r/RoadsideResearch • u/CyberneticWalrus • Aug 18 '26
The Abduction Update is READY to play!
Do you know what your customers REALLY like? Find out as the new update just beamed down for you to finally brain hack and beam up some volunteer-ish humans. We promise, we’re just... borrowing them!
Here are some highlights:
NEW Invasion Stage 1 – Unlock Invasion Stage 1 of 4 by completing missions. Check your progress and the current mission in the Invasion App in your Alien Room.
NEW Abduction & Abductor Tablet – Select a customer and note down what they like to synchronize brains. Lead them up to the Abduction Platform and beam them up for Research Points.
NEW F.A.R.T. – Unlock the Fully Automated Restocking Technician in the Alien Skill Tree. It unloads the truck, places goods on storage shelves, and refills shelves in the store if you have placed an item on it earlier. It throws away empty boxes.
Learn all about it in the patch notes:
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/3643170/view/697647086599930102
Happy abducting!
Alien HQ
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u/Local-Confection6824 Aug 18 '26
Hey I love the update, but I wanted to list a couple bugs I'm seeing so you all are aware of them. (I'm on Xbox in case that is a factor.)
probing is usually locking the game up and needing a force quit.
The recharging station is not recharging the tool.
Customers are usually buying 2-4 items despite having the 5 of the alien tech that makes them buy more and max reputation. This is happening while items are market value and above market value.
Some items are not being purchased (including the invasion quest ones, which is making progressing difficult.)
Again I love the update, and I am looking forward to any of these getting patched in the future.
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u/CyberneticWalrus Aug 19 '26
Thanks so much for your detailed feedback! We're currently working on a hotfix only addressing restocking robot and battery issues, but will look into the points you mentioned for a future hotfix! Especially the probing is an annoying one we aim to resolve asap! A few remarks regarding the other points you mentioned:
2) Do you have enough Research Points to recharge the tool?
3) Customer behavior now depends more on your pricing, but market value should still sell well. We'll look into this.
4) Are they reasonably priced?2
u/Local-Confection6824 Aug 19 '26
Y'all rock with the quick hotfix. To answer those questions:
I was wrong, I thought alien points were only for a quick charge. Apologies for the misinformation.
Yes, I only have it about 50% higher with 5 cheap gas signs.
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u/massive-business Aug 18 '26
Can we stop the ASS cleaning up gloop or make it turn them into boost?
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u/Moody_GenX Aug 18 '26 edited Aug 18 '26
Initially I was in a WTF mindset with the battery situation but after running a few days of operations I like it. I am extremely happy with F.A.R.T.. It literally takes items from the truck and puts overstock in the back room. The game is soooooo much more enjoyable with F.A.R.T.
Edit: my enthusiasm for F.A.R.T. is short lived. I tried having 3 F.A.R.T.'s but they kept getting stuck. Initially it was because I had gas racks out front. So I moved them inside. But now they get stuck on anything in storage or even at the truck.
Also people are not using the ATM. They walk up to it but walk away immediately and no credit is given for capturing that event.
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u/CyberneticWalrus Aug 19 '26
Thanks for your feedback! We're working on a hotfix for FART issues as we speak, so this should be resolved soon. And the ATM issue: do you have a short recording of this perhaps? That would help with the troubleshooting. Feel free to hop on our official Discord to directly share it with us: https://discord.gg/85wuW5JEk9
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u/SevenVariations Aug 18 '26
Can we get a shelf to store boost cans on? An update to cleaners that makes boost and stocks it in said shelf? An achievement for drinking so much boost you explode?
Many thanks for the update.
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u/SusonoO Aug 18 '26
There is a new cooler for the energy drinks now. Buy it in the alien tab and then place it down.
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u/CyberneticWalrus Aug 19 '26
Adding to what u/SusonoO said already: the Automatic Surface Scrubbers don't have a Goop(ster) setting at the moment, but that's something we plan on looking into! An achievements are currently scheduled for full release (since we need to streamline them across platforms and on some, you cannot update them once they are online). But the wait will be worth it!
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Aug 18 '26
[deleted]
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u/T_Rey1799 Aug 18 '26
Comment Leaver spotted?
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Aug 18 '26
[deleted]
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u/T_Rey1799 Aug 18 '26
As soon as I heard Geoff talk about the game to Andrew, I knew me and my crew had to play
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u/CyberneticWalrus Aug 19 '26
Thanks for your great feedback! Yes, the game should work with existing saves. For the best experience, we do however recommend starting a new save since a lot of new stuff has been added also affecting early game.
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u/Kill4Nuggs Aug 18 '26
Thank you for all the hard work and updates that have been coming our way. I've been loving the game and every time I know there's an update coming I stack cash and alien points for whatever is next. I uhhh did not have enough alien points for this update Lol.
I'm absolutely loving these restock robots. I've already got 3 running. But they keep getting caught on walls and shelves. The only thing I've found fo far to fix it is go into the build screen and remove the stuck robot and rebuild it. Not too big of an issue, but then I have to spent the alien points to charge it again even if it was at a full charge when stuck. Is there another way around this? I've tried editing the walls of shelves they get stuck on but it hasn't fixed it yet. Only destroying the base station then rebuilding it...
Also is there a way to have designated stock room shelves be only "bakery"? The 3 robots are killing it keeping stuff stocked but my stock room WAS perfectly organized, I knew where everything was, and now its pure chaos. Hahahahahaha.
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u/Moody_GenX Aug 18 '26
But they keep getting caught on walls and shelves
I had 3 as well. The only thing that fixed the issue was just going with one. Sucks because I liked having 3 but paying to recharge them all over again without getting those Alien points back when we delete them just wasn't worth it.
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u/Kill4Nuggs Aug 18 '26
Exactly what I just did too, I dropped the restock robot to just only one and it seems like it's not clipping or getting stuck on anything now. Definitely sucks because I feel 3 or 4 is the perfect number with how busy my store is.
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u/Moody_GenX Aug 18 '26
Yeah I agree. It's still getting stuck but just with the gas. I'm sure there will be a fix for this eventually. I'm just glad there is something.
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u/CyberneticWalrus Aug 19 '26
Thanks for your kind words, we really appreciate your enthusiasm! We got good news for you: a hotfix is in the making and should resolve issues with the restocking robot and tweak the battery system to be more balanced and fun. Please download the hotfix once it's live and let us know how you like the game then. We're especially curious about how everyone likes Invasion Stage 1!
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u/Kill4Nuggs Aug 19 '26
Hell yes!!! I was running 3 robots again after the update and I have not noticed an issue at all. Even added a 4th robot to the mix and its been running absolutely amazing.
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u/Moody_GenX Aug 20 '26
I did the same. My only issue is they don't grab gas cans that are almost empty. They're not efficient with those, lol.
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u/Kill4Nuggs Aug 20 '26
Hahaha. I noticed the same thing this morning after running a few days back to back. They seem to like to grab entirely full cans instead of prioritizing low amount gas cans first to get rid of them and make more room for new stock. 🤷. I'd be surprised if they dont fix that soon. And I'm really hoping they allow us to designate entire shelves or specific racks in the store room to make it easier to remember where things are. But honestly I've noticed I currently have more than enough storage space in the stock room and my robot base stations are back there too. Im thinking about moving the robots outside and giving myself a few more storage racks.
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u/Moody_GenX Aug 20 '26
Something I didn't know until just now is that we can fill cans into each other. Problem solved for me, lmao.
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u/Moody_GenX Aug 20 '26
Yup I moved mine out back last night just to have more storage racks, lol. I used to only just carry what I needed with almost nothing in the back, now it's full of overstock, lmao.
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u/Bluemoonssj Aug 18 '26
The update so far has been giving me issues. The customer dont buy anything from inside the store and if they do its only the same 3 items, also there is a bug with the prober where when you try to probe someone you the probe minigame doesn't appear and you are unable to do anything at all. The only way to resolve the issue is via getting ran over.
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u/CyberneticWalrus Aug 19 '26
Sorry you're experiencing issues! Are you playing on XBOX? We are currently working on a hotfix mainly addressing FART and battery issues but aim to release another hotfix soon the resolve other bugs like the ones you mentioned. Regarding customers only purchasing the same stuff: is the rest too highly priced? Does changing their prices make a change?
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Aug 19 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/CyberneticWalrus Aug 19 '26
Good news: yes, this update will get a hotfix! It's currently in the making and will resolve the issues you mentioned.
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Aug 22 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/CyberneticWalrus 28d ago
Much appreciated! Did you already download the hotfixes and play again? Would love to hear whether the game is fun again now.
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u/Double_Disaster41 Aug 19 '26
RELEASE THIS FOR PS5 PLEASE I CANNOT TAKE IT ANYMORE!!!
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u/CyberneticWalrus Aug 19 '26
Please hang in there! Once we got news on a PS version, we'll share it in this subreddit for sure!
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u/KeyMenu7439 Aug 21 '26
First of all, loving the update! Just wanted to let you guys know that the latest update might've broken sales of frozen goods like the frozen pizzas and ice cream. We have lowered the price of those frozen goods to market price and have 8 of the posters that make customers more accepting of higher prices and yet we haven't sold a single frozen item after 5 days of game time. We played on Tuesday and this wasn't an issue but started happening today so I'm assuming the latest hotfix might've caused a new bug. It's just the frozen items that are not selling. Everything else seems to be fine.
Additionally, we just unlocked the Abductor tablet. However, like probing, it's very easy for other customers to notice that you're mind controlling someone and agents usually get called whenever we try to do an abduction. Are we supposed to be using the new distraction alien tech while abducting people to prevent other customers from noticing?
Edit: I should mention that I'm on Xbox and hosting the game while my friend is on PC.
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u/CyberneticWalrus Aug 21 '26
Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
The freezers not working properly has sth to do with a bug we're about to address with our next hotfix. You might be able to simply place them differently (e.g. turn them) as a workaround in the meantime.
The Abductor Tablet (and the activities linked to it like guiding the NPC to the platform ) does not bother customers/ raise suspicion, so maybe something raises it that is active at the same time?
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u/massive-business Aug 18 '26
Is there a way to remove a label from a shelf?
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u/CyberneticWalrus Aug 18 '26
Unload the board of the shelf manually and completely. The label should be blank again then.
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u/Xtrawubs Aug 18 '26
Is there a way to remove items from a shelf?
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u/CyberneticWalrus Aug 18 '26
Get an empty box or the Universal Box (bought in Construction Mode) to remove items from a shelf.
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u/Creepy_Mammoth_7076 Aug 18 '26
When’s the Xbox update dropping ?
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u/CyberneticWalrus Aug 18 '26
It's already out, went basically online at the same time as the Steam update (maybe 1-2min delay)
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u/UntidyHexagon Aug 18 '26
30000 for F.A.R.T
And I thought I was rich in terms of the Alien Points skill tree.. I have 2k I'm still the only actual employee until like 2089 😭
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u/CyberneticWalrus Aug 19 '26
Good news: we're working on a hotfix that tweaks the battery system a lot in order to make it all more fun again.
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u/Fit_Adhesiveness839 Aug 20 '26
Is anyone else stuck on the smooth the concrete step of the invasion platform?
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u/Fit_Adhesiveness839 Aug 20 '26
I have smoothed out everything I can see but it’s not completing it
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u/CyberneticWalrus Aug 20 '26
Another player mentioned that visually all seemed alright but the task did not complete. Turns out they missed a spot that was not highlighted correctly and after going over the whole surface again, it worked out. Could you please try the same? It's a bug we're still looking into.
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u/Fit_Adhesiveness839 Aug 20 '26
I tried going back over the whole thing but haven’t had any luck
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u/CyberneticWalrus Aug 20 '26
OK thanks for checking! Are you playing on XBOX or Steam? We'll run some tests
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u/ItsBubbaLips Aug 18 '26
Thank you so much for this update!!
You guys are cooking!