Code: Terraform Patch Notes & Update History

Update 0.1.36: machines, languages and scripts

The October 21 announcement identifies the live version as 0.1.36. Official notes.

• Mk IV Oxygen Generators, Pressure Generators and Heaters: output increases 2.5×. Reassess the machines needed for your atmosphere target before expanding the same old layout.
• Fuel Rods: a rod now lasts the full 10 days in a Mk IV machine. Reactors also reach their intended working temperature.
• Languages: 19 including English. Choose Settings → Language; code identifiers stay unchanged.
• Libraries: applying a repaired Library restarts the scripts its error stopped. Check the result’s script list.
• Biology Lab: cataloged specimens expose more information through self.specimen; extract() still requires analyze() first.
• Status display: the Computer Scripts tab updates text set with set_status.

The post also lists 0.1.35: Steam Snap/Wayland startup, Windows overlay/input fixes, external-editor filename case, recovered edits under Pause, and script Variants updating older copies. Saves, settings and scripts carry over.

New engine update, October 16

The mid-October update moves Code: Terraform to Electron, the same Chromium engine that powers Google Chrome, on both Linux and Windows. The announcement names no build number, so this page records it as the engine update rather than guessing a version. Checked October 16, 2026. Official announcement.

Why the engine changed. The developer says the largest group of Linux reports since launch were about how the game ran: a Planet Map that crawled when a storm or a rover crossed it, typing that fell behind the keyboard, and graphics settings that only worked around problems. Most of those problems came from WebKitGTK, the engine the Linux build ran on — not from the game itself — so the fix was to replace the engine.

The measured difference (one Linux laptop — Intel UHD 620 plus an NVIDIA MX150, a 3000x2000 screen at 175% scaling — with the same late-game colony):

• Planet Map with a storm crossing it, on NVIDIA: 9.6 fps before, 60 now.
• A busy late-game colony with the editor and a camera feed open, on Intel: 31 fps before, 55 now — and the simulation keeps its full speed instead of running about a quarter slower.
• Typing in the editor, on Intel: about three quarters of a second per key before, about 9 ms now. With NVIDIA graphics on Wayland it could fall more than ten seconds behind; now it keeps up.

Also new on Linux:

• Typing Chinese, Japanese or Korean through IBus or Fcitx works in every text field, separate windows included.
• The graphics acceleration, frame pacing and audio device wake-up settings — and the launch options behind them — are gone. The new engine does not have the problems they worked around, so nothing replaces them.

On Windows, the game moves to the same engine. It already ran on a Chromium-based engine there, so it plays as before, with shorter pauses when a large colony autosaves. The graphics acceleration and picture-after-Alt+Tab settings are gone too.

What carries over: saves, settings, window layouts, your scripts folder, Steam Cloud and achievements. What does not: unsaved script edits that an earlier version was still holding for recovery — if the game has ever offered you recovered editor text, settle it before updating.

The same update also brings cheaper storm visuals in the camera feed — storms on the horizon, light breaking through after a storm and distant dust storms cost a fraction of the old effort, and the horizon thunderstorm has a new, more natural look — drawn play, pause, stop and window buttons that are the same size on every system, and a set of scripting fixes: a print inside an operator method such as __add__ no longer runs the other side of the operation twice, a class defined inside a function keeps all of its attributes when the script pauses inside the class, itertools.starmap works with generator rows, a Library that fails while being imported shows its own lines in traceback.format_exc() and print_exc(), from __builtins__ import Counter (and deque, defaultdict, OrderedDict) gives the real collections classes so isinstance works, and Ctrl+click on a name from a built-in module such as math opens its DOCS page.

If something looks wrong after updating — it runs slower than before or does not start — the developer asks for a report in the Steam discussions or on the Discord, with your distribution, desktop and graphics card.

Live update, October 13 (build 0.1.32)

The October 13 announcement does not keep the language pack on the experimental branch. 0.1.32 is the version named in that post. Checked October 16, 2026. Official announcement.

• Nine languages are on the live game, not only the test branch: Simplified Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Russian, German, French, Spanish (Spain), Brazilian Portuguese, and Italian. Switch under Settings → Language. Steam’s language setting does not do it for you. Your scripts stay in the same identifiers in every language.
• Industrial Machinery Mk II (375,000 Terraform Index) upgrades Smelters and Fabricators to twice the speed for 1.5 times the power. Mk III (625,000) is four times the original speed for three times the power.
• Advanced Oil Extraction (475,000) adds Oil Pump Mk II (1.5 times the well’s rate) and a Seismic Sonar that finds three more oil reservoirs under rock — including formations you already surveyed with an ordinary sonar.
• A Battery Charger (research at 25 ppt oxygen) charges loose Portable and Heavy Portable Batteries from the local grid, and a parked Pioneer swaps its drained batteries for charged ones. Its Mk II upgrade (5,500 t biomass) holds 8 batteries and charges two at once.
• Saves are smaller and autosave faster. The editor no longer lags on large colonies, and scripts can open as tabs in one editor window.
• Upgrade packs are built in a Fabricator, and an upgraded machine keeps its recipe, connections, scripts and stored goods — no teardown. The Heat Generator Mk II pack research now unlocks at 40 heat units instead of 80.
• Much of what the late-September 0.1.29 test branch carried is now live: Automations research (50,000 Terraform Index) and its Computer tab for scripts that belong to no machine, which keep running whatever the power; the Data Archive at 2,048 entries and the Signal Bus at 512 channels; the slots_full cargo report; the collections import; and isinstance/issubclass against game classes imported from __builtins__.
• When a script really was changed both in the game and in an outside editor, the editor now shows both versions and lets you keep one, use the other, or merge them.

The September 30 experimental 0.1.29 notes below are the test-branch instructions as originally published; most of what they describe shipped to the live branch in 0.1.32. They are kept here for the branch-switch steps.

Experimental 0.1.29 language test

The September 30 announcement offers 0.1.29 on the experimental branch, with eight additional languages: Simplified Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Russian, German, French, Spanish (Spain), and Portuguese (Brazil). This optional test is not a declaration that 0.1.29 is on the default branch.

1. In the main menu, choose Load Game → Export Save and keep that file outside the game folder.
2. Close the game. In Steam, open Properties → Game Versions & Betas.
3. Use the public test password terra2exp367, choose experimental, and wait for the download.
4. Launch and choose Settings → Language. Steam’s language alone does not select it.
5. To return, select the default version in the same Steam menu. If the save needs restoring, use Import Backup from Load Game.

Changing language applies immediately; during play the game saves and reopens the colony. Menus, lessons and DOCS are translated, but code identifiers stay the same. Do not translate Python keywords or API calls when following an English script.

This test also adds Automations research at 50,000 TP, opening Computer scripts that belong to no machine and keep running regardless of power. That feature has since reached the live branch in 0.1.32 (above); the power troubleshooting for machine scripts still applies to everything else. Data Archive capacity rises to 2,048 entries and Signal Bus to 512 channels on this branch. Cargo can now report slots_full when other items occupy every slot, so distinguish that from a full destination when testing a transport script.

Official September 30 announcement and test instructions. Branch status checked October 4, 2026.

Current default build

As of October 16, the feed also includes the September 30 experimental 0.1.29 language test above, and the mid-October engine update names no build number — it is listed above by its announcement title rather than a version. The 0.1.28 entry below refers to the default-branch release. Between 0.1.23 and 0.1.28 there are four more build numbers — 0.1.24, 0.1.25, 0.1.26 and 0.1.27 — and the developer published no announcement for any of them: the official Steam feed jumps straight from “Retail v0.1.23” (September 15) to “Update 0.1.28” (September 24). This page records those four builds as unannounced; it does not invent what they changed.

At the time 0.1.22 shipped, the developer reported 10,000+ units sold and 68,000 wishlists. The game is in Early Access, so expect further builds; this page tracks them.

What 0.1.28 actually changed

Patch 0.1.28 is the biggest update since launch: a progression change, a new learning half of the Code Lab, and a wide performance and tooling pass. The list below is the developer’s own, grouped so it is easier to scan.

Progression

• Titanium now arrives much earlier. The Wide Sonar that finds it unlocks at 1.8 kPa pressure instead of 6, and the Industrial Drill that mines it at 30 ppt oxygen instead of 100 — both now sit in the early steam progression rather than the late game.

Code Lab

• The Code Lab gains a Concepts half: 49 short lessons that explain the language step by step inside the game, from how get_component hands you a machine to scripts that run for as long as your colony does.
• Every lesson comes with examples you can run on the spot, and the first eight practice lessons now start from a worked shape — you fill in the key detail instead of facing a blank page.
• Two new Code Lab achievements mark your first lesson and the halfway point.

Scripting

• Scripts can now use the enum module — Enum, IntEnum, StrEnum, Flag, IntFlag and auto — so a state machine can name its states and the editor catches a misspelled one before the script runs.
• Your scripts can define custom exception classes and catch them like any built-in.
• New built-in modules: json, heapq and traceback, plus more of functools and dataclasses.
• Scripts can deploy, undeploy, decommission and rename hardware through the Ship Computer.
• Custom Panels gain text fields, dropdowns, lists, radio groups, and mouse and keyboard input.
• Hover, signature help, completion, DOCS and the external editor stubs now show the Python type of every parameter and return value.

Windows, DOCS and settings

• The editor, console and DOCS open as separate windows, each with a Return to game control; they remember their size and position across sessions, and Reset Window Layout (under Window Recovery in Settings) brings them all back.
• Added an editable Data Archive for custom notes, formulas and references; DOCS tabs can be reordered; Ctrl+click / middle click on any DOCS link — including a script’s Info tab — opens a new DOCS tab instead of replacing the page.
• The DOCS manual has a new FAQ section answering common questions and troubleshooting; its export offers a light or dark appearance and an optional build stamp; Export Save and the DOCS exports now open a real Save As dialog.
• Water Pumps now display current salt storage and venting rate on their machine cards, hover inspect and Info tab.
• Added keybinding settings for the editor autocomplete popup; notification duration is now a setting; background saves can be set to every 30 seconds, 1, 2 or 5 minutes.
• Unsaved editor text rescued after a crash is announced once when the save loads, and Recovered edits on the Pause menu can apply, export or discard it.
• A failed save now names its cause — a full disk, another program holding the file, a second copy — and failed saves and failed loads can be reported in one click from the pause menu.

External editors

• PyCharm now has a proper Code: Terraform plugin, installed from Settings, with autocomplete, error checking, Run, Stop and Debug in the gutter and the editor menu, a Machines tool window, and game output.
• Zed is now supported: the game writes the extension for you and Settings tells you how to install it, with Run, Stop and debugging.
• VS Code, Zed and PyCharm now format your scripts with your own Ruff, colour game symbols the way Python is coloured, and answer rename, find references and the outline view.
• External editors gained a Machines view listing every machine, with run, stop, debug, open and reveal.
• Import File as Game Library now works from every external editor, not just VS Code.
• Each scripts folder now gets its editor settings and a .gitignore written once, then left to you to edit.
• Settings now shows, for each external editor, whether it is installed, missing, or older than this game build; there is a rerun-on-save toggle, and external script editing can be switched off.

Performance

• Big colonies autosave smoothly: autosaving no longer stalls the simulation, and the Harvesting field runs about six times smoother.
• The Planet Map does far less work while it sits idle, so the game stays fluid with it open, and the editor keeps up with long scripts.
• Saving a file in an external editor no longer freezes the game for seconds, and editor analysis is faster, including the freeze that followed several renames of one name.
• Windows: fixed the game getting slower the longer a session ran, with input and scrolling falling behind; fixed freezes after Alt+Tab, including right after typing with an input method (IME); the game now recovers from a renderer crash and can switch to software drawing after repeated crashes.
• Linux: a Frame pacing setting for high refresh rate displays, an Audio device wake-up setting for USB headsets that stayed silent from launch, working Steam overlay and screenshot keys, and a check of which graphics driver the game actually gets before choosing hardware acceleration.

Fixes and improvements (the parts players will notice)

• Saves: fixed a bug that could block every save route at once, including exit; quitting from the title screen can no longer hang on a save that never finishes writing; faster loading and smoother browsing of save history snapshots; more reliable save export (export files no longer stay locked).
• Editor and scripts: fixed an outside edit replacing work you were still typing in the in-game editor, and an in-game edit being discarded when the scripts folder had not been read yet; the editor no longer marks correct code as errors — inherited attributes and methods, a walrus inside a comprehension, a generator-based __iter__, get_component("computer") methods and completion after a get_component(...) result all behave now; lru_cache(True) works, string searches accept None as a start or end, and an imported library sees its own name in __name__, so an if __name__ == "__main__": block in a library no longer runs when another script imports it.
• Game and interface: Control Room cards now render from loops written any way, not only from a plain forever loop; a tall 1x2 card reaches the full height of the two beside it; widgets drawn inside clip_rect can only be clicked where they are visible; cancelling machine deconstruction works reliably from both the map and machine cards; all 28 visual themes now tint the full window background instead of leaving dark gaps; the wildlife reading no longer drops to zero when a Habitat is undeployed.
• Windows: anything you copy in the game now lands in the Windows clipboard history (Win+V).

What 0.1.23 actually changed

Patch 0.1.23 is a save-reliability patch. If you have ever lost a script, a save or an hour of work to this game, this is the update that was aimed at you.

Saves

• Every save failed once a breakpoint was set from an external editor. That specific combination is fixed.
• Saves that took minutes to finish now complete normally, and the game stops rescanning your scripts folder after its own writes.
• A black screen on startup, caused by recovery files the game was not allowed to write, is fixed.
• A save that cannot be read is now listed and explained instead of silently vanishing from the list. The example the developer gives is the OS temporarily blocking the file, such as antivirus scanning.
• The save list now appears immediately rather than looking frozen on a folder with long playthroughs in it.
• The pause menu was hardened so it can never write an incomplete save over a good one.

Scripts and external tools

• VS Code setup now explains what went wrong when it cannot finish, and Settings carries the manual steps.
• A warning appears when script files cannot be checked, so edits made outside the game are never lost silently.
• Data Archive and Signal Bus now say when a dictionary key is the problem and how to fix it.

Interface and platform

• Fixed the shop info button on Bio Lab reagents opening the Bio Lab instead of the reagent.
• The window no longer flashes white when it opens or between screens.
• Browser shortcuts such as zoom, reload and print no longer fire inside the game.
• Linux: fixed Bluetooth audio going silent or stopping after a few seconds, and restored the game’s desktop icon and name under Wayland.

How to read this as a player: none of it is new content, but the save-handling changes are worth re-testing once. If you keep long-running saves or edit scripts externally, update before your next long session rather than after losing one.

What 0.1.22 actually changed

The list below is the developer’s own changelog, grouped so it is easier to scan. Nothing here is inferred.

New content and economy

• Added Feed Maker Mk II and faster depot-handling upgrades.
• Reduced several late-game order requirements and the Loaded Up achievement target.

Machines and world fixes

• Fixed biology machines getting stuck with full outputs, and improved their input/output displays.
• Fixed Harvester collection and deliveries to completed Plant Terraformers.
• Fixed outpost biomes, vehicle servicing and Waste Processor readouts.
• Sonar now explains blocked discoveries, and surveyed inert contacts appear in the Journal.

Scripting and editor

• Expanded scripting support for component types, build versions and upcoming orders, and fixed marker arguments.
• Fixed large script operations, generator handling and shared-data updates.
• Made console errors clearer; fixed script filtering and boot-script output.
• Improved editor performance, type analysis, autocomplete and docstring formatting.
• Improved detached editors, variants, library deployment and Vim controls.
• Added VS Code integration and support for other external editors, with script controls, debugging and more reliable syncing.
• Added manual exports to PDF, HTML and Markdown.

Interface, onboarding and performance

• Improved DOCS, tutorials and onboarding, added a DOCS shortcut, and fixed dialogue and focus issues.
• Locate on Map keeps your zoom, and research strips support dragging and smoother scrolling.
• Fixed copying, selection, dragging, live-updating buttons, icons and exported fonts.
• Reduced main-menu CPU usage and improved scrolling performance.
• Fixed background muting and Alt+Enter fullscreen switching.

Platform

• Windows: improved startup and Steam overlay reliability, and added a proper game name in the volume mixer.
• Linux: fixed audio and keyboard-input issues, improved high-resolution rendering, added Steam screenshots.
• Improved save recovery and added protection against opening newer saves in older game versions.

If you are mid-run, read this before touching your code

Since the mid-October engine update

• Settle recovered edits before you update. Saves, settings, window layouts, the scripts folder, Steam Cloud and achievements carry over to the new engine — but unsaved script edits an earlier version was still holding for recovery do not. If the Pause menu has ever offered you recovered editor text, apply or export it first.
• On Linux, the engine was the problem. If typing in the editor or the Planet Map lagged on your machine, that was the old WebKitGTK engine, not your hardware — update and re-test before changing settings or hardware.
• Do not hunt for the old workaround settings. The Linux graphics acceleration, frame pacing and audio device wake-up settings (and their launch options) are gone, as are the Windows graphics acceleration and Alt+Tab picture settings. Their removal is the fix, not a missing feature.
• Still slow, or it will not start? That is exactly the feedback the developer asked for — report it in the Steam discussions or on the Discord with your distribution, desktop and graphics card.

Since 0.1.28

• Titanium gates moved earlier. If your run was parked in front of a titanium wall, the Wide Sonar (1.8 kPa) and Industrial Drill (30 ppt oxygen) now unlock much sooner — update, load your save and re-check that part of your plan instead of grinding around the old numbers.
• Old workarounds can go. An imported library now sees its own name in __name__ (so if __name__ == "__main__": behaves like Python), string searches accept None, lru_cache(True) works, and the editor no longer flags inherited attributes, a walrus inside a comprehension, or a generator-based __iter__ as errors.
• Long scripts should feel different. Editor analysis is faster, saving from an external editor no longer freezes the game, and hover, completion and signature help show the Python type of every parameter and return value.
• Multiple windows are supported now. The editor, console and DOCS can each open in their own window with a Return to game control; leaving them docked still works exactly as before.

From 0.1.23 and 0.1.22

• A biology loop that stalled with a full output buffer may already be fixed. Update, reload the save and re-run before you rewrite a working script.
• A script that printed nothing on the launch build is worth re-testing. Boot-script output and script filtering were fixed in this build.
• Copy that the editor rejected before may now parse. Component types, build versions and upcoming orders got wider support, and marker arguments were fixed.
• Console wording moved. The recorded error strings in our debugging reference still describe the same failures, but match the pattern, not the exact text.
• Do not roll the game back. This build added protection against opening newer saves in older versions — downgrading is the one thing that can put your save at risk.
• You do not need an external editor for the opening chain. VS Code integration matters once your scripts get longer; see the scripts syntax reference.

Five-minute post-update checklist

1. Update through Steam and note the build in the main menu — the newest version named by an announcement is 0.1.32, and the mid-October engine update above ships past it without a number of its own.
2. Check the two titanium unlocks in-game: the Wide Sonar requirement should now read 1.8 kPa and the Industrial Drill 30 ppt oxygen. If you were gated on titanium, this is the patch to pick that run back up.
3. Walk the Code Lab’s new Concepts half — 49 lessons with runnable examples — and the reworked first eight practice lessons.
4. Re-run your longest script once. Analysis is faster and several false editor errors were removed, so a script you parked because of “editor problems” may simply run now.
5. If a big colony or a long session was dragging for you, re-check it: autosaves and the Harvesting field were the two performance complaints this patch targets, and the solar tracker and biology lab are the two automation pages this update touches most.

v0.1.28 (September 24)

Titanium arrives much earlier: the Wide Sonar now unlocks at 1.8 kPa pressure instead of 6, and the Industrial Drill at 30 ppt oxygen instead of 100. The Code Lab gains a Concepts half — 49 short reading modules with runnable examples — and the first eight practice lessons now start from a worked shape. Big colonies autosave smoothly, the Harvesting field runs about six times smoother, the Planet Map does far less work while idle, and the editor keeps up with long scripts. The editor, console and DOCS can each open in their own window; PyCharm and Zed join VS Code as fully supported editors; and scripts gain the enum module, custom exceptions, and the json, heapq and traceback modules.

v0.1.27 — no official announcement

The developer published no announcement for this build. It is listed so the version history is complete; nothing official describes what it changed.

v0.1.26 — no official announcement

The developer published no announcement for this build. It is listed so the version history is complete; nothing official describes what it changed.

v0.1.25 — no official announcement

The developer published no announcement for this build. It is listed so the version history is complete; nothing official describes what it changed.

v0.1.24 — no official announcement

The developer published no announcement for this build. It is listed so the version history is complete; nothing official describes what it changed.

v0.1.23 (September 15)

A save-health patch rather than a content one: saves no longer fail once a breakpoint was set from an external editor, saves that took minutes to write finish normally, the game stops rescanning your scripts folder after its own writes, and a black screen on startup caused by recovery files the game was not allowed to write is fixed. Saves that cannot be read are now listed and explained instead of silently disappearing from the list.

How this page is maintained

Each entry is written only from the developer’s official Steam announcements and release notes, with the build number and date recorded next to it. When a build ships with no announcement, it is listed as no official announcement — this page does not fill gaps with forum posts, other sites’ reconstructions or guesses. Patch pages are refreshed within a day of a new announcement; this revision was checked against the Steam feed on October 16, 2026. If a claim here disagrees with your build, your build’s own docs win. Spotted an error? Use the contact page with the page URL and your build number.