The initial release for Trappist went without major issues. So I had some time to improve the Cryo Pods. This is one of the first buildings the player interacts with on starting the game but both the model and the UI were still from the very first development builds of the game.

The Cryo Pod will lower or rise depending on the number of colonists in the pod.

An earlier model had individual pods for each colonist, matrix-style. But rows upon rows of pods didn’t quite evoke the care-free atmosphere I was going for. Not even after adding comfortable green lighting.

The Cryo Pods are now available directly on arrival. And freezing and thawing is done in just three seconds. This lets you move the colonists into the Cryo Pods in case of emergencies or supply shortages.

The full changelog for the v0.3 update:

• Improved Cryo Pod building model and UI
• Decreased Cryo Pod thaw and freeze times from 15s to 3s
• Small UI layout fixes for incoming messages
• Improved shadow quality
• Increased maximum view distance for the solar system overview