Hello survivors!
We are incredibly excited to announce a free leafy update coming to Stranded: Alien Dawn on 29 June 2023! The Jungle Update will add the colourful and exotic Saltu region to the game, a region featuring unique plants and animals, as well as new challenges you will have to help your survivors overcome. It's going to get both hot and humid, so you'll have to think a little differently in your approach.
This update will also expand Stranded: Alien Dawn with new gameplay features and mechanics, with new work area mechanics, survivor tools, new research, recipes and expeditions.
As always, we want to give a huge shoutout to everyone who's been sharing feedback and suggestions on our forums, on social media, or on our Discord server. We really couldn't do this without you! Don't forget to join us in our upcoming livestream on 28 June, where we'll be showing you all the new additions coming to Stranded: Alien Dawn in this update.
Before we do that, let's take a quick look at what you can expect:
Saltu Region
Saltu is a new tropical region covered with dense jungles, swamps and rivers. Your survivors are likely to find a good amount of palm trees, and the rich soil will allow a wide variety of flora to thrive in this hot and humid region. You'll also find new and exotic animal wildlife that are especially adapted to the region's environment and weather.
Much like Desertum, a year in Saltu is divided into Wet and Dry seasons, with each having an impact on weather. The Wet season is marked by heavy rains and violent thunderstorms, so you'll want to keep your survivors indoors! An interesting feature to note about Saltu is the lack of cold temperatures. It's a sweltering place, so any food or materials left to the elements will decompose quicker due to the heat and humidity. The only way to stave off the heat is via powered cooling, so don't forget to generate some extra electricity for your AC units! On the other hand, there's no need to craft winter clothing, and crops will continue to grow all year round. Be mindful of the Xenoflora Blight, which can absolutely devastate your crops if you don't deal with it quickly.
Your survivors will also be susceptible to new tropical diseases like Swarm Fever, Gut Worms, and Blood Infections. These can be cured with Antibiotics, so make sure you keep up that grain production!
Last, but certainly not least, you'll likely find that there are fewer Shrieker nests than you might be used to from Sobrius and Desertum. Saltu features Scissorhands nests that yield Silicon, replacing Shrieker nests, so acquiring Carbon Nanotubes might prove a little more challenging this time around.
New Gameplay Features
Area Flags and Work Areas
A new feature that we're really excited about in the Jungle Update is the ability to add Area Flags and Work Zones to your bases, giving you more control over where your survivors can and can't go. After researching Camp Management you'll be able to place down flags that designate areas of 50-250 meters. All resources, work objects, and devices within the range of an area flag are assigned to that flag's work areas. From there you can assign survivors to specific areas, and restrict them to live and work within the given area only.
Your survivors will see and interact with devices and buildings that belong to the same area as themselves, and won't eat, relax, or execute tasks outside of their given area. You can still assign them direct orders without changing their assigned area, and you'll also know at a glance where someone is assigned. Using the new Work Areas mechanic, you can effectively set up and manage multiple bases across the map, or restrict your survivors to remain indoors during Toxic Ash or thunderstorm events.
Survivor Tools
With this update we're also adding an exciting new mechanic called Survivor Tools. Your survivors' inventory now includes a new dedicated slot for carrying Tools, special pieces of equipment that will prove helpful in their survival journey. All Tools are available in all regions and scenarios and can be crafted at Workbenches. You can even trade Tools in the Farming Outpost scenario!
Let's take a look at some of the new Survivor Tools and the different ways they will aid your survivors:
- Survival Kit: A small bundle with a bedroll and a pack of emergency rations that will ease the burden of long journeys. The Survival Kit will allow your survivors to sleep relatively comfortably outside of your base, and also enjoy a quick meal if they get hungry
- Harvesting Tools: This set of tools will reduce the amount of time it takes to harvest crops, cut down trees, and mine stone
- Respirator Mask: Sometimes your survivors need to venture outside during Toxic Ash events or Dust Storms. The new Respirator Masks will make that less of a burden on their bodies as it helps them breathe a little easier
- Signal Flares: It's difficult to see at night, so these new signal flares will light up the area of impact, making it easier for your survivors to hit enemies during the night. There may also be other ways to help your survivors see better at night, but we'll let you discover that on your own
A New Survivor
As with previous updates, there is a new survivor coming to Stranded: Alien Dawn with this free update. This former expert in naturophatic medicine has suddenly found herself completely cut off from any means to contact with her home planet. Her impeccable healing skills will come in handy in the new Saltu region, as she'll never fail a healing task. Definitely helpful if your entire group is infected with Swarm Fever! You'll get to meet her very soon, so stay tuned to our social channels!
Super Sampling Support and Photo Mode
Last, but certainly not least, we're adding Super Sampling Support for NVIDIA, AMD and Intel graphics cards to Stranded: Alien Dawn. The new Photo Mode will allow you to take breathtaking screenshots, with several tweakable settings to get that one perfect shot. Adjust motion blur, exposure, depth of field and more, and unleash your inner photographer!
As we mentioned before, there are more quality of life updates, and bug fixes, coming in this update, so keep an eye out for the full patch notes coming on 29 June. We want to thank everyone in the Stranded: Alien Dawn community for all your support, feedback, suggestions, and bug reports.
There are more details to come about the new update, so don't forget to join the Stranded: Alien Dawn Discord and you'll never miss any news! You can also follow the game on TikTok, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube, or join the discussions on Steam and the Frontier Forums. On 28 June at 4:00pm BST, the community team will be joined by developers from Haemimont Games for a run-through of the new scenario, and the rest of the new update on Twitch and YouTube. We'll see you there!