Settlement Zero cover
Settlement Zero screenshot
Steam
Genre: Adventure, Indie

Settlement Zero

Update 0.12.5
· The player now has to pass through the underground area to get to the main central area. The underground area has been extended and connects with the large circular building. This includes a new large interior space that the player passes through.
· Global game events can now occur sooner and now depend on player progress.
· Enemy robots now inflict much more damage, encouraging the player to be more tactical. They can no longer just run past groups of them and hope for the best.

Old saves can still be loaded for this build, but it is strongly advised to start new games as some of the changes will affect the overall gameplay.

Update 0.12.0.5
· Various minor graphics and lighting tweaks. Increased the shadow quality for the high end graphics setting, which now has a much further draw distance and fewer artefacts.
· Some minor improvements and fixes to surrounding apartment buildings in the start area.

Update 0.12.0
· Game now starts in an entirely new area on a hillside facing the settlement, requiring you to take the flying shuttle transport to reach the main settlement area.
· The apartment building where the game begins, has been totally rebuilt. It is much larger and more detailed, and now has several rooms.

It was decided to allow old saves to still be loadable for this build, but it is strongly advised to start new games, especially for games that were saved in the original game start area, which will very likely have some issues with stability.

Update 0.11.0

• A new weapon, a portable defensive sentry drone type, has been added. These can been stored and retrieved using the same controls as the grenades. You can toggle selection between these two storable types by pressing the retrieve button for over half a second. The highlighted icon on the HUD will indicate which storable type the button will retrieve when pressed.
• Once placed in the world, they will hover and settle to a height of around 1m above the ground, at which point you can activate them by pressing the button on their top. They have eight extending guns that automatically fire lasers at any approaching robots that come into their range.
• They have limited energy and will perform a controlled drop to the floor when low on power. They can be picked up and recharged just like your raygun at the charging stations. A bar on their top displays current battery level


This build should be compatible with saves from the previous 0.9.0, 0.10.0 and 0.10.1 versions.
Saves from builds 0.8.0 and earlier will still use the old game event timings, so for the best experience it is advised to start a new game in that case.

Update 0.10.1
• Grabbing hold of grenades, raygun upgrades and passes is now much easier. They get highlighted when in pickup range and will snap to your hand when you press trigger. If there is more than one pickup in range the closest is highlighted to make it clearer which one you'll be grabbing.
• More updates to central circular building. An effect has been added to the rotating sphere on the roof level. Also some fixes to the building's exterior lighting.
• Fix for music switching which was not working correctly with humanoid robots.

This build should be compatible with saves from the previous 0.9.0 and 0.10.0 versions.
Saves from builds 0.8.0 and earlier will still use the old game event timings, so for the best experience it is advised to start a new game in that case.

Update 0.10.0
• The large circular building in the central district has now been totally remodelled with higher detail and is now enterable. It's much larger and now includes a large atrium area with 6 accessible floors using internal spiral walkways and lifts.
• A skybridge connects the neighbouring Siphonovium building's rooftop and its shuttle station to this new building's domed glass roof level.
• More robots have been added to the central district.


This build should be compatible with saves from the previous 0.9.0 version.
Saves made using builds 0.8.0 and earlier will still use the old game event timings, so for the best experience it is advised to start a new game for that case.

Update 0.9.0
• Humanoid robot behaviour is now much more varied during the early stages of the game. They can now switch between walking, sitting and standing states. When approached in the standing state, they can choose to say something to you from a set of short phrases that change as the game progresses. They might also say location specific phrases that may be helpful in progressing in the game.
• Raygun upgrades and other pickups scattered around the map, now display a highlighted effect and play a sound as you approach them, making them much easier to locate.
• Some fixes to the robot pacing state just prior to coming in to attack you. Also the rate at which robots get more aggressive has been decreased.
• Improvements to raygun button selection, and selection using the shuttle ticket machine touch screens.
• The timings for key game events have been spread out, giving the player a lot more time to explore and get more familiar with the settlement's surroundings, and to collect items for better defence in the later stages of the game.
• A shuttle route map has been added to all the stations.


This build should be compatible with saves from older versions, although older saves will still have the old game event timings, so for the best experience it is advised to start a new game.

Update 0.8.0
• The surrounding environment has been updated with a new much more expansive terrain.
• A new enterable building has been added on one of the surrounding mountains which is reachable by taking a shuttle from the Tria Sanctuary station (located on upper levels of the triple-towered building). This building will become an access point to a new area in the mountains, coming in a future update.
• Updated to use Unreal Engine version 4.27.2

This build should be compatible with your current saves.

Future updates should be coming at roughly 2 month intervals, with version 0.9.0 sometime during the first week of August.

Development Update
After another pause in development, I am happy to announce that development on Settlement Zero has now fully resumed!

Several improvements and additions are planned over the coming months. The first new update (0.8.0), will be coming in late May. More details about dates and what to expect for the following updates will be given at that time.

The current aim is for a final 1.0 release in December 2022, but there are some further improvements, potential characters and new areas that are still to be decided upon, so it is possible that this date may move slightly to accommodate these additions.

Update 0.7.1.3
• Unreal Engine updated to version 4.26.1
• Central square area ground lightmap fixes
• Fix for a visibility related bug in the starship's interior
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