Outpost on Syrinx cover
Outpost on Syrinx screenshot
Steam
Genre: Indie

Outpost on Syrinx

Info about the next update...
The current batch of work for the next update is well underway, and I wanted to post about it, because it's taking a fair amount longer than most updates.

This update will focus on the player building additional Sites (mini-bases) to be used by other human Mothership crew members (NPCs). It expands the amount of base-building in the game by a fair amount, and provides a source of credits and extra research points for players who choose to build one or more additional Sites. NPCs gain some extra features, and several other game systems require additional work to support Site functionality.

This will all take a while to complete. The update will likely be released sometime between 1 and 2 months from now.

Minor update - ultrawide aspect ratio support
Adds support for ultrawide monitor resolutions.

Update - June 24, 2021
Friends!

This update introduces some NPCs in the form of fellow human crew members from the Mothership. There are some brief 'meet and greet' dialogs with some of the people who are living and working up in space while you set up things at the Outpost down on Syrinx, and there are also a couple of new missions you can do for them if you want help them out.

Behind the scenes, the engine used for the game was updated to a version three years ahead of the old version. This opens up a bunch of shiny new technology that can be used in the game (including the new dialog system the NPC's use), but also involved having to rework some old stuff that broke as part of the upgrade. In particular, most of the graphic shaders in the game had to be redone, and because of this much of the game art may look a bit nicer now. In particular, a buggy-looking 'orange glow' around objects in the starting area at night is gone, and ambient lighting works better with the game's day/night cycle.

Update - May 21, 2021
This update includes a new storage container to increase inventory capacity, and a collection of improvements related to the ability to purchase one or more additional Observation Towers.

Storage Capsules can now be researched, greatly increasing how much stuff players can store.

Additional Observation Towers should now function more intuitively, and are a valid option, mainly for players who want to set up their Outpost in the Blue Hills zone. The player's Spawn point can be set to any tower, so that player's will start each morning in the Observation Tower they choose. Players can also sleep for a night in any tower, without changing their semi-permanent spawn point. The Storage Locker in any new tower now functions as a separate inventory container, instead of containing the same items the Storage Locker in the first Observation Tower contains. And importantly, the cost of building a new Observation Tower has been greatly reduced.

Update - April 9, 2021
This update is focused on improvements to the map view.

Map Markers can now be placed by players. Each one can have a title and a longer description.

Some locations have Map Markers that will automatically show up in the Map view once they are discovered. In particular, the portals/exits between areas have associated Map Markers and Icons.

To enhance the feeling of exploration, the maps for areas in the game are now divided into sections, and each section will show up on the map once it has been explored a bit. Therefore, the player will not immediately know the extents and layout of each area as soon as they enter it.

In addition to map improvements, players can now construct and place Beacons. These have holographic projects that enable them to be seen from far away in the game. They also have automatic Map Markers in the Map View, once placed.

March 2, 2021 Update
Spring Cleaning! This update doesn't actually have any new features, and instead is all about bug fixes and polishing. The last update featured a new smelter, which had a few minor bugs, and frankly it worked too slowly for most players to appreciate it. Apart from smelter improvement, things were fixed and improved in lots of little ways, based on a list of minor bugs that had not be addressed yet, and a bunch of small improvements that could be made, based on recent player feedback and (indirectly) suggested by some recent videos that featured the game.

Feel free to post bug reports and other feedback on the Steam community site or by using the in-game button on the pause menu to Send Feedback (via email). Thanks to everyone who has emailed with feedback and bug reports!

Update February 16 2021
Teleportation! Once researched, players can build a matching pair of teleportation devices...a teleport 'base' which requires power and presumably will be placed at the player's main base, and a teleport 'node', which can be moved freely by the player and has it's own energy cell for power. Having a place to quickly beam to can save lots of walking when you know you want to do a bunch of stuff in a particular area.

Also, the game now has a proper Smelter device for turning ore into refined ingots, replacing the system of using the fabricator to craft ingots. This new sort of 'process batches of items over time' device will probably show up in additional devices in the game eventually.

Update - December 22, 2020
The core of this update is a research system. Research points are gained by various means, including Deep Scanning items (old saved games should retroactively grant you the points for items you have already Deep Scanned), turning in some items at the new Autolab building, and finding special research-related items in the world. There is a new research screen showing the start of the research/tech tree, which will include more research topics as development continues.

One of the main fields of research relates to a major overhaul of how power works in the game. Previously there was a sort-of-placeholder system, which this system replaces. You can now build solar panels, wind turbines and batteries to form power networks for your Outpost. Any saved games with Solar Arrays already existing will have plenty of power, as the Solar Arrays are fairly advanced power generators.

Cooking and creating drinks/preserves are now research topics, but if you already have devices placed from earlier saved games, they should still function even if you don't research their related topics. Other existing minor features will probably require research to unlock once the next update or two is released, to add more progression to the game.

The next update or two will probably build upon this update with more research topics, more items that use power to operate, and more items that grant research points when processed at the Autolab. You can get by without making power generators and storage currently, but after a few more powered devices are added to the game, you will probably want to supplement the humble amount of power the Observation Tower generates with additional power generation and storage.

Info about the next update...
After the game's Early Access release, I had been releasing updates roughly every month. The current batch of work going on involves a few different related systems. I'm making a research mechanic/game system, and the start of a tech tree. Several of the initial research topics for it are part of system for how power (electrical) will work in the game, so I'm replacing my earlier sort-of-placeholder simple power system with something much nicer. This work on game systems, UI, new art assets etc is a bigger chunk of work than earlier milestones/updates, so it's taking a fair bit longer than a month to complete. I plan on releasing the update sometime in the next few weeks.

After this next update, I might go back to having an update once a month again, although some milestones inherently involve a bunch of connected work, so some updates may take 2-3 months to complete.

Update - October 2, 2020
This update consists of some new content. To avoid spoilers, I won't go into details.
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