Once Human update makes cars easier to get, upgrades the survival game's fences

Free Steam survival game Once Human rolls out its first big update since the major 2.0 overhaul today. Developer Starry Studio says it's studied "a lot of player feedback" since the upgrade, and makes several balance tweaks alongside changes to vehicles and base building. The team has made it easier to get your hands on cars, and to get them back up and running whenever something goes wrong, helping you get around Once Human's vast world more quickly.

Once Human update 2.0.1 separates out the core mode, one of 2024's best survival games, from its PvP-focused Raidzone incarnation. Starry says the main game "will continue to provide a deep and multifaceted survival experience," while Raidzone "will focus on fair and balanced PvP." As mentioned, the biggest change introduced is for cars. "To align vehicle acquisition with the core survival and exploration gameplay, we have added vehicle scrapyards to the wilderness in all scenarios," the developer explains.

That means you'll now be able to find all manner of rides scattered about the world. Getting your hands on one will require you to bring a Vehicle Repair Electric Drill, crafted from the Vehicle Garage, and fixing it up. You'll also be able to summon and repair even fully broken vehicles on the spot in any non-Raidzone scenario, meaning there's no need to take them back to the garage even if their durability falls to zero.

Vehicles you craft at the garage are automatically locked to ensure you won't lose ownership, while ones found in the world and brought back can be secured for five Copper Ingots and two Metal Scraps. Once you've done so, you're free to adjust its cosmetic skin or summon it, with the ability to hold up to six in your garage at once. You can now summon two vehicles at once (except in Raidzone), and are also able to ride pillion on other players' motorcycles.

Garages can now be built in Raidzone, but crafted vehicles are not locked by default, allowing you to trade them. While in the PvP mode, your vehicles will be unlocked if their health falls below 20% due to attacks, allowing other players to steal it and return it to their own territory to secure. When this happens, the car will revert to its default appearance.

The free Steam game's latest update also brings improvements to fence building, allowing them to be placed on foundations and ceilings for more base versatility. Setting or relocating territories will no longer automatically snap to nearby ones by default, and the appearance of wallpapers has been improved. As an extra quality-of-life boon, you can also save your control loadout to the cloud to ensure you don't lose it.

Rounding things out, Starry has made some combat balance adjustments. Corrosion gets a big boost to its Power Surge crit rate and damage. The lightning effect of Outer Space will be easier to trigger, and First Electrocution is no longer blocked by other players applying their own Power Surge to your target. Elsewhere, the Dragon's Breath effect of Pyroclasm Starter persists when switching between weapons, and Unstable Bomber's damage has been boosted.

Once Human update 2.0.1 is out today, Thursday July 17. It also introduces the ability for custom servers to select the Endless Dream scenario added with patch 2.0. You can check the full patch notes courtesy of Starry Studio for a rundown of individual changes.

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