Belts of Iron news & patch notes

Hi Everyone!

This week I'm excited to share 2 more big features coming to version 0.4! They should make building factories feel even more "layered". And stick around to the end for info about the experimental release.

Vertical Conveyor Lifts

You can now build vertical conveyor lifts to bring items straight up and down! They even attach directly to machines, splitters, and mergers. Each belt tier has their own lift so they work as fast as the normal "horizontal" belts.

Machine Modules

Logic Circuits and Execution Units were previously used to increase the speed of a machine but now there are dedicated items that can do more than that!

• Productivity Modules - A new modifier that outputs a bonus item every so often.

• Efficiency Modules - Reduces the energy used by a machine.

• Speed Modules - Increases the crafting speed and energy used.

These modules can be mixed and matched in a machine. Some machines have more slots than others.

And Lots More!

SAVED GAMES

- Updated the autosave feature to write to separate files.

- Saving the game will now prompt you to select which file to save as.

BUILDINGS

- Added drones and drone depots to carry items between designated storage containers.

- Added vertical conveyor lifts for total verticality.

- Added Stone Brick as an early game building material.

- Added Steel Frame as a late game building material.

- Added machine modules to augment Speed, Productivity, and Efficiency.

- Added Flood Light to light up areas of your factory.

- Added more end game items to make launching a rocket more involved.

TECHNOLOGY

- Some technology has been moved around to accommodate previously listed changes.

- Improved the Tech Tree visuals.

- Added end game data pack with a few end game research.

Version 0.4 is now available on the experimental branch!

To join the experimental branch please first back up your save files! Use the Steam branch code to gain access to the branch: conveyorbelthell

Lastly, in this version the following recipes have been updated in some way so you'll need to visit those areas of your factory to fix them. Or start a new world because I've also increased the chance to generate resource depots near spawn!

Accumulator, Acid, Belt Mk4, Blast Furnace, Bucket Miner, Cement, Concrete, Crushed Stone, Electric Mining Drill, High Density Plate (removed), Industrial Data Pack, Launch Pad, Logic Circuit, Pistol, Precision Data Pack, Rifle, Rocket Engine, Silica, Tactical Data Pack.

Please report any bugs or issues to me on the Steam forums, discord, or email [email protected]

As always, thanks for reading and head over to the discord to learn more https://discord.gg/xmmPeZHj4T

Hey everyone,

I've been busy working on the next major update and thought it was time I shared a couple of the bigger changes coming to the game.

Cargo Drones

One of the new features is Cargo Drones! These flying robots open up a new way to move items around your factory. Once unlocked towards the mid-late game, you'll be able to set storage containers to request or provide items to the drones. Drones available in the Drone Depots will be automatically assigned to a request and carry it out before going back to their depot to recharge.

The goal is to give players a new kind of logistics tool. Conveyor belts and trains are great for steady high-throughput production, but drones should make it less tedious and dare I say easier, to solve low-volume item requests in awkward locations around your factory.

I'm hoping this makes building factories feel more flexible, less rigid, and more alive. They won't replace belts or trains but should give another option if you want to use them.

End game

The second major change is going to expand the end game. I'm working on new items, production lines, and technology. Areas of the tech tree are shuffling around to make room for the expanded end game.

I don't want to spoil too much yet but the rocket engine won't be as easy to craft as it is now. It also has a fresh coat of paint!

I am eager to get this update in players' hands and hear your feedback on the experimental branch soon(ish).

As always, thanks for reading and head over to discord to learn more

https://discord.gg/xmmPeZHj4T

- Add setting for picker/pipette tool to not replace items on your hotbar.

- Added a visual indicator if you get close to the world boundary.

- Fixed a bug where resource deposits could have negative amounts preventing extractors from working.

- Fixed a bug where players could not select train station in the locomotive UI if there were too many.

- Fixed a bug where pipe valve max flow rate was not saved.

• Fix crash after dismantling oil refinery.

• Fixed nudging non-world-grid blueprints when rotated (need to recreate the blueprint for this to fix it).

• Add flow rate to pipe tooltip.

• Update tech tree visuals.

• Update fluid icons.

• Fixed derailed trains would fall through the world.

• Fixed a bug where concrete and the world grid indicators would sometimes disappear in multiplayer.

• Removed the white flashing when damaging resources.

• Fixed a crash when opening the research table in multiplayer.
• Insulated Wire should now correctly be 3x longer than Copper Wire.
• Fixed a bug preventing belts and pipes from going through water.
• Fixed world names with a dot character not saving correctly.
• Fixed splitting certain railway tracks with another track caused them to freak out.

Last week Belts of Iron officially launched into Early Access on Steam 🎉🚀

I want to start off by saying Thank You to everyone that's left a review, bug report, feedback, or message of any kind.

If you haven't yet, you can pick up the game with a 10% discount during launch week, or more if you get it in one of bundles

Known Issues

There are a number of issues that I'm currently working on fixing. You should expect an update in the near future that fixes most if not all of these. And please keep reporting bugs so I can fix them.

• Insulated Wires are not actually longer than Copper Wire. Will be fixed in the next update.

• Belts can't be placed under water and then brought out to above the water and vice versa.

• Splitting certain railway tracks with another track causes them to freak out.

• Train derailment sometimes glitches through the terrain and the wagons are lost.

• Unable to join LAN game through Steam.

• Rare multiplayer crash when moving items between inventory slots.

• Research Table not working in multiplayer for some players.

Roadmap

I'd also like to share a list of some high level features I plan on adding during Early Access. But as most things EA this is subject to change and not a final or fixed list.

World Map - Adding a world map has been requested a lot and is one of my higher priority features.

Late Game Content - I plan on adding new production lines in the late game, new module types, and possibly infinite research for the end game.

Drones - While belts and trains are great, drones will offer more flexibility when it comes to item logistics in complex space. The tradeoff will be much lower throughput and higher energy cost.

Production Graphs - A menu that lets you see how much you're producing and consuming over time. Similar to the power network but for items and fluids.

Enemies & Combat - Feedback seems split with half of players wanting more combat and half wanting less or none at all. My plan is to add 3 modes of enemy difficulty when creating new worlds. "Peaceful" would be no enemies or hives at all. "Passive" would be basically what we have now, enemies only attack if you get near them. And "Aggressive" would spawn more enemies and they actively seek out your factories so you need to setup defenses or destroy hives in a bigger radius.

More Foundation Pieces - More building pieces to allow players to express their creativity better. Examples: stairs, doors, ceilings, half walls, windows, more ramps, etc. This would likely come with new types of concrete like “Reinforced Concrete” or “Polished Concrete” with different visuals.

Performance and optimizations - I want to keep on top of performance and optimizations to let players build as much as they want. Obviously there will be some limit but I want to keep pushing it further.

Languages & Accessibility - As the content in game becomes more stable and less likely to change I'll start translating to other languages. Also adding new accessibility options to give more players a good experience.

Quality of Life - Last but not least. There are probably hundreds of small or large QOL features I could add so picking and choosing which ones I can spend time on will be hard so please let me know what you want to see!

There is also a public issue tracker that I try to keep up to date that includes features I'm considering adding, you can see it all here https://beltsofiron.com/issue-tracker

Thanks and keep on building!

~ IronDev (aka builderment-dev)

Release Notes v0.3.13

• Improved render performance with LOD for concrete foundations and belts.

• Improved render performance by not rendering items on belts that are far away.

• Fixed a crash when interacting with locomotive after a station on the schedule was removed.

• Removed research speed technology in favor of using modules in the research labs.

Hey everyone,

A couple weeks ago I announced that Belts of Iron is coming to Steam Early Access on May 28th. As of today that is just 1 week from now! So if you haven't yet, please consider giving the game a Wishlist.

I created a launch countdown timer for those who want to see exactly when the game will be be available on Steam - https://www.tickcounter.com/countdown/10143799/early-access-launch

These last couple of weeks have been mostly filled with reaching out to press and content creators while still pushing out some last minute updates.

• v0.3.12 Adding a world grid and improving blueprints to make them easier to create, manage, and share with others.

• v0.3.11 Added new Assembler animations and updated the saved games UI.

• v0.3.10 Was mostly bug fixing with UI updates to the electrical network details and launch pad.

Lastly I want to reiterate that entering Steam Early Access is just the beginning for me. I am committed to making this a truly great factory game by expanding endgame content, adding more quality-of-life improvements, and continue optimizing so you can build the biggest, most efficient, factories possible!

As always, thanks for reading and head over to discord to connect with the community https://discord.gg/xmmPeZHj4T

Release Notes v0.3.12

• When scanning for resources the location of deposits should not overlap one another as much.

• Rails, stations, signals, and loaders can now be used in blueprints.

• Add toggle for world grid \ when placing foundations.

• Blueprints can now include icons and descriptions.

• Blueprints can now snap to world grid making them easier to align.

• Changed the following recipes:

  • \ Plastic: 1 -> 2

  • \ Slag: 2 -> 4, Time: 3 -> 2

  • \ Steel: 10 -> 8, Time: 8 -> 12

  • \ Crushed Stone: 2 -> 3

  • \ Crushed Stone: 2 -> 3

  • \ Water: 120 -> 30, Acid: 120 -> 30

  • \ Acid: 50 -> 30

  • \ Rocket Engine: 16 -> 8, Pipe Valve: 50 -> 45

Release Notes v0.3.11

• New Assembler animation and particle effects.

• Fixed a bug where placing splitters could snap to a belt behind another machine

• Updated Saved Games Menu to show more information.

• Allow players to quit without saving. There is a confirmation dialog if you haven't saved recently.

• Added setting to change autosave interval.

• Fixed a bug that prevented some buildings from being placed on foundations in seemingly random locations.

Release Notes v0.3.10

• Added more details to electrical network graphs including machine counts and total energy use for each group.

• Updated Launch Pad UI and increased power usage to be more appropriate for an end game building.

• Steam turbines now remember their speed between saved games.

• Accumulators now remember their charge level between saved games.

• Fixed a bug where removing the last machine in a power network would not remove the power network leading to a random crash later.

• Fixed a bug where Accumulators did not show on blueprints.

Release Notes v0.3.9

• New factory modules system! Use Logic Circuits or Execution Units to boost the speed of machines at the cost of higher energy use.

• Logic Circuit & Execution Unit stack size changed from 50 -> 10.

• Removed mining speed technology 2-4 in favor of using modules in mining drills.

• Fixed a bug with train path signals not working correctly.

• Added level of details to trees and rocks to improve graphics performance.

Hello factory builders! I'm excited to announce

Belts of Iron is coming to Early Access on May 28th!

Entering into Early Access is just the beginning. I am committed to making this a truly great factory game. Throughout Early Access I plan on expanding endgame content, adding more quality-of-life improvements, and continue optimizing so you can build the biggest, most efficient, factories possible!

There is already a ton of factory building to be had, and I can't wait to see what you all create.

When exactly will the game be available?

May 28, 2026 at 1:00PM EDT / 17:00 GMT

How much will the game cost?

The price at launch will be $14.99 (USD) with a 10% launch discount.

What does this mean for the demo?

The demo will continue receiving updates that affect the core game. Including bug fixes, optimizations, and quality of life features. I have no plans of discontinuing the demo but it probably won't receive as frequent updates as the full version and obviously won't get all the new content.

If you haven't yet, make sure you wishlist to get a reminder when it releases!

So what's new? Mostly quality of life improvements and general bug fixes will be noticeable in the demo. A lot of new buildings and technology has been added to the full version which will be released soon! Here's a list of what to expect in the updated demo compared to the current demo version.

📦 Building & Automation QoL

• Blueprints can be saved and loaded between sessions

• Splitters/mergers auto-connect when aligned

• Recipes organized by category + show crafting building

• Power usage graphs available when inspecting power poles

• Drag-to-place power poles when connecting wires

💧 Fluids

• Fluid indicators on machines showing where to connect pipes

• Ability to drain pipes and storage tanks

• Fluid simulation reworked to be more predictable and stable

🔬 Progression & Research

• Research Tables & Labs now use Data Packs to research technology directly

• Rebalanced many recipes, research, and build costs

🌍 World & Resources

• Resource nodes now spawn in tighter clusters of the same type

• Ferrocrystals can be auto-mined after hive destruction

• New enemy: Needler (ranged attacker)

• Weather has a much higher chance to be sunny and clear skies

https://discord.gg/xmmPeZHj4T

Hey everyone,

Over the last couple of months I’ve been working on adding a ton of content and general improvements to the game and now I’m happy to share they are stable enough to release to new and current owners of the game.

Here is a full list of what’s changed. But if you’ve been following along or on the experimental branch there isn’t much new for you here.

🚆 Trains & Logistics

• Manual train driving added (in addition to automation).

• Train collisions, derailments, and player damage can occur.

• Rail signals (block & path) added for preventing collisions.

• Fluid Wagons added for transporting liquids.

• Cargo Wagons now show contents of inventory.

🏭 New Buildings & Systems

• Chemical Plant (Advanced fluid processing)

• Solar Panels + Accumulators

• Large Storage Container

• Bucket Miner (Late game mining drill)

• Tier 4 Belts

• Steel Power Poles

• Fluid Valve (can limit flow rate)

💧 Fluids

• Fluid indicators when building pipes.

• Ability to drain pipes and storage tanks.

• Fluid simulation completely reworked.

📦 Building & Automation QoL

• Blueprints can be saved/loaded between sessions

• Drag-to-place power poles when wiring

• Splitters/mergers auto-connect when aligned

• Recipes organized by category + show crafting building

• Power usage graphs available from poles

🔬 Progression & Research

• Starting inventory size reduced.

• New research for additional Inventory slots.

• New research for Jetpack capacity.

• Rebalanced many recipes, research, and build costs.

🌍 World & Resources

• Resource nodes now spawn in clustered deposits

• Ferrocrystals can be auto-mined after hive destruction

• New enemy: Needler (ranged attacker)

⚙️ Gameplay Changes

• Interaction range reduced (30m → 10m).

• Splitters/mergers now require belts in inventory to place.

• Rocket recipe and launch pad inputs changed.

• Significant multiplayer + performance improvements.

• Many smaller bug fixes.

If I missed something it’s probably in the individual release notes

https://beltsofiron.com/release-notes

As always, thanks for reading and head over to discord to learn more

https://discord.gg/xmmPeZHj4T

Multiplayer Networking Overview

Send less data

In a future with lockstep

https://discord.gg/xmmPeZHj4T

Development

Driving Trains

Train Collisions

Signals

And more

Community

Resource Deposits

Ferrocrystals

New Mining Drill

Solar Panel and Accumulators

Power Network Graphs

End Game Objective

And lots more!

Hey everyone,

This update introduces a mode to build multiple foundation pieces at once. Floors, walls, and ramps can be placed in a 2 dimensional grid up to 10 pieces in each direction. Pillars and Beams can only go out in 1 dimension up to 10 pieces.

Release Notes v0.2.6

• Added an Array mode to Concrete to build up to 10x10 at once.

• Changing or resetting a keybinding will now correctly remove the previous binding.

• Increased range of dismantle tool slightly.

• Increased Mining Speed 2 from 50% to 100%.

• Iron Plate recipe now only needs 1 Iron Ingot.

• You can now use the pipette tool (middle mouse button) while dismantling.

• Fixed a bug where inventories in multiplayer could get out of sync.

• Fixed pipe support heights not lining up.

Hey everyone,

Happy Next Fest! people say that right? I wanted to push out a small update to help with some bad weather and fix a couple bugs/crashes. I'm working on a bigger update that will add the ability to place multiple foundations at a time and better power/electrical metrics. Lastly if you can please leave a review as it really helps out!

Release Notes v0.2.5

• Lowered chance of poor weather so it will be sunny more often.

• Fixed bug where steam turbine would generate electricity from any fluid instead of just steam.

• Fixed a crash related to building power cables.

Release Notes v0.2.4

• You can now lock \ and nudge some buildables before placing.

• Added a new Blast Furnace model with animation!

• Steel recipe duration increased from 3 to 5 seconds.

• Machines with multiple outputs will do a better job putting each product on the same belt.

• Minor updates to some UI elements.

• Fixed an issue where pasting blueprints would not have collisions.

Release Notes v0.2.3

• Now showing other player names on the compass.

• Fixed some sounds being heard by players far away.

• Onboarding now shared by all players in a world.

• Added a flashlight \.

• Fixed a couple multiplayer crashes.

Release Notes v0.2.2

• Added multiple modes to dismantle tool. Single, Multi, and Box Select. Single works as before but hotkey changed to right mouse click to support other modes. Multi Select works similar to using Ctrl before. Box Select lets you click and drag over an area.

• Removed limit from dismantle tool.

• Added copy & paste tool \. This allows you to copy and paste buildings. There two modes: Multi Select and Box Select.

• Electric Mining Drill recipe Iron Plates changed from 8 -> 6.

• Iron Ingot and Copper Ingot smelting time reduced to 2 seconds for an even 30/min.

• First mining speed effect increased 50% -> 100%.

• Fixed some multiplayer bugs causing crashes or disconnects.

• Fixed multiplayer bug where you could hear other players sounds from far away.

Hey everyone! Over the last week or so I've been working on fixing multiplayer bugs and making it easier to play with friends. I also reworked the dismantle tool to have multiple modes and added the start of a blueprint tool in the form of simple copy & paste tool. Check out the full patch notes below:

Release Notes v0.2.2

• Added multiple modes to dismantle tool. Single, Multi, and Box Select. Single works as before but hotkey changed to right mouse click to support other modes. Multi Select works similar to using Ctrl before. Box Select lets you click and drag over an area.

• Removed limit from dismantle tool.

• Added copy & paste tool \. This allows you to copy and paste buildings. There two modes: Multi Select and Box Select.

• Electric Mining Drill recipe Iron Plates changed from 8 -> 6.

• Iron Ingot and Copper Ingot smelting time reduced to 2 seconds for an even 30/min.

• First mining speed effect increased 50% -> 100%.

• Fixed some multiplayer bugs causing crashes or disconnects.

• Fixed multiplayer bug where you could hear other players sounds from far away.

Release Notes v0.2.3

• Now showing other player names on the compass.

• Fixed some sounds being heard by players far away.

• Onboarding now shared by all players in a world.

• Added a flashlight \.

• Fixed a couple multiplayer crashes.

--- As always, thanks for reading and head over to discord to learn more https://discord.gg/xmmPeZHj4T

• Fixed a bug where projectiles could occasionally hit the player firing them.
• Fixed a bug where key bindings would not save to disk correctly.
• Fixed an issue with AI pathfinding.

Release Notes v0.2

⚠️ NOTE: Save Game Incompatibility ⚠️

Due to the massive changes in this update, v0.2 is not compatible with previous save files. You will need to start a new world to experience the new content.

🎨 Visual Overhaul & Performance

Existing players will probably notice the major change to graphics in this update. Nearly every model in game has been updated or recreated entirely to fit a new, simplified art style. This style choice is not just a fresh coat of paint but it's also a big performance improvement.

The new art style now uses a "single texture" workflow. Instead of every model loading multiple textures, all models share a unified color palette. This reduced the game size by over 50% (984 MB → 430 MB). And because there are fewer textures, older and more memory constrained GPUs should be able to handle this game better.

As a solo developer I needed an art style that looks good but also works with my time and budget. So far I'm really enjoying the new look and hope you do as well! Also please remember nothing is final so models might change here or there as I continue development.

World

Along with the visual changes to the machines, most biomes have been refreshed and will look a little different. But there are also some notable changes to non-visuals.

• The size of most machines has been reduced so they feel more compact and easier to build.

• Resource nodes have a much higher chance of generating near player spawn.

• Fixed an issue preventing placing mining drills on resource nodes. Previously rocks or other debris spawned on top of a resource node would prevent placing mining drills.

🚂 Trains

CHOO CHOO! Trains have arrived! Trains can be used to transport large amounts of items across vast distances. Simply place down railway tracks and a couple of stations and schedule a locomotive to pull cargo wagons around the map. You can even hop in and go for a ride!

• New Items: Railway Track, Railway Station, Locomotive, Cargo Wagon, Cargo Loader, Cargo Unloader.

• Schedule locomotives to path between stations. Add conditions like wait for X seconds or must have either full or empty cargo wagons before continuing.

Machines & Logistics

• Added an early game Stone Furnace crafted out of stone so players can always smelt iron or copper ore.

• Added a Constructor machine to craft single ingredient recipes.

• Splitters and Mergers are now separate dedicated machines for easier belt management.

• Added a Steam Turbine as a more efficient power source in the mid game.

Balancing

The tech tree should now feel more rewarding and impactful to move through. Choices should be meaningful and not just checking off another box. To accommodate the 12 new research items, the tech tree has been rebalanced slightly. Many recipes have been changed as well.

🖥️ Quality of Life

• Updated interface elements for a sharper cleaner look.

• Inventory shortcuts to move stacks of items:

• Shift + left mouse click and drag the mouse over items to transfer stacks quickly.

• Ctrl + left mouse click to transfer all items of that type.

As always, thanks for reading and head over to the discord to learn more https://discord.gg/xmmPeZHj4T

Hey everyone! This update is a pretty big one, and I'm excited to finally share what's been in the works. There are some major system changes, new mechanics, and quality-of-life improvements. There is a lot to share so let's get right to it!

Saved Games

I first need to let everyone know that this update will require you to start a new world. There are so many changes, big and small, that this update will break your saved games and you'll need to start a new world.

Art Update

The first thing you'll probably notice is the game has a new stylized appearance. I'm focusing on bold shapes and clear visuals that emphasize how your factory actually works. By keeping the art clean and simple, I can make sure the game runs well while looking great. Using a simpler style is going to be a big help in keeping factories optimized and easy on your GPUs. And as an added bonus I want to eventually allow modding and this style will be easier to replicate.

Trains

Trains are now in the game! They are functional, but still a work in progress, as with most of the game. Trains work by manually interacting with a locomotive, adding stations, and switching the drive mode to automatic. Add cargo wagons and loaders and unloaders to automate moving of resources. While the core loop is in place, this phase is about gathering feedback: what works, what doesn't, and where development time should go next. So please don't forget to hop in the discord and let me know what you think.

Belt Splitters & Mergers

This update brings separate splitter and merger machines for belts instead of the combined 2:2. This gives you easier control of belt management with 1:3 and 3:1 splitting and merging. They each also have controls for setting priority lanes and item filtering on splitters.

New Assembling Machines

There are new assembling machines for different types of recipes. The Constructor, Assembler, and Fabricator. The Constructor is a small 1:1 machine great for recipes that only use one ingredient. The Assembler is a 2:1 machine that is used for more complicated recipes that need 2 ingredients. And lastly the Fabricator, a mid game machine for complex recipes with up to 4 ingredients.

Tech Tree Balancing

I've revamped parts of the tech tree to try and balance the progression better. Some late game items are not fully balanced so I'm looking for feedback on what you think and how it progresses. Does some research feel too easy or too hard to unlock, does the reward match the required items, etc.

Resource Nodes

This update forces one of each resource node to generate near the spawn area (except crude oil). This should help players in the early game by not having to run far to find a resource node. I would like to continue improving the generation of nodes by clustering the same type together. I'm not sure the exact number but maybe 3-5 in a nearby area.

Availability

This update will be rolling out very soon!

---

As always, thanks for reading and head over to the discord to learn more https://discord.gg/xmmPeZHj4T

Happy new year everyone 🥳🎉

---

As always, thanks for reading and head over to the discord to learn more https://discord.gg/xmmPeZHj4T

Hey everyone,

I've been working on a lot of random things for the next update. Some of these are large in scope and will take time but I believe they will make the game so much better! In no particular order here they are:

Belt and building alignment

As many of you have noticed the belts do not line up perfectly with machine inputs/outputs. When I had the buildings created I was more focused on aesthetics and did not properly plan for where exactly the belts line up. I also did not plan the exact size of the buildings so the horizontal position of belts is not guaranteed to line up with a snap point on foundations. I've been working on remedying this by creating block-outs for buildings with the connections aligned to a grid. This means I'll have to redo much of the art for the game but this time with purpose!

This will make it much easier to build on a grid and line up pipes & belts with the input/outputs of buildings.

Separate belt splitter and merger

I talked about this last dev log but the combined splitter/merger building was not working as a gameplay piece as well as I had hoped. So now there will be separate items for splitting and merging belts. They each function as a small machine with 3 inputs and 1 output, or 3 outputs and 1 input. I also made a shorter conveyor belt support that is used when placing directly on the ground so the first belt lines up with the connectors on buildings.

Trains!

⚠️ Video is a work in progress ⚠️

What's a factory game without trains? This is proving to be a big undertaking and honestly one of the more complex things in the game. Even belt logic is simpler than this (though I did that ages ago so my memory might be skewed). So far I have the ability to place down tracks with controls to pick the curve and grade. You can build stations on the tracks and place down locomotives that path find between stations.

The short list of things I still need to do:

Hey everyone,

So far the demo is going great! People seem to be enjoying it and leaving feedback. One of the major issues is perhaps the night time is too dark. There is a setting to turn up the brightness but that's just a band-aid. I do have a flood light item ready to go but the performance drops a lot once you add more than a couple dozen lights. I need some more time optimizing that before releasing it. So until then I'm using another band-aid and just turning off the day-night cycle for now.

On the topic of belt splitters and mergers. It seems that the 2-in 2-out style is not working out as well as I'd hoped. The beauty of this kind of splitter/merger is that it does both in one building. But it takes up more space and connecting an array of machines is not as simple since the belts have to curve 90 degrees. Also the name doesn't help show that it can be used for both splitting and merging leading to more confusion. I'm not sure if the best solution is to replace it with a dedicated merger (3-in 1-out) and a splitter (1-in 3-out) but that's what I'm leaning towards doing eventually.

Release Notes v0.1.1

• Temporarily removed day-night cycle until I have time to give the player a way to light up the night.

• Scanning for resources now also shows nearby harvestable items.

• Updated the sound effects for gunshots.

• Lowered the volume of machines.

• Fixed a bug where the concrete building menu got stuck when opening the tech tree or another menu.

• Fixed a bug where the fluid extractor would harvest water instead of oil if the crude oil deposit was close to a body of water.

So if you haven't yet, head over to Steam and check out the demo!

Hey everyone,

I am running a demo starting this Monday September 22!

The purpose of the demo is to help get the game ready for early access. The demo has all of the features as the launch version but will be limited by the tech tree.

There is also a new dedicated feedback channel in discord to report bugs or suggestions.

As always, thanks for reading and head over to the discord to learn more https://discord.gg/xmmPeZHj4T