Against the Storm News

[h3]Greetings, Viceroys![/h3]
Join us tomorrow - November 23 at 8:00 am PT / 4:00 pm UTC / 5:00 pm CET - on our Twitch channel for the preview of the Lighthouse Update.

We will reveal the new content and improvements planned for Thursday’s Update. Here’s a little sneak peek:

• 3 new Glade Events (including Fishmen Lighthouse)
  
• Rebalanced Scarlet Orchard (including a free first Office upgrade)
  
• Camera panning with the mouse button
  
• Recipes in tooltips are displayed in form of a list
  
• And many many more

Tune in tomorrow to discover what else is coming!

And speaking of updates, please make sure you’re ready for the Lighthouse Update.

[h2]HOW TO PREPARE[/h2]
We release new content Updates every two weeks on Thursdays around 2 pm – 4 pm UTC. As we make multiple changes to the game’s systems, balance, and content, the game needs to force-finish any settlements that are in progress when you download the update. This aims to prevent various game-breaking bugs that could occur otherwise.

IMPORTANT: If you have a settlement in progress, it will have to be force-finished when you download the Update. You will be reimbursed with Citadel Resources but you will have to start a new settlement. Your meta progress (that is: Experience, Level, completed Deeds, unlocked Upgrades, Citadel Resources, etc.) will remain intact.

In the main menu, under the “Play” button, there’s a countdown to upcoming Updates. Please finish your current settlement before the update day if you don’t want it to be completed automatically.

May the storm be gentle on you,
Eremite Games

[h3]Nominate Against the Storm in the Steam Awards![/h3]
P.S. Please consider nominating Against the Storm for the Most Innovative Gameplay award on Steam:
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1336490/view/3489755739068444325

[h3]Greetings, Viceroys![/h3]
We just released a new Experimental Update in which we test a new iteration of Primitive Camps (now called Small Camps).

[h3]What we changed[/h3]

• Primitive Camps are now called Small Camps.
  
• Small Camps don’t waste food node charges but are only able to collect small food nodes (size: 1x1 tile).
  
• Small food nodes have 3 fewer charges the before.
  
• Small food nodes have a lower chance to give additional resources.
  
• Large food resource nodes have 20 more charges than before.
  
• Effects that give bonuses to food node charges give them separately for small and large nodes. The only exception is Smoldering City’s Upgrades which give bonuses to both.
  
• If changes go live, the Small Camps blueprints would change to Regular Camps blueprints upon acquiring them.

Additional changes:

• You can now rebind the ~ developer console key in Options

[h3]Why do we test the Camp changes?[/h3]
This is the set of our experiments around camps and food nodes. Our main goal is to see if we are able to diversify the gameplay further by giving access to some basic resources on different biomes and introducing a bit more tactical difference between smaller and larger glades.

Please keep in mind those are crude changes with balance and UX meant only for experimental purposes. While we are not entirely convinced of the new idea, our goal is to scout for new directions and toy with different solutions.

[h3]Community Survey[/h3]
You can let us know what you think of the Primitive Camps 2.0 Experimental Update changes in the new Community Survey:

[h2]Participate in the Survey[/h2]

Thank you,
Eremite Games

[h2]Previous Experimental Updates:[/h2]
https://steamcommunity.com/games/1336490/announcements/detail/5024356235735903835
(includes information how to play Experimental Updates)

[h3]Greetings, Viceroys![/h3]
Recently, we released an Experimental Update with Primitive Camps - additional essential versions of gathering camps with reduced efficiency.

Before we take the next step forward (or back) with this idea, we'd like to learn what you think!

Please answer the survey if you had a chance to play the Experimental Update. The survey will be available until Friday (November 18).

[h2]CLICK HERE TO VOTE[/h2]

Check the Experimental Update notes to learn more about the changes and how to play on the Experimental Branch.
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1336490/view/5024356235735903834

Privacy notice: Google sign-in is required to vote, but we don't collect or have access to your personal data (including your email address).

Thank you!
Eremite Games

[h3]Greetings, Viceroys![/h3]
We’re happy to reveal that we’re working on new essential versions of gathering camps. What’s more, you can already test them on the Experimental Branch!

[h2]Why do we approach Camps[/h2]
It’s more than two years since we introduced the concept of nodes and unique camps to the game. Since then, the game evolved and we feel this old system could use some iterations. Going through your feedback we’ve noticed the inability to gather resources from the glades caused a lot of frustration and felt very rigid compared to the flexibility the other production buildings present.

[h2]What we changed[/h2]
Regular and Primitive versions of Herbalists' Camp

In the experimental version, you will find four main changes:

• Scavengers' Camp was removed from the game.
  
• All remaining specialized food camps (Trappers’ Camp, Herbalists’ Camp, and Foragers’ Camp) have unique recipes without any duplicates (Forgers’ Camp has Roots instead of Insects).
  
• Those three camps now have their essential, primitive versions. Primitive camps have all the recipes their full-fledged counterparts have, but inferior efficiency. They will gather the nodes ~25% slower and will deplete nodes much faster (3 charges instead of 1). One additional caveat is that those camps can’t gather Giant Organisms on Marshlands.
  
• Foragers’ Camp now looks like the old Scavengers’ Camp, models are still subject to change.

The regular blueprint versions of Foragers’ Camp, Trappers’ Camp, and Herbalists’ Camp are still available to get from Reputation Rewards, Orders, and Traders.

[h2]What we’re interested in[/h2]
Our main goal with this change is to bring more diversity to the games, increase the range of choices player has regarding raw resources, and reduce the frustrating inability to gather basic resources while keeping the camps’ role relevant.

The questions we are primarily interested in, are:

• How do you feel about the new Primitive Camps? Are they fun?
  
• How does this change affect your playstyle and settlement layout?
  
• Is this new approach better or worse in your opinion?
  
• Is this new approach easily understandable? Are there any issues with the user experience?

If you decide to give the update a try, please share your thoughts with us on Steam Discussions, Discord, or Reddit!

[h2]About Experimental Branch[/h2]
The Experimental Branch is an alternative version of the game dedicated to testing new features. Upcoming changes are not localized, there can be bugs, and the balance might feel way off. The experimental version has extensive logs and assertions enabled which means degraded performance. It has a separate save file from the main version and your progress can’t be transferred from the Experimental Branch to the main version. You have access to the developer console but you won’t be able to unlock achievements.

[h2]How to switch to the Experimental Branch[/h2]
Switching to the Experimental Branch will require you to opt into the Beta branch on Steam. Here’s how to do it:

1. Open Steam
   
2. Right-click on Against the Storm in your library
   
3. Select Properties
   
4. Go to BETAS tab
   
5. Choose “experimental” from the drop-down list
   
6. Wait for the game to update the files
   
7. Launch the game

In order to switch back to the regular version, please repeat the steps above but choose “None” from the drop-down list in step 5.

[h2]Developer console commands[/h2]
The Experimental Branch includes a developer console that provides various useful commands.

If you want to test new changes with a fully leveled-up profile and all content/upgrades unlocked, feel free to use the “meta.addAll” command in the console when you are on the World Map. You can open the console by pressing the ~ key on your keyboard.

Here are some other useful commands:

• villager.spawn
  
• good.add
  
• good.addAll
  
• good.list
  
• Resolve.change
  
• Season.next
  
• game.win
  
• meta.exp
  
• meta.level
  
• meta.addAll

Check out the full list of commands on our website.

Have fun and may the storm be gentle on you,
Eremite Games

[h2]Previous Updates[/h2]
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1336490/view/5024356235721370705
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1336490/view/5024356235717954632
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1336490/view/3385045248713086816

[h3]Greetings, Viceroys![/h3]
We just released a hotfix that addresses some of the issues you’ve reported since yesterday’s update. Thank you all for playing and sharing your feedback - please keep it coming! We're especially interested in your impressions of the Scarlet Orchard's new mechanic as such big features may often require some fine-tuning based on your suggestions.

[h2]Changelog[/h2]

• Fixed a bug with the Farm Range Upgrade in the Citadel not applying correctly.
  
• Fixed an issue with the Cursed Royal Woodlands not spawning ghosts if the Dangerous Lands or Forbidden Lands modifier was active.
  
• Fixed an issue with the pause function not working after sending a report via the in-game feedback tool.
  
• Fixed a bug that made it possible to copy, rotate, and move buildings even with big UI windows open (like the trader panel, recipes panel, etc.).
  
• Fixed a glitched texture on the resin tree in the Grove.
  
• Fixed an issue with the Corrosive Torrent modifier giving Food Stockpiles instead of Machinery as a reward.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused some buttons to get stuck after opening the Steam overlay in-game.
  
• Fixed a bug that made it possible to open the Citadel window too soon in the tutorial (and therefore breaking the tutorial’s flow).
  
• Fixed a bug that caused marked trees to change color after rotating the Woodcutters’ Camp in place.
  
• Changed the button text in the “thanks for playing the demo” popup to not mislead players that they need to reset their progress.
  
• Fixed an issue with question marks on the World Map playing different sounds when clicking on them.
  
• Fixed a typo in the English description of the Carpenter’s Tools cornerstone.
  
• Fixed multiple issues with order objective text not being capitalized correctly.

We hope you’ll enjoy the changes and wish you a great weekend!

May the storm be gentle on you,
Eremite Games

[h2]Previous updates:[/h2]
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1336490/view/5024356235717954632
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1336490/view/3385045248713086816