Getting Started in Stranded: Alien Dawn – Top Tips For New Players Part 2
If you're just getting started in Stranded: Alien Dawn, fear not, we're here to help!
To prepare you for what awaits you, we've put together a list of top tips for people who are just getting started in Stranded: Alien Dawn.
If you missed out on Part 1, you can find it right here. Now onto Part 2:
Building to thrive After your survivors arrive on the alien planet, their first task should be to establish a base where they can live and work. Initially they only have access to simple shelters, but they'll eventually learn to build more complex structures. Shelters can be built from scrap metal or from sticks and hay, and while it's OK to use scrap metal in the very beginning, we recommend using sticks as much as possible, since scrap metal can be rather valuable later in the game.
When building, it's also a good idea to use the environment to your advantage. Rock outcroppings and lakes can provide natural barriers when you're attacked by the local wildlife.
Fences and fortifications will provide an extra line of defense against any attackers, while traps and flamethrowers can give you an extra offensive edge.
The pursuit of happiness A key component of Stranded: Alien Dawn is keeping an eye on your survivors' mental health. They need food to stay alive, but they'll also need home comforts and recreation in order to remain happy. There are many different ways to provide for your survivors' mental health. Things like dart boards, musical instruments, shooting targets, statues, and comfortable chairs, will all provide rest and relaxation. Don't forget to also allow your survivors enough relaxation time in their schedules. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, after all!
One early relaxation item that you can easily create is a Shroom Torch: by Observing glowing Glitter Cap mushrooms your survivors will unlock the Shroom Torch recipe. Having one in your base will create a source of light that your survivors can examine to gain some extra happiness. Or you could unlock statues by observing an animal. A statue will also give your survivors a nice happiness boost.
Another important thing to note with regards to survivor happiness is their food intake. A varied diet will help keep them happy, and they should obviously avoid poisonous foods like raw meats. Open your survivors' profile panel and use the tab on the right to disable consumption of raw food items!
Priorities, priorities, priorities The best way to get your survivors to do what you want is to set their priorities. You can do this in the Management menu under "Activities". From here you can choose between Simple and Complex prioritisation. If you've finished the tutorial this will already be familiar.
When there are multiple tasks in need of doing, your survivors will choose and perform them from left to right, so if there are several tasks or activities with the same priority number, the leftmost will be carried out first. This is important to keep in mind when balancing your survivors' tasks. You can also prioritise your workbenches and production machines. Whatever task is at the very top will be carried out first, and the rest in descending order (provided you have the materials of course!)
Your survivors also have a schedule. This is where you designate certain hours of the day to specific activities like work, relaxation, or sleep. Depending on how to set up the schedule, your survivors will prioritise certain things above others. Work means they'll carry out work tasks around the base, only stopping to sleep and eat when their needs become too great to ignore. Relaxation is for taking breaks from work to eat and entertainment, which will also improve their happiness (more on that later). Finally, there's sleep, which is for sleeping.
Don't forget: You can always change your survivors' priorities and their schedule if things aren't working as you first intended.
Everything in its proper place As your survivors carry out their various tasks, they'll inevitably need storage space for all the different resources, foodstuffs and items they'll be harvesting, cooking and crafting. There are numerous ways to store things in Stranded: Alien Dawn, and organising it all is up to you, but we have some recommendations we want to share. Don't forget that you can choose what gets stored where by opening up a storage space, then unticking boxes in the right-most tab.
Stockpiles are excellent to use for any building materials your survivors might use: stone, wood, scrap metal, sticks, and the like. Place them in a central location so they won't have to spend too much time walking back and forth to gather new building materials. Just remember to put a roof over your stockpiles, so things don't deteriorate from exposure to the elements.
For things likes clothes and weapons, Wardrobes or Storage Boxes should be your go-to. Scrap Metal or Wooden Shelves are good for general storage of everything else, especially things like food and crafting materials. Just keep in mind that food should be kept at a low temperature to prevent spoilage. Fridges and freezers are a good starting point for keeping things cool, and you can eventually use Air Conditioners to create cold storage rooms.
Planning for the future While it's important to focus on the here and now, it's also important to plan for the future while you're playing. The alien planet has seasons, as well as fluctuating weather patterns, so the weather will eventually get colder. Plants won't grow during colder seasons and wildlife is less abundant. You should have some food stocks ready for such an occasion, as well as warmer clothing for your survivors to change into. Look for Clothblossom plants, which can be harvested for cloth, or any animals or plants that can provide you with leather.
I'd say it's missing a few more words on planning for the colder days (clothing is specifically a beginner's trap on their first winter, food can also be, especially if you have vegetarians in the team), maybe also add a few words on research which shouldn't be disregarding - it sometimes slip through new players' mind.
Failure is always an option Even if you've played through the tutorial, some things will be learned through trial and error. Something not working out is part of the experience, but you'll have the added benefit of learning something new! Maybe you didn't have enough food for everyone, or maybe you didn't have the right equipment or clothes to make it through winter. Don't be discouraged if things don't work out the first time around. There's no shame in starting anew, and you can even adjust the level of difficulty and the game rules to the level of challenge you prefer. There are also different scenarios to choose from if you want to change things up even further.
That's all we had for now, but we'd love to hear your thoughts on these top tips for new players. Was there something you think we missed? Drop your top tips in the comments and we might feature them in a future article for other new players.
Getting Started in Stranded: Alien Dawn – Top Tips For New Players Part 1
If you're just getting started in Stranded: Alien Dawn, fear not, we're here to help!
To prepare you for what awaits you, we've put together a list of top tips for people who are just getting started in Stranded: Alien Dawn.
Play through the tutorial The tutorial will guide you through the game’ssystems and mechanics, everything from how to give tasks to your survivors, sorting out their schedules and priorities, to creating a functional power grid. It should be your go-to place to learn when you first play Stranded: Alien Dawn.
Take your time While it's easy to think that you must accomplisheverything right away, we recommend thatyou take things slow and at your own pace in the beginning. Use the pause function to pause the flow of time so you can take stock of your situation and your surroundings, then start giving out tasks to your survivors. There's no need to rush, if your survivorshave enough food, they'll make it through the first few days.
Scan the environment It's a good idea to consistently take stock of whatyou have in your immediate surroundings in case you've missed any resources or observable plants or animals. Things like trees and bushes, wildlife, and crashed spaceship debris are easy to spot, but smaller things like grain or Chewroot can be more difficult.
Food for thought Food can be harvested from plants or gained byhunting and slaughtering wildlife. Focus on harvesting and creating food that can be stored for a long time without going bad. Sweet syrup is a great fallback in case you run out of other foods, while grains can be stored and eventually turned into edible porridge. Buttermelons and other vegetables can be pickled so they keep for longer, and meat can be dried in the drying rack, before being used in stews, soups, and other recipes.
The Restriction tab in the Survivor Profile windowcan be used to prevent your survivors from eating certain foods. Certain raw foods or uncooked plants can be poisonous if ingested, so it's a good idea to check the list of restrictions so they don't eat something they shouldn't! This tab can also be used tactically: by preventing your survivors from eating certain foods or meals lets you keep them saved up for later when food is scarcer.
Annie get your gun Once you've established a base camp and are able tokeep your survivors well-fed, it's worth looking into arming your survivors. Depending on the scenario and difficulty, there may already be some weapons available, but we recommend researching how to make some basic weapons just in case. You start off with spears and crossbows, but you'll eventually move on to more advanced weaponry.
Your base will be intermittently attacked by hostilewildlife, and it's up to you to help your survivors defend themselves against these attacks. In the early stages of Stranded: Alien Dawn, a good offence might be your best defense. Going after hostile wildlife before they attack can help you mitigate the threat before it becomes too dangerous, and could even prevent potential damage done to your survivors.
To initiate combat, you'll need to Draft yoursurvivors by selecting them and choosing "Draft" from the window. You can then direct them around the map and attack any nearby wildlife. Positioning is very important when going into combat. Try to use the environment to your advantage, or build fences or walls if you have time. If you don't Draft your survivors, they'll automatically run away from any attackers, unless the "Fight Back Attackers" option is ticked in their Survivor Profile.
A healthy mind in a healthy body Life on an alien planet can be full of dangers. Yoursurvivors can become injured when fighting hostile wildlife, and these injuries can become infected if left untreated. They can also become sick due to poor weather conditions, or from being exposed to alien bacteria and viruses.
Luckily, there are solutions! Different types of injuries and illnesses call fordifferent types of treatments. Antibiotics will treat infections and illnesses, but they won't stop anyone from bleeding to death. Make sure you have bandages ready, or some medkits, in case someone gets a cut or worse.
Your best healer should always have Healing as theirtop priority. This means they'll always put healing ahead of any other task they're assigned. People with low healing skill should avoid healing others, as poor treatment could mean future infections or other hazards. If your healer is injured, giving them a direct order to heal themselves will make sure they're ready to take care of the rest of your group.
Stay tuned for part 2 of our Top Tips for New Beginners, and don't forget to share your own top tips in the comments!
Stranded: Alien Dawn - Patch v1.00.230505
Hello Survivors!
A new patch for Stranded: Alien Dawn has just landed on Steam.
Thank you again for all your feedback.
Now onto the changelog itself:
Bug fixes, optimisation, and minor text adjustments including:
Stranded: Alien Dawn - A Look Back and the Way Forward
Hello Survivors!
Stranded: Alien Dawn is now out on PC (Steam and Epic), PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One, and we are so happy to be able to share our wonderful game with so many fantastic people on all these different platforms. Now that we've left Early Access and the full game is out for everyone to enjoy, we want to answer a question many of you have been asking us recently: Is there more to come Stranded: Alien Dawn after the full release? In short: Yes!
Throughout the Early Access period we've strived to deliver updates that added significant and impactful gameplay mechanics and content to Stranded: Alien Dawn. With each update we also added in a new character that was specifically designed to fit into the theme of the update. We started off with Dunes and Moons, which expanded the game with a new environment, as well as new game rules and Moons to tweak your gameplay experience. Next came the Tame and Train Update, which added tameable animals and different ways to use them in your bases. Our third update added in full Steam Workshop support, as well as Mod Tools to create and manage your own user-made mods. The Sow and Sell Update added in a brand new scenario, as well as several new plants and recipes. Last, but certainly not least, the Military Outpost Update that landed today added the game's third scenario, powerful combat mechs, and new defensive items.
Stranded: Alien Dawn has come a long way since the Early Access launch in October 2022, and we'd like to take a moment to give a massive thank you to our amazing community for all your support, suggestions, and feedback!
Now it's time to look towards the future. We'll be releasing a free update later this summer, and while we will have to wait to share the finer details with you, we can say that it's quite beefy (or maybe "leafy" would be a better term?). We will have more to share at a later date, so keep your eyes peeled to our various channels for any and all news related to the game. Join our official channels on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok to keep up to date with all things Stranded: Alien Dawn. The Discord server is also a great place to come hang out with us and the rest of the community, to talk all things Stranded: Alien Dawn!
Stranded: Alien Dawn 1.0 Is Out Now
Hello Survivors!
Time to get ready for landing – Stranded: Alien Dawn is now available on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S, and has officially left Steam Early Access! Also out today is a new free update with additional content, a new survivor, and much more. The alien planet awaits your survivors and will surely put their survival skills, as well as your management skills, to the test.
Don't miss the launch trailer below:
Stranded: Alien Dawn is a new planet survival game developed by Haemimont Games, creators of Tropico 3-5, and Surviving Mars, that will challenge you in more ways than one. You'll be managing a group of people who have recently landed on a beautiful and unpredictable alien world. You'll choose one of three distinct scenarios, each with unique narrative setups and challenges that you'll need to help them overcome:
Crash Landing sees up to 4 survivors marooned on an unknown planet, scrambling for survival. Their journey will be shaped by your decisions as you help them navigate limited resources and unknown perils, and eventually search for rescue
The Trading Outpost scenario has you managing up to 3 farm owners who have recently touched down on a new planet to build a trading outpost and eventually purchase the planet for themselves. Armed with foreknowledge of planting and a little elbow grease, your job is to help them make this dream come true
In the Military Outpost scenario, a team of scientists, adventurers and soldiers touch down on a new world to set up a new communications relay. They are surrounded by danger on all sides as their work attracts dangerous wildlife that will need to be defended against.
Whichever scenario you choose, your journey will be impacted by several factors, chief among them the survivors themselves. You'll have a wide variety of characters to choose from, each with unique backstories, skills, and traits determining their strengths and weaknesses. The environment, whether they land on the lush and temperate Sobrius, or the arid and scorching Desertum, will also present its own set of challenges, necessitating wildly different decisions and reactions to what happens. You can further tweak your gameplay experience by choosing from a variety of Moons, Difficulties, and Game Rules.
Your survivors are the heart and soul of Stranded: Alien Dawn. You'll have to ensure their physical and mental wellbeing by providing them with food, weapons, clothing, medicine, and some much-needed rest and relaxation. Every survivor has a unique backstory, varying levels of skill proficiency, and both positive and negative traits. Your survivors' story through Stranded: Alien Dawn will be driven by unique events, alien wildlife threats, adverse weather, and the decisions you make along the way.
You can also follow our official channels on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok to keep up to date with all things Stranded: Alien Dawn. The Discord server is also a great place to come hang out with us and the rest of the community, to talk all things Stranded: Alien Dawn!
Now onto the changelog:
v1.00.230421 Release Notes
Key new content
New Military Outpost scenario – Select up to six team members, who will be dropped in an unexplored location far from the civilised galaxy. Their mission? To establish a foothold in their unforgiving new surroundings, in order to construct an Ansible Relay and enable interstellar communications
Meet a new survivor - Ember Griffin, a spec-ops commander, with combat oriented traits and skills, that can help to overcome even the strongest of hostile attacking animals
10 new achievements to unlock
Localized in 10 languages: English, Spanish, French, German, Korean, Russian, Polish, Brazilian Portuguese, Japanese and Simplified Chinese
Military outpost scenario
Choose up to 6 survivors to create a squad that you will manage in the mission ahead
Start with armor, weapons, advanced technologies and extra resources to establish your foothold, depending on the chosen difficulty settings
Defend your base against immediate and increasingly intense attacks, including two powerful new enemies; the Demolisher Juno and the Purple Scissorhands
Discover new technologies and resources to help defend your base:
Research fabricator matrixes, to enable crafting the fabricator matrix at a soldering bench, ensuring a good supply of this key component that is required for Food and Material fabricators
Build food fabricators that transform energy into meals, and improve their output by researching tasty meal’s fabrication and chef’s meal fabrication
Research and build material fabricators that transform energy into key resources such as wood or Metal alloys, and increase its capabilities by researching liquid fuel fabrication and silicon fabrication
Research Mech cores to enable crafting Mech cores at a soldering bench, ensuring a good supply of this key component that is required to build both the Light Mechs and Combat Mechs
Build the Ansible Relay and protect it at all costs from the escalated hostile alien attacks
Utilise Mechs to fend off the enemy onslaught, keeping the Ansible relay fully powered and protected until interstellar communication is established and victory is won
New content to all scenarios
New resources
Mech cores can be discovered and used to build mechs
New research and devices.
Research Light Mechs and/or Combat Mechs to unlock building these powerful survivor operated machines that provide powerful mobile artillery support, with the ability to leap over walls to tactically reposition themselves, automatically attack hostile creatures within range, and also deal damage to enemies by treading on them
Research electric grids to unlock building Sirens that will enrage and attract enemies, and can be used to lure flying animals
Research carbon fortifications to unlock building highly durable carbon fortifications and elevated carbon towers that survivors can use to shoot from
Research force field barriers to unlock building high tech barriers that use power to stop enemies, and remember when they are attacked more power is needed to keep them active
Research electric grids to unlock building tilted floodlights; a new type of floodlight that casts light at an angle
Research search lights to unlock building this high tech lamp that detects and lights up hostile animals, within its detecting range
Build signs to mark key locations, with custom text of your choice
Updates to all scenarios
Survivors
The Happiness bonus for survivors who are interested in an activity has been increased
Addressed rare pathfinding issue causing multiple survivors to take station on the same fortification tower at once
Adjusted survivors' behavior when they try to reach a device being attacked by another survivor experiencing the “Berserk” meltdown
Umayr now has hair more closely matching his portrait
After selecting a survivor, and then selecting the restrictions tab, players can now allow/forbid survivors to eat on foot. This can be used to enable survivors to eat if making a long commute, or when they are working far away from the base
Survivors now queue the tasks for transporting resources from scavenging and butchering, e.g. they will return for the hides after delivering the meat
Survivors fullness now decreases by ~80% per day, instead of ~100%
The "Discover ancient civilization" pleasure is now permanent
The corpses of any survivors that might die during an expedition now decay over time, until their portrait disappears from the panel
Devices
Addressed an issue preventing the game from correctly detecting a research desk after it’s been destroyed and repaired
Fixed an issue with devices stopping production because of a production “limit reached” when mirroring another device, despite the stock being below the set limit
Hot air balloons and the trading pod no longer indicate they are invulnerable in their panel, reflecting that they are vulnerable to damage
Food in production or stored in the cooking stove is now destroyed in the event the stove is destroyed
Light emitted by hydroponic racks is now taken into account for survivors’ happiness
Safes can no longer be placed in front of production devices preventing them from being used by survivors
Meat lures that are supplied with meat now distract hostiles within their range, and are effective for twice as long
The soil quality and growth rate of all crops planted in hydroponic racks is increased from ~75% to ~100%
Construction
Construction progress bars no longer indicate progression beyond 100%
Copying an air conditioner unit also now copies its target temperature setting
Stone paving and ceramic tiles can now be placed on top of each other to replace the former like any other flooring material
Fortified towers can no longer be placed with the ladder facing a wall, which prevented survivors from climbing the ladder
The range of power poles/lines has been increased by 50%
UI
The “Unarmed: Survivor” notification is now dismissed if the player chooses to refuse the applicable survivor from joining the group
Equipment items no longer disappear from storage UI when reserved by a survivor that cannot reach them
Checkmarks are now always displayed correctly in the restriction tab of storage units or survivors
When survivors are transporting Galacticoins, the correct amount they are carrying is now indicated, no longer taking into account money carried or stolen by the survivors
Resources with no shelf-life will now show a life bar indicating damage, if the storage they’re stored in gets damaged
Animals
Gujos no longer remain aggressive after being pacified
Improved consistency of size between adults and young tamed animals
Miscellaneous
Added a new game rule: 'Eternal Bliss' which gives a permanent 50% happiness boost to all survivors, replacing the initial happiness bonus they receive upon arrival
Buying undiscovered resources from a trader now unlocks their related recipes to use, and technologies to research
The crafting duration for smokeleaf pipes has been decreased from ~6h to ~1h
Added additional combat music
Minor adjustments to animation, lighting, VFX, audio, text and performance
Known issues
Sometimes, and depending on the surface, snow may settle inconsistently
Minor text formatting issues, which will be addressed in future minor updates
Developer Journal #4 - Military Outpost Scenario
Hello Survivors!
We're gearing up for the 1.0 release of Stranded: Alien Dawn and with it the game's 3rd gameplay scenario: the Military Outpost! We're back with a brand new Developer Journal with our friends from Haemimont Games to talk about the new scenario and what you can expect when you land on the alien world!
Let's dive right in:
Hello! Thank you for joining us for this dev journal! Could you please introduce yourself and what you do on Stranded: Alien Dawn?
Hello! My name is Ivan Grozev, and I'm the Lead Game Designer on Stranded: Alien Dawn. My job is to oversee the development of the game's features and create all the chaos and excitement that players will encounter in the upcoming update.
Could you also introduce the brand new scenario you're adding to Stranded: Alien Dawn in the coming update?
Absolutely! The new scenario is called "Military Outpost," and it follows a team of scientists, soldiers, and adventurers who are dropped onto a hostile planet in the far reaches of the galaxy. Their mission is to construct, power up, and defend a massive structure called Ansible Relay #499, which will allow the establishment of intergalactic communication with the rest of the universe.
What made you decide to go in this direction for the new scenario?
We always envisioned scenarios as different ways to play the game, and we wanted to create a scenario that would appeal to players who enjoy the tower defense element of Stranded: Alien Dawn. "Military Outpost" is more intense because the enemies are stronger and tougher, and players must be ready to defend themselves from the moment they land on the planet.
What is the importance of the Ansible Relay?
The Ansible Relay is a critical component of the scenario as it consumes massive amounts of power and emits pulses throughout space to learn about the planetary systems in the sector. However, this process attracts local insects who will attack the relay with everything they've got. If players can defend the relay long enough, it will be able to establish interstellar communication and connect with all the other relays in the universe, making further colonization of the sector possible.
This new scenario focuses primarily on combat, but retains the element of survival and the necessity to gather resources. What are some new challenges players should be ready for when jumping into this scenario?
In "Military Outpost," up to six characters are dropped onto the planet with no help or backup. Every death decreases the chances of success, so players must be careful. They land with a lot of weapons, armor, and supplies, and they can construct defense structures, but they still need to gather additional resources to build strong defense lines.
How important is building a proper power grid in this scenario?
The Ansible Relay consumes an immense amount of power and must operate non-stop for 12 days to establish a connection with the rest of the universe. Without a stable power supply, the attempt will fail, and you'll have to start all over again.
Can you tell us more about the new mechs that you're now adding to the game?
Yes! We're introducing two mechs in the update: a fast, agile one and a massive combat mech that can blast enemies with a barrage of missiles. Players can construct them using metal alloys and mech cores, a new resource that can be produced in the "Military Outpost" scenario and purchased in the "Trading Outpost" scenario. Mech cores can also be found during by scavenging in all scenarios, so even your crashed survivors can have mechs!
What made you decide to add mechs?
We already had survivors with ranged weapons, as well as stationary turrets, so adding moving, heavily-armored machines for mass destruction was a natural progression for the combat system.
The mechs have a new jumping ability, which will be very helpful for flanking enemies. What made you decide to add mech jumps?
We wanted to give players the ability to stomp on bugs! Just kidding. The jumping ability allows players to relocate their mechs between different floor levels and behind fortification walls, making them even more effective in combat.
Do you have a favorite new feature from the new update?
Hmm, that's a tough one! I'm really excited about the new Fabricators we're adding to the game. They allow players to create all sorts of useful items, from food to construction materials to liquid fuel. Plus, they just look really cool! The Fabricators are a new addition to the Military Outpost scenario, and they're designed to help shift the focus from basic survival to more advanced construction and defense strategies. The Food Fabricator generates all kinds of meals from energy, while the Material Fabricator produces construction materials and even liquid fuel and silicon over time. We think players are going to love having these tools at their disposal!
What can you tell us about the new survivor?
Our new survivor is Ember Griffin, a tough and experienced Spec-ops commander. Her Tactical Commander trait gives her the ability to improve the hit chance and critical hit chance of everyone around her, making her a valuable addition to any team.
Anything else you'd like to share from the new update that we haven't talked about yet?
Oh, absolutely! We've added some really cool new elements to the game, like carbon fortifications, impenetrable force field barriers, searchlights that make enemies easier to track and shot, and even sirens that distract hostile animals. These might seem like small touches, but they really add up to create a more immersive and exciting combat experience.
That's all we had time for this time, survivors! Please join us in thanking Ivan for joining us for this Developer Journal. We're looking forward to seeing everyone jump into the new update, and the new scenario, next week!
We are incredibly excited to announce our fifth free update, coming out alongside our 1.0 release on 25 April, 2023. The update adds a brand new scenario to play through, featuring a unique narrative setting, with even more challenges to overcome and a new end goal, another new survivor, plus more achievements.
In the new Military Outpost scenario, a team of adventurers, scientists and soldiers is sent to a heavily infested planet where they will construct and defend a communication relay that will enable interstellar communication in the sector. It's an ugly planet. A bug planet! A planet hostile to life, far from the nearest civilized galaxy.
Also coming in this update: new items and recipes, several quality of life updates, and bug fixes!
As always, we want to give a huge shoutout to everyone who's been sharing feedback and suggestions on our forums, on social media, or on our Discord server. We really couldn't do this without you! Don't forget to join us in our upcoming livestream on 19 April, where we'll be showing off what you can expect in this new update together with the developers from Haemimont Games.
Would you like to know more? Then read on, trooper!
Military Outpost Scenario A squad of up to 6 team members are dropped on the unexplored world, with a mission to build a new Ansible Relay. Once built, the relay must be protected against waves of hostile wildlife with increasingly greater and more powerful numbers. Luckily, the squad is geared up and prepared for anything! Equipped with knowledge of a wide range of different technologies, they have plenty of defensive options ready to go, from force field barriers to automated turrets. If the offensive approach is more your thing, the new high-powered mechs are guaranteed to add some extra firepower.
The overall objective of the scenario is to build and defend the new Ansible Relay. Increasingly intense waves of attacking wildlife will come work their way towards your base, but defending against them isn't the only challenge you'll have to face. The Ansible Relay requires a robust electrical grid to support it, so make sure you have enough working batteries and generators! Shrieker nests will also be a more significant problem than in previous scenarios, and shouldn't be left alone for too long.
New Buildings and Devices With this update and scenario being primarily focused around combat, we're adding new Carbon fortifications and gates, which will provide an even stronger defense against the encroaching hordes of wildlife. If that's not enough, why not set up some new Force Field Barriers, an electricity powered form of fortification that provides the ultimate defense against your enemies. These new barriers will be available in all scenarios.
If dividing and conquering is more your thing, we recommend giving the new Siren device a try. This set of loudspeakers will attract enemies towards it, making it easier for you to lure them into specific traps and firing corridors. Combine Sirens with turrets, flamethrowers, and other defensive items, and the attacking wildlife won't stand a chance.
Food and basic materials will be essential when building your military outpost and the two new buildable fabricators might make surviving a little easier. The Food Fabricator makes it possible to create meals without the need for ingredients, as long as the device is powered, and can create the same meals as a regular cooking station if you've done the correct research. Your Material Fabricator lets you create items like Wood, Stone, Metal Alloys, Liquid fuel. & Silicon, which can be used for building and crafting.
Get Ready for Mech Support Strap in, survivors, because we're adding some new hardware to Stranded: Alien Dawn: two types of robotic mechs! These will be available in all scenarios and can be a valuable asset in any combat situation thanks to their mobile and offensive capabilities. Once you've met the prerequisites, both Light and Combat mechs will be available for you to build. Both will require a minimum Combat level to operate, and both can use their powerful legs to leap over obstacles and tactically reposition themselves in combat.
The Light Mech comes equipped with a single machine gun, while the Combat Mech comes equipped with both a machine gun and a missile launcher in its arsenal. These will greatly increase any survivors' combat ability, making them a force to be reckoned with during attack and defense. Mechs are great for taking down Shrieker nests, for example!
A New Survivor As in previous updates, we're adding a new survivor to Stranded: Alien Dawn with this new update. Our new survivor is a former spec-ops commander who's also experienced in training and supervising other soldiers. Her ability to improve the skills of others could be vital on the battlefield. You'll meet her very soon, so stay tuned to our social channels!
As we mentioned before, there are more quality of life updates, and bug fixes, coming in this update, so keep an eye out for the full patch notes coming on 25 April. As always, we want to thank everyone in the Stranded: Alien Dawn community for all your support, feedback, suggestions, and bug reports.
On 19 April at 4:00pm GMT, the community team will be joined by developers from Haemimont Games for a run-through of the new scenario, and the rest of the new update on Twitch and YouTube. We'll see you there!
Stranded: Alien Dawn - Patch v0.80.230331 Out Now! [05.04.23]
Hello Survivors!
A new patch for Stranded: Alien Dawn has just landed on Steam. Thank you again for all your feedback.
Now onto the changelog itself:
General
Increased the cold tolerance of Energy Crystals, so they don't wither during the winter
Infections are now treated with antibiotics, instead of healing balm
Survivors suffering from a meltdown will now run away if they are attacked, unless they are suffering from Catatonia
The Draft button no longer appears on hostile Junos
Trading Outpost scenario
The 'Contact" button on the trading ship now allows the player to invite ships to trade with
The Trading pod now only stores 50 Fuel
The starting resources now includes some fuel
Added Metal alloys to the starting resources for Easy, Medium and Hard difficulties
Adjusted selling price and cost of resources:
Ships now have preferred resources they will buy for a higher price or sell at a lower cost
Raw resources are overall sold for a lower price - the more difficult the raw resource is to obtain, the higher its price
Manufactured goods are now overall sold for a higher price - the more advanced and difficult the resource is to craft, the higher the price
Traded goods can now only be crafted with Hay, Wood, Stone and Scrap metal, and their selling price has also been adjusted
The game will now continue to auto-save after the player selects "Continue playing" on the victory screen
Fixed workers with expired contracts trying to board the trading pod if it's been blocked or destroyed
Trade ships now wait an extra day if there is an ongoing trade as they are about to leave, providing more time for the trade ship to be loaded
Stranded: Alien Dawn - Sow and Sell Update Out Now!
Hello again Survivors!
We are incredibly excited to let you know that the Sow and Sell update is now available for Stranded: Alien Dawn! A new and exciting scenario await you in another Early Access update. To get access to all the new content and quality of life additions, make sure your game is fully updated. Then you'll be able to explore everything the update has to offer!
The Sow and Sell update adds an entirely new campaign scenario to Stranded: Alien Dawn, with a new narrative setting, new challenges to consider, and a new end goal. This update also introduces a brand new survivor, new plants and recipes, and several quality of life updates and bug fixes.
In the brand new Trading scenario, your survivors have come to an alien planet willingly, with the ultimate goal of building a trading outpost and purchasing the planet. Armed with various resources and gear, as well as some knowledge of farming and a selection of crops these intrepid settlers are ready to carve out a piece of the galaxy for themselves.
We're looking forward to seeing you enjoy this new scenario and how you adapt your playstyle to overcome the new challenges. As always, we want to give a huge shoutout to everyone who's been sharing their feedback and suggestions on our forums, on social media, or on our Discord server. We really couldn't do this without you!
Trading Pod The new Trading Pod is a unique and central part of the Trading scenario that allows your survivors to contact and communicate with passing trading vessels. Your Trading Pod will also function as a transportation device whenever trades are being carried out. Different factions will offer different goods to sell, and will buy at different prices, so it's not a bad idea to put out the call for new trading opportunities as often as possible. You may even be able to purchase new technologies, including breakthroughs, to help cut down on time spent researching!
Your Trading Pod can also be used to post job offers to Automated Ansible Relay #499. Willing workers can then be hired for a certain period of time, after which they'll be transported to the outpost. Some workers might also offer to join you for free, if you meet certain criteria. Workers who join your settlement will need to have their contracts renegotiated at the end of their term, but if they fall in love and get married to a settler, they'll be considered a settler too. Worth keeping in mind, survivors!
New Survivor Carrying out trades and renegotiating worker contracts will be made much easier with the addition of the brand new survivor, Vicente Santiago. This expert farmer and trader is a shrewd negotiator from growing up on his family ranch. After being cheated by disloyal partners and broken by greedy banks, he decided to travel to the farthest reaches of the galaxy to pull himself up by his bootstraps and establish a new ranch. His Haggler trait will let you earn more money when trading, but his Kitchen Hazard trait makes him incapable of cooking.
The Sow and Sell update also brings with it some new research options, buildable devices, recipes, and crops. Some are unique to the new Trading scenario, while others can be used in both Trading and Crash Landing. Check the patch notes below for the full rundown of what's been added and what can be used where. There are also quality of life updates, and bug fixes coming in this update.
Stranded: Alien Dawn Coming to Consoles In case you missed the news: Stranded: Alien Dawn is leaving Early Access on 25 April, 2023, and is also coming to the Epic Games Store, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. If you pre-order now you will get some exclusive early adopter bonus content in the form of wooden plank building materials, and a new crash landing pod model. If you've already bought the game in Early Access on Steam you'll get these bonuses automatically on launch day. You can pre-order now via our website: strandedaliendawn.com/buy.
As always, we want to thank everyone in the Stranded: Alien Dawn community for all your support, feedback, suggestions, and bug reports.. Don't forget to join the Stranded: Alien Dawn Discord and you'll never miss any news! You can also follow the game on TikTok, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube, or join the discussions on Steam and the Frontier Forums.
Now onto the changelog:
v0.80.230324 Release notes
Key new features/content
New 'Trading outpost'scenario - Build a successful business and reach the ultimate goal: become the owner of the planet
Hire workers - Hired help is the only way to expand your roster in the new scenario!
Trading - Use the trading pod to buy and sell resources and more, from trading with ships passing by the planet's orbit during the new scenario
Earn and spend your Galacticoins – The most complex yet stable currency in the known universe
Discover new plants, recipes and technologies - These will provide even more ways to help your survivors survive and thrive!
Meet a new survivor - Vicente Santiago, an avid farmer with unique Haggling skills
5 New Steam Achievements - Can you unlock them all?
Trading outpost scenario
The trading pod allows you to post job offers for new workers, contact trading ships, and transport goods or workers to/from the planet
Central to the Trading Outpost scenario, Galacticoins are used to buy from traders, hire new workers and ultimately purchase the Planetary Ownership
As aspirational farmers, the founders of the outpost possess some knowledge of farming, enabling some known crops to be planted right away
Traders will contact your outpost periodically through notifications to sell their goods, technologies and crops, while also buying what they need themselves
Research and crafting unique to this scenario:
Trade Goods can be crafted from various materials at a Workbench, and while they ultimately can't be consumed by your survivors, they can be sold at a higher price when trading than raw resources
Counterfeit money is a new breakthrough allowing you to print Galacticoins on 3D printers
Research Safes to unlock a new storage device that stores only Galacticoins and protect them from attacks and theft
New character traits: Farm owner, Hired worker
Unique happiness pleasures and troubles specific to owners and workers
Unique meltdown for workers: Stealing
Unique events that can result in more people joining your group
New content in all scenarios
Hydroponic racks are a new powered Farming device that can be placed indoors, and will provide artificial light to grow crops all year round
Several new plants and resources can be discovered during expeditions and farmed:
Energy Crystals can be grown and harvested for their crystals which are a key component in the crafting of Power Cells, but the process of farming them decreases the quality of the soil by changing it into sand
Cureplants can be harvested for antibiotics, which always come in handy whenever someone is sick or injured, and can also fetch a pretty penny from the right buyers!
Mulchtubes can be harvested for Sweet Syrup, an excellent raw ingredient and fallback food source, and the plants also turn soil into loam, which can help future crop growth
Synthplants can be harvested for Synthetic Textiles, which can be used to craft clothing. Synthplants also change the quality of the soil by increasing the amount of silt and clay
Buzzshrooms can be grown and used to produce both Stimulants and Stimulating Tea that provide survivors with a Manipulation, Movement, and Happiness bonus
Updates to all scenarios
Research & crafting
Crafting Power Cells now requires Energy Crystals and Electronics, instead of Metal Alloys and CPU Cores. Energy Crystals can be discovered during expeditions, and are also unlocked by researching Power cell assembly
Baking 10 concrete in a furnace now requires 5 stone instead of 10
Fixed save compatibility issue preventing players from researching "Spaceship deconstruction" when all criteria were met
Animals and Taming
Tamed animals can now be drafted after successfully Training them to level 5
Stunned animals are now a valid target for healing
Marking a tamed animal for slaughtering will now queue the order for butchering
Survivors
It is now possible to use direct orders to haul resources out of barrels and to deconstruct Stockpiles
Fixed pathfinding and animation loop issue caused by trying to rescue and heal a survivor at the same time
Pacifist characters no longer have the option to "Fight back attackers"
The Survivors inventory panel no longer displays stats for pacify and energy deflection
Addressed edge cases to avoid rare issues regarding survivors' behaviour when carrying injured or dead survivors
Construction
Reconstructing a device will return resources, the same as when a device is deconstructed
Copying a synthetic bed now copies its colour
The description for Power cell generator now accurately lists the necessary resources to build it
UI and Controls
Crops are now organised into sub-categories within the Farming menu
Improved visibility of existing fields when placing or expanding a field
Copy/Paste option now copies the "Other restrictions" in the Restrictions section of the survivor's panel
The button to copy a device when playing with a controller has been removed and replaced with an input on Y or triangle
The stack size of Medicine, Beverages and Relaxation resources has been increased from 10 to 25
Mod Editor
After starting the Mod Editor, the Mod Editor map now starts with 'Cheats' features available to assist with development and testing of Mods.
' [apostrophe/@] - Toggle cheats - note that additional cheats are selectable within the info panels for selected objects
Enter - Toggle the 'console' On/Off
F9 - Clear the text log displayed in the lower left area of the display
Disabling mods no longer removes the built-in presets from the game permanently, requiring the game to be restarted after disabling mods
Fixed an issue that prevented icons in shared/packed mods being displayed correctly
Mods now always load correctly when initialised for the first time
Fixed issues with mod dependencies and the applicable fields in the Mod Editor work so they now work as intended
The Survivors/Character Mod Item now includes a checkbox named 'Selectable on new game' that should be checked if the character is intended to be available for selection in the pre-game flow
Miscellaneous
Wild plants no longer wither prematurely within a few days
The minimum farming skill to plant various crops have been revised:
Glitter caps (from 0 to1)
Heptagonia (from 0 to 2)
Smokeleaf (from 3 to 2)
Fixed a rare issue preventing the Campfire celebration occurring after the notification had been received
Fixed a rare issue causing the achievement “Four walls, floor and a roof” to unlock prematurely
Minor optimisation and general adjustments to rendering, several animations and lighting
Stranded: Alien Dawn Full Release Date & Console Pre-order Announced!
Excellent news, Survivors!
You've been asking us for a while, how long is the game going to be in early access? When is its full release? We are elated to announce that Stranded: Alien Dawn is leaving Early Access and heads for a 1.0 release on 25 April 2023. But that is not all, Stranded: Alien Dawn is heading to the Epic Games Store, Xbox and PlayStation, and is available for digital pre-orders RIGHT NOW. Purchase Stranded: Alien Dawn now to receive an early adopter bonus content, this early adopter's bonus will continue until 09 May.
We couldn't be more excited to share this news with you, and to be able to share this wonderful planet survival sim with an even bigger audience.
If you've been a part of our Early Access period, or if you're picking the game up for the very first time in April, we wanted to give a huge thank you for your support, your feedback, and your discussions about the game. We couldn't have reached this point without you.
Stranded: Alien Dawn is a planet survival sim in which you build and manage a small group of survivors who have recently landed on a beautiful, but dangerous alien world. It's up to you to instruct them to gather food and resources, build shelters, and find ways to keep them safe, all while managing their physical and mental needs. Be prepared to have your survivors pushed to the brink by limited resources, unpredictable weather, illness and injuries, and hostile alien creatures. The next challenge is never far away!
Jump into one of two distinct scenarios, all with different narrative settings, challenges, and goals, and choose your group of survivors from a pool of individuals with their own skills, traits, personalities and stories. These factors all come together to create wholly unique experiences, where no two playthroughs are the same.
You can pre-order now on the Epic Games Store, Xbox and PlayStation, or you can jump into the Early Access version right away and start playing. Should you decide to pre-order you'll get some nice Early Adopter bonuses!
You'll get Wooden Planks as construction materials for Floors, Walls, Doors, and Roofs. These will work the same as existing wooden materials, but offer up a fresh new look for your buildings. You will also get access to a variant model of the landing pod in the Crash Landing scenario. With this installed, a new Landing Pod will be selected at random from the default and the alternate model. If you've already purchased Stranded: Alien Dawn in Early Access, you'll get these items automatically at full launch.
Stranded: Alien Dawn is launching for £29.99/$34.99/€34.99 across all platforms, but you can get the Early Access version on Steam at a lower price point ahead of the 1.0 release until 25 April. In addition to this, Stranded: Alien Dawn will be available in 10 different languages at launch. See below for the full list:
Are you ready to manage your survivors as they brave the dangers of the alien planet? Let us know your thoughts in the comments, and don't forget to join the Stranded: Alien Dawn Discord and you'll never miss any news! You can also follow the game on TikTok, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube, or join the discussions on Steam and the Frontier Forums.
