Experimental Test 001

Updates
Active Grabbing

The right trigger now activates a state in which you are allowed to quickly and easily grab things in your vicinity. Rings will pop up notifying you of items and modules that you can pick up or interact with. Press A to then pick up your selected item, or interact with base modules and items with buttons on them.

Releasing the trigger while you are in the grabbed state will slot things into your hand. This allows you to freely move around the world with one item that your Astroneer is now holding. It looks rough right now, but if we decide to keep this, it will be animated so that way things aren't eating your entire body.

Not so fast though, there is a downside to keeping items in your hand. Instead of just using your hand as another slot, items in your hand will prevent you from using your terrain tool, because your hand is occupied.

B is now the designated button to "undo" or "cancel" the grabbing state. If you have something actively grabbed or in your hand, you can press B to drop it. This can be used to just drop something at your feet, or drop an item you grabbed so you can continue using the terrain tool.

Deforming While Using the Camera

Previously, the controls only allowed you to see where you were deforming by tracking the ring on the ground indicating where you were going to add/subtract/flatten terrain. This new scheme breaks that up, allowing you to still control the camera, while freely moving the terrain tool indicator ring around you. This allows greater freedom to see where you want to deform, or the ability to pan around to the next area where you are going to add or subtract terrain. Use the left stick to control deforming, and use the right to look around. What this does take away is the ability to move while deforming.

Quick Grabbing

Now you can quickly and easily grab lots of items and slot them directly into your backpack without having to actually open it. Mouse and keyboard players already have this functionality, and now gamepad players can also utilize this feature. To quick grab, hold the right trigger, and then press the backpack button, Y. This will place items directly into any open slots in your backpack.

Tether Placement

Tethers now are extremely easy to place down using the gamepad. The main way is to press down on the d-pad one time. This will put a tether into your hand, and while holding right trigger, allow you to place it anywhere you want. The newest functionality now allows you to place a tether at your feet after putting one in your hand. Press down on the d-pad again to place your already grabbed tether. This gives you the ability to place down long tether lines without ever having to use the virtual cursor.