Hello community!!!

The development fields of The Crust are bustling with work, and we're already preparing for the release of New Horizons. This massive update will bring new mechanics, new modules, a second story chapter, fresh music tracks and a bunch of handy QoL improvements to the game.

Let's break down what's in store for you!

At the moment, the final point of the story can be considered the building of the laser cannon and saving the Earth - but it was a temporary plug with increased difficulty. Now, however, the story will continue, and it's up to you to figure out what really happened during the Explosion on the backside of the moon.
Spoiler (but not really): the research will lead you to a new fusion technology based on Helium-3, which will open up new possibilities in the research tree. And beyond that, CRUST-related intrigue and preparation for the new, epic goals of Chapter III.

The lunar deposits of Helium-3 won't just give themselves away, so we had to develop a whole system of new, unique mechanics to scan, mine, and process it.

Mass Driver is added to the game, a structure that looks a bit like a railgun, but instead of projectiles, it shoots geological probes. They come in two types:

• Mineral Probes - search for rich deposits of silicon, metals and rare earth elements.
  
• Helium-3 probes - analyze surface regolith and determine the concentration of the isotope.

Minerals are scanned using mechanics similar to how a rover works: the probe lands, a circular scan is triggered, and you see a gradient of resource density on the map.

But the search for Helium-3 is trickier. To get accurate data, you need to deploy 3-5 probes and wait for them to cross-scan the selected area. And in order not to waste expensive probes, you will have an audible indication: when you choose a place to scan the noise changes in frequency and intensity, hinting where exactly buried..... Yes, it's a kind of moon-hunting - find the zone, hear the “right” sound, launch the probe.

After a successful scan, the player can build an outpost in the most promising zones. However, if the field is poor, the cost may not pay off: construction requires a large investment, including thermal stations.

How it works:

• Thermal stations heat the regolith, releasing adsorbed gases (including Helium-3).
  
• The gases are then collected and separated to produce a pure isotope.
  
• If logistics are in place, selling Helium-3 energy cells makes a tremendous profit and keeps your base energized.

An outpost is not just a point on the map, but an autonomous base where you can build:

• Mining facilities for Helium-3 and minerals.
  
• Gas processors and regolith purifiers.
  
• Warehouses and transportation automation modules.
  
• Science modules (they give science points, but require scientists on watch, food and medicine).

Once built, an outpost becomes a player-controlled territory that can be developed and defended.


Generates colossal amounts of energy using energy cells produced from Helium-3. But the reactor requires engineers and scientists to maintain.
But, if everything is set up, you can make good money by channeling excess energy into an AI science module or Blockchain Center.

Uses computing power to convert surplus energy into credit, serving blockchain networks on Earth. Who says you can't mine on the moon?

Another generator that produces energy from organics. Capable of burning excess organic matter or the bodies of unwanted colonists to power a moonbase, in the most critical situation. (well, survival is a priority).

Generates a constant influx of science points by analyzing materials and data from moon rovers and lunar science expeditions. Requires a large amount of energy for its operation.

In the first iteration, this module will serve as a kind of refueling station for rockets from different organizations. Fuel and energy cell production can be automated, refueling and maintenance can be priced.
It consumes energy and also requires engineers to operate.
In the future, this module will gain functionality to build your own rockets for missions to other solar system objects, scientific expeditions and long-term contracts (cargo to Mars, Jupiter satellites, etc.).

New Horizons has been in development on a separate, isolated branch for several months now and has already received several QoL improvements that our wonderful community requested in Discord[discord.com] and suggested as ideas, on our website: https://idea.the-crust.com/.
For example, now capsules with purchased resources can be planted directly on the desired platform or Flight Control Center, which will send goods to the output conveyor, from where they go directly to the production lines. In this way you can conveniently close a sudden shortage with the help of the market.
We have also added the possibility to mine oxides directly with Digging Robots, even if the regolith extractor is already working on a vein. This makes the start of the game more flexible and allows you to close accelerate mining late in the game when there are a large number of robots.
A few more mechanic and UI improvements will hit this update, as well as new 3D building models, improved animations and vfx. More details will be available in the pachnote.

Sandbox mode gets a large amount of customization at the start of the game. Now we will be able to customize the game according to our preferences, choose the starting location, enable or disable some mechanics, select and customize the late game crisis.



We've picked up a good bit of momentum and are planning to hit Release 1.0 in the second half of this year. To do this, right after the launch of New Horizons, we are going to rethink the robot prioritization system, improve conveyor distributions and logistics, which could give a performance boost of another 2.5-3x.
Release 1.0 will include a story Chapter III, in which the player will have to reach the finish line of the main epic goal for his company and the entire humanity. And here, tough decisions and complex challenges await him.


One of the most anticipated mechanics - trains!

The logistic network on the global map will connect the base with outposts and cities, as well as provide supplies for units in the combat system.

Cities and automatic trade
Imagine small cities, manufacturing and research bases of other factions on the moon, with which we can conduct automatic trade. We plan to implement one of two concepts:
- Automatically selling goods from outposts,
- or building warehouses/stores in cities with automatic sale of goods in a dynamic system of supply and demand.

Outposts will serve as the basis for a combat and political system in which we will compete with other factions for particularly rich territories. Outposts will be expanded with defense and repair modules, as well as transportation hubs to supply combat units.




We read all your suggestions, collect them into an idea chart, discuss them and implement them into the game. Over the last month, with your help, we've killed a bunch of bugs and seriously improved the balance.
You guys are the coolest! 🚀


When ready, New Horizons will be sent to beta testing in two stages:
- The first to get a chance to test the update will be kickstarter backers who backed our company on kickstarter before the game's launch.
- Anyone can get into the second wave of testing, just join our Discord server and follow the announcements.


We are waiting for your feedback on New Horizons and further development of the game!
Join discussions: https://discord.com/invite/the-crust

Post ideas: https://idea.the-crust.com/

Veom Studio team

- Miner robots can now extract oxide from veins, even if the vein is occupied by an installed extractor. This allows for rapid acceleration of the extraction of the required oxide when a large number of robots are available.

- The cost of online market research and landing platform research has been reduced
- Edits in localization
- Fixed an unnecessary write-off of the cost of a capsule containing robots and resources bought at the market
- Fixed a rare visual bug that occurred when building multiple drone reconfiguration modules
- Fixed a bug in the animation of completed missions

- Increased the base number of robots when starting a new game in Story Mode by 2pcs.
- Increased base speed of robots 450->500
- Increased base speed of loader robots 350->400
- Increased the number of titanium veins in the mandatory generation near the elevator 1->2
- Increased reward for passing the story stage of production automation 3000->5400 fundamental science points
- Increased reward for passing the titanium vein scanning story stage 3000->3600 social science points

- Fixed a bug that could cause the ice harvester icon to disappear.
- Fixed change of robot volume on the market after purchase

- Changes to the Expeditions interface
- Tooltip display adjustments for resources in the "Bring" panel and the "Prerequisites" panel.
- Updated the design of the "Prerequisites" panel.
- Adjusted the icon sizes in the POI interface in the "Required resources" panel.
- Fixed stretching of the colonist button in the "Prerequisites" panel.
- Added a warning in the expeditions interface when selecting colonists for escort if no colonists are available.


- Resource settings added for conveyor outputs in the Expedition Control Center and the Flight Control Center. Conveyor connection zones are no longer hidden inside the modules.
- Identified and resolved rare cases where orbital-level expedition quests did not progress after completing one of the stages.
- Optimized conveyor logic for low and medium FPS scenarios.
- The tutorial now transitions smoothly into the story campaign without returning to the underground level after the cutscene.
- Localization updated to reflect the latest content.
- Visual improvements:
- Changed the color of the truck's automatic unloading indicator.
- Fixed a visual issue where transport highlighting would persist when switching levels.
- Adjusted the entry/exit arrow in the texture of the Single Regolith Refinery.



- Increased the minimum and maximum limit of resource generation in starting resource veins on all difficulty levels.
- Fuel and modular frameworks can now be found when disposing of building debris (story mode).


- New Helium-3 scanning mechanics
- New Helium-3 extraction mechanics
- Helium-3 Harvester
- Expanded MBU extraction mechanics
- New modules: Railgun to launch probes, Thermonuclear Generator, Biogenerator, Blockchain module, AI science module (names are subject to change)
- Advanced sandbox settings from the menu