What’s new with the Volcanic Update for The Planet Crafter
The sixth major update for Miju Games’ open-world survival crafter, The Planet Crafter, titled The Volcanic Update, went live on October 16, 2023. In this update, we see a rougher, more savage side to our planet’s topography in the form of volcanic calderas and steamy lava falls. You’ll need to be light on your feet to explore this dangerous new biome in search of precious new ore and valuable items inside a doomed space wreckage.
New Biomes in the Volcanic Update
Get your sunscreen ready because the Volcanic Update has brought us two new biomes that will bring the sun and the heat.
Beach Biome
Just beyond the Giant Waterfall is an ideal beachfront getaway, complete with sandy beaches and islands with lush jungle foliage.
Volcanic Biome
If you continue past the beach, you’ll find yourself in an area filled with lava rock, still cooling in some areas. The volcano biome is a surprisingly dark and dangerous new area to explore, filled with sudden drops into lava-filled pits and giant spacecraft wreckage. You’ll find the ground littered with glittering Iridium and Obsidian ores—a new precious ore introduced in this update. Mind your step while you explore since the lava will hurt if you touch it or venture in.
Some terrain will also cause you pain—keep an eye out for lava rock filled with glowing lava cracks. You will take damage if you step on the glowing stone, so ensure your health is topped off if you must traverse an area filled with this type of terrain. The jetpack is your lifesaver in this biome, but be careful when jetting over the lava pits—the jetpack appears to have a faster drop rate when flying over greater heights.
New items to craft
The Volcanic Update boasts a modest number of new craftable items. Since terraformers are still working within the amphibians stage, fewer new items are needed to continue the terraformation work. New items with the Volcanic Update are as follows:
- Optimizer T1
- Optimizer T2
- Microchip – Map: with this enhancement equipped, access the map anytime by pressing ‘M.’
- Interior Wall – new building piece
- Optimizer fuses x 6 (see list below)
- Obsidian Ore
The Optimizer Machine
Every Planet Crafter update introduces new items to help you cultivate your planet, but only one or two truly change the game’s trajectory. This time, the devs introduce the Optimizer machine—a machine that can boost the effectiveness of nearby machines.
The Optimizer is a new machine type whose only purpose is to amplify the effects of the machines around it. When deployed, the Optimizer will affect a radius; any machines within that radius can qualify for the effect up to the maximum number of machines affected by the tier of the Optimizer. Optimizer T1 can boost up to 5 machines, and Optimizer T2 can boost up to 8 machines. What stat is amplified and how much depends on the type of fuse you add to the Optimizer.
Optimizers are a fantastic addition to the terraformer’s arsenal, as they magnify the effectiveness of various machines. This is especially helpful for those players who experience performance issues due to high numbers of deployables. Adding optimizers into the mix means getting the same output using fewer machines, resulting in fewer needed deployable and a potentially tidier environment.
Optimizer Fuses
Optimizer fuses are an interesting collection of new items. They do and produce nothing on their own, but when plugged into a deployed Optimizer Machine, they will add a multiplier onto EACH of the affected machines in their radius. Fuses can be found in loot boxes within space wreckages and purchased via the Space Trading system. As of the Volcanic Update, players cannot yet craft fuses; they must find them or purchase them.
Presently, six different kinds of Optimizer Fuses are available to work with. Each fuse amplifies one stat, but it’s possible that advanced fuses may become available at a later date that may amplify multiple stats in one. If you’re in need of multiple stats boosted for a particular setup, be sure to upgrade your Optimizer setups to the T2 version once available. The Tier 2 Optimizer has three slots for fuses, which greatly expands the utility of this machine.
List of Optimizer Fuses
- Heat Multiplier Fuse – increases the heat modifier output of affected machines by 2500%
- Plants Multiplier Fuse – increases the plants modifier of affected machines by 2500%
- Oxygen Multiplier Fuse – increases the oxygen modifier of affected machines by 2500%
- Pressure Multiplier Fuse – increases the pressure modifier of affected machines by 2500%
- Energy Multiplier Fuse – energy devices boosted by this Optimizer will output 150% more energy.
- Production Multiplier Fuse – machines boosted by this Optimizer will take 25% less time to produce their yields.
With careful planning, you can place various optimizers around your production machines to increase any metric you wish to improve, whether that’s a terraformation stat, energy production, or even speeding up your Terra Token farming pipeline.
New ore: Obsidian
Big news for the Volcanic Update is adding a new type of ore. Obsidian is the first new ore added to The Planet Crafter in quite some time and is a required crafting component of the Optimizer. You’ll find this shiny new ore when venturing into the new biomes. I won’t spoil the surprise 🙂
Other changes in the Volcanic Update
- The Giant Waterfall is now a new spawn location
- Creative mode is now an option when starting a new save
- Allow for randomization of ores when starting a new save
- Allow for recipe unlocks when starting a new save
- New golden crates
- Changes to jetpack fall speed when too high above the ground!
- Accessibility key/button information is now displayed
- Messages read throughout the planet will now appear on the messages screen
- New mining locations for specific ores
- A new frog and fish type have been added
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