1.3.0 - Sandstone update

Version 1.3.0

Last weekend we were happy to observe Daskalos playing our game on stream. We took his feedback and ran with it: this update brings the most important changes from it, while other ideas found their place in our internal roadmap.

Sandstone, not fossils

• It was pointed out to us (by multiple people, actually) that using fossils as a soft obstacle was unwise. Fossils are rare guests at real dig sites, and when one does turn up, it gets carefully preserved, not smashed through with a pickaxe.
• So the bone piles blocking your dig are gone. In their place: Sandstone. Break it with the Pickaxe, exactly as before. Unlike fossils, sandstone deserves everything it gets.

Better archaeology

• The tutorial dig site now layers its eras in proper stratigraphic order: Islamic on the surface, Medieval in the middle, Roman at the bottom.
• Several dig sites got their era lineups revised for the same reason.

Steam Input fixes

We fixed long-standing controller input issues we only recently became aware of.

• The right stick now moves the cursor in menus and gameplay on every dual-stick controller, Steam Deck included.
• Fixed: the D-pad could not activate the Bulldozer during the Bulldozer tutorial.
• Fixed: controller input going dead in Level Select after finishing an expedition.
• Added WASD to the default control layout as an alternative to the arrow keys for controlling camera position during gameplay.

Other fixes

• Fixed another set of circumstances that could get you stuck in the journal during the Collections tutorial.
• Changed how save sharing is handled between the Demo and the Full game, to prevent Steam Cloud from resetting progress and full game stats from leaking to Demo leaderboards.