Alpha 0.4 has just been uploaded! Main features include some fleshing out of the housing and farming systems, and terraforming to allow the spread of grass, growing of trees, and some new buildings.

Terraforming is a visually powerful theme that we really wanted to explore, and we'd like to add more possibilities to make it more meaningful.

Robbie and Evan are off to GDC and Pirate Jam, so for the next month any new builds are likely to focus on art polish, optimization and bug fixes. I'll likely also be working on a new enemy type, though this will only get in when they return. Happy building!

Changelog:

• New building: Terraformer. Spreads green, green grass, and allows trees to grow nearby.
• New building: Community Center. Food is now delivered to this instead of individual houses.
• New building: Scraggle Weed. A type of farm that gives low food yield. (This replaces the old Farms.)
• New building: Nutri-Crop. A type of farm that has high food yield, but only when placed on terraformed land.
• New building: Bio-Reactor. Burns food and oxygen to produce power.
• New building: Housing. Increase credit income when placed around Community Centers. (This replaces the old House.)
• New: Terraforming. Grass and trees build on terraformed terrain.
• New: Bugs gib when taking explosive damage.
• Rework: The game uses a new save system. It should now be more likely to keep saves from previous game versions.
• Rework: Greenhouses. Their influence footprint is now square rather than circular.
• Rework: Command Tower. Lowers the power usage of nearby firing turrets by 33%. No longer increases damage dealt.
• Rework: Civilian behaviour has been improved.
• Fixed: Civilians heavily optimized -- building mass Garrisons should no longer cause the game to lag. Civilian animation is now worse. :P
• Fixed: Far more buildings can be built without causing performance issues.
• Fixed: Added pieces to map edge so it doesn't look so bad.