Satisfactory Experimental 1.2 is live with new weather, vehicle paths and Fluid Trucks

Coffee Stain Studios released Update 1.2 to Satisfactory’s Experimental branch on March 17, 2026, bringing a wide set of features and under-the-hood changes meant for testing before moving to the default build. Players who opt into Experimental should back up their saves first and report any issues through the game’s QA site.

The headline additions in 1.2 include a rebuilt weather system with improved rain visuals and audio occlusion, a complete rewrite of vehicle path automation, new fluid transportation with Fluid Stations and Fluid Trucks, a renamed Creative Mode, and a new Game Modes menu for start-of-save customization. The update also upgraded the engine to Unreal Engine 5.6.1, and folds many console parity fixes back into the PC build.

Coffee Stain asked players to watch a developer video overview before reading the notes. The official video for the update is available here:

Before trying Experimental, the studio reminded players to back up saves located at %LOCALAPPDATA%FactoryGameSavedSaveGames and to file bugs at https://questions.satisfactorygame.com/. The studio said it reads reports daily. This update follows smaller Experimental fixes such as the February hotfix; see our earlier coverage of the Satisfactory Experimental hotfix v1.1.3.1 for context.

What’s new in 1.2

Key features and changes players will encounter in Experimental 1.2:

• Weather system: Rain returned with improved visual wetness effects on buildings and the pioneer suit, more varied rain densities, thunder, improved wind and fog, and audio occlusion so rain sounds and visuals are affected by buildables and walls. A new World settings tab in Options exposes weather presets and toggles for visor raindrops, rain post processing, and thunder.
• Vehicle path rework: Vehicle path automation was rebuilt. Players can now place Vehicle Paths from the Transport tab using the build gun, set straight build mode, and create individual paths per vehicle type. The Vehicle UI now shows available stations and routes, and path colors are customizable for accessibility in the UI options.
• Fluid Stations and Fluid Trucks: New fluid transport options are available. Both the Fluid Station and the Fluid Truck have an internal capacity of 3,200 m³ and are unlocked at Tier 5 via the Logistics Mk.4 milestone.
• Controller updates: Dynamic Gamepad Swap lets the game switch input mode on the fly when a controller or keyboard input is detected, and many controller bindings are now rebindable in the Keybindings tab while using a controller. Fishlabs assisted with controller work and testing.
• Game Modes and Cost Multipliers: A new Game Modes menu appears when creating a new save and introduces Cost Multipliers for Space Elevator deliverables, recipe part costs, and power consumption. World Randomization options let hosts randomize resource nodes, purity, and expose the world seed for sharing.
• Creative Mode: The prior Advanced Game Settings menu has been renamed Creative Mode. Its functionality — disabling achievements and enabling broad build options — remains the same.
• Photo and Selfie Modes: Photo Mode received a new color filter and an effect called “Blueprint.” Selfie Mode was added with a selfie-style camera, new poses, cropping options and filters.
• New buildables and MAM tech: SPWN is a new buildable unlocked via Alien Technology MAM research. Daisy chaining was added to allow two power connections to a building and permit power flow building-to-building. Additional items include a Pipeline T-Junction (Tier 3 Coal Power milestone) and a Cross Beam (available in the Beam Expansion Pack in the AWESOME Shop).
• Quality of life: Real pause (pauses game logic in single-player only), a full pass on the Options menu for consistent terminology, hologram rotation mode options, left-handed train signal sampling fixes, a visual update to the Flying Manta, and updated sign behavior (signs can now be “zooped” and will attach a pole when placed on the ground).

Patch Notes — 1.2 (Experimental)

Overview: This build focuses on core systems (weather, vehicles, fluids), player-facing customization (Game Modes, controller rebinding, Photo/Selfie Modes), and cross-platform parity and stability improvements thanks to the UE 5.6.1 upgrade. Expect experimental behavior: test changes may be adjusted before they reach the default branch.

The list below follows the developer’s published Experimental notes and highlights the primary additions and toggles players should test.

• Weather
  • Rain returns with improved visuals: wetness on buildings and pioneer suit, multiple rain density variants, thunder and improved wind and fog.
  • Rain occlusion by buildables, foundations and walls affects visuals and audio.
  • New World settings in Options: weather presets (Default, Dry, The Great MASSAGE-2 (AB)b, Clear, Raining Kittens and Puppies, Extreme) and toggles for visor raindrops, rain post processing, and thunder.
  • Added Fog Density slider in Options > Video > Advanced to control cosmetic fog density related to the new weather system (separate from the world map fog).
• Unreal Engine
  • Upgraded to Unreal Engine 5.6.1 for broad performance improvements.
• Controller
  • Dynamic Gamepad Swap allows seamless switching between controller and mouse/keyboard inputs on the fly. Players can disable it to lock input method.
  • Most controller bindings are now rebindable in the Keybindings tab while using a controller.
• Vehicle paths
  • Complete rewrite of vehicle path automation. Place Vehicle Paths from the Transport build menu with the build gun and place the vehicle on the path to assign it.
  • Straight build mode and separate paths per vehicle type are supported.
  • UI changes show available Vehicle Stations and Routes when entering a vehicle. Vehicle path colors customizable in Options > User Interface.
• Vehicle suspension
  • Manual driving controls improved alongside self-driving updates for smoother exploration and driving feel.
• Fluid Station and Fluid Truck
  • Fluid Stations and Fluid Trucks added for long-distance fluid transport and storage. Internal capacity: 3,200 m³ each.
  • Unlocked at Tier 5 via Logistics Mk.4 milestone.
• Creative Mode
  • Renamed from Advanced Game Settings to Creative Mode. Functionality remains the same (achievements disabled, expanded build options).
• Game Modes
  • New menu when creating a New Game. Game Modes do not disable achievements and enable Cost Multipliers and World Randomization. Settings are permanent for the save and apply in multiplayer.
  • Cost Multipliers include Space Elevator deliverable multipliers (0.25 up to 100), Recipe Parts cost multipliers (0.25 to 2.0), and Power Consumption multipliers (0.25 to 5).
  • World Randomization options: Resource Node Randomization, Resource Node Purity settings, and exposure of the World Seed (default vanilla seed = 0).
• Photo & Selfie Mode
  • Photo Mode: one new color filter (“I know what you are”) and one effect filter (“Blueprint”). Photo mode poses now include hover pack variants.
  • Selfie Mode: new camera mode with dedicated poses, arm and head rotation, and cropping options for cell phone aspect ratios.
• SPWN, Alien Tech & Caterium
  • SPWN added as an Alien Technology MAM unlock; allows changing spawn location after interacting with it. Unlock requires Mercer Sphere, SAM Fluctuators and Steel Pipe as listed in the MAM tree.
  • Daisy chaining unlock in Alien Technology MAM lets two power connections be made to the same building and allows power flow building-to-building.
  • Caterium: Upgraded Power Connectors added with their recipe costs in the progression tree.
• New buildables
  • Pipeline T-Junction — unlocked in Tier 3 Coal Power milestone.
  • Cross Beam — available as part of the Beam Expansion Pack in the AWESOME Shop.
• Real pause menu
  • Pressing ESC pauses game logic in single-player by default. This option is disabled for multiplayer sessions.
• Quality of Life & fixes
  • Console parity changes and bugfixes integrated into the PC build.
  • Options menu consistency pass, new hologram rotation modes and settings for relative rotation, left-handed train signal sampling corrected, Flying Manta visual update, and sign behavior changes.

Because this is Experimental, Coffee Stain encouraged players to report issues and give feedback via the QA site at https://questions.satisfactorygame.com/. The studio also linked Fishlabs for controller work at https://fishlabs.de/.

If you opt in, remember to copy your save folder from %LOCALAPPDATA%FactoryGameSavedSaveGames so you can revert if something goes wrong. Experimental builds can behave differently from the default release.

Please share your thoughts and bug reports in the comments below, and tell us what you think of the new weather and vehicle systems. You can also follow us on X, Bluesky, YouTube, Instagram.

Satisfactory

Developed by Coffee Stain Studios

Satisfactory is an FPS open-world factory building sim. You play as an engineer on an alien planet tasked to complete ‘Project Assembly’ - a massive machine for a mysterious purpose. Conquer nature, build multi-story factories, and automate to satisfaction!

• Genre: Simulator, Strategy, Adventure, Indie
• Platforms: Xbox Series X|S, PC (Microsoft Windows), PlayStation 5
• Modes: Single player, Multiplayer, Co-operative
• Release: 2024-09-10
• Publisher: Coffee Stain Publishing
• Age Rating: ESRB E10+ / PEGI 3
• IGDB Rating: 72.5/100

PlayStation Store Xbox Store Steam Epic Games Store Official Site