Meeple Station news & patch notes

GREAT NEWS YOU´VE BEEN WAITING MONTHS FOR! ːsteamthumbsupː It's been quite a while but thankfully Stephen managed to bring a plethora of bug fixes and some new features before the holiday! You can take a look at the changelog from the title screen or here, down below. Notably, the most infamous bugs have been addressed. Meeple getting stuck, doctors going on strike, and lazy janitors. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2678419712 The largest feature in this patch is the 'zones' menu where you can setup areas by selecting different rooms and assigning specific meeple/crew to restrict where they can and can't go , a handy way to cut down on pathfinding costs because the pathfinder will ignore restricted areas. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2678420124 The new version is available NOW in 'Experimental - pre-patch version' (will be officially released in the next few days after Testing), just select it by right clicking the game in your Steam Library. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2678413591 https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2678414045 Please feel free to leave a comment and you are welcome to join our Discord Community Server and hang out! https://discord.gg/gameclaw CHANGELOG 1.0.7 (Experimental - pre-patch version) • janitors now look for the closest waste bin to dump rubbish • added the Zones feature to designate restricted areas and assign specific meeple to them • added indicators over meeple when they are asphyxiating or starving • made meeple slightly more tolerant when they're hungry • several pathfinding bugs fixed • another large pathfinding overhaul and optomization to help large stations • made stench clouds less rampant but spawn more frequently • made hazmeep faster at cleaning unwanted gasses • added new poop sprites • wounded meeple will now tire twice as fast and be more motivated to rest • fixed a bug causing certain meeple to contemplate their existence too often and starve to death • fixed a bug where doctors under house arrest protest by refusing to treat patients • fixed a bug where changing a hull tile next to a door merged the two rooms • fixed a bug when meeple get shot at they fritz out • added mega crates for more storage • added utility doors (to match utility tiles) • added mega crate research tech to unlock mega crates • fixed a graphical glitch where built furniture clipped through walls • fixed meeple from sliding along the floor when they're knocked unconscious • stench clouds can now spawn from enormous piles of... rubbish • slowed down meeple metabolisms so they eat/sleep/clean/breath 80% slower • fixed genius scientist meeple to actually be genius • increased the work rate difference between high and low skill meeple

It's been awhile since I've had time to come back to Meeple Station but thankfully the last month permitted enough to knuckle down on some of the most prolific reports we've had. I believe we've finally fixed our lazy doctor bug where Doctors refused to heal injured Meeple. We've also added a recall option to mining ships so you can force them to stop mining and return much sooner. Not to mention some pathfinding and odd behaviour bug fixes. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/33278505/5c366b679d5de4e2474b60ba3ba7538ee3ae91bf.png Some of you who have come across the Squientist (spoiler!) will find he no longer spawns via mitosis. (We'll let you figure that one out). There is also a new module called the Compressor. This new state of the art device will allow your Hazmeep to produce wood! From what you ask? Uh... Biomass... yep, It's poop wood. Finally a means of producing that rare and fantastic trade resource! As always, thanks to those of you who join us on Discord (https://discord.gg/gameclaw) and give us feedback and bug reports. And here is a little summary of the changes: • added some more optomisation for pathfinding • added clearer 'paused' state to UI overlay • stopped doctors from breaking their hippocratic oath • added the biomass compressor furniture • added biomass compression technology • changed hazmeeps to continue biomass production even if water supply is full • waste processing into biomass uses half waste and operates quicker • can now produce wood with compressors • added auto assign option for beds • added recall option for mining ships • added more types of debris in asteroids • fixed an oxygen bug when building a ladder with no matching ladder above/below it • janitors will now check for the closest possible job • fix layering display issues when tracking meeple • doubled the natural richness of Carbon • fixed the squintiest from spawning via mitosis • fixed airlocks from bugging out meeps when on the lowest/highest layer • other minor fixes

• added some more optomisation for pathfinding • added clearer 'paused' state to UI overlay • stopped doctors from breaking their hippocratic oath • added the biomass compressor furniture • added biomass compression technology • changed hazmeeps to continue biomass production even if water supply is full • waste processing into biomass uses half waste and operates quicker • can now produce wood with compressors • added auto assign option for beds • added recall option for mining ships • added more types of debris in asteroids • fixed an oxygen bug when building a ladder with no matching ladder above/below it • janitors will now check for the closest possible job • fix layering display issues when tracking meeple • doubled the natural richness of Carbon • fixed the squintiest from spawning via mitosis • fixed airlocks from bugging out meeps when on the lowest/highest layer • other minor fixes

Hey there everyone! I wanted to get in touch with you all to let you know that our games are in the demo festival! Justice.exe Justice.exe is a dialogue-heavy dystopian legal drama in which you defend sentient AI in court. Discover key story elements in dialogue, build your case by studying arguments, and engage the opposing counsel in wits, charisma and skullduggery. Small choices might alter the fate of your clients. Obsidian PrinceObsidian Prince Fight through endless dungeons in a tactical, turn-based roguelike where choices have real consequences. Recruit diverse heroes and steer them to their death... *ahem*... glory. Explore and rebuild the overworld to boost your heroes and discover hidden quests and new dungeons to master. Both titles will be available on the Steam Demo Festival which goes live at 10 am PST (in 10 minutes as of this update!) Please, feel free to try the titles and wishlist them if interested! We are hard at work on the games and are happy to hear your feedback! -The Gameclaw Team

Today we're patching our first language to Meeple Station. ~Chinese! Previously all language support has been done entirely by volunteers. Anyone who wants to contribute their language to Meeple Station can do so, simply visit us on Discord and we'll show you how easy it is. However, thanks to Whisper Publishing we now have a complete translation of Meeple Station in Chinese. Our first complete language addition! Hooray! This also comes with the 1.0.5 patch, we've addressed a few oddities. Notably the Campaign still getting stuck for some remaining people, and the top and bottom most layers not allowing utility constructions. These issues should now be fixed! Happy Station building!

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/33278505/a650c68d1e893365fd7879b1a219a334ea1de476.gif Hey Meeps! We're back from our break and have addressed quite a few of the bug reports that have come in over the past month. We're now moving the experimental branch onto the main branch to include fixes for everyone who hasn't been participating in the experimental version. The more prominent ones include: • added Teleporters • fixed a weird bug that made meeple ghost around • can now skip cutscenes • beds are now walkable so meeple dont get stuck in corners • fixed some trade ship shenanigans • fixed some achievements from not being unlockable • fixed engineers going outdoors to change existing indoor tiles • re-added the copy/paste feature in blueprint mode • fixed the magical disapearing fluids and electricity act • added translation support for testing (Refer to the BETAS on steam) • fixed some save files from blocking progression of the campaign We've also added a frequently requested feature, 'Teleporters'. These handy constructions will help get your meeple around the station quicker, helping them complete jobs faster as well (Just take a look at that botanist!). As always, feel free to contact us through discord for bug reports and/or feedback. Happy Station building!

The big day is finally here! We’ve battled space bugs, asteroids and even COVID-19, to bring you version 1.0 of Meeple Station, which is now available! https://store.steampowered.com/app/900010/Meeple_Station/ For players who already own our first title Regions of Ruin, you’ll get a 25% discount off of Meeple Station for the next two weeks! We hope both titles can bring you plenty of joy and distractions while so many of you are stuck at home due to the current global pandemic. You can learn more about what’s new in version 1.0 here, but to give you a quick recap:

• Complete story mode - Discover the mystery behind the Meeple race’s past!
• New enhanced tutorials, completely revised and more comprehensive
• Backward compatibility for older mods, with refreshed support for dealing with new features and content introduced since the early access launch
• Travel to procedurally generated star systems with the new Hyperdrive
• Smarter Meeple, who will act more logically to impending threats
• Speaking of threats, fight off new pesky pirates before they take your resources!

There’s plenty more where that came from and a ton of fixes that our community has requested throughout early access too. We’ve been focused on these new features and updates for the last few months, with your invaluable feedback guiding us throughout, and we’re incredibly happy with the results. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/33278505/1bfa84a86f2226360b56329a8bea2569398e4617.jpg We’re excited for you to play through the complete story mode, to explore new star systems, and most importantly, to create the ultimate space station! While attempting to lose as little Meeple as you can along the way… which we know is sometimes unavoidable, we won’t judge! We plan to continue supporting Meeple Station for the foreseeable future, issuing bug fixes and listening to your feedback. If you haven’t joined our Discord server already, head on over to hang out with the Meeple Station community and chat directly with us and let us know what you think about version 1.0! Thank you for joining us on this wild ride and for supporting Meeple Station over the past year, and welcome to all our new space captains. We hope you enjoy your time in space.

It’s a rough time right now for many people across the world. We unfortunately have to report that among those affected by all this madness is our friend, partner, and producer, Alex, along with his family who reside in the current temporary hell-scape that is Spain right now and who have very unfortunately all been confirmed positive for coronavirus since we announced Meeple Station’s 1.0 release at the end of last month. Thankfully, just in the past few days now, Alex and his family seem to be getting through the very worst of it and finally back on the mend, but it hasn’t been a pretty month for them. Luckily, they were not critical cases and were able to get proper medical attention despite the current chaotic state Spain is suffering through right now. We don’t want Alex to worry about the stress of releasing a game right now. We want Alex to simply focus on getting well again. Despite the fact that this absolute legend of a mad lad still actually wants to keep working from quarantine through all this, we’ve decided that’s kinda’ bonkers and to push back our original Meeple Station 1.0 release date from March 30 to April 10th. This way, at the very least, they can take a couple extra weeks to fully recover, and Stephen and Mike can fill the time by continuing to make use of our wonderful group of testers. We were very excited for the release on the 30th, but the world just doesn’t have it in the cards- as seems to be the case for so many people right now. We know everyone will understand with all the madness that has been going around with this terrible pandemic across the world. Thank you for that understanding. We’ll be back in a few weeks to release our little two-year labor of love to you all.

We know that we’ve been very hush-hush for a few months now, but it’s been for a good reason that we can now reveal to you all. Steve and Mike have been secreted away in their hidey-holes, furiously laboring away on the full campaign mode for Meeple Station! {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/33278505/f1101c4caac32a64970f764c1314df5c459a5df0.png That’s right! We’ve been sitting on this for quite some time now, but we’re jiggling with anticipation to finally be releasing our complete story mode for Meeple Station. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/33278505/ebd0cb18b53819c4cc86b33bf485cfcba1ba01f8.png Along with the campaign, 1.0 will include loads of other fixes and features. We’ve revamped the combat and conflict in game, added a whole system for custom events, and more meaningful interactions with the surrounding star systems. We don’t want to give too much away about the campaign, so we’re not going to be dropping any story spoilers in this announcement! ;P {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/33278505/65ae7f294e4cf97d0fbd575e86bf42caf60e2f15.png

So What's New?

New Tutorials! Believe it or not over the past two years we’ve had to re-make or completely revise the game’s tutorial at least a dozen times. However, now that we’re finally confident with the game’s major features we’ve wrapped up a long-requested comprehensive series of tutorials to guide new players through the game’s basics once and for all. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/33278505/94ecfe5ace76708f7bb78271621b25a9a40336ba.png Mods have also finally gotten some long-needed TLC, now with backward compatibility for older mods and refreshed support for dealing with all of the new features and content. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/33278505/7a5a325f6f9fbbbd2ee8f9fcb526441fd800ce9b.png Most importantly we have now introduced the Hyperdrive. Tired of your boring old home system in sandbox mode? Just up and leave, find a more interesting one! You can now build power hungry drives to move your station over to entirely new systems. We’ve been developing this behind the scenes since the Planets Update and are overjoyed to finally be able to open up the gates on this and make much more fully-realized use of the procedural star systems tech. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/33278505/11fb73e3142499f06e991233e237546dbc021b30.png With Hyperdrives also comes a more interesting stellar landscape. You’ll notice a whole lot of new markers and effects around planetary bodies. Hazardous meteor storms and debris orbiting moons and planets. These help identify points of interest (and danger!) on the map. Scouts will also be able to explore wreckages to bring back new technologies or refined materials. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/33278505/166f365ef0717f3174f57c844c7e8c158d16a72e.png Speaking of destructive meteors- we’ve also changed how brutal bombers and meteors used to be. They no longer mercilessly obliterate large sections of your station in the traditional firey game-ending fashion and send your poor crew into an admittedly difficult-to-salvage and vicious death-spiral. Instead, they now destroy only the single tile they hit and instantly auto-create a repair job for your engineers to run to try to patch back up. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/33278505/167c1d48a14bd2f35ae924adfe9b4c6b5a1f6d8c.png Speaking of running- the Meeple AI behaviors have had a lot of meaningful upgrades, such as finally having a basic sense of self-preservation, which they can now use in conjunction with the new running movement speed behavior in urgent situations, such as: suddenly being exposed to vacuum, or the bad intentions of pirates, or to avoid starving to death, or even just legging it to the bathroom for that incredibly urgent poo. The result being far higher crew survivability in general! Next up we’ve introduced Pillboxes and rally points. This allows more meaningful and direct control of your combat units. Pillboxes act as a way to tactically place dedicated guard posts, while rally points evacuate non-combatants from a room and calls all of your available guards to rush in and secure the area. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/33278505/3d7b1e257b7e3e29837de5e97d89e4c12ad646c5.png Another interesting addition to combat is pirate invaders. We’ve worked a good bit on their AI to include morale and thievery as their main modus operandi. Once pirates board your station, they’ll look for your storage containers and grab as many resources as they can carry before legging it for the airlock. We’ve always been slightly irked that pirates in video games seem to always be there to fight to the death and that’s just not what pirates do! They’re there to rob and steal your goodies! They’re not in the business of getting slaughtered so if too many of their comrades are injured or vaporized, you may see the rest flee and return to their station, preserving their numbers to fight again another day. All in all, pirates behave much more interestingly now. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/33278505/5551597568cb488897f106f22274460901db17fd.png

What? 1.0 Is Done?

This next patch will be our 1.0 release. We’ve had the groundwork for most of the major features and systems we’ve aimed to have in for 1.0 in your hands for long enough that we’ve been able to see all the lovely ways it can break and in what ways it can all be made better. Several months ago we decided to go quiet, just put our heads down, and dedicate a huge effort into smashing out a giant backlog of major and minor persistent bugs that have managed to darken our dev-days for all too long now- and implement new and partially-implemented features that have been on the backburner waiting for the parts they needed to be complete. All of the bug-fixing, optimization, and polishing we’ve accomplished go along-side with a crop of new features that were needed for the new Campaign Mode. As far as projects go, Meeple Station has been an absolutely gigantic learning experience for me, both as a programmer and game developer, but also in learning to work in a team development environment when Mike came on-board mid-project around March of last year, bringing the development team to a grand total of two. There is a conception we’ve noticed amongst many of our fans and critics alike, that we’re a much larger studio than we actually are. That’s probably our fault for not addressing that sooner- but it’s just me and Mike on the development team, and Alex our producer and general industry guru- across three countries and time zones: Australia, the US, and Spain, respectively. A lot has happened over the past two years, my family is two new children larger, three if you include Mike, (which I affectionately do) houses have been moved and stresses hath accumulated. When I first jumped into Meeple Station I had plenty of ideas and the grandest of ambitions. As time went on it became more evident that Meeple Station would either become an eternity project like our own personal favourite ‘Dwarf Fortress’ (God bless’ em), or it would need to have a foreseeable end point. So a year ago we roadmapped everything we wanted to reasonably have in for release, set to it, and still managed to take six months longer than we’d projected. Even though this development has been a really tough one that has strained at our purse-strings, we were determined to persevere through aggressive application of sweat equity to not to be one of those now-all-to-common EA projects that cuts and runs before it’s finished just because the going got tough. Having integrity is a big thing for us, even when it hurts- especially when it hurts. This does not mean we’re going to stop giving love to our little Meepley game! We will still be maintaining the game and issuing bug fixes, will still be listening to our community, and will still be throwing in a few new things here and there as time goes on. But this -is- our final push toward getting Meeple Station in a fully finished and playable state for 1.0 release. We’ve worked our butts off for the past two years and put our blood, sweat, and tears into making a game that we hope with all our heart will bring you all some joy from start to finish. All of that said, we’ll be taking these last few weeks to test the ever-loving heck out of it and make sure nothing untoward falls out. We’re aiming at March 30th for our Meeple Station 1.0 drop, so stay on the look out!

We're back from the holiday break with a small catch bug fixing patch! Thanks to everyone who gave us time to report any issues. This week we're just fixing the bugs that came out of the woodwork over the past month. Next we will have some new features coming in! And here are the main ones! • fixed trade ships from not showing up • transit trade ships now save and load properly • fixed default blueprint layouts breaking pathfinding • fixed large vents from being too amazing that your engineers die from wonderment • fixed fuel processors from tricking you into giving it the wrong utility • fixed pirates flying and walking backwards • guards now go outside to attack pirates • fixed being able to toggle out of the starting scene by pressing Y • fixed cross dimensional player ships arriving from other save files • fixed negative refinery requests • lowered injury risk when mining • fixed a bug trying to restart the setup scene • fixed 4K and similar resolutions from crashing on startup Always feel free to drop by our discord community if you'd like to dialogue with us a bit more. We're back in full force, working off our holiday layer of blubber.

First up we've completely revised the Research Menu with a fresh coat of paint. You'll now find roughly 30 new techs to research and a much simpler UI to navigate it. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/33278505/e6c17891a9945e8c31f42c13d0fd2d400e750e5c.png As part of the research you'll notice a new tech for comms relays. This enables you to communicate with your neighbouring factions. This includes pirates! (And if you can get on their good side they will even begin trading with you). {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/33278505/df72478fa7cabb3b509853ed47f479362e901e7a.png Along with many other fixes and features we've added, you'll now be able to send raiding parties to steal resources from other factions, but they can also do the same to you! So try not to punch above your weight! Not only that, you can now send out mining ships fitted with a crew of miners and a pilot to remotely mine and gather resources from other locations in your 'Star System' (Yeah I learned my lesson, I know they're not called solar systems). This will especially come in handy for those of you who have strip mined your local asteroids to dust. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/33278505/be46699090a618fca3afc49c7cb632f595e085c7.png Not to mention we've brought back the infamous pirate incursions and bombers. After months of re-balancing and new features we've finally implemented them back in their full force, watch out! Anti-ship turrets and shield generators will have a very serious role now in the later game. As always, we're super appreciative of everyone helping out and giving us feedback through our discord community, and welcome everyone to stop by and say hi! for those of you who are curious here are the patch notes on the title screen :) • the tutorial actually tutorialises again • can now send scout ships to salvage and explore nearby bodies • can now send mining ships to gather resources from other places • can now send raiding parties to steal resources and murder • pirates are now an actual faction and can be appeased and traded with • faction colors are now more random • fixed a loading issue when saving a game with crew aboard a ship • re-introduced pirate raids/incursions/bombers • factions can now raid you if you upset them • pirates will also lose morale and run away when losing a fight • can now dismantle unwanted ships • meeple sleep cycle is slightly longer • completely revised and changed the research menu • added comms relays to communicate with factions • fixed lime, purple and tinted glass tiles from not allowing turrets and ejectors to be built • fixed lagging issues when using the trade menu • outside asteroids will no longer block docking lane ways • removed the hierarchy (Officers are now gone! Oh noes!) • greatly improved loading times • performance improvements (especially for larger stations) • autosaves are now written asynchronously and wont hang gameplay • fuel utility lines now cost steel • fuel processor no longer requires advanced power • changed multiple recipes • changed spritesheet for fuel processors • hull tiles now add to room value • every system now spawns with at least one source of monazite and ilmenite • can now manually autosave with CTRL + S (even with autosaving disabled in options) • mining is now more hazardous for meeple (muahahaha!) • meeple can now run when it's urgent (like when they really really need to use the bathroom or get shot at)

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/33278505/4fb3b58d108a8a612f21ab6a18a217da3eeb5d52.png We're back with another large patch. This time around we've added in factions and reigned in the entire trading system. We've added some new ship models to construct and even made them color customisable. This patch is quite large and you'll be able to see a long list of changes on the title screen. We've addressed dozens of large bugs and possibly a hundred or more smaller ones, added some new items and balanced some gameplay. But on top of that we've been gearing up for some more lore and story based content to liven things up. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/33278505/31d997de07637220f786ce4896b70389f0c72a4a.png You'll notice a few new stations floating around your solar system, these are faction stations. They'll grow, accumulate resources, renown and population. As you grow, so will they. Previously trade ships would just magically appear out of nowhere with bountiful cargo. However, now traders will be coming from specific factions and supply and demand will have a real effect on the market. An interesting feature with trading now is that if you continually supply one faction with more resources you'll see them growing faster and producing higher end products. On the other side, if you continually buy them out of stock and only sell one item, they'll increase their demand for other resources and lower their demand of what you keep selling. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/33278505/981020297126375f11141cc7f923962dcb62bafb.png This is just the first aspect of how factions will be working. In the next patch we will be introducing a comms antenna and a means to dialog with factions. We're also aiming to revamp pirates and add in a lot more unique events in the near future! But that's not all! We're working now on adding in new solar systems and expanding the function of ships. Some of the planned features include sending out scouting vessels, mining convoys, raiding parties and possibly trade ships of your own. You can build the ships, might as well use em! {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/33278505/9d5e685b8a3bb9ca84837a0ff3f5b68b517cb083.png Want a hot pink trade vessel? Be our guest! But we're also aiming to add more unique events and dialogs. Pirates making demands, strange anomalies, disgruntled faction traders, whatever our imaginations can come up with. But most importantly a means to deliver our final and main campaign that we've been holding off on. Lastly, quite a few people have been asking why this patch has taken roughly two months to come out? Why the delay? Well if you take a little look at the last item on the change log you'll see one of the developers (myself) had a baby! Basically the last 6 weeks have had more challenges than debugging code! believe me! But thank you all for patiently waiting for this patch! You'll be seeing more patches more frequently from here on. As always, feel free to stop by our discord and chat with us, we're very active on our community server! :)

This week we've introduced a set of hydroponic bays, changed how airflow and ventilation works and also added medicine production. https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/33278505/e80e9be1a0e1e648ef4ce09ae28de7a20f3d0998.png First thing you'll notice is that oxygen wont be working quite the same as it was before. Life support now creates and stores oxygen in tanks then vents disperse oxygen into different areas in your station. https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/33278505/bf611d2d6b3d03cc03552a463d80b7d6c47ee150.png That means a new utility system for ventilation, oxygen tanks, vents, and a few new door types. There are now two types of doors, ones that block airflow and ones that don't. This can help you setup rooms and quarters, for example, that don't all need their own vent. https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/33278505/e3dcdd61fdb48401d47e825b7429d7b5de2ba563.png Up next we have hydroponics. You can now grow vegetables AND fruit, as well as medicinal plants that can be manufactured into medical supplies, to treat wounded meeple (Sorry, they ain't free anymore). Save files are NOT broken this patch, however, you will need to make it a top priority to setup vents and probably replace some of your bulkhead doors with regular doors when you first load your station. Oxygen does last a little while, so you should have enough time (hopefully) good luck! As always, feel free to join our discord community, we're always happy to answer questions and hear feedback!

This week we've worked on and fixed some existing issues with doctors. We've introduced medical beds and you can now setup medical wards to house your injured meeple, making it easier for your doctors to treat patients (instead of chasing them around the station) https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/33278505/4246f1056142b1e0555c73e19dabcb9f0261bdbb.png You'll also notice meeple who are injured will seek out medical beds. But so long as you don't have a homicidal guard on the loose, hopefully your wards will stay relatively empty. We've also done a fair bit of balancing to the meeple creation process, especially considering the difficulty. We're planning on putting in more traits and expanding on the health system shortly. https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/33278505/482777c18874584358c092cef862dc42f81e4f11.png Amongst other bug fixes and such, we're laying down sound groundwork for another large patch. We'll be expanding on the ship management system and factions soon. This will bring about a fair bit of change to the balance of the game and growing your station! As always feel free to drop by our discord community!

https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/33278505/6672bf1cc0751697428ab958ae8a8d84faa814a0.png Hey everyone! Thanks for all the bug reports and saying Hi on our discord community! This week we're just rolling in some light content and bug fixes in preparation for our next major patch. So whats coming up next in our big patch? We'll tell you later.. ;)

https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/33278505/19ca61d1e7c6e7590e1e5f53ef28dd41e49427b9.png This week we've added a feature to be able to customise your starting crew when creating a new station. You can now balance advantageous traits or disadvantageous ones in order to add or sacrifice skills and attributes elsewhere. https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/33278505/92090e3302358a36ecdab8cfded5a1b5d4840842.png Customising your Meeple has been a highly requested feature and we're glad to bring it into the game. It adds a lot of depth and a good amount of experimentation with your crew. As we were testing we frequently got carried away trying out different skills and attributes and mixing them up with unique traits. For example, we found being able to add both the Chatterbox and Influential trait to an officer turned them into an abundant source of happiness as they flittered about the station talking everyone's ears off, much to their liking. But making sure they weren't extreme in any given attribute, so every crew member could find common ground and get along with them. We're curious to see what other trait combinations might have strong benefits, or perhaps extreme pitfalls. Ever see an astrophobic Miner? Or a violent Guard? well if you haven't... now you can! (Even though you may not want to). Along with this feature we've been flushing out as many bugs as we can and trying to focus on the overall polish of the game, after many large patches in the past few months we felt it was due, and will be focusing on bug fixes more intently the next week, before getting to work on our next major patch. As always, feel free to stop by our discord community and say Hi! We love taking feedback and actively respond to any bugs or issues you might find!

https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/33278505/9be87b39c2490f738d89f8d9252b8c74e50628ce.png Our long awaited UI overhaul patch is here! This one took a bit longer to wrap up, however we're glad we did. Things are beginning to feel a lot cleaner than they were before. But this isn't JUST a UI update, we've been taking a lot of feedback and re-designing a lot of older menus and panels to make the game more ergonomic and intuitive in general, to improve the overall quality and ease of playing, as well as preparing for our next batch of planned features. Here's a little screenshot of our new dynamic title screen, mmmmmm.

So whats coming next?

One of the large differences with the new UI is the Meeple panel. You can now view a lot more about each meeple and a lot easier. A long requested feature has been the ability for meeple to be more customisable, choosing your starting crew and having them improve and gain experience in the jobs you assign them. These are all in the works and coming soon in the future! However, something we're actively working on for our next major patch is the addition of entities and other factions. We're adding on to the player ship construction mechanic and focusing on making interactions with traders more meaningful. (Yes, and pirates! They'll be coming back in full force, for those who have already witnessed the full force of pirate bombers and swarming invasions, you'll know what we're talking about) https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/33278505/5affbc6acb31d33eb06a1f1aa6bb7b90a6c04542.png We're currently working on a variety of ships for the player to create, as well as the ability to customise and color them. Over the next few weeks our priority will be on fine tuning any UI we've missed and adding in factions, new ships and hopefully more which in turn will limit the infinite-super-monopoly stations some of you have been creating with our magically appearing cargo bustling trade ships. All of this will be wrapped up in a bundle of new features. Stay tuned! we're very excited about what's coming next! As always, feel free to drop into our discord server and have a chat, say hi, or ask questions.

https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/33278505/0790ebc1f55a51976e3d2dd1dcc5aa8aa03a8173.png This patch brings in some enormous changes, I'm not even sure where to begin! We've been working hard to bring some of the core aspects too some of our major features.

O-Mega Patch!? Whats all this nonsense about!

This patch we've introduced a completely new map system, reformatted save files (but haven't broken them *phew*), added ship construction and a bunch of little bits and pieces you may notice. These are all the first step towards the much larger scope of the game we've been wanting to get at for quite some time. https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/33278505/023417405aa8656f65cd219df8b24c16202aa0d3.png You'll now find a new feature with docking gantries, you'll be able to construct your own ships! Why? well you can now send crew and resources to other stations, YOUR stations in fact, we've reformatted save files and opened up the map to allow you to build and maintain multiple stations at once! https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/33278505/09dc51ee2c571c610f4f1d5ab09ada47f127c176.png We still have a lot more features that we'd like to introduce, and these large patch changes are just the beginning. We are working every day at fleshing out these features and expanding on them as much as we can. https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/33278505/1f84d6bc7d62c7fab30217d0cc40c8ae14b5ecbd.png

How are we going to flesh out these features?

Well, firstly, we'll eventually open up the entire galaxy, as you're currently limited to your own solar system. Second, we're going to overhaul the ship management system, as it's our hope that you'll end up with dozens of stations and a large network of ships, customised of course to your liking, and managed more effortlessly through an intuitive UI. Third, we have a complete UI overhaul coming in the next few weeks, as well as some overdue changes to how traders will work, introducing factions and persistent entities into your little meeple world. All this and more! we hope you can enjoy what we've been cooking up over the past few weeks and stick around as we expand on it even further! As always, feel free to join us on our discord server, we're active daily and love getting user feedback! https://discord.gg/5bdnpsN

Hey there everyone! Would you like a free copy of Meeple Station? We are having a giveaway right here!

https://imgur.com/gallery/1f0twZZ

Hop in and help spread the word!

We've added some new bits of content this week, but heavily focused on cleaning up as many bugs as we can, especially after all of the recent large changes. This week you may notice a new odour feature - if you're not diligent enough in keeping a hygienic bathroom, that is - https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/33278505/a8e61d9325f1baed8ccfe88e48a168745a4ad079.gif (Odours may not be as deadly as the GIF implies) We also have a few changes to the research tree. But most of the bug fixes you can view on the title screen's change log.

So what's next?

We'll continue to keep an eye on bug reports as they come in. However, we're starting work on our next major patch, adding some huge new features. We don't want to boast about it too much, but we're very excited! We're doing a complete rework of the map system, and we'll finally begin to add the first segment of story to our little meeple. That's right, they have a homeworld! https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/33278505/195eed942f41d4f36dfd8cd90ee63946d2c0b624.png Amongst a whole lot of minor details, we'll be focusing on three major aspects over this next month for our mega patch, I'll explain a bit more about what they are here.

Firstly, the map

As you can see from the screenshot above, we're working on changing the style of the map completely. The idea is that you'll begin your first station in orbit of a small moon or planet, and you'll be able to explore the other planets within your solar system using your own ships piloted by meeple. But wait! There's more!

Multiple stations

We're going to be removing the Quantum travel feature for space stations, instead, you'll be able to explore with your ships. But that doesn't sound like an improvement? Well, that's because we're going to be adding a feature where you can send crew off to build a new station, and give YOU the user freedom to jump back and forth between both of your stations, managing two entirely separate crews but supplying one another with your own trade lines... and we don't really plan on having any limit to how many stations you can build. Lastly,

Simulated factions

Where do trade ships come from? they just magically appear on the edge of the map with bountiful cargo. But that's changing, now we're creating simulated factions, you'll be able to see where they are on your map, as well as the pirate stations, and they'll only be bringing what they have. That means if a faction doesn't have any Magnetite nearby, they wont be bringing any on their trade ships. So that just about sums up the major changes we'll be working on the next few weeks, stay tuned! and of course, feel free to stop by our discord server and ask questions!

After Friday's large patch we're trying to stay on top of bug reports. Keep them coming! Here is a quick summary of today's patch notes: • fixed Chef descriptions • adjusted various tutorial tips • re-added plant bins so botanists can collect vegetables • fixed thorium 232 and diamonds from not being able to be refined • changed thorium reactor recipe and production rate • fixed food dispensers not showing power requirement • fixed another rare pathing bug • added an improved pathfinding algorithm for outdoors • added log warning when meeple are asphyxiating • fixed a manufacturing bug where some unachievable orders would prohibit other manufacturing orders that were achievable • added some new tooltips and UI adjustments • removed edge scrolling inside of full screen menus • added particles to the waste ejector • added some optomisation when viewing utilities and moving between layers • also added a fix for lag spikes when clicking and dragging to create long lines of utility jobs • fixed a bug where utilities showed too many nodes • added date and difficulty to save files • officers can no longer demand airlock constructions

https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/33278505/f0d0cbd47fe9705435a2e6ebe0391967da495d56.png Our enormous overhaul to the resource system is finally here! And with it, an entourage of new furniture and features. (You can checkout a taste of the patch notes at the bottom of this announcement).

So whats all this about?!

Well if you weren't aware, our weekly patching ritual was post-poned for three weeks so we could get into the guts of the game and make a much-needed and highly requested feature change. All of the resources previously have been scrapped and we have a completely new set of minerals in its place (based on real life minerals) which will hopefully make things more comprehensive and coherent. https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/33278505/28e1639790a53230185dfcc1e8c43a3e2c086c47.png But getting into the details, you'll notice there are now two new utility lines in the game, waste and water. You'll need to mine ice, melt it down, and use it to keep everything alive. And yes yes, we now have bathrooms, your Meeple are now slightly less slobbery. But on top of that, you'll need to manage the waste your meeple produce, eject it into space, or filter it to reclaim your precious water (so long as you don't mind where it came from). https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/33278505/ef5a135cfd4b1777508747a58fbff17f9d917158.png We also have new Chef meeple, and kitchens! Food is now a tangible resource, meaning you can trade for food and whip up some gourmet meals for your hungry crew.. or just feed them raw fish, it's up to you of course. Uh... what else? oh of course! Asteroids now function very differently. They can hold multiple minerals with varying degrees of richness and density. But I'll let you figure that out! There is plenty more, but I wont spoil it for you! We'll be spending the next week keeping a very close eye on things, taking in bug reports and making sure everything is working as intended!

But what about old save files?!

How could I forget! This new version 0.6.04 has so many changes that it will break saves from older versions. But don't worry! we aren't just deleting your save files, we are leaving 0.6.03 in the BETA branch so you can finish off any old saves you'd like before starting fresh on 06.04.

How do I get on the BETA?

That's easy! Just right click Meeple Station in your steam library, go to 'properties' and then select the 'BETAS' tab. From there you can select 0.6.03 from the dropdown menu. As always, don't be afraid to jump onto our discord server and chat with us! :) • (Old saves are no longer compatible) • starting meeple number is now set to 5 • fixed blueprints loading with differing costs • fixed a pathfinding bug concerning ladders • fixed a bug where meeple died of asphyxiation for no good reason • completely reworked all resource types • introduced a new variety of asteroid sprite sheets and mining system • changed the inventory/refinery menu • added ice processors • added water tanks • added waste pipe utility • added water pipe utility • added waste processors • added waste ejectors • added waste bins • added bathrooms • added kitchens • added food dispensers • changed food into an actual resource • added chef meeple role • added rock crushers • added smelters • added wooden chair/table/bed/footlocker • changed uses for refineries • added Oxygen Gardens • completely revised trade menus and added supply/demand modifiers to resource pricing • fixed refining orders from over refining requests • fixed some rare pathfinding anomalies • fixed various other known issues from 0.6.03

Our major patch will be coming in 7 more days! We've wrangled a lot of extra changes in with this huge patch, and we'll need to completely re-make the tutorial to compensate. We should also warn previous saves will no longer work after 0.6.04. We're awfully sorry about this, but this patch will not only add loads of content, but also changes the way you will need to setup your station. So even if your save files could still be loaded, you might not last very long because there are new requirements for life support and food. (Sorry Meeple :P) We will however leave the current version (as well as previous versions) accessible through steam if you want to revert your game and finish playing an older save file.

But what are these big changes exactly?

Well, we havent quite got them all finished yet, but here is the current patch list of the main changes so far. • starting meeple number is now set to 5 • fixed blueprints loading with differing costs • fixed a pathfinding bug concerning ladders • fixed a bug where meeple died of asphyxiation for no good reason • completely reworked all resource types • changed the inventory/refinery menu • added ice processors • added water tanks • added waste pipe utility • added water pipe utility • added waste processors • added waste ejectors • added waste bins • added bathrooms • added kitchens • added food dispensers • changed food into an actual resource • added chef meeple role • added rock crushers • added smelters • changed uses for refineries • added Oxygen Gardens • completely revised trade menus and added supply/demand modifiers to resource pricing And here is a little teaser of the new menu layouts: https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/33278505/63abfc08a14bd3c0da1fe6b31f266447d296e769.pnghttps://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/33278505/b6aab5c344d8bd24b223ba80f2ebda2d2ed9ec78.png As always don't forget to jump onto our discord channel and have a chat with us! :D

https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/33278505/dd8f18c89c2818f2cb4d1a6562ec4a0a4e8287fa.png Hey folks! We have some huge changes to resources and various vital systems to the game. As you can see from this screenshot, we're adding in water and waste lines to the station. As well as various new modules, and tweaks to existing items. For example, life support and fish tanks will now require water. We're also adding in kitchens, chefs, and more comprehensive refining. But that's not all, we're also adding in hygiene, bathrooms, waste disposal and filtration systems and more. Unfortunately, with such large changes, we're going to need a little more than one week to get everything done. The next major update will take another week, if not two, to get everything ready. But we may have an experimental version if you're interested in testing a few days ahead of the patch. I should also mention because of these drastic changes, save files will become obsolete. If you wish to continue with an older save, we will leave a branch open for the last compatible version. I hope you're as excited as we are for these upcoming changes! Don't forget to jump onto our discord channel and say Hi!

https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/33278505/8a1e864806f97ecc470ccd77ae21504dc1498f7f.png We've finally caught up over Easter to bring you another huge rework! This time utilities (cables, pipes, etc) have been removed and replaced with a whole new overlay to more easily setup and organise all of your networks. Take a look! (Don't worry, your save files will still work, we've made sure of that :) https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/33278505/d5747eaa9c76ffac7357301269a45c1bbcc0cbc7.pnghttps://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/33278505/1608c7f3782cd318e2a3601143210ac68fd56057.png We've also fixed quite a few pesky bugs and introduced cut away sprites for bulkhead doors. Hopefully making it easier to view what's going on. This week's change has come with a lot of sweat, bugs, and tears, but has set us up for our next and dare I say much larger rework planned for the coming weeks. We are now starting work on changing the entire resource system. We'll be creating a variety of new asteroids, new minerals, sprites, and every recipe and resource in game will be changed in some shape or form. We've decided to scrap the comical and alien idea of 'fantasy minerals' and replacing them with real life names and types, things that are more memorable. such as Cobalt, Aluminium, Steel, Titanium, Silicon, etc etc. This also means a large change to the core logic of how resources will be functioning in game, which will once again open up for a lot of modding opportunities. This will also drastically change how trade works, the map, mining, and almost every aspect of the game thus far. So bare with us, this next major update may take two or three weeks, but we will keep our eyes peeled for any bugs in the meantime. Don't forget, everyone is welcome on our discord channel! And we're happy to take feedback and bug reports. :)

We're all taking the easter weekend with our families. That means our friday patch will be pushed back a few days. However, if you're keen to see the new changes, here's a sneak peek! :D https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/33278505/9ed6179d378fb23471bf74225744e14c24d38924.pnghttps://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/33278505/f29997b8d30c0c2e0615761b0935f614ba5b52b2.png We have a large overhaul to utilities, power, fuel lines, etc, giving you far more freedom to rig things up around the station. Thanks for being patient!

Hey guys! I was able to get a hold of Stephen in the early morning and he fixed the bugs you've mentioned ASAP. Thanks for being patient and trusting us! Enjoy the game!

Hey everyone! Just a quick note to let you all know we are aware of the AIRLOCK bug that's pestering some of you, as well as the bug report button not working. We're working on it and will have it patched up as soon as possible, keep in mind it's saturday (sunday for the Developer Stephen who lives in Australia) so I don't have an exact ETA but "SOON", I'll try and ping him as soon as he wakes up! I'd like to take the opportunity to invite any of you who've got any bugs they can reproduce to report them in the comments below or in the discussions tab of the forum, thanks! Also, remember we're hard at work in the game, but very approachable! Feel free to join our discord! https://discord.gg/cE2uX6A