- Update 0.14.0 - 10 May 2026
The humanoid robots have been totally remodelled. They are now much more detailed but also better optimized. A few of the original blue humanoid ( GX93a ) robots have been left in the game with their bulkier replacements now slightly harder to destroy. In order to improve performance and reduce stuttering during gameplay, the game now waits for shaders PSO caches to be generated at startup with a loading screen. This should only appear once when the game is first started up following the initial install, but may also be required when your graphics drivers are updated. They should take around minute to compile.Some combat related fixes to humanoid robot behaviour. When playing on lower spec machines, make sure super-sampling is disabled, especially with ray tracing an d Lumen enabled. Old saves can still be loaded for this build. For all saves prior to version 0.12.5, its best to start n…
- Update 0.13.0 - 30 November 2025
· Settlement Zero has been upgraded to Unreal Engine 5! Currently using version 5.7.0· Ray tracing and Dynamic Global Illumination ( Lumen ) is now supported for those with graphics cards that support hardware raytracing feature, and both are enabled by default. These features can be disabled in the graphics quality settings menu, for increased framerates. NOTE: The combination of ray tracing with static baked lighting isn't supported, so this option is currently disabled. · There are now 4 graphics quality settings: LOW, MEDIUM, HIGH and ULTRA.· Virtual Shadow Maps are now used for shadows for all quality settings, apart from the LOW, that switches to using static pre-baked shadows.· Volumetric clouds have been added, plus changes to lighting. · Some minor tweaks to gameplay. This includes the number of ray firing aerial craft having been reduced from 3 to 2, plus the blue humanoid rob…
- Update 0.12.5 - 22 February 2024
· The player now has to pass through the underground area to get to the main central area. The underground area has been extended and connects with the large circular building. This includes a new large interior space that the player passes through. · Global game events can now occur sooner and now depend on player progress. · Enemy robots now inflict much more damage, encouraging the player to be more tactical. They can no longer just run past groups of them and hope for the best. Old saves can still be loaded for this build, but it is strongly advised to start new games as some of the changes will affect the overall gameplay.
- Update 0.12.0.5 - 19 January 2024
· Various minor graphics and lighting tweaks. Increased the shadow quality for the high end graphics setting, which now has a much further draw distance and fewer artefacts. · Some minor improvements and fixes to surrounding apartment buildings in the start area.
- Update 0.12.0 - 12 January 2024
· Game now starts in an entirely new area on a hillside facing the settlement, requiring you to take the flying shuttle transport to reach the main settlement area. · The apartment building where the game begins, has been totally rebuilt. It is much larger and more detailed, and now has several rooms. It was decided to allow old saves to still be loadable for this build, but it is strongly advised to start new games, especially for games that were saved in the original game start area, which will very likely have some issues with stability.
- Update 0.11.0 - 11 May 2023
• A new weapon, a portable defensive sentry drone type, has been added. These can been stored and retrieved using the same controls as the grenades. You can toggle selection between these two storable types by pressing the retrieve button for over half a second. The highlighted icon on the HUD will indicate which storable type the button will retrieve when pressed. • Once placed in the world, they will hover and settle to a height of around 1m above the ground, at which point you can activate them by pressing the button on their top. They have eight extending guns that automatically fire lasers at any approaching robots that come into their range. • They have limited energy and will perform a controlled drop to the floor when low on power. They can be picked up and recharged just like your raygun at the charging stations. A bar on their top displays current battery level This build shou…
- Update 0.10.1 - 1 November 2022
• Grabbing hold of grenades, raygun upgrades and passes is now much easier. They get highlighted when in pickup range and will snap to your hand when you press trigger. If there is more than one pickup in range the closest is highlighted to make it clearer which one you'll be grabbing. • More updates to central circular building. An effect has been added to the rotating sphere on the roof level. Also some fixes to the building's exterior lighting. • Fix for music switching which was not working correctly with humanoid robots. This build should be compatible with saves from the previous 0.9.0 and 0.10.0 versions. Saves from builds 0.8.0 and earlier will still use the old game event timings, so for the best experience it is advised to start a new game in that case.
- Update 0.10.0 - 5 October 2022
• The large circular building in the central district has now been totally remodelled with higher detail and is now enterable. It's much larger and now includes a large atrium area with 6 accessible floors using internal spiral walkways and lifts. • A skybridge connects the neighbouring Siphonovium building's rooftop and its shuttle station to this new building's domed glass roof level. • More robots have been added to the central district. This build should be compatible with saves from the previous 0.9.0 version. Saves made using builds 0.8.0 and earlier will still use the old game event timings, so for the best experience it is advised to start a new game for that case.
- Update 0.9.0 - 16 July 2022
• Humanoid robot behaviour is now much more varied during the early stages of the game. They can now switch between walking, sitting and standing states. When approached in the standing state, they can choose to say something to you from a set of short phrases that change as the game progresses. They might also say location specific phrases that may be helpful in progressing in the game. • Raygun upgrades and other pickups scattered around the map, now display a highlighted effect and play a sound as you approach them, making them much easier to locate. • Some fixes to the robot pacing state just prior to coming in to attack you. Also the rate at which robots get more aggressive has been decreased. • Improvements to raygun button selection, and selection using the shuttle ticket machine touch screens. • The timings for key game events have been spread out, giving the player a lot more t…
- Update 0.8.0 - 31 May 2022
• The surrounding environment has been updated with a new much more expansive terrain. • A new enterable building has been added on one of the surrounding mountains which is reachable by taking a shuttle from the Tria Sanctuary station (located on upper levels of the triple-towered building). This building will become an access point to a new area in the mountains, coming in a future update. • Updated to use Unreal Engine version 4.27.2 This build should be compatible with your current saves. Future updates should be coming at roughly 2 month intervals, with version 0.9.0 sometime during the first week of August.
- Development Update - 12 April 2022
After another pause in development, I am happy to announce that development on Settlement Zero has now fully resumed! Several improvements and additions are planned over the coming months. The first new update (0.8.0), will be coming in late May. More details about dates and what to expect for the following updates will be given at that time. The current aim is for a final 1.0 release in December 2022, but there are some further improvements, potential characters and new areas that are still to be decided upon, so it is possible that this date may move slightly to accommodate these additions.
- Update 0.7.1.3 - 24 February 2021
• Unreal Engine updated to version 4.26.1 • Central square area ground lightmap fixes • Fix for a visibility related bug in the starship's interior
- Update 0.7.1.2 - 22 February 2021
• Added sight perception to the humanoid robots which now only approach and attack once they've spotted you. They also now have a more gradual increase in aggressiveness as the game progresses. • Spread out times for some high level events. • Optimizations to Starship
- Update0.7.1.1 - 16 February 2021
Particle Effect Optimizations
- Update 0.7.1 - 13 February 2021
• You now have a watch-like communications device with a projected holographic screen on your right hand. It will be receiving messages from friends that managed to escape on the starship. New messages are displayed automatically when you move the device into your view. You can re-display older messages by reactivating the display. This is done by touching the lower left button ( below the projector lens) of the device which toggles the projected display on and off. Once on, you can use the lower right button to step back through and display past messages. This will be developed further in future updates with more messages giving you some clues as to what is happening. This update wont invalidate save data and should be compatible with your current saves.
- v0.7.0.5 - 29 January 2021
Added some flight avoidance volumes to spaceport area Bug Fix: standard bloom for medium graphics setting, as should have been enabled Bug Fix: ray gun plasma selection buttons triggering during combat
- Update 0.7.0 - 22 January 2021
• A new large interior area added which contains the games final finish with you escaping the settlement. • Laser cannons on towers now defend the spaceport. These can be disabled with 4 charged up plasma ball shots to their turrets. • An enterable control tower building surrounded by a force field wall added next to the launch pad in the spaceport area. • A first pass music system has been added which checks your current danger level and switches the music accordingly. • You can now gain temporary invulnerability from laser or plasma fire, from an energy field located somewhere in the settlement. The duration the protection is active is relative to your shield amount at the time of exposure to the energy field. • Particle effect performance optimizations. It was decided not to invalidate saves, even though this is a major update. This build should be compatible with your current saves.
- Update v0.6.3 - 22 December 2020
• Launch pad area by the spaceport has been updated. • The current end area where the game currently finishes has also had an update, giving you a glimpse of a final new area • Plasma ball particle effects have been improved using the Niagara visual effects system. • Detail has been added to Telluris Tower. • Engine update (to 4.25.4) This update wont invalidate save data and should be compatible with your current saves.
- Update v0.6.2 - 14 November 2020
* The second ‘blue’ shuttle line is now operational and takes you to a new terrace area at the top of the triple towers located by the spaceport. Several more shuttle passes have been placed at various locations around the settlement. * The game start has been updated. Evacuation shuttles buses now fly from various locations to the spaceport just before the Starship takes-off. These can be useful later for cover in the spaceport area. This update wont invalidate save data and should be compatible with your current saves
- Update v0.6.1 - 17 October 2020
* A creature type has been added that slowly moves around in the air and contains a special shield-giving plasma in its body visible through its transparent skin. The plasma is increasingly excited when you fire your laser at the creatures, and eventually released in an explosion. If in range, you will receive a shield boost, the amount depending on your distance to the creature when the plasma is released. * The plasma explosion will also give damage to anything in range, including you as it will bypass your shield and directly hit your health. The shield will protect you against all damage apart from the creature plasma explosion. Note that you also now lose health at a much faster rate when receiving damage with zero shield. This update wont invalidate save data and should be compatible with your current saves.
