Hey folks, we have a fancy new content update all piping hot and ready to go. Our intention with this update is to continue making the underground more interesting by adding some Strange and mysterious things underground that tie into the larger story we're trying to tell with Signs of Life. There are many new artifacts, gadgets, etc that range from "cool but pointless" to "probably wildly overpowered" so we're going to need a lot of feedback on what works and what doesn't =) We really want to give players a sense of exploration and discovery, and to that end we've decided to do something a bit different with our update notes this time around. In order to preserve the sense of mystery, we've decided to redact big chunks of the new content notes to avoid spoiling it. Hopefully this will let players figure stuff out for themselves (and let folks explore the new content together) without just outright spoiling everything on day 1 in the notes. We'll post the unredacted notes in a week or two.

Things to keep in mind

• You will need to generate a new world in order to see most of the new content. You can generate a new world from the sandbox menu without losing your character, and you can go back to your old world through the sandbox menu as well whenever you would like.
• Much of the new content is purposely unexplained, but hopefully it shouldn't be too hard to figure out. We're hoping that figuring out how the new content works will be fun and encourage players to work together both inside and outside of the game to figure everything out, but let us know if you think parts of the update are too confusing or hard to understand. We want to make players think and experiment, but we don't want people to feel like they need to go to a wiki to figure out how to use the new content.
• A small number of players have reported an issue that prevented them from cutting down trees with both the axes and the wrist laser. We're still trying to figure out the cause of the bug, so if you happen to figure out a way to cause it reliably please let us know. Apparently restarting the game fixes the issue if you do experience it.
• Similar (and possibly related) to the above tree breaking issue, there may be an issue with the Grab Laser, but we have been unable to replicate it.
• If you need a hint as far as where to look for some of the new content, make sure you fully explore the [spoiler]Mining Base on the surface of the planet.[/spoiler]

New Content (Some parts redacted to avoid spoilers =D)

• Added a gross eyeball creature to the areas near the spiky bosses.
  
• Added a craftable spike dart launcher
• Added a Python revolver that has an alternate fire that allows you to fan the hammer and quickly unload all the remaining bullets in the cylinder.
  
• Added a paper bag container :I
  
• Added this weird creature
  
• Added [spoiler][REDACTED][/spoiler] that allows you to [spoiler][REDACTED][/spoiler] Tablets
  
  • Ice [spoiler][REDACTED][/spoiler] - [spoiler][REDACTED][/spoiler] for a few moments and [spoiler][REDACTED][/spoiler]
  • [spoiler][REDACTED][/spoiler] - Explodes, [spoiler][REDACTED][/spoiler]
  • Calm [spoiler][REDACTED][/spoiler] - [spoiler][REDACTED][/spoiler]
  • [spoiler][REDACTED][/spoiler] - [spoiler][REDACTED][/spoiler]
  • [spoiler][REDACTED][/spoiler] Bolts - [spoiler][REDACTED][/spoiler] hard to control explosive [spoiler][REDACTED][/spoiler]
  • [spoiler][REDACTED][/spoiler] - Send the [spoiler][REDACTED][/spoiler]
  • Energy [spoiler][REDACTED][/spoiler] - [spoiler][REDACTED][/spoiler] damages a target
  • [spoiler][REDACTED][/spoiler] - Lights up [spoiler][REDACTED][/spoiler]
• Added [spoiler][REDACTED][/spoiler] Tablet - Used with the Strange Artifact, and can be bound with [spoiler][REDACTED][/spoiler]
• Added [spoiler][REDACTED][/spoiler] and [spoiler][REDACTED][/spoiler] - [spoiler][REDACTED][/spoiler] used in various [spoiler][REDACTED][/spoiler]. [spoiler][REDACTED][/spoiler] is now added to the world generator
• Added [spoiler][REDACTED][/spoiler] - Converts [spoiler][REDACTED][/spoiler]
• Added [spoiler][REDACTED][/spoiler] Device - [spoiler][REDACTED][/spoiler] mark a location and then [spoiler][REDACTED][/spoiler] a portal that [spoiler][REDACTED][/spoiler].
• Added [spoiler][REDACTED][/spoiler] for [spoiler][REDACTED][/spoiler]
• Added [spoiler][REDACTED][/spoiler] Altar for acquiring [spoiler][REDACTED][/spoiler]
• Added [spoiler][REDACTED][/spoiler] to the HUD under the enery bar - Does not charge over time and must be replenished by [spoiler][REDACTED][/spoiler]. Enabled once you find [spoiler][REDACTED][/spoiler]
• Added [spoiler][REDACTED][/spoiler] - A pedestal that is activated by [spoiler][REDACTED][/spoiler], and [spoiler][REDACTED][/spoiler] your [spoiler][REDACTED][/spoiler] when right clicked once activated. [spoiler][REDACTED][/spoiler] when you die.
• Added [spoiler][REDACTED][/spoiler] Expansion - When broken, [spoiler][REDACTED][/spoiler]
• Added [spoiler][REDACTED][/spoiler] creature
• Added [spoiler][REDACTED][/spoiler] deposits
• Added many different [spoiler][REDACTED][/spoiler] statues and decorations
• Added several [spoiler][REDACTED][/spoiler] containers

Bug Fixes

• Fixed an issue with particle effects that was causing them to look more muted than intended. The majority of particle effects should now look better.
• Fixed many cases where items would get desynchronized between clients and servers (should result in less items that can't be picked up when on a multiplayer game)
• Fixed some issues that could have caused graphical corruption on a narrow range of computers
• Prevented the player from deleting key items
• Fixed rendering issue on the text input popups on larger font sizes
• Scrolling in the crafting menu no longer causes the scroll slots to scroll as well
• Many other small issues

General Gameplay Improvements

• Improved medium and large fonts
• Re-worked the Crafting menu significantly
  • Added larger buttons for categories
  • Reduced max crafting items to 4 (Some recipes that required 5 items have been changed slightly)
  • Combined with functions of the Projects menu
  • Increased the overall size to make the menu less cramped
  • Added ability to change materials in crafting, for example you can now choose between using a normal or rubber stick in many recipes. Some recipes also let you change the primary (first) material, which can change the crafted result, for example now there is just a "torch" recipe, and you can change the result from a normal sap torch to a biofuel torch by changing the primary material from sap to biofuel. We only adjusted a few recipes, so let us know if you have more ideas for places we could use this feature.
• Removed Projects menu since its functionality was included in the Crafting menu
• Added mineable Biofuel to world generator
• Added optional settings for the Dodge mechanic as well as a bindable dodge action - Can be found in the settings menu
  • Double Tap - How it worked previously, double tap forward to dodge roll forward, double tap back to backjump.
  • Shift + Double Tap - Double tap only works when holding shift
  • Binds Only - Only activates when you press the key bound to dodge, dodge rolls forward if you're moving forward, backjump if you're moving backwards or standing still. Bound to Z by default... but honestly that is a terrible key to use and we're trying to find a better one, but its tricky to find something that we're not already using that can be easily pressed while doing other actions. Still working on this, and if you have any suggestions let us know.
• Increased friction on the player when stopping to be less slippy

Balance Changes

• Tweaked combat balance a bit - We only made some small changes for now, but we're planning on doing a bit of an overhaul soon
  • Melee weapons do a bit more damage, and have a wider spread between tiers
  • Enemies have a bit more health
• Added additional health set bonuses to Bronze and Tin armor sets

Miscellaneous

• Added ability to tweak various balance settings for creatures and melee weapons through a text file located in your game install directory (The directory should be something like Steam/SteamApps/Common/Signs Of Life/Content/CSV)