Satisfactory Update 4 hits Early Access, brings hover packs, ziplines, drones, and more

Satisfactory players waited a year for Update 4, a major addition to the Early Access building game that included programmable drones, ziplines, and a giant freaking particle accelerator. When Update 4 was released to Satisfactory's experimental branch back on March 16 I went on a big tour of the new features with game director Mark Hofma. Anyone could opt-in to play the buggier experimental version of the game, but now you don't have to do that to get a piece of Update 4—it's live on the main Early Access build as of today.

Coffee Stain already talked through all of Update 4's big new additions last month, but the new video above is still a joy for the Satisfactory-obsessed. It shows off the new features along with delightful close-up shots of constructors constructing and conveyor belts conveying and all the other cool things factories do. I could really watch the animation in this game all day.

I've actually been doing a lot of that for the past month on the experimental branch, but I've had to deal with a fair number of crashes and funky issues that are hopefully gone in the new Early Access build. Here's a condensed round-up of some significant fixes Coffee Stain has made since the March 16 release, pulled from various patch notes: 

    144 FPS lock option
    Fixed some Resource Wells not allowing Extractors/Pressurisers to be placed
    Fixed some options being missing from the options menu
    Fixed a crash when opening the Map
    Changed the number of decimals in overclocking from 1 to 4
    Fixed crash when tabbing out during loading while on Fullscreen
    Fixed Miners not showing production rate for Clients
    Increased Zipline speed and decreased speed reduction when zipping upwards
    Fixed clients not being able to see Crash Site rewards
    Fixed Lights consuming power when they were off
    Fixed a crash related to the conveyor renderer
    Reworked correction velocity for the Zipline which should fix players getting launched in the air when using it
    Copy paste now autofills Power Shard slots if available
    Zipline now conserves velocity when you start ziplining
    Disabled clearance check on fences, now players can build Street Lights and Power Poles in between them
    Certain buildings can now be rotated 45 degrees when placing instead of only 90 degrees: Jump Pad, U-Jelly Landing Pad, Street Light, Personal Storage Container, Light Control Panel, Power Switch, M.A.M., AWESOME Shop, Craft Bench,  Equipment Workshop
    Removed an ensure that caused many crashes when loading a big save
    Enabled PushModel Replication. This should significantly improve CPU performance for hosts/single player for large saves
    Fixed Sort button not working in Vehicle Storages
    Fixed Clients not being able to see Information in Drone Ports
    Fixed issues with items not rendering properly in conveyor belts #PraiseBen
    Rebalanced Plutonium Fuel Rod standard recipe, increased power yield, and reduced Plutonium Waste production.
    Increased the Bauxite usage on most alternative recipes using Bauxite or Aluminum parts.
    Increased Aluminum usage of Radio Control Units and Heat Sinks (Standard recipes).
    Rebalanced all Alternative Plutonium Recipes.