What the team has changed, newest first, with links to the pages each change affects. The playtest hotfix and retrospective changed the opening that the first-two-hours guide walks through.
Wild West Pioneers | Thank you, pioneers!Toplitz Productions ยท 1:12The team's short thank-you before launch, including how progression changed since the demo.
Early Access
Fourth hotfix: caravans, settlers, cattle and Jamie
A caravan now costs 5 canned food instead of 20, and the team may rebalance that later so the cost scales with the destination. The Cattle for the natives quest now counts the cattle you already have, so you no longer need to breed new ones. The timer for new settlers no longer climbs above 50 hours, and Jamie, the explosives specialist, no longer stops responding after you load a save, which had blocked his questline.
Build 0.1.0 19530 fixes a crash from fireplace and light effects when day turns to night, a Saloon issue that could stop some late-game saves from loading, residents spinning in place or getting stuck, the interface turning transparent after a window mode or resolution change, and residents riding invisible horses. The Load Game menu now shows longer save names and lists the most recently used saves first, and the Move button now explains why farms and ranches cannot be moved.
Build 0.1.0 19496 widens the Barber Shop's range, stops workshops stalling after collecting only part of a cycle's inputs, fixes production stopping on a night-time recipe change, keeps Food Store upgrades from dropping connections, frees scouts stuck on the way home, and fixes the priest questline and a bandit cutscene freeze.
Build 0.1.0 19478, released the night of launch, fixes crashes tied to residents moving and to graphics in long sessions, memory that kept growing, an in-game clock that could stop, and controls that stopped responding.
Valve's compatibility check now rates the game Playable, with notes on small interface text, a default controller setup that is not fully functional, mismatched button glyphs, no automatic on-screen keyboard and default settings that do not run smoothly.
Playtest retrospective: the first quest and cheaper early buildings
The team reported that 45% of open-playtest players dropped off during the very first quest. It reworded and rebalanced the opening, let players reopen the tutorial assistant, added prompts that point idle players to guides, and cut the cost of every building available in the first two hours for Early Access, with journey point and idea tree costs adjusted to match.
Three updates were announced without dates: The Frontier Grows (feedback fixes, side quests, building upgrades and variants, decorations), The Iron Peaks (a large new section of the strategic map with mountain terrain) and Highland Settlement (a mountain settlement, cold weather, 11 new buildings and 10 new resources).
Playtest hotfix: tents first, roads, whims and achievements
Residents' Needs now points you to unlocking tents first, and journey points were rebalanced so tents unlock straight away. The starting settlement has enough gold for the 50 Gold quest, whims wait until Residents' Needs is complete, roads can be trimmed anywhere along their length, a new Animal Lover whim lets you place animal decorations, Blocked Passage now asks for 20 settlers, and the first two batches of Early Access achievements were added.
