As we chug towards 0.1.1, we’re working on bugfixes and performance gains, and we’re also adding several QoL improvements. Today, we’re going to focus on the M.O.L.E.

If you want to deep dive this topic, watch the video below! Otherwise, read on for some show-and-tell with the M.O.L.E.

Also, sorry not sorry for using the word “dig” a thousand times in this post. It’s a post about digging, ok?

Back to basics, what is the M.O.L.E.?

If you’re new to Techtonica and haven’t blown up the world with the M.O.L.E. yet, the black hole gun in Techtonica is possibly the most important tool you’ll get. It enables you to dig to secret rooms, expand your factory, find hidden chests, and tunnel pathways to massive caverns.

A major resource in Techtonica is space, so being able to control and refine what voxels you’re digging out is vital to building your perfect factory.

We’ve been listening to your feedback on the M.O.L.E. and our own internal feedback. Our Game Director, Richard, surprised the whole team with a bunch of QoL upgrades for the M.O.L.E. last week, so let’s dig in and talk about ‘em!

You can dig down!

That’s right, you can dig straight down to the bottom of the world. Just be sure to pack some stairs so you don’t get stuck in a hole.

This was a hotly requested feature from the community – and our team – and we’re stoked it will be in 0.1.1!

Dig really, really BIG holes!

Whenever the Groundbreaker looks down with the M.O.L.E., it will dig down relative to the bit size you have equipped at half the bit size. So, if you’re using the massive 12×12 bit, you can dig down 6 voxels at a time.

Yeah, that’s big.

Improved dig cursor!

The voxels you are blasting away are now highlighted in red, making it easier to pinpoint exactly what you’re digging and where.

This works horizontally and vertically, so you’ll have more control over the voxels you remove.

Locked dig cursor movement!

While you hold dig, the dig cursor is locked to the same horizontal plane allowing you to dig trenches.

It also locks once you begin digging, so you can move your camera around while actively digging and it will keep digging in that spot.

Finally, we’d like to leave you with a little teaser for 0.1.1… In game metrics are coming! We will have more information on that soon.

The team is actively working on more improvements to Techtonica for 0.1.1 and beyond, check back every Monday for more updates!

Got some questions about Techtonica? Want to hang with some Groundbreakers and share your factories? Join our Discord at https://discord.gg/techtonica.

Thanks for reading, watching, and your feedback. We’ll see you next week!