Stranded: Alien Dawn
Tame and Train Preview Livestream VOD Now Available
Join Our Livestream @ 18 January, 16:00 GMT, on Twitch or YouTube
☄️ 16:00 GMT - 18 January
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Stranded: Alien Dawn - Tame and Train Update Coming 24 January 2023
We are incredibly excited to announce our second major Early Access update! The Tame and Train Update introduces a new animal taming mechanic, as well as ways to train and care for the animals you've tamed. We're also introducing a new animal, a new survivor, and various bug fixes and quality of life updates.
As development on the game continues, the Tame and Train Update brings exciting new features to the game. We are continuing to take on board your feedback and suggestions, and there are more updates to come in the future. We'd like to give a huge thank you to everyone who's provided us with feedback and suggestions on our forums, on social media, or on our Discord server! We couldn't do this without you. Please don't hesitate to share your thoughts with us as we continue through the Early Access period.
Let's break down what you will find in the new update:
Animal Taming
The new "Animal Taming" research option will unlock the ability to tame animals for your survivors. Taming an animal requires food and a certain level of Farming skill. The type of food and the skill level required depends on the animal, and you can learn what they are by Observing the animals you want to tame. Some animals can't be tamed by food alone and need to be pacified before they can be tamed, while others can't be tamed at all!
After a creature has been tamed, a number of different options open up. Tamed animals can be played with, which helps improve your survivors' happiness, while others are perfect for use as livestock by breeding, fattening them up, and slaughtering them to help fill your food stores. Creatures that have a Combat skill can be trained to become stronger, and will attack hostile creatures coming near them. Tamed creatures can be a fantastic asset when under attack - Junos can serve as a fast, tank-like defender, while Shriekers can add some much needed ranged support.
Any animal you tame has needs you'll have to meet to make them comfortable and happy. They need to be fed, and have a place to rest. An Animal Feeder will be unlocked as part of the Animal Taming research, and it's a good idea to have a couple of them where you keep your animals. You wouldn't want them to start going after your crops! Certain animals will provide you with resources like manure or feathers, which can then be crafted into useful items, while insectoid creatures can dig Stone out from the ground. Their happiness has an impact on how many by-products they generate, so it's a good idea to keep them well-fed and rested. We recommend taming a wide variety of creatures to see which resources they can produce. For that personal touch, you can also rename your newly tamed animals!
As your survivors spend more time with these creatures they'll eventually start to develop bonds with them. This will improve your survivors' happiness, but be careful: their happiness will take a hit if the animal passes away.
New Animals
As part of the Tame and Train Update we're adding a new animal to the game: dogs! Three breeds of dogs will be available for your survivors to tame, and their appearance are based on the Weimaraner, Boxer, and Great Dane. Dogs can be trained to fight alongside your survivors, or played with to help your survivors relax and improve their happiness. Dogs also have a much higher chance to bond with a survivor, which will further increase survivor happiness.
And yes, your survivors can pet the dogs!
Meet Hugo Delano
Hugo Delano is a brand new survivor coming to Stranded: Alien Dawn. This former zookeeper is a lover of all animals who became a resistance fighter when war broke out on his planet to protect the creatures living there. After becoming a renowned veteran he decided to travel the stars to learn what he could about all the species of the cosmos. This animal expert will never fail at taming a creature, and will even teach farming techniques with his fellow survivors!
Keep an eye out for the full patch notes coming out on 24 January. As always, we want to thank everyone in the Stranded: Alien Dawn community for all your support, feedback, suggestions, and bug reports.
There are more details to come from the Tame and Train Update, so don't forget to join the Stranded: Alien Dawn Discord and you'll never miss any news! You can also follow the game on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube, or join the discussions on Steam and the Frontier Forums. On 18 January at 4:00pm GMT, the community team will be joined by developers from Haemimont Games for a run-through of the new taming mechanic, and the rest of the new update on Twitch and YouTube. We'll see you there!
Win a Gaming Laptop and HyperX Gaming Hardware with Stranded: Alien Dawn
We are incredibly excited to announce our new giveaway, just in time for the holidays! We are giving away an amazing laptop from Overclockers, as well as gaming hardware from HyperX - the perfect way to play and enjoy Stranded: Alien Dawn.
The grand prize winner will receive:
- ASUS ROG Zephyrus G15 NVIDIA RTX 3070 Ti, 16GB, 15.6" QHD 240Hz, AMD R9-6900HS Gaming Laptop
- HyperX Cloud Alpha Gaming Headset
- HyperX Alloy Origins 60 - Mechanical Gaming Keyboard (US Layout - Red Switches)
- HyperX Pulsefire Dart - Wireless Gaming Mouse
- HyperX Pulsefire Mat - Gaming Mouse Pad - Cloth (2XL)
Struggling with Launch Crashes? Try the new Experimental Branch
We're aware that some of you have been struggling with crashes when trying to launch Stranded: Alien Dawn recently and the team has been working behind the scenes to address this with a patch.
To ensure the fix works, while also mitigating the risks of any impact to players who aren't having this issue, we've opened up a separate branch on Steam (Experimental) where you can download a new build that we believe will address the issue.
Here's how to access the Experimental branch:
- Open your Steam Library and find Stranded: Alien Dawn
- Right click on Stranded: Alien Dawn and select Properties
- Go to "BETAS" and choose strandedaliendawn_experimental from the dropdown list
- Steam should automatically update your game to the new build - if not, please restart Steam until your game is updated
This build will be moved to the main branch on Steam at a later date if we see a positive impact.
Thank you to everyone who shared their crash reports and all the information you provided us with!
PS: If you're getting an error message at launch after installing this new build, verify your game files through Steam and that should sort it.
Dunes and Moons Update Out NOW!
We are incredibly excited to announce that the first major Early Access update for Stranded: Alien Dawn, Dunes and Moons, is out now! Make sure your game is fully updated and you'll immediately have access to all the new content and quality of life additions.
As development on the game continues, the Dunes and Moons Update brings exciting new features to the game. We are continuing to take on board your feedback and suggestions, and there are more updates to come in the future. We are so excited about the rest of the Early Access period, and we are looking forward to reading all your feedback and comments as we add more to the game.
Let's take a look at what you can expect from this new update, after we've watched the new trailer of course:
The Dunes and Moons update adds the scorching hot Desertum region to the game, with new native wildlife, and scarce plant life and resources. Desertum's rocky landscape requires a different strategic approach to ensure your group's survival – utilise your resources well in order to make it through the wet and dry seasons.
You will also get to meet a brand new survivor, the desert-born Sora Satoh. Her experience with living in a harsh desert environment makes her a perfect fit for Desertum's unique challenges, and her enhanced combat skills will be an asset to any defensive or offensive manoeuvre.
New Ways to Play
At the beginning of a new game, you can select which moon your survivors gaze upon in the night sky. Which moon you choose will have a distinct impact on gameplay and how you approach different situations. The presence of Jason will offer your survivors more adversity and tougher wildlife attacks, but also ample time to prepare and recover; Nyx will cause animals to attack more frequently during the night, under the cover of darkness; while Chaos makes wildlife events unpredictable, but potentially more fun and interesting!
In addition, the Dunes and Moons update introduces two new difficulty levels to challenge you and your survivors. Very Hard and Insane difficulties will test your management skills to their very limit. Changing up the moons and the difficulty levels will keep each gameplay experience fresh and interesting, and we definitely recommend giving it a try on your next run through of Stranded: Alien Dawn!
Quality of Life Additions
Lastly, let's talk about some quality of life additions coming to the game in this update. We've adjusted key factors for the different difficulty levels based on your feedback. What this means is that the lower difficulty levels have now been made less challenging overall, and the range of difficulty is much broader than before. However, don't worry you will still be challenged, especially on the higher difficulty levels. For a more peaceful approach, the new "Peace First" rule will turn off all aggressive animal attacks, letting you build, craft, and survive in peace. Let's see how long you'll be able to keep your survivors alive on the alien world now!
There's also more granularity to the Activity menu, giving you more control over managing crafting and research priorities. Crafting has now been split into "Craft", "Tailor", and "Assemble", meaning you can assign different people to the different crafting disciplines. Research has been divided into "Observe", and "Research".
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 Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube, or join the discussions on Steam and the Frontier Forums.
Now onto the patch notes:
Stranded: Alien Dawn - v0.20.221130
Key new features/content
- Desertum Region - New desert inspired biome giving players a brand new challenge to face
- A new survivor, Sora Satoh - No stranger to desert landscapes, get ready to meet Sora
- Three New Moons, Jason, Nyx, and Chaos
- Jason - The presence of Jason provides survivors with plenty of adversity, but offers ample time for them to prepare and recover from events
- Nyx - Nyx influences wildlife to attack more frequently during the hours of darkness
- Chaos - Chaos lives up to its namesake, with unpredictable events all-but-guaranteed
- Two new difficulty levels - Very hard and Insane
- Five Steam Achievements - discover these and unlock them now!
- Difficulty levels have been adjusted for balance, so lower levels of difficulty are now less challenging, delivering a much broader range for both new and experienced players alike
- Added new game rules 'Peace first' and 'Random survivors'
- Peace first - removes animal attacks
- Random Survivors - gives all survivors a perk, but randomly selects the group for you for an exciting challenge
- Adjusted some cases where the amount of animals during an attack were too numerous
- Flying insects/Hummingfly can no longer attack through roofs
- Improved range/visibility of flamethrower and missile launcher to match the indicated area of effect
- Traps and mines can now be placed in groups by holding left click and dragging
- Some of the skills and/or traits have been adjusted for Anette Falcov, Carter Grodre, Daniel Shanks, Ken Laux & Naras Ledi
- The evolution of the deteriorating health condition that effects Connor Dryce has been sped up
- The happiness modifier that can be gained in the case a survivor is interested in combat, is now correctly applied when survivors are Drafted and engaged in combat
- The happiness modifier for Paulette Marota carrying out her favourite relaxation is now correctly applied
- Relaxation-related troubles now trigger at lower thresholds
- Pleasures and troubles related to food and relaxation variety now occur later in the game
- Survivors "Superficial bite" injuries no longer have a lingering negative effect after being treated
- Survivors are able to rescue other survivors in the case they faint while manning a tower
- Addressed cases where survivors were unable to bury fallen survivors
- The Direct order "Unequip" that can be applied to fallen survivors, is now applied to all equipped items including weapons
- When clothing slots are locked, Survivors will no longer automatically change clothing
- So long as the required resources have been acquired, it is now possible to construct; Large scrap metal drying rack, Metal oil press, Concrete fortifications and Concrete Towers
- General improvements for placement/construction of roofs, flooring and stockpiles
- It's now possible to place desks next to walls where a torch is already present
- It's now possible to place Shelters next to walls of rooms
- All chair types now have the same space restrictions
- Rooms can now be connected to multiple power grids
- Batteries will now supply (discharge) half of their stored energy in an hour of time
- Orbital equipment can now be powered from energy stored in batteries
- Wind effects have been revisited so wind powered turbines generate more power
- Added ability to tailor a new 'Straw hat'
- Removed Scrap cloth as a resource and changed all related crafting recipes to use only Cloth instead
- Cement is now baked in a furnace instead of being crafted at a workbench
- Winemaking technology can now be unlocked by discovering any fruit, and wine can now be fermented from any fruit
- The interface for Activities is revised so it is now possible to set specific priorities for the following:
- Heal
- Handle
- Construct
- Hunt
- Harvest
- Cut
- Plant
- Scavenge
- Mine
- Cook
- Craft
- Tailor
- Assemble
- Observe
- Research
- Deliver
- Chopping wood to make sticks is now categorized as part of the “Cut” activity, instead of being categorized as a “Craft” activity
- It's now possible to issue a direct order to deconstruct empty stockpiles and storage devices
- After selecting any plant or animal to be observed, it is now possible to select another plant or animal of the same type to be observed, without cancelling the initial selection
- There are new icons for storage, Furniture and Building
- After pressing escape, the game scenario, region, moon, difficulty, seed and rules are now displayed while the game is paused
- Fixed tooltips and info text remaining on screen after the panel has been closed
- General improvement to logic and feedback, especially for events, expeditions, research requirements, observation, and notifications
- Small improvements to the tutorials and text
- The amount of electronics needed to repair malfunctioned devices has been reduced
- Animals are now slightly less attracted to crop fields
- The frequency of events that can lead to survivors being discovered and/or survivor's discovering a camp/base have been adjusted in conjunction with difficulty/moons
- Weddings now occur during the day, instead of at sunset, and a notification is displayed if a wedding is postponed
- Survivors no longer need to clear away animal corpses, in order to repair damaged/destroyed devices
- The heat tolerance of summer/light clothing items has been adjusted
- Minor adjustments to lighting, VFX, sound effects, animation and contact points
- Various stability and crash fixes
New Moons Coming to Stranded: Alien Dawn
Let's meet the new moons coming to Standed: Alien Dawn in the Dunes and Moons update!
When Jason rises above your survivors, you'll face greater challenges when attacked, but you'll also have more time to recover between attacks.
Nyx is the goddess of the night, and will cause animal attacks to mostly occur under the cover of night. Prepare yourself accordingly!
At the beginning there was Chaos. This moon will make things less predictable, so try to be prepared for any kind of attack!
Don't forget to join the Stranded: Alien Dawn Discord and you'll never miss any news! You can also follow the game on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube, or join the discussions on Steam and the Frontier Forums. On 30 November at 3:30pm GMT, the community team will be joined by developers from Haemimont Games for a run-through of Desertum and the new update on Twitch and YouTube. We'll see you there!
Meet Sora Satoh - The New Survivor Coming in the Dunes and Moons Update
Sora's search for the people who killed her sister was unfortunately interrupted by the crash landing. Now her expertise and skills are a vital part of the group of survivors.
Sora's combat experience and desert knowledge make her an important asset when building a base on Desertum.
Nominate us in the 2022 Steam Awards!
The Steam Awards Nominations are open! Stranded: Alien Dawn offers an exciting and innovative survival experience where you build and manage a camp of survivors marooned on an alien world, presented in lush and expansive 3D environments. We believe Stranded: Alien Dawn is a fresh and interesting addition to the genre. As such, we'd love it if you would vote for us in the "Most Innovative" category in this year's Steam Awards.
Developer Journal - The Desertum Region
We know you're all incredibly excited for the Dunes and Moons update and everything in it! We're here with our first ever developer journal, featuring our friends over at Haemimont Games, to talk about the new Desertum region and some of the new challenges you can expect to run into there. Let's dive right in to learn more about this new addition to the alien world:
Hello! We are absolutely thrilled to have you here with us. Could you please introduce yourself to everyone reading?
Yes of course! Hello everyone, my name is Bisser Dyankov, and I am CEO of Haemimont Games. I am also the producer of Stranded: Alien Dawn. That means I do my best to keep track of all the different threads of development and production in check. I'm also the main point of contact with the great team at Frontier Foundry who are working on the publishing side of the game.
The Desertum region is very unique, and very different to the temperate Sobrius region that players are used to. What can they expect from this new region?
You will run into some new challenges where solutions that would work on Sobrius won't work as well, as expected, or at all in Desertum. This ranges from the availability of base resources, to extreme temperatures, different food sources, and so on. You'll be facing a wide variety of challenges to boot. You'll be facing new and unique plants and animals, some of which might not be too friendly, and also some biome specific weather effects.
The scarcity of wood means you'll have to use different strategies with regards to construction, and the widely varying temperatures will need to be addressed to ensure the survival and long-term comfort of the survivors trying to make it through the Desertum region.
It sounds like a very dangerous place! Can you tell us more about the new types of flora and what sort of resources they give?
There's a variety of new flora – mainly different types of cacti, but also palm trees and bushes. Some of these will give you what you expect, like sticks and wood, but there are also specific plants whose names are direct references to the resources they give you, like Teaball trees and Juiceleaf plants. The cacti are definitely my favourite! They can provide food with different levels of edibility, like cactus slime, distasteful flowers, and the most delicious of all – cactus fruits!
You can use the cactus slime and teaballs to make antibiotics and tea, respectively, because who can survive in the desert without tea? Distasteful flowers can be eaten, or used for pickling, but they might not taste very good!
We're sure there are some new and unique animals in Desertum as well. Could you tell us about them?
There are two unique animal species to the Desertum biome – the Dromadda and the Tecatli. The Dromadda is a peaceful herbivore, while the Tecatli is a daytime hunter. Like other species they can be hunted down and used for resources like meat or hides. You'll also run into animals you've already seen on Sobrius like insects and birds of prey.
Deserts are usually very hot during the day, and very cold during the night - how will temperature play a part in Desertum's challenges?
Temperature already plays a significant role in Stranded: Alien Dawn, but even more so in the Desertum region. As you can probably expect, days are considerably hotter, while nights are considerably colder. This presents challenges to both the short and long-term comfort of the survivors, as well as things like disintegration of resources out in the open, and so on. It'll be tricky having an outdoor pantry in 12 hour scorching heat!
How does this affect the seasons and weather?
The seasons in Desertum are different than on Sobrius. There's no temperate climate, and no spring, summer, autumn, or winter. There are just two seasons – the wet season and the dry season. The weather, in conjunction with the temperature amplitudes, affects everything – from the need for heat at night, to clothing required for long-term survival, to the pacing of plant growth. The weather also has its unique effects and disasters like dust storms, and of course, heat waves.
What was the most challenging part of creating Desertum, and how did you overcome it?
For me the most challenging part was having to re-define the approach to construction - ultimately Stranded: Alien Dawn is a base-building survival simulation. When the players are not dealing with an urgent crisis, they spend a lot of time - and resources - on construction. The lack of wood, and the need to re-define the player's approach to construction - was simultaneously the most challenging part, but also my favourite when it finally clicked together! I also love how the bases look in longer games - and they do look different from the Sobrius region. It makes me think of all the real-world traditional desert dwellings that have their unique signature look, based on locally available resources.
That's what we had time for this time, survivors! Please join us in thanking Bisser for joining us for this Developer Journal. We hope you've enjoyed this insight into the Desertum region, and we're looking forward to seeing you all jump in. It's not long now until the release of the Dunes and Moons Update on 1 December 2022. Don't forget to join the Stranded: Alien Dawn Discord and you'll never miss any news! You can also follow the game on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube, or join the discussions on Steam and the Frontier Forums. On 30 November at 3:30pm GMT, the community team will be joined by developers from Haemimont Games for a run-through of Desertum and the new update on Twitch and YouTube. We'll see you there!