Alpha 9 is finally ready (as ready as it will ever be) for release! Whilst there are some substantial game-play changes, for the last few months we've been laying some important ground work and working on a lot of the smaller things that start to make the game feel like a more complete experience and less of a prototype. Please enjoy it and let us know if you have any feedback!

Big features and changes:

• New bugs - Two new bugs have been added and all of the enemy art has been remade from scratch. 
• UI overhaul - The UI has been completely redesigned, polished and expanded.
• Tutorials - The first two missions of the game now feature more fleshed out tutorial systems.
• World map - A world map with a meta-game has been added. It's fairly bare-bones right now, but we have big plans!
• Worker population system - Buildings now require workers to operate. Workers will move into houses if you meet their needs.
• Pausing - The game no longer pauses after each wave. You can instead pause whenever you like, as long as there is not a wave currently attacking.
• New auto-construction system - The way you build farms, houses and mines has been streamlined (and hopefully made more interesting).

Added:

• New enemy: Brute bug.
• New enemy: Exploder bug.
• New tutorial system with two tutorial levels.
• Pipe system: an alternate way to transport certain commodities.
• New campaign saving backend.
• Dead ends now show a warning icon.
• World map and metagame systems
• New scene metadata recording system.
• New game settings backend.
• Loading screen and transitions.
• Roads now show flow visualisations when the road tool is selected.
• New worker population system.
• A shuttle now occasionally lands at the Star Port.
• New alert system to warn the player when they.
• New selection system - Allows you to click on objects and see more information.
• Bugs can now spawn off the edge of the map.
• New commodity: Toxic waste
• New building: Hospital
• New building: Oxygen Scrubber
• New building: Fertilizer Plant
• New building: Waste Dump
• New building: Fist of Humanity
• New automatic construction system for influence providers.
• Farms are now automatically placed around Green Houses.
• Houses are now automatically placed around Community Centers.
• Quarries are now automatically placed around Mining Camps.
• Options menu (with working options).
• New pause menu.
• New music track and stings.
• Exciting new infomercial cut-scene.
• UI now shows production rates.
• Building previews now have arrows at road entrances.
• New main menu.
• Rent trucks that spawn at community centers and collect rent from houses.

Changed:

• Many bug fixes and balance changes.
• Magma is now transported via pipes and not trucks.
• Tritium Laser is once again called Tritium Drill.
• Improved building icon rendering.
• Complete UI overhaul
• Changes to all currency and commodity icons and colours
• Game can now be paused at any point (except during an attack).
• Terraforming has been optimized (it is still very slow).
• Terraformers are now required to be built in range of a Fertilizer Plant.
• Command Towers now increase the range of towers rather than decreasing power consumption.
• Refactor of truck movement - traffic jams now possible.
• Trucks can now pick up partial loads from producers on their route.
• Some influences are now blocked by roads and walls.
• Scraggle weeds and Nutricrops have been replaced by a single crop.
• Gun Turrets now have citizens manning them.
• Power cables now swing in the breeze.
• Batteries don’t show empty warnings if they’ve never been charged.
• You can no longer build on top of nests or right next to cliffs.
• Removed several levels (don’t worry, they'll be back!)
• Removed several buildings (don’t worry, some of them will be back!)
• Removed grass flattening (this is a temporary solution until we can properly optimize it)