v0.16 is released! 

This is the first of three major updates currently slated as follows:

1. v0.16: Epic Buildings + Trading + Marketplace
2. v0.17: Pets
3. v0.18: Laboratories + Tech Bonuses

HYPE TRAIN HYPE BALLOON!!!

But let me talk about this v0.16 update. This update releases trading, a core mechanic that sets the foundations for Pets and Labs and thus the reason it is released first. So what is trading?

Trading

Once you reach 200 meters, you will meet a new NPC, the merchant. He arrives in a cozy hot air balloon that flies over your structures.

You can sell your items to him to get materials you need. He sells sand, as well as even Titanium. He sells two new materials as well: Glass and Circuits, both are needed to construct Labs subsequently and currently only available from the merchant.

However, that isn't all. Behold, a new set of 7, powerful buildings.

Epic Buildings

The merchant sells blueprints that allow you to unlock Epic Buildings for construction. I will write a separate post detailing these megastructures.

Moreover, buying a blueprint instantly constructs that epic building for free (or at least, partly free as it does not require any construction materials, merely a trading currency 'Tooth'. This gives you a taste of what the epic building does. Epic Buildings are big and powerful, and are expensive to create.

A new tab, 'Epic' has been added and shown once you unlock the first Epic Building.

Because of their huge size, they cannot be protected by the Small Shield. You need a Medium Shield to protect them from the storm. Now you know why I released the Medium Shield in the previous update! In this update, the Medium Shield is upgraded from a rare building to an Epic Building, and is available to unlock for construction from the trader, along with the Big Turbine.

Tooth

Tooth is a new currency exclusively used for trading. You can get it by selling items. However, you can also... extract it from your settlers. It's a bone obtained from the teriyaki they eat, it's not what you think!

You can build a Marketplace. A marketplace can help you generate Tooth passively, without needing to sacrifice precious steel and diamonds titanium to the merchant.

New building: Marketplace

• The more settlers you have, the more Tooth you generate.
• If they're idle, they generate more Tooth.
• If they're happy, they generate more Tooth.
• If you have research and tech lab bonuses (in future), they add a +% bonus to Tooth generation.

You get the idea. TLDR, more marketplaces + more people + happiness = More Tooth. So make sure you get many settlers and keep them happy! These are shown when you select the Marketplace.

The last building is the ANTENNA.

New building: Antenna

TLDR: +10% trader arrival speed

This building is the first one that requires the expensive circuit item. It speeds up traders, allowing them to come more often. In future, this can be essential as building friendship with the trader will let them give you FREE items. A possible strategy is building friendship with traders and spamming antennas and getting freebies from traders in the long term. We'll see how that goes.