Corelink Protocol Demo · published · build 25021215
This update expands early progression, improves world generation and NPC behavior, adds new utility equipment, and fixes several placement, performance, lighting, farming, and decoration issues.
## New and restored content
- Added the Cable Pass-Through Connector, a slim passable power connection for floors, ceilings, and either side of solid blocks.
- The connector supports two cable links with the same 16-tile reach as a Power Hub. Its placement ghost now follows the selected side and rotation correctly.
- Added Utility Belt: increases inventory capacity by 8 slots.
- Added Scholar Belt: increases completed research output by 10%.
- Added Crafter Belt: makes manual crafting 10% faster.
- Restored the Environmental Suit to the Spinning Wheel recipe list.
- Added plantable Flax Seeds with their own inventory artwork. They can appear as a normal bonus alongside early underground seed packets.
- Sunflowers now provide edible, plantable Sunflower Seeds that can also be used by recipes.
## World generation and loot
- A standard new world now receives about 100 shallow underground treasure chests across its first 50 underground tiles.
- Shallow chests now contain two useful raw ore types while keeping optional Circuit Board, seed, and coin stacks compact.
- Circuit Boards remain optional in early chests and their stack size is now 2-4.
- Existing rare loot and specialized underwater/submarine loot remain separate and intact.
- Improved early cave distribution at depths 20-60 and prevented mineral passes from filling planned cave air.
- Underground lakes now retain visible, indestructible stone sides and floors without air seams.
- Oil reservoirs and their protective shells are preserved through later world-generation passes.
- Surface animals are spread across suitable dry biome columns instead of clustering near lake edges or spawning over deep lakes.
- Spawn selection now stays inside the chosen biome, avoids water and authored landmarks, and preserves generated NPC houses and outposts.
## Farming and natural decoration
- Mature planted flax now produces the correct fiber harvest and returns seed stock.
- Generic world flowers now have a specific display name and remain non-dropping decoration.
- Moss patches, natural moss, murky-water plants, and other aquatic flora can now be cleared without becoming inventory items.
- Removing aquatic decoration restores the water beneath it instead of destroying the water tile.
- Auto Harvesters no longer target decorative water lilies.
- Glow Shrooms are treated as non-dropping decoration and once again produce visible light at night, including with low lighting resolution.
## NPCs and animals
- Improved NPC walk animation direction, walk-cycle continuity, ground contact, equipment positioning, and sprite anchoring.
- NPCs no longer jitter, micro-hop at doors, or treat natural tree trunks as blocking structures.
- Friendly NPC task and gift buttons now respond once per click.
- Friendly NPCs can follow direct work orders while roaming.
- Farmer tasks now water farmland correctly.
- NPC miners no longer remove player-placed terrain and now walk to distant targets before working.
- NPC herb harvesting uses the natural regrowth system, while berry harvesting preserves the bush and starts its cooldown.
- Improved generated house furnishing placement and restored the Blacksmith's correct workstation.
- Crafting stations and benches are now passable to animals, while real structural blocks still stop them.
- Animals stop cleanly and turn around at blocked edges and platform drops.
## Crafting, equipment, and UI
- Hovering directly over `+10` at a production station now shows the total ingredient cost for ten crafts. Single-craft hover still shows the price for one.
- Snow Boots now use Plastic and no longer require Marble.
- Improved Electric Station recipe ordering around Power Cable, the Cable Pass-Through Connector, Power Hub, Circuit Boards, and lamps.
- Larger, clearer NPC interaction text no longer affects unrelated dense UI panels.
- Handheld tools, torches, and reusable bottles can no longer be accidentally placed as generic world blocks.
## Performance and stability
- Pausing the game now uses a lower frame limit instead of allowing rendering to run at roughly 700-1000 FPS.
- Improved new-world cave and resource generation performance while preserving protected structures and open cave space.
- Added regression coverage for world generation, loot balance, farming, NPC behavior, animal pathing, placement ghosts, crafting costs, equipment bonuses,
massive overhaul while im playing the game.