Abiotic Factor Dark Energy Update: Reactors, Gatekeepers, Hardlight Tech, and Patch Notes

Abiotic Factor's Dark Energy update, listed as update 0.10.0, expands the Facility with a new major story sector, fresh systems, balance passes, new gear, and a very long list of fixes. The update is built around deeper paranormal exploration, more base utility, and several changes that make multiplayer survival less messy.

Dark Energy Update Highlights

Dark Energy is the second major content update for Abiotic Factor. It adds the Reactors sector, introduces the Gatekeepers faction, brings in traveling traders, expands technology with Teleporter Pads and Hardlight tools, and adds new weapons, armor, pets, fishing content, and deployables.

Some of the details below touch on newly added content, so players avoiding all spoilers may want to skim the headlines only. Science is more fun when it is surprising, at least until it starts biting.

New Sector: The Reactors

The headline addition is The Reactors, a new sector unlocked after completing Hydroplant. The official Dark Energy update notes describe it as a large and unusual area packed with enemies, armor, trinkets, weapons, deployable gadgets, and darker paranormal threats.

The Reactors are also tied to a new faction called The Gatekeepers. These heavily militarized residents have made a home beneath the Facility, but the notes leave their origin and motives deliberately unclear. Finding out what they are doing is part of the new story progression.

Traders, Travel, Pets, and Technology

Marion returns as a traveling trader in the GATE Cascade Research Facility after Flathill has been completed. Traveling traders can be drawn to a base with a special powered object, then visit on certain days of the week. Existing traders also received a new interface, and the Blacksmith and Warren no longer rely on trade machines for direct exchanges.

Teleporter Pads add reusable point-to-point travel. Two linked pads create an instant travel route, making long return trips through cleared sectors much easier. They are expensive, but saving ten trips through familiar corridors is its own kind of luxury.

Hardlight Technology adds craftable bridges and shields. Hardlight Bridges can be made in pedestrian and vehicle-sized versions, while the Hardlight Shield can repel bullets. The update also adds a Construction Gauntlet screwdriver, Hexwood Hammer, and other deployable or crafted tools.

A new pet or weapon-like creature, IS-0128, appears in the update. The notes describe it as a strange long-nosed creature that benefits from being fed and can produce paranormal goo. Some pets can now be held or stored as items, which relates to the new addition.

Fishing also expands with more fishing spots, new fish, and new food possibilities.

Weapons, Armor, and Gear Additions

Dark Energy adds several combat and travel options. New crafted weapons include:

• Harpoon Spear
• Exor Flail
• Quill Spear
• Rocket Launcher
• Laser Grenade
• Drop Shield
• Cluster Grenade
• Null Grenade
• [REDACTION] Grenade

The Harpoon Spear sits in the Hydroplant weapon tier and helps keep enemies at range. Exor-themed weapons use materials tied to paranormal enemies. The [REDACTION] Grenade creates a small black hole effect that pulls in nearby objects and enemies.

New armor includes Exor Armor and Reactor Armor, each with unique set bonuses. Several backpacks and helmets were also added, including the Long Jump Pack, which helps with gap traversal, and the Pocket Dimension Pack, which increases carrying capacity by storing items in its own dimension.

New inhibitors can prevent enemies from spawning near powered bases. Three inhibitor types were introduced through Reactors content.

Roadmap Context

Alongside Dark Energy, Deep Field Games shared an updated roadmap. At the time, the next major update was planned as Cold Fusion, the 1.0 release, targeting late spring. It was described as the final main story chapter and planned to add enemies, another faction, an upgrade system, power armor, new resources, new items, and more.

The roadmap also teased future content beyond 1.0 with a "1.1...and beyond?" note. The developer described the roadmap as flexible, so all timing and feature lists were subject to change.

v0.10.0.15175 Change Notes

Story and Sector Progression

• The Reactors sector opens after Hydroplant.
• The new area includes additional enemies, armor, trinkets, weapons, deployables, and story content.
• Gatekeepers are introduced as a new faction, but the notes intentionally avoid explaining them in detail.
• Four achievements tied to story progression were added.
• Keypad Hacker T4 now requires a trip to Canaan because its recipe needs 1x Lodestone Fragment.
• New Compendium entries were added.
• High Inquisitor Hasta Tria recovered a High Inquisitor suit.

Enemy Respawn Changes

Enemy and entity spawns now depend on in-game days rather than real-time minutes. This allows areas to stay clear temporarily after players put in the work. It also gives the developers more control over enemy density, patrol behavior, and placement. Snipers should no longer return every few real-time minutes, which is good for morale and nearby drywall.

Traveling Traders

• Traveling Traders are now a feature.
• Marion can wander the Facility after Flathill has been completed.
• Traders can be attracted to bases by placing a powered object.
• The Blacksmith's trade machine was removed, and he can be traded with directly.
• Warren's trade machine was removed, and he is also now a direct trader.
• Another non-traveling trader was added.
• Friendly scientists now react when damaged.
• The Blacksmith will look at the player again.

The Encroachment

• Something from another Anteverse has entered the Facility.
• A new email can be found in Mines Check-In near the Surface Tunnel.
• A Check-In station was added to the Old Mines in Manufacturing West.
• A new area opened near the Old Mines with new enemies, items, a trinket, figurines, a suit, and more content from Anteverse 299.
• Players who own Core Keeper on Steam receive access to a new fabric, ID card, and hairstyle.

World Save Upgrade

• The world save format was upgraded.
• Existing worlds must be upgraded from the world selection menu before play.
• A pre-upgrade backup is created, but it is overwritten after 2.5 hours of gameplay.
• Players encountering major save issues are told to stop playing and send the save file to the developers.
• Save files received stability and compression improvements.
• World names using illegal characters should no longer prevent proper saving.

General Gameplay

• Startup flow changed slightly. After pressing a key on the splash screen, the game attempts to connect to the server browser.
• If server browser connection fails, the player is notified that only singleplayer or LAN is available.
• Multiplayer sessions now have Lobby Join Codes shown in the Escape Menu. Codes are hidden by default and can be revealed with the eye icon.
• Direct Connect is now available in the Server Browser.
• Death bags now appear at the last saved safe location if a player dies while standing in shallow liquid.
• Bolts and other projectiles stuck in corpses return as items when the corpse is gibbed.
• Fall damage thresholds were reduced by about half a meter per tier.
• Active body shields block blood effects and correctly play shield-hit effects.
• Several distant gunshot sounds were replaced.
• Bullet whizz sounds were added to many bullets.
• Sound concurrency rules were added to reduce audio overload during large firefights.
• Fire damage audio was made less harsh.
• Scientist low-speed walk-run animations were improved.
• Anomalous was added as a new research material.
• The unfinished feature that allowed buckets to be placed in sinks was removed.
• Lens and reflection materials were updated on scopes, helmets, and enemies.
• Throwables now have cooldowns when using underhand toss where needed.
• LMG distant fire audio changed from stereo to mono.

UI and Quality of Life

• Main Menu Background selection was added to Gameplay Settings.
• New backgrounds unlock through achievements, usually by completing related areas.
• Background selection is saved and can be changed later.
• Main Menu music was restored.
• Mouse3 can now favorite or unfavorite inventory slots instantly.
• The Crafting screen received formatting changes, more text room, smaller font in places, and a moved Favorite button.
• Item set bonuses, buffs, and debuffs now display before crafting.
• Backpack UI was adjusted for larger backpacks, and sorting moved to the left of the backpack slot.
• Inventory icons were slightly enlarged inside slots.
• Tutorial popups should show the correct default keybinds.
• Container UI was extended to avoid scrollbars.
• Bonus Damage now appears on item tooltips.
• CTRL+LMB now adds one item from a stack to the cursor, repeatable from that same stack until the stack limit is reached.
• Camera movement locks while radial wheels are open.
• HUD overlap with pinned journal notes was fixed when large objectives are active.
• Objectives now support multiple waypoints.
• Back button behavior was made more consistent across menus.
• The Previous Recipe button is disabled during crafting to prevent accidental recipe swapping.
• Out-of-date game messages were made more generic because they cannot always identify whether the client or server is outdated.
• Localization updates were made.

Facility Changes

• Yellow railings now have better projectile collision.
• Fix-it interactions have a new sound.
• Waterway valve wheel art was updated.
• Collision was added under Waterfall House in Hydroplant to make one pipe ledge easier to traverse.
• Tutorial and introduction areas received lore and artwork updates.
• Facility signage was improved in several areas.
• Hydroplant spillway activation now has visual effects.
• Waterpipe particles were thinned so they clip through pipes less often.
• A Manufacturing West sniper was given better line of sight.
• Several materials were made shinier, including door hinges and handles.
• Metal doorway and glass textures were updated.
• Weather transitions at different Facility altitudes were improved, especially for low visibility areas around Reactors.
• A leaky pipe sound can be heard in the Office cafeteria.
• Glass Wall Frames now use metal material instead of concrete.
• Whiteboard image compression was reduced for cleaner lines and colors.
• Barbed wire visuals were improved by removing emissive effects and adding specular detail.

Portal World Changes

• Flathill received small additions.
• Voussoir and Rise gained new PA system announcements.
• Dr. Hammond no longer dual-wields shovels.
• Voussoir received more comfort props and confirmed toilets.
• Charging Stations in Voussoir are now present as intended.
• Neutrino Mappers are slightly more likely to appear in Voussoir.
• Mushroom trees now react more like wood instead of metal.
• Some fast food menus were updated.
• Anteverse 23's fireplace corruption appears fixed.
• A school is now open.
• Collision on SM_OozePillar_Small was updated.

Entity and Enemy Changes

• Gatekeepers were added as a faction.
• Several new enemy types can be found in Reactors, but the notes avoid naming them.
• Shoving Pests and non-alerted medium enemies works again.
• Mushroom Peccaries drop more mushrooms.
• IS-0091 pursuit or proximity no longer marks scientists as being in combat.
• Lab Rats received new voice lines and unique breathing sounds.
• Canaanite preachers received visual updates and are slightly less durable.
• Carbuncle birth rates increased.
• Enemies in squads no longer say the same line at the same time.
• Airborne enemies continue falling smoothly when killed.
• Enemies now react when bumped into, even by stealthy players.
• Enemies are better at staying engaged instead of running past targets.
• Enemies can perform longer voice lines without interrupting themselves.
• Mounted LMG enemies stay at their guns unless more serious conditions force movement.
• Enemies on mounted guns no longer stagger away and break their connection as easily.
• Many gun-using enemies now visually aim up and down at targets.
• Enemy bleeding now stops after a while.
• Anteverse Beehives now spawn in their set locations 100% of the time instead of 50%.
• Exor pain shrieks gained more variation.
• IS-0134 appears to have entered a winter season with bulkier fur.
• Lab Rats can drop later progression materials as the player advances.
• Defense Bot mortar arcs were improved to avoid low ceilings better.
• Exor walk and strafe animations improved.
• Enemy footstep sounds now follow characters more accurately.
• IS-0121 blood color was corrected.
• Enemy ledge fall behavior was improved so enemies die and ragdoll in problem areas instead of becoming stuck nuisances.
• Enemies prefer full cover over partial cover when possible.
• Enemies now use different aggro lines for scientists and other targets.
• More Symphonists may appear in fog according to Marion.
• Enemy squad AI was upgraded to support more complex fights.
• Enemies no longer call out reloads if they think they are alone.
• Tethered enemies now respect their intended zones more reliably when the developers want them to do so.

Progression, Narrative, and Cosmetics

• New Compendium content was added.
• Four story achievements were added.
• A bug that shared achievements between accounts on the same PC was fixed.
• Beard textures were adjusted to better match hair color contrast.
• Some helmets now hide customization accessories, such as glasses under a welding mask.

New Items

• Robot Oil now drops from robots with enough effort.
• Harpoon Spear was added as a crafted Hydroplant-tier weapon.
• Exor Flail and Quill Spear were added.
• IS-0128 was added as a pet, weapon, or something in between.
• Some pets can now be held or stored as items.
• Rocket Launcher was added.
• Laser Grenade was added as a rechargeable crafted throwable.
• Drop Shield, Cluster Grenade, Null Grenade, and [REDACTION] Grenade were added.
• Exor Armor and Reactor Armor were added with unique set bonuses.
• Several backpacks and helmets were added.
• Long Jump Pack was added under the Travel crafting category.
• Hardlight Shield was added.
• Construction Gauntlet was added as a screwdriver.
• Hexwood Hammer was added for repairs.
• Lodestone Disc and Plasma Disc were added as Disc Launcher ammo types.

Item Changes

• Black Gunk from IS-0083 can now be obtained from Royal Coins and Royal Crowns, plus other related rewards.
• Throwing Knives can sometimes be recovered and have a low chance to break on impact.
• Throwing Knife damage increased.
• Crystalline Armor disables while sitting or sleeping.
• Quill Rifle was heavily reworked and now homes properly, with ammo and other adjustments.
• Jetpack moved to the Travel crafting category.
• Deatomizer regular and overdrive damage were reduced.
• IS-0099 received new third-person animations.
• Energy Pistol cranking received more variation.
• Carbon Pickaxe loses durability less often.
• Romag Shotgun fire animation now matches its fire rate.
• Charge Shield battery increased from 60 to 100.
• Wessex Rifle now staggers enemies on hit.
• Enemy outline logic was improved for armor bonuses.
• Screwdriver-type tools no longer play excessive audio and impact decals during basic construction.
• Electrothrower fire rate and damage were slightly reduced.
• Electron Grenade damage was slightly reduced.
• Giga Glue was adjusted.
• Cascade Armor durability was greatly increased, and Dark Energy armor sets are also quite durable.

Trinkets

• Several spoiler-sensitive trinkets were added.
• Carbuncle Balloon reduces inventory weight when equipped.
• GATE Employee Locator is sold by Officer Warren and outlines nearby GATE employees and some friendly creatures most of the time.
• Kylie Muir's trinket behavior was restored to General XP Gain.
• The Lowest Skill XP Gain effect returned to Pet Rock.
• Sigil of the Hearth now applies to Mountaineers and some new ammo-dropping enemies.
• Crystalline Vial now restores battery more slowly, changing from 1 battery per 2 seconds to 1 per 4 seconds.
• Crystalline Vial can also regenerate battery when the player takes enough qualifying non-friendly-fire damage.
• Crystalline Vial no longer interrupts deployable or power plug placement when charging.

Recipes, Salvage, and Deployables

• Security Cart and SUV hotwire kit crafting costs were reduced.
• Field Battery recipe can be obtained from a holographic diagram in Security Sector.
• Field Battery is cheaper on Honey and now crafts 3 batteries instead of 1.
• Crafted grenades can no longer be scrapped because returns were uneven.
• Scrapping returns were fixed for Crystalline Armor and many armor or deployable items.
• Crystalline Armor repair requirements were made more sensible.
• More fake research items were added for unlocking recipes.
• Items that require Lenses, Memory Bricks, or Projection Matrixes now generally require fewer duplicate components.
• Any Biocleanser was added as a category usable in Tech Bandages.
• Hardlight Bridge was added in pedestrian and vehicle sizes.
• Teleporter Pad was added.
• Taxidermy [REDACTED] was added and unlocks by killing many [REDACTED].
• Three powered spawn inhibitors were added through Reactors.
• Carbon Bed recipe became cheaper.
• Lasers now visually dim after each bounce, making insufficient power easier to read.
• Many laser deployables now refund all ingredients when destroyed.
• Moisture Teleporter moved to Farming, changed to a circle radius, and increased from 8 meters to 10 meters.
• Moisture Teleporter now pulls more water.
• Charging Station is heavier.
• At least one new rug was added.
• Rug placement orientation was corrected, and the misleading arrow was removed.

Cooking, Farming, and Fishing

• Atypical Butter was added as a food ingredient.
• Shadowberries were added with related recipes.
• Buttery Popcorn was added.
• PLT Sandwich decay was fixed.
• Apples are slightly larger.
• Honey now counts as food and can be placed in refrigerators.
• Oven items can be removed while holding something else.
• Larger fish filets now fit better in pans.
• A mislabeled pot of rice was fixed.
• Oven, pie, stove, radial wheel, portable stove, cooking pot, and placed food visual bugs were fixed.
• Deployed soups that grant items now work correctly when inventory space is full.
• Kitchen Stove repair now checks the whole inventory instead of only the hotbar.
• Butchering no longer plays scrapping sound effects.
• Corn and Nyxshade were added as plantables.
• New fish and foods were added.
• A new Antelight seed type was added.
• Some Antelight seed sources and drop rates were improved.
• Gutfish Eels now always drop their electrical organ.
• Eel Fat drop chance changed from 100% to 50%.
• Plant variants now show correct growth appearances.
• A fishing time-of-day bug that treated some midday hours as midnight was fixed.
• Catching a new fish no longer displays all previously unlocked fish after rejoining.

Performance, Sandbox, Accessibility, and Controller Updates

• First-person animation loading was optimized.
• Several ticking systems were optimized when they did not need to run.
• Enemy character optimization improved, reducing jitter, floating objects, disappearing characters, and odd walking.
• Ragdoll computation and some light fixture rendering were optimized.
• On Apocalyptic difficulty or higher, enemy protective shields have more health.
• Night Only sandbox mode now affects visuals and light sources while the clock and day-night triggers continue to work.
• Always Day and Always Night weather clearing issues were fixed.
• Lights connected to switches and fixtures now follow sandbox day-night rules more reliably.
• Facility Announcement subtitles were added.
• Crafting area description text received a drop shadow.
• Gamepad glyph display issues were fixed.
• Controller cursor friction, rebinding, default controls, and cursor speed were improved.
• Carts can now be moved and steered with controllers.
• Controller glyphs switch immediately when changing controller types.
• Gamepad scroll speed was added to Accessibility settings.
• Settings menus now support A/D and gamepad shoulder navigation.
• Rotate deployable binding issues were fixed.

Bug Fixes

The update fixed many reported issues, including the Laser Emitter and Laser Converter infinite power loop, projectiles being blocked by dead enemy collision capsules, unread journal icons lingering after all entries were read, and invalid aim targets breaking weapon accuracy.

Sleeping in tight spaces should work better. A possible black-room loading issue for clients was addressed. First-person legs should no longer block much of the view during crouch jumps. Right-clicking to dismiss repair or scrapping should no longer favorite slots accidentally.

Additional fixes include wiring trays sounding like concrete, dead enemies continuing to breathe, stuck pets failing to free themselves, Makeshift Toilet construction and bucket save issues, thrown projectiles facing the wrong direction, beehive placement in Induction Wing, Explosive Sledgehammer reload problems, plug placement getting stuck after a socket actor is destroyed, and text boxes not registering key presses immediately.

Enemies should now reach cover properly, Cascade Armor Threat Sensor targeting updates correctly, dedicated server mode setup no longer breaks unfinished skill-cap behavior, human ragdolls look better, and selecting No Ammo unloads instead of reloading.

Other corrections cover enemies turning the wrong way after hearing sounds, Tram Recall Button names, reload warning text color, Personal Teleporters on trams, Anomalies appearing at new game start, Headlamps moving into Armor Stands, recipe unpin button visibility after rehosting, Fanny Pack hotbar radial sections, laser sounds for clients, Romag Shotgun reload attenuation, buffs being removed by long-distance travel, Autosalvager output inventory size, Electron Grenade recipe button color, aquarium sound range, tainted water localization, Anteverse 23 audio, terminal exit and crouch timing, peccary chop collision, cart cargo rename weirdness, enemy target marking, shove reaction direction, Lab Rat scan interruption sliding, Home Buff popup spam, pinned HUD recipes after rejoining, zero-weight item sorting, headlamp HUD icon state, container slot icons, laser weapon durability loss, Tesla Coil client effects, full liquid container messaging, pet naming input spam, Office Cafeteria TV toggling, ghost crafting notifications, and actors saving world state too early during load.

The patch also includes typo fixes, with the traditional risk that new typos may have joined the ecosystem.

Skill, Perk, Trait, and Customization Changes

• Projectile Pickup was added as a new Throwing Rank 5 perk. When the player has inventory room, previously thrown or fired projectiles and weapons can be picked up automatically.
• Reload animations now fall back to earlier skill-level animations when higher-level versions are missing. This mostly affected modded or cheated setups, but the fallback prevents animation gaps.
• Several passive damage types no longer grant Fortitude XP.
• Laser weapons now properly grant Accuracy XP.
• A Lunar New Year fabric for the Year of the Snake was added for all scientists.
• The Reactor Crew ID card was added as an unlockable cosmetic.
• Beard textures were adjusted so they better match different hair color contrasts.
• Some helmets now hide customization accessories while equipped. For example, eyeglasses are hidden when wearing a welding mask.

Extra Cooking and Food Fix Details

The food section of Dark Energy is not only about new ingredients. Several small but useful kitchen fixes were included. Players can now take items out of ovens even while holding something else, which makes meal prep less fussy. Large fish filets fit better in pans, stove interactions should behave more consistently for clients, and placed food visuals now update correctly for players who join a world after the food has already been set down.

Oven state was also cleaned up. An item inside an oven now updates its data properly after cooking on a stove, and placing an oven that had a pie packaged inside it should no longer create broken pie data. The hotbar radial wheel now shows the correct names for cooked foods. Portable Stoves are no longer immune to damage, and cooking pot UI no longer hides visible error messages.

Liquid and soup handling also received attention. Cooking pots now update their liquid visuals for clients, and a possible case where clients had strange stove interactions until a pot or pan was removed was addressed. Deployed soups that grant items now correctly grant those items even when inventory space is full. Repairing a Kitchen Stove no longer requires the repair item to be in the hotbar only, and the wrong pickup verb on pans placed on ovens or stoves was fixed.

Extra Farming and Fishing Details

The farming and fishing notes make several resource routes more predictable. A new Antelight seed type was added, and some ways to acquire Antelight seeds were expanded or given slightly better drop rates. Plants with variants now show the correct appearance while growing, which is useful when sorting farm plots.

Fishing had one major timing bug corrected. Several hours around midday were being read by the fishing system as midnight, which could explain unusual catches during the wrong part of the day. A separate bug where catching a new fish caused the HUD to show every previously unlocked fish once after rejoining was also fixed.

Gutfish Eels are now more reliable for electrical organs, since they have a 100% chance to drop that part. Eel Fat was reduced from a guaranteed drop to a 50% drop chance. The eel organ description was also updated.

Extra Deployable and Base Details

Hardlight Bridges, Teleporter Pads, and inhibitors are the major new deployables, but many existing base items changed too. Carbon Beds became cheaper to craft. Laser systems now communicate power loss better because each bounce visibly dims the beam until weak lasers disappear. The functional result is the same as before, but now the problem is readable instead of mysterious.

Laser deployables now return all ingredients when destroyed in many cases. Moisture Teleporter placement moved to the Farming category, its effect area changed from a capsule to a circle, and its range increased from 8 meters to 10 meters. It also pulls more water than before.

The Charging Station became heavier to better reflect the battery capacity inside it. Rugs were adjusted so their default orientation faces the player more naturally during placement. The arrow was removed because it gave misleading placement information.

Extra Item and Combat Details

Several combat tools were tuned beyond the headline additions. Throwing Knives now deal more damage and may be recovered after impact, though they still have a low break chance. The Quill Rifle received a major pass so its homing behavior works correctly, with other ammo-count and handling adjustments. The Energy Pistol has more variation during cranking.

The Romag Shotgun's first-person fire animation now matches its actual fire rate. The Wessex Rifle now staggers targets when it hits. The Charge Shield battery was raised to 100 from 60. Carbon Pickaxes lose durability less often, and Cascade Armor durability was sharply increased.

Some science weapons became less powerful. Deatomizer regular and overdrive damage were reduced, and both the Electrothrower and Electron Grenade had damage-related reductions. These changes are framed in the notes as strange temporal electrical problems, which is an elegant scientific way to say the toys were too spicy.

Extra Enemy Behavior Details

Enemy behavior received a broad cleanup pass. Enemies now continue falling properly when killed in the air instead of briefly freezing in place. Those stationed at mounted LMGs are less likely to abandon the gun because of minor distractions and should not stagger away from it as easily. Gun-wielding enemies also aim vertically at targets more convincingly.

Cover usage improved. Enemies can now prefer full cover when available, should stop once they actually reach cover, and should not mark the wrong target when combat begins without taking damage. Squad behavior was upgraded, including better interactions between squads fighting each other. Enemies also have separate aggro lines for scientists and non-scientist targets.

Several fixes reduce odd enemy leftovers. Bleeding now ends after a while, enemies falling from ledges in problem areas are more likely to die and ragdoll properly, and dead enemies should no longer continue breathing. Lab Rats should stop sliding around when their scan animation is interrupted. Enemies shoved by players should turn and stumble in the correct direction.

Extra Interface and Multiplayer Details

The Lobby Join Code feature makes multiplayer joining easier. Codes appear in the Escape Menu and are hidden by default for stream safety. Direct Connect was added to the Server Browser, and startup now reports when the server browser cannot be reached, limiting play to singleplayer or LAN.

Inventory and crafting received many smaller usability fixes. The Crafting screen now exposes set bonuses and buffs before items are made, which reduces the need to craft blindly. Bonus Damage now appears on item tooltips, so extra levels in Blunt Melee and similar bonuses are easier to understand. The backpack interface was repositioned for larger packs, inventory slot icons were enlarged slightly, and container UI was stretched to avoid unnecessary scrollbars.

The HUD and journal also behave more cleanly. Pinned journal notes should no longer overlap as easily when large objectives are active. Objectives can support multiple waypoints, and those waypoints can still be toggled from the GATEPal Journal screen. Recipe pinning should survive rejoining, and the unpin button should remain visible after rehosting.

Extra Audio, Visual, and World Fixes

Dark Energy includes many small presentation fixes. Bullet whizz sounds were added, distant gunshots were replaced in some cases, and concurrency rules prevent too many sounds from stacking during firefights. The fire damage sound was made less abrasive, laser sounds now play for clients, and aquarium interaction sounds should not be audible from any range.

Several world materials were corrected so they feel and sound like the right surface. Wiring utility trays no longer behave like concrete, Glass Wall Frames are treated as metal, and many glass textures were updated. Door hinges and handles are shinier, whiteboards are crisper, and some barbed wire visuals are less emissive.

Hydroplant, Voussoir, Flathill, Anteverse 23, and Office areas all received small adjustments. The Hydroplant spillway activation now has effects, one pipe ledge near Waterfall House is easier to cross, Voussoir has more comfort details, Anteverse 23 has cleaner audio and fireplace behavior, and the Office cafeteria has a leaky pipe sound.

Extra Bug Fix Details

Many remaining fixes are small but important for long sessions. Autosalvagers should no longer have tiny output inventories that can delete items. Buffs should not disappear after teleporting or traveling long distances. Containers should stop showing stale slot icons from previously opened inventories. Zero-weight items should sort properly inside inventory grids.

Several interaction bugs were fixed. Input boxes now register key presses immediately, terminals should not create strange crouch issues when exited, pressing F on a full liquid container now shows that the container is full, and opening a pet-naming window should not spam the held key into the text field. Rename functionality for cart cargo inventories was disabled to avoid unusual behavior.

Vehicles and traversal received fixes too. Carts can be moved and steered with controllers, Personal Teleporters can be used while on trams, and death bags should appear at the last safe saved location if a player dies while wading in shallow liquid. Projectiles now face the correct direction while traveling, and projectiles lodged in corpses can be recovered by gibbing the corpse.

The final pass includes typos, localized strings, client visual effects, noisy televisions, crafting notifications that could become impossible to dismiss, and actors attempting to save too early while the world loads. None of those are glamorous fixes, but they are the kind that make a long survival world feel less haunted by bugs and more haunted by actual paranormal threats.