Welcome to the Super Sandbox update, Groundbreaker.

v0.4 is here! This massive update adds 80+ custom Game Settings, 6 Game Modes, 2 New Maps, and so much more. It’s time to fine-tune your gameplay and dive into precisely customized automation.

Before we dig in, check out this sweet, sweet trailer the team cooked up.

Game Modes
The real meat of this update is the nearly 100 custom game settings we have added to make your play customizable in just the way you like. These settings will allow you to change balance, game rules, maps, and more to create your ideal challenge or perfect sandbox.

For those of us who are easily panicked by choice, we have set up six preset modes:

• Easy – Reduced costs and rapid progression for casual players. Easier access to narrative events, advanced machines, and upgraded technologies. Achievements are fully available in this Game Mode.
• Sandbox – Do whatever you want! The world is yours! No crafting requirements and minimal power consumption make this the perfect mode for getting creative.
• Hardcore – A challenge for dedicated and experienced players. Harsh resource rules and merciless limitations will push your factory automation skills to the max. I like to call it the soulslike version of factory games, except you won’t die one million times.
• Quantity – A preset inclined towards making larger factories with high quantities of lower-quality machines. Go big or go home!
• Quality – A preset inclined towards making smaller factories with lower quantities of higher-quality machines. Finesse is mandatory!
• Hyper – Appropriate for Groundbreakers who gotta go fast. Increased speeds for nearly everything will empower you to sharply scale and progress your factory – if you can keep up with it!

New Maps
We are so excited to give players new maps for the first time! We would love to add more maps in the future so let us know how you like them!

Mountain King Underhall – The Mountain King Underhill is a brand new, handcrafted map with massive underground caverns and spread-out resources. This map encourages large-scale factory building across the subterranean landscape.

Faithless Void – The Faithless Void is a revamped version of the existing River Biome map you’ve all grown to love, with a few big differences. You’ll need to pull out your Omniseeker to find ore veins, as they’ve been scattered across the landscape and hidden away to encourage more exploration.

Incinerator
We have introduced an incinerator function that allows you to destroy any machines, tools, or base building pieces with maximum prejudice. You may use your already-existing smelters and blast smelters to reduce them into carbon powder. You can also incinerate some basic resources like quicklime and limestone, as well as incinerate carbon powder into less carbon powder. The exceptions to this are cores and components – you’re gonna need those!

Opening Cutscene
Starting a new game drops you into a brand new, fully rendered cutscene with hints at Techtonica lore. What does it mean? That’s up to you to decide…

Recipe Changes and Tutorialization Updates
As always, the team continues to iterate and update our existing recipes and new player experience, and that continues in .4. Some of the changes include:

• New alternate recipes!
• Revisions to early game tutorialization to improve onboarding for new players.
• Gathering Kindlevine and Shiverthorn plants now gives raw plants instead of seeds.
• New condensed Biobricks and Biobrick Diesel fuel.
• We now show ore vein health on veins that have been hit (Please note: Mining Drills dig from the bottom left corner voxels upward, not from the center).
• Added Vertical Belt upgrades, and moved those upgrades a tier lower.

And now, without further ado, the complete patch notes.

The Complete v0.4 – The Super Sandbox Update – Patch Notes

Major Changes
The Super Sandbox Update is live! New maps, game modes, and custom game settings have arrived to perfect your Techtonica experience.

• 6 New Game Modes
  • Easy Mode – Reduced costs and rapid progression for casual players. Easier access to narrative events, advanced machines, and upgraded technologies. Achievements are fully available in this Game Mode.
  • Sandbox Mode – Do whatever you want! The world is yours! No crafting requirements and minimal power consumption make this the perfect mode for getting creative.
  • Hardcore Mode – A challenge for dedicated and experienced players. Harsh resource rules and merciless limitations will push your factory automation skills to the max. I like to call it the Soulslike version of factory games, except you won’t die a million times.
  • Quantity Mode – A preset inclined towards making larger factories with high quantities of lower-quality machines. Go big or go home!
  • Quality Mode – A preset inclined towards making smaller factories with lower quantities of higher-quality machines. Finesse is mandatory!
  • Hyper Mode – Appropriate for Groundbreakers who gotta go fast. Increased speeds for nearly everything will empower you to sharply scale and progress your factory – if you can keep up with it!
• Two new maps to dig into:
  • Faithless Void – A sector of great riches for the ambitious Groundbreaker is hidden within what first appears to be a bleak, barren, and timeless landscape. Experience a reimagination of the standard Techtonica map in the dark with some new secrets and challenges.
  • Mountain King Underhall – A dwarven-inspired paradise of material opportunity. Carve your way through deep rock to uncover a mythological amount of fantastical wealth. Incredible amounts of open space for building to your heart’s content.
• Almost 80 new settings to change for your game! Including:
  • Infinite Ore
  • Ore Per Vein
  • Dark Mode
  • Map
  • Player Speed Multiplier
  • Ignore Encumbrance
  • Low Gravity Mode
  • Big Head Mode
  • Ragdoll Mode
  • Hover Pack (Integrated)
  • Railrunner (Integrated)
  • M.O.L.E. Speed Multiplier
  • M.O.L.E. Heat Cost
  • M.O.L.E. Bits (Integrated)
  • Mining Drill MKI – Ore Per Dig
  • Mining Drill MKI – Digs Per Minute
  • Mining Drill MKI – Unlimited Fuel
  • Mining Drill MKI – Power Consumption
  • Mining Drill MKII – Ore Per Dig
  • Mining Drill MKII – Digs Per Minute
  • Mining Drill MKII – Unlimited Fuel
  • Mining Drill MKII – Power Consumption
  • Blast Drill – Cooldown Time
  • Smelter MKI – Speed Multiplier
  • Smelter MKI – Unlimited Fuel
  • Smelter MKI – Power Consumption
  • Smelter MKII – Speed Multiplier
  • Smelter MKII – Unlimited Fuel
  • Smelter MKII – Power Consumption
  • Blast Smelter – Cooldown Time
  • Assembler MKI – Speed Multiplier
  • Assembler MKI – Items Per Batch
  • Assembler MKI – Power Consumption
  • Assembler MKII – Speed Multiplier
  • Assembler MKII – Items Per Batch
  • Assembler MKII – Power Consumption
  • Planter – Speed Multiplier
  • Planter – Power Consumption Per Plant
  • Thresher MKI – Speed Multiplier
  • Thresher MKI – Power Consumption
  • Thresher MKII – Speed Multiplier
  • Thresher MKII – Power Consumption
  • Crank Generator MKI – Crank Duration
  • Crank Generator MKI – Torque Consumption
  • Crank Generator MKI – Power Generation
  • Crank Generator MKII – Crank Duration
  • Crank Generator MKII – Torque Consumption
  • Crank Generator MKII – Power Generation
  • Accumulator – Energy Capacity
  • Water Wheel – Torque Generated
  • Research Cores – Points
  • Research Cores – Cluster Efficiency
  • Core Composer – Power Consumption
  • Monorail System – Energy Spike Cost
  • Monorail System – Power Consumption
  • Storage Capacity
  • Conveyor Belt MKI – Item Throughput Per Minute
  • Conveyor Belt MKI – Power Consumption
  • Conveyor Belt MKII – Item Throughput Per Minute
  • Conveyor Belt MKII – Power Consumption
  • Conveyor Belt MKIII – Item Throughput Per Minute
  • Conveyor Belt MKIII – Power Consumption
  • Base Stack Size
  • Inserter – Cycles Per Minute
  • Inserter – Use Stacks
  • Inserter – Power Consumption
  • Long Inserter – Cycles Per Minute
  • Long Inserter – Use Stacks
  • Long Inserter – Power Consumption
  • Fast Inserter – Cycles Per Minute
  • Fast Inserter – Use Stacks
  • Fast Inserter – Power Consumption
  • Stack Inserter – Cycles Per Minute
  • Stack Inserter – Power Consumption
  • Filter Inserter – Cycles Per Minute
  • Filter Inserter – Use Stacks
  • Filter Inserter – Power Consumption
  • Stack Filter Inserter – Cycles Per Minute
  • Stack Filter Inserter – Power Consumption
  • No Scan Requirements
  • No Quests
  • All Doors Unlocked
  • All Resources – Free Crafting
  • Tech Tree – All Access
  • Crafting Cost Multiplier
  • Smelter Recipe Cost Multiplier
  • Base Building – Free Crafting
  • Base Building – All Access
  • PT – Resource Cost Multiplier
  • PT – Energy Cost Multiplier
  • Core Cost Multiplier
  • Core Energy Cost Multiplier
  • Fuel Consumption Multiplier
  • Power Consumption Multiplier
  • Power Generation Multiplier
  • Permabuild
  • Cat Sounds
• We’ve added a new and improved fuel to Techtonica! Biobrick Diesel is a raw, high density gasoline made from compressed Biobricks. Crude and unrefined, but usable as fuel, Biobrick Diesel can be combined with Atlantum, then refined into Infused Biobrick Diesel: A high density gasoline and exceptionally powerful fuel source.
• Your journey into Calyx now begins with an opening pre-rendered cinematic! To see this, simply start or host a new game on the ‘Techtonica’ map, and after the loading screen finishes, you’ll be able to view it. But don’t worry, repeat players – it can be easily skipped by holding down any key.
• As requested, incineration has been added to Techtonica! Smelters and Blast Smelters can both be used to incinerate items as follows:
  • Smelters can be used to incinerate Carbon Powder, Quicklime, and Gravel into Carbon Powder.
  • Blast Smelters can incinerate all Base Building pieces, machines, and tools.
  • You can then incinerate Carbon Powder into less Carbon Powder, effectively removing it from your factory.
  • One caveat is that this loop is a bit finicky – you’ll need to remove Carbon Powder after incinerating one item before you can incinerate others.
• We’ve retooled the harvesting of Kindlevine and Shiverthorn. Picking up either now gives you raw versions of each instead of seeds, and your Planter and Thresher loop will begin with using Threshers to generate your initial batch of seeds.

Mechanics and Feature Changes

• The initial Vertical Belt unlock has been moved one tier lower. We’ve added two upgrades for Vertical Belts – 50 belts high and 100 belts high!
• The Water Wheel recipe now requires Shiverthorn Extract, but less metal and time to create. More torque, in less time!
• There are two new alternate recipes for Clay production – Advanced Clay from Limestone and Shivertorn Extract, and Mass Production of Clay using Limestone Bricks and Coolant Gel.

Settings, UI, and Performance Changes

• The Research Core UI has changed in the Tech Tree. You’ll now see the phrase “Available Research Cores” to let you know what those numbers mean.
• Already an experienced Techtonica player? You can now turn off all tutorial notifications – such HUD UI Tips, Floating UI Tips, and CTA UI Highlights – in the Settings menu.
• Ore Veins now have health bars once their health drops below 100%.

World Changes

• The chests at VICTOR now have fewer types of Base Building parts, mostly so your inventory doesn’t get overwhelmed so fast.
• Sparks is more knowledgeable than ever, and her voice lines reflect that. You’ll see some changes to Sparks’ dialogue – especially in the earlier tutorial sections of the game.

Bugfixes
Please note that this list is not exhaustive, and does not include all minor bugfixes.

• We’ve fixed multiple issues with TAP wires in multiplayer. Scanning TAP wires in quick succession or simultaneously in multiplayer will now function as intended.
• We’ve fixed an issue that caused some machines to go invisible. This should happen less frequently!
• We’ve implemented a fix for Game Pass PC and XBOX manual and autosaves. Autosaves will save over older slots instead of silently failing when there’s no free space in the cloud storage.
• Recipes that have been viewed won’t be marked as new upon a reload.
• If you place an object on top of the Core Composer, you can now interact with it. Not sure why you’d need Filter Inserters on top of a Core Composer, but you do you.
• Autosaves now cycle through instead of rewriting the same file. This happened when loading an autosave that wasn’t the most recent, in case you were curious!
• When placing Conveyor Belts, hitting Q now backs out of building instead of going to the Quick Copy menu.
• Vertical Belts can now work with hubs, including manual hubs.
• Fixed an issue with placing stairs about 17 voxels high. This was caused by the game incorrectly calculating the need for diagonally placed items, in case you wanted to know!
• Calycite platforms retain their power status after being replaced with the Replacer Tool.
• Non-handcrafted items now correctly update their numbers in the crafting menu.
• Paladin will now start talking as soon as you grab his cube, even if you don’t go through the escape hatch. If you want to play this the hard way, it works now.
• Dropping from a Monorail Track into the water doesn’t disable jumping anymore. Something something protective UNIHAZ suit.
• Erasing Planters no longer gives plants if they weren’t done growing. Nice try, we patched this out.
• Respawning no longer creates hovering or shaking issues.
• Using copy on Conveyor Belts now retains the variant chosen.
• The accumulated power amount displayed on upgrade PT tasks and tips is now correct. 320MJ, not 320000 MJ. That would be crazy, I hope no one did that…
• The Filter Inserter can now select Carbon and Kindlevine Bricks.
• Thresher icons in ALT mode now represent what is being threshed.
• Deleting an HVC cable no longer makes the parts it touches undeletable.
• Monorail inventories can now be sorted.
• Core Composers now have a Scan Me sign on the Omniseeker.
• Various localization fixes.

Known Issues

• If you’re playing with a controller, the Clear Copy and Cancel functions are assigned to the same button. This might affect building floors, stairs, and other multiplace items. We’re working on it!
• How many developers does it take to change a lightbulb? Apparently, more than we have. Crank Generators might not light up right now.
• If you change languages in a custom game, you may need to restart to see the language fully take effect.
• Some of the text in the Custom Game menu – when creating a new game – might not appear in other languages.
• The header text “Game Settings” on the pause menu may not appear in your language.
• Sparks might think your Thresher is powered when it’s not. She’s doing her best, okay?
• If you set the M.O.L.E. speed setting to very high, you might experience performance drops, player actions may be significantly delayed, or you might not see the changes to the world that other players make. Saving and reloading will fix this, however!
• MDR Powertrims don’t affect the MKII Mining Drill. We’re working on it.
• You need to remove the Carbon Powder from incinerating one item before you can incinerate others.
• Some Assembler dialogue might play a little too early.
• The Pause Menu Custom Game Mode description will not appear in Easy Mode. It’s Easy, you’ll just have to remember that!
• If your friend is hosting a custom game, you’ll see all the standard settings in the pause menu. Rest assured, your game is custom, it’s just a UI bug.
• Conveyor Belt Hubs slow down the movement of items. We aren’t sure why, but something about the little hamsters inside not moving fast enough. It’s about a 14% reduction in speed per Hub.
• Players on XBOX consoles wearing headphones might experience the cutscene being extremely loud and low framerate after multiple playthroughs. Your game will be fine, no need to restart once the cutscene is over – and you can skip it. Be careful, please!
• On XBOX, the glow for Mining Charges has been turned off. v0.4 introduced a bug that caused them to glow brighter than the sun, so we flipped it off for now.