Major Optimization Update

Major Optimization Update

This update rebuilds the entire AI navigation system with a smarter, faster one from the ground up — allowing for more overall performance.

Focused on some small things as well as the large system just mentioned.

Additions

• Hamster Recovery: Hamsters now recover if the ground beneath them is destroyed, moving to the nearest safe spot instead of floating in the air

• Placement Preview: Machine placement preview now works on all surfaces, not just terrain

• Placement Types: Machines now support placement types: Terrain Only, Any Floor, Wall Mount, and No Restrictions

• Material Variants: Block colors now support material variants — each color can have an optional alternate material (e.g., Glass) toggled with V

• Drone Destruction: FPV Drone can now destroy machines by holding Q, with the same hold-to-destroy mechanic and combo speed bonus as on foot

• Maxed Upgrades: Maxed-out upgrades now show "No More Upgrades" instead of disappearing from the selection screen

• Blueprint Achievement: Now retroactively unlocks for players who collected 10+ blueprints before the achievement existed

Optimization / Changes

• Batched Navigation: Navigation updates are now batched every ~15 seconds instead of on every block placed or removed

• Localized Recalculation: Navigation only recalculates the area around changed blocks instead of rebuilding the entire map like previously

• Async Loading: Save loading is now fully asynchronous — objects load in batches instead of all at once, eliminating the freeze on load

• Save Protection: Auto-saving is blocked during loading, preventing save corruption mid-load

• Quit Safety: Quitting mid-save now waits for any background file writes to finish before performing the final save, preventing data loss

• Drone Exit Key: Drone exit key is now **Tab **

Fixes

• Fixed hamsters floating upward due to incorrect ground detection

• Fixed block painting only applying the color tint and ignoring the actual material — transparent and specialty materials (e.g., glass) now render correctly when placed

• Fixed the sled constantly falling through the map

• Fixed wave defense hamsters not properly detecting the ground

• Fixed hamsters no longer being spooked by the player

• Fixed machine placement preview locking to the last placed position instead of following the crosshair

• Fixed trap cages spawning with a hamster already inside

• Fixed tubes not cleaning up when their connected machine is destroyed

• Fixed tube cleanup not triggering during loading, which previously caused tubes to self-destruct before their machines had spawned

• Fixed tubes only clearing one side of their port connection on removal, leaving stale references that blocked new connections

• Fixed machines not returning to your inventory when destroyed after loading a save