature stage
Recycling constructs now adds items directly into the Mech's inventory
🪲 Bug Fixes
Fixed recycled, or relocated hologram casting a shadow before disappearing
Fixed players getting stuck attempting to create a new save game with all save slots filled
Adjusted pop-up message when unable to disembark the Mech
Farm animals can now experience the "Alone" status if they don't have enough company
Fixed a rare issue where the player didn't spawn correctly, sometimes leaving them in a blue void
Potentially fixed issue where some players would lose system audio when entering Multiplayer
Fixed an issue that could progressively decrease performance and increase memory usage during a play session
Fixed issues related to movement speed and encumbrance when using a Transform Mode
Fixed several issues related to the spawning of resources
Fixed snapping in build mode being too aggressive on the vertical axis
Fixed most camera clipping in first-person as the Exofarmer when using zero view bobbing
Fixed player-made paths sometimes being visible where they shouldn't be
Fixed issues related to the frequency and context of PIP-3R dialogue, which should now happen less frequently and be more relevant
Fixed controller vibration pausing periodically when using Mech thrusters for longer periods
Fixed oversized snapping boundaries on Grinder
New Roadmap! 🗺️
Phew, that list was a real wrench-turner! But the machine doesn't stop here.
We have reworked our roadmap format from the ground up in an effort to give you deeper insight into our development process. We want to try to share our plans in a much earlier state than before, even if that means sharing ideas that might not end up in the final game!
The new roadmap contains what we are already working on for future updates, for example, a new biome, ruins, building options, and more! It also contains features we're currently exploring and prototyping as possible additions to the game, like more traversal options.
We wanted to be as transparent with you as possible, so we even added features we're considering, although not ready to commit to, like the much-requested Creative Mode or expanded multiplayer hosting options!. At present, a lot of our focus will also go towards quickly fixing any bugs that may crop up after the latest update, but we plan to actively update the roadmap as we shift more of our effort towards working on the new content.
We're committed to constantly improving and evolving Lightyear Frontier, and the feedback from our community plays a huge role in shaping what comes next. We want to open up the dialogue with you even further than before and hear what you think through all stages of production. What are you most excited for? What do you feel is missing from the roadmap? Join us as the adventure continues, and check it out below!
Share your thoughts and suggestions about the Shifting Gears update and our Roadmap on Discord!
Thank you for joining us - See you next harvest! // The FRAME BREAK team
Join us as we're showing off the new Shifting Gears update! Enjoy a whole new map and new features together with My, Wilmer, Christina, and Jessica from the FRAME BREAK studio!
PRE-PATCH EVENT🚀
Howdy, Exofarmers!
Are you excited for the Shifting Gears update? 👀
Roll up your sleeves and get ready for some crafting to make a spaceship in preparation for your new chapter! As a reward, you will also receive a new mech skin to use both in the Legacy branch and the Shifting Gears update! 🔥
🕜 The event ends on June 3rd!
Steam players will still be able to access and enjoy the event's contents via the Legacy branch even after the official timeframe has ended.
Now get crafting, Exofarmers, and see you on the other side! ⚒️🚀
//The FRAME BREAK TEAM
SHIFTING GEARS UPDATE DROPS ON JUNE 4TH!
Howdy Exofarmers - The long-awaited summer update, Shifting Gears, is coming on JUNE 4TH!
Check out what we have in store for you, sneak peeks of the hot update, and some frequently asked questions. If you hang on tight until the end, you will find out about our juicy pre-patch event with a new mech skin! 👀
Without further ado, let's get down to the brass tacks and dive into the Shifting Gears Update you all have been waiting for!
A WORD FROM US💗
Since we started, we've had the privilege of watching our game grow together with our amazing community. As we've listened closely to your feedback, it's been clear that we were not living up to the fantasy that Lightyear Frontier promised.
Although many players praised the lush nature of the game world, you also found it to be small and limiting, missing viable options for where you could build a farm. Many of you quickly explored the entire map and were left wanting more. We also saw that you enjoyed making huge farms, but the world didn't support that, and there was no reason to farm a lot of crops.
In the Shifting Gears update, we have created a huge new world, allowing space for large-scale farming. In addition to supporting the large-scale farmers' dreams, we’ve reworked the main progression system for higher emphasis on farming. The new system involves sending large deliveries of crops to other planets, which will reward you for your contribution.
To make the world a little more challenging and create exciting moments during traversal, we've added hazards, such as tornadoes, which can damage your mech, so you will have to be a bit more alert while exploring. Adding some challenge to the game can be scary, especially for the part of our community who enjoy and thrive more in cozy peaceful gameplay. But don't worry, we hear you! That's why we’ve added the option for you to turn off damage in the settings!
We have been fairly silent these past six months, which understandably made you wonder what's happening with the game. To address the community feedback, we needed to change several core parts of the experience, and unfortunately, we couldn't do them in individual updates. Since the changes are all interconnected, we had to do everything in one big update. In the future, we want to invite you earlier on to test and discuss WIP experimental stuff, and not leave you in the dark. We are committed to this journey to continue improving the game with you, and all feedback we get will go into our decisions on what we focus on next, so don't hesitate to let us know what you think!
Thank you again for staying on this journey and growing with us, and let's get to the more fun stuff: the Shifting Gears Update sneak peek! 👀
SHIFTING GEARS UPDATE SNEAK PEEK🔍
We packed this update full of changes to aim and make the world feel more alive and rewarding! Here's a quick look at some of what's coming:
BIGGER WORLD & CHANGED NARRATIVE🌎🗝️
HUGE new map ready for you to explore - Where will you settle your homestead?
Discover and use new materials, crafting recipes, and buildings - it's time to craft a Watering Drone Station!
New hazards in the world - watch out or you might get swept away! 🌪️
Investigate and unravel the planet's ancient past and get rewarded for your progress!
YOUR MECH & EXOFARMER🚜🧑🚀
A bigger plow for plowing some HUGE fields!
Standing in water with your mech will fill up your water tank!
Get ready for an even more powerful Irrigation Hose - with a satisfying shotgun-style blast covering fields broader and quicker! 🔫
Your mech is hungry for fuel to operate! Farm, produce, and explore the best oils to fuel the engine!
Deliver crops to remote colonies in need with the Delivery Canon and achieve delivery milestones to unlock new buildings and mech upgrades!
Choose from a wide range of new customizable colors for your mech in the Upgrade Depot. 🎨
Use the new mod chip system to upgrade and specialize your mech's abilities!
Add mod chips to parts to enhance and specialize your mech to be stronger at farming, traveling, or gathering resources.
Customize your mech as you progress and unlock stronger parts!
Using the Appearance system, you will make the mech feel like yours, you can have the functionality that you want, and pair it with your favorite look!
Easily save and switch between mech configurations with loadouts.
Farm and pick up resources to your inventory with your exofarmer!🧑🌾Use the following tools to farm by hand:
Hoe
Watering Can
Seed Bag
Use the Repair Tool to take care of the health of your trusty mech, and it will protect you on your adventures!
FARMING & HOMESTEAD🌱🏡
Our most requested feature - DRONE WATERING AUTOMATION IS HERE!
Soil matters! Channel your inner farming mastermind and rotate crops for maximized yield, much like real-life farming.
Different pets produce different types of "droppings"💩 you can make into fertilizer. This was our artist’s most enjoyable work to date.
Cheat and use fertilizer instead of rotating crops to change the soil type and get the yield you were aiming for!
Create your safe haven with the home area Farm Center barrier - your sanctuary to farm, relax, and gain beneficial buffs.
Build the homestead of your dreams - Or why not a gigantic warehouse? (Thank you More Than 8 Rats, Goob, and Yeyo, for your Home Sweet Homestead event contribution; the whole team is OBSESSED with your creation!)
That concludes the steaming hot, freshly produced, mech-tastic goodness overview of some of MANY cool things to expect in the update, and we can't wait for you to experience it firsthand!
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Will hazards damage my homestead? A: Your homestead is always safe from hazards with the help of the Farm Center barrier. We based this decision on earlier feedback, making your homestead a relaxing place to be, and wanted to make sure you have a calm space to return to after your adventures.
Q: Is there a peaceful mode to avoid hazards? A: Almost! Although there is no way to turn off hazards, you can still disable damage on both your exofarmer and your mech in the settings. This way, you can enjoy the game more peacefully for those who prefer a more cozy experience. If there is a strong interest in avoiding hazards altogether from the community, we may look into further options to customize your experience.
Q: What about PIP-3R? A: Our initial plan, based on the feedback and data we've gotten about PIP-3R, was to remove their presence from the Shifting Gears update. However, thanks to the community showing love and sadness over the missing companion, we've included the possibility to switch on PIP-3R's chatter in the settings menu.
Q: What happens to my old Legacy save files? A: As this update has a completely new map and many systems rebuilt, you will have to use a new save file to start a new game. However, if you play on Steam, you can enable the Lightyear Frontier Legacy branch to access your previous saves after the Shifting Gears Update. We have no plans to update or maintain this branch as our focus will be on the newer and bigger world. The Legacy branch will stay available for now, but may be removed in the future.
PRE-PATCH EVENT MAY 28TH🚀
Journey To The New World Prepare for the Shifting Gears update by building the spaceship that will take you to your new planet and adventure - and get a new skin for your mech! On May 28th, you will get access to a blueprint for a spaceship in preparation for your new chapter in the Shifting Gears update! As a reward for crafting the spaceship, you will also receive a new mech skin to use both in the Legacy branch and the Shifting Gears update!
The event ends the day before the big update - June 3rd!
And! While our event is scheduled to end when the summer update launches, Steam players will still be able to access and enjoy the contents of this event via the Legacy branch even after the official timeframe has ended.
Good luck on your new journey Exofarmers, and see you soon!🧭✨
//The FRAME BREAK team
Narrative Presentation Changes
Hello Exofarmers!
Thank you all for the many questions and feedback we received relating to Lightyear Frontier’s narrative. We saw the response on our Q&A video in March, and we understand that it’s an important topic for many of you (for us as well!) and want to clarify our stance and what changes we’ll be making.
Reasoning behind the shift 🔄
In the current game, we try to tell a story via PIP-3R’s voiceover in a linear fashion. After each region you restore, PIP-3R gives you more information about themself and their mission, culminating in a deep dive into the alien mystery inside the vault.
You can also discover tidbits of information about the alien ruins by finding all artifacts in each ruin area, presented in short text entries.
Thanks to the feedback we’ve gotten, in addition to observing player behavior, we’ve come to understand that the linear approach is not working as well as we hoped. Oftentimes, players are focused on their task and may be taken by surprise by the sudden voiceover, either unintentionally missing important pieces of context or being outright annoyed that the game is interrupting them. Many of you do not feel in control of when the narrative happens, making it hard to plan around it.
All in all, this storytelling style does not mesh well with the sandboxy nature of the gameplay. Once this was made clear to us, we decided to look into different avenues of conveying narrative to our players.
So what’s changing? 📌
We should start by underlining that we are NOT removing all narrative and storytelling from the game. It’s evident now that our Q&A video was too vague on the topic and caused many of you to worry that the game would become entirely mechanics-driven without context, but that is not the case.
We are moving the conveying of narrative to mechanics within the player’s control, so that it doesn’t happen without your intent to engage with it. That way, we can ensure that the player’s attention is not split between other tasks.
The most noticeable difference is in removing PIP-3R as your constant companion. While the character may return in a different form, they will be absent in the upcoming update. PIP-3R has been a divisive character within our community, but we understand that many players have enjoyed their company and will keep that in mind as we look into future options for them.
New forms of narrative ✨
We’re changing the old avenue of storytelling, the Findings system, with two new ones: Inspection Points and Artifacts Findings.
The current Findings system works so that each alien ruin has a set amount of artifacts to find, and by collecting them all, you are given notes from PIP-3R.
The problem we’ve experienced with this system is that it competes with the linear storyline told in the Vault. Since the exploration of the ruins is non-linear, we couldn’t be sure what artifacts you’ve already discovered, so the text entries had to be light on details to avoid presenting information in the wrong order. Therefore, this resulted in PIP-3R’s notes only being able to convey vague context and speculation on each ruin’s purpose, which is much better suited for the new Inspection Points.
Inspection Points 🔍
Inspection Points are small interaction spots located at various landmarks across the world, providing additional context about what you discovered. Our intent for the Inspection Points is to let players learn more about their planet at their own pace, and to reward explorers who want to fine-comb every corner of the map for clues.
Artifacts Findings 📝
We wanted the findings from artifacts to be more in-depth and exciting to uncover, so we reworked the system from the ground up, using the Findings system as a foundation. In the new system, artifacts no longer belong to a specific ruin and instead contribute to a total artifact count for the whole world. As you find more, you unlock research entries that go much deeper into the alien mystery from the get-go and reveal details that we had struggled to find a place for in the past.
Between these two systems, we feel better equipped to tell the story of Lightyear Frontier more than ever before. Despite the removal of PIP-3R’s dialogue, the total amount of narrative text in the game has increased by approximately 50%, thanks to the versatility of the new systems.
Neighbours here to stay 🏡
Our dear neighbors will continue to be part of your planet, with some updated dialogues and quest item locations to correspond with the updated world.
Going forward 🚗
We’re working hard on the upcoming update and aim to get all the narrative changes into your hands as soon as possible! We hope you continue to share your feedback as you explore and learn more about the Lightyear Frontier and its former inhabitants.
Also! We’d like to take this opportunity to mini-announce that before the patch goes live, we will add an in-game event to prepare you for the update, with a new quest and a reward that will carry over into the new world. More details to come soon!
Thank you for your patience as we near the finish line of this massive update. The wait is almost over! 🚀🌱
