We are delighted to announce that the new procedural generation system, discussed in the QUINTESSENCE blog, is now available for Steam and GOG users.

The new proc gen system addresses player feedback we’ve received about Sunless Skies feeling empty, as well as solving some tricky technical and design issues on our side. Its segment-based design allows us to create richer, more coherent environments, while still encouraging replayable exploration.

We very much look forward to your feedback on the new design! Feel free to let us know your thoughts via our Steam, GOG or FBG forums.

The new segment-focused proc gen system is available for players via a separate branch in Steam/GOG. This means that the original proc gen system of the game will still be the main playable build available to players when they login to Steam/GOG to play. However, if anyone wants to try out the new system, they can follow the simple steps below to try it out.

A experimental HUD (where you view your fuel, supplies, heat etc. on the screen) will also be available in the new proc gen branch.

Important Note: If you are planning to try out the new branch we would recommend creating a separate character or making a backup copy of your character’s Lineage folder, as once you have imported your character’s save file from the main branch into the new proc gen branch, you will not be able to load that save file into the main branch again. More details about this can be found in our Patch Notes.

Steam

Log into your Steam account

Go to your Library and right-click on Sunless Skies

Select ‘Properties’ and click on the ‘Betas’ tab

Enter ‘proceduralgeneration’ into access code text box and click ‘Check code’

Click ‘Close’ and your game should update with the new proc gen build

To revert to the main branch: follow the same steps above, but select ‘NONE – Opt out of all beta programs’ from the dropdown menu in Steam’s ‘Betas’ tab

GOG

If you don’t have it already, download GOG Galaxy . Only GOG Galaxy users can make use of branches!

Log into your GOG account

Right click on Sunless Skies and select ‘Settings’

Make sure ‘Beta channels’ in the top right of this page is set to ‘On’

Choose ‘add private channels’ from the channel dropdown menu and enter the password ‘proceduralgeneration’

Click ‘Install’ to download the new proc gen version of Sunless Skies

To revert to the main branch: on the ‘Settings’ page, select ‘default’ branch and click ‘install’ again

No FBG Podcast Today

Also, our FBG Podcast about trade with Chris has been postponed due to some unforeseen circumstances. We are hoping to reschedule for Wednesday 6th December at 16:00 GMT.