Changelog

Version: 1.2.2
Date: 2026-07-19
This patch gives the companion real combat awareness: it repositions
during fights, avoids standing in fire or acid, and comes to your defense
when you're attacked.
  Features:
    - Companions now keep their distance from enemies while fighting
      instead of standing still or drifting in close - higher-tier
      equipment lets them hold a farther, safer range.
    - Companions steer clear of fire and acid on the ground instead of
      standing in it and taking repeated damage.
    - When you're attacked, nearby armed companions break off whatever
      they were doing and rush to your defense, then return to their
      previous task once the threat is gone.
  Bugfixes:
    - Fixed companions sometimes not resuming their construction job on
      their own after a fight ended.

Version: 1.2.1
Date: 2026-07-12
This patch focuses on stabilising Companion work and sharing its work load between
other Companions.
  Features:
    - Multiple companions working the same large task now divide it into
      sections and work them in an orderly pattern instead of overlapping
      and re-treading each other's routes.
  Bugfixes:
    - Fixed companions occasionally zig-zagging across the whole task area
      instead of making steady progress.
    - Fixed a crash that could occur on certain existing saves after
      updating the mod.

Version: 1.2.0
Date: 2026-07-09
This patch adds tiered equipment progression (MK1-MK4) and rebalances combat
and roboport range around it.
  Features:
    - Companions can now be equipped with four tiers of gear (MK1-MK4) for
      their roboport, shield, laser, and reactor. MK1 is cheap and needs no
      research; MK2 is the free starting loadout; MK3 and MK4 are further
      research-gated upgrades.
    - Laser damage and range now scale with tier, and lasers stop
      overkilling nearly-dead enemies.
    - Max companions now increases with the "Follower robot count" research
      instead of being capped at 3.
  Changes:
    - Removed unused leftover equipment tiers.
    - The "can't support another companion" message now points to the
      right research.
  Balancing:
    - Roboport range and shield capacity/recharge are tuned so stacking
      multiple copies of the same item can't make a companion absurdly
      far-reaching or unkillable.
  Bugfixes:
    - Fixed companions hovering near a job without starting work, caused by
      a mismatch between "close enough" and the equipped roboport's actual
      range.

Version: 1.1.0
Date: 2026-07-07
This patch fixes the companion abandoning large tasks partway through and
removes the old difficulty system.
  Bugfixes:
    - Fixed the companion abandoning or "forgetting" large tasks
      (deconstruction orders, blueprints) before finishing them.
    - Explicit tasks are now worked through unattended, without needing the
      player to stay nearby the whole time.
    - Large tasks are no longer truncated to the area around the player's
      position at the moment the order was given.
    - Fixed "islands" of untouched entities being left behind within an
      otherwise-finished task.
    - Fixed a full cargo hold causing the companion to freeze mid-task; it
      now reliably returns to unload and resumes the same task.
    - Fixed a resume loop where the companion endlessly circled between the
      player and an already-finished or unreachable job site.
    - Task selection now prefers proximity over arbitrary order, reducing
      "indecisive" hopping between far-apart parts of the same task while
      closer work is available. Not fully resolved yet.
  Changes:
    - Removed the challenge/forgiving/combined difficulty system entirely.
    - The companion now always starts fully equipped with a single,
      consistent set of recipes and stats.

Version: 1.0.0
Date: 2026-07-07
Initial release of this fork.
  Info:
    - Initial standalone fork of Companion Drones 2.0, based on the
      mjlfix 3.1.2 build.