After four years, the early access period for Mechanistry’s game is coming to an end, and the game’s developer is preparing for it.

Although the exact release date is unknown, Mechanistry has revealed what to expect and made some new features available for testing. The 1.0 update will be unlike anything we’ve seen before. Rather than focusing on a specific area, version 1.0 will expand the game in all areas and introduce several minor new features that they and we wanted to see in the game. It begins with a series of new map objects to be discovered as the beaver metropolis grows. These include natural phenomena such as aquifers and geothermal fields, which can be exploited using discoverable technologies like geothermal engines and aquifer drills. Other newly introduced objects are more dangerous. For instance, beavers can get injured by thickets when trying to remove them, and unstable cores can explode if beavers get too close.

The update adds two new maps, each with different challenges. In Pressure, all water sources are underground. According to Mechanistry, blocking an outlet can have consequences elsewhere. In Oasis, players start in a small green area surrounded by wasteland. They must use aquifers skillfully to revive the landscape. New features include buildable spiral staircases, customizable city flags, and a graphics pass that updates the game’s skyboxes and adds reflections to liquids. Finally, if our beavers die, we will be able to see this with the help of a new animation pack because it includes beaver death animations.

The scope of the update is the main reason why an exact release date has not yet been set. The list of changes and additions is extensive, and more are expected. All of these require thorough testing. However, testing has already begun, and an experimental 1.0 version is available for us to try out.

Source: PCGamer, Steam, Steam Community