Some bits of 1.0 are related to Tier 9 production, which is brand spanking new and with my new save, I can’t really comment upon aside from saying it looks to have taken the scaling challenge and double dared it.

For the non-tier 9 stuff, there have been recipes tweaks, node changes, and balancing across the game. Net result is more stuff to collect, and generally simplified recipes and math. Alternative recipes have been tweaked to actually be useful! It’s quite good changes all around. New items and things are quite fascinating. SAM Ore, Mercer Spheres and Somersloops now have a practical use, and one that is frankly game changing.

Dimensional Depots are virtual containers that allow you access to materials without actually having them in your inventory. You need SAM Ore + Mercer Spheres to create boxes in supply chains to automatically add them to the storage, and you also need them to upgrade the boxes themselves. At max upgrades, you can virtually hold 5 stacks of any item, and re-upload them at a rate of 240/minute. With the exception of massive foundation layouts, this means that any tweaking of layouts can be done without worry of inventory levels. No more running out of stuff and having to trek back for something stupid like 12 rods.

Alien Power Augmenter is a power structure that boosts your total power generation by 10% (up to 30% if you feed it end-game items). It takes 10 Somersloops to create, and with 106 total available, you can’t build infinite amounts. 10% doesn’t seem like much, but let’s say you add 5 for 50%. That’s half your power output for very, very little cost.

Production Augmenter is a new entry for machines that double their output for no additional input but 4x the power cost. Hitting a bottleneck? Throw a few in the chain and quickly solve it. Want to cut space elevator production in half? Boost the final items.

Teleporters allow you to link 2 portals anywhere on the map for a major power cost and a new item that requires 1 Nuclear Pasta (!!). I had a mod that did this, but was limited to tier 5 components and for practical reasons meant I didn’t need hyperloop canons (which are cool but dumb). This new version is worse in almost every way (availability, cost, complexity) and I fully expect it to get tweaked substantially over time. Just like the Parachute had near-zero usage due to the cost, this is conceptually sound but practically useless. (Listen, I get the argument against fast-travel. I really do. Exploration should be meaningful. Running back to base for a stack of concrete half the map away is the dumb we don’t need. The guesswork in a hyperloop canon is something that can go in a corner.)

New Cosmetics in the shop and HUB. You can change your looks, and have new paint options for the base. Not needing to collect flowers to paint is AMAZING.

Straight Belts are now an in-game option when building. This seems minor, but from a visual perspective it cuts the time laying belts down by at least half, if not more. Also applies to railways (CTRL) to make super straight lines. YAY!

Clipping is less an issue now than before. For those who don’t care what it looks like as long as it works, this is heaven. It’s also the only way a main bus can work without drinking yourself silly.

Drones can use any fuel, not just batteries. They go faster with better fuel, but now you can have backup options instead of a totally crippling production failure.

Mk6 Belts are here (1200/min). The costs are crazy, so for practical reasons you’ll only use them on the output of 250% Mk3 Miners and then split them to Mk5 belts (2x 780/min). So… win?

Blueprint Designers have Mk2 and Mk3 now, which go from 4×4 to 5×5 and 6×6. I guess this has some use for Nuclear Power Plants or Particle Accelerators. I don’t see why this needs upgrades, it should just be 1 version. And a larger one at that.

Overall, 1.0 brings a rather significant set of changes to the game across all spectrums. Lots of quality of life changes, more flexibility in production chains, better crafting tools and a brand new tier of tech (first since like 2019). I would have easily argued the last major patch (v8) was enough to launch, but this is more like an expansion.

If you haven’t played, you should. If you have played and put it aside, hard to think of a better time to spin up a new factory!