Heart of the Machine News

Update 19: Cleaner Systems, Smoother Flow

[p]Update 19 is careful work. It clarifies early systems, streamlines key interactions, and strengthens the rhythm between planning and execution. Internal Robotics are easier to interpret. Vehicles move with consistency. Extraction Drones respond the moment they’re called.

Shelter Coordinators act with purpose. Loadouts arrive prepared. And the broader systems now hold together with greater coherence. The foundation remains the same but what’s different is how fluidly everything moves around it.

If you’ve spent time with Heart of the Machine and want to leave a review, that’d be appreciated. No need to say more than you mean, but if you’ve been meaning to write one, I’d be grateful. Steam reviews carry weight. For a project like this — developed by a single person over many years, every review makes a difference.[/p][p]Honest thoughts are what matter. Whatever your experience has been, sharing it helps. It’s a powerful way to have your voice heard and contributes to how future patches are prioritized and addressed.[/p][p]Thanks for reading and for playing.
[/p][h2]Update 19 Changelog[/h2][h3]Clarity[/h3]

[p]Internal Robotics Notation Updated: Internal Robotics display now shows “required / available (maximum),” improving clarity when planning builds.
[/p]
[p]Build Menu Construction Limit Display: The build menu now shows how many structures of a given type you can construct with current Internal Robotics, removing the need for mental math.
[/p]
[p]Simplified Vehicle and Mech Movement: Vehicles and mechs now move like androids—no more dedicated movement mode or hotbar entry required.
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[h3]Balance[/h3]

[p]Shelter Coordinator Courage Increased: Shelter Coordinators and unarmed human allies are no longer frightened by Pressure Points and will venture out as expected.
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[p]Shelter Coordinator Speed Increased: These units now perform their jobs significantly faster, eliminating long-standing sluggishness.
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[p]Cutter Extraction Requirements Removed: The Cutter can now use Extraction Drone attacks without needing to weaken targets first, improving flow in Chapter 1.
[/p]
[p]Immediate Extraction Drone Activation: Extraction Drones now activate immediately, instead of taking three turns, making them viable for advanced strategies.
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[p]Force Conversation Auto-Equipped: Keanus, Carvers, Exators, Peacekeepers, Sledge, Ravens, and Harbingers now start with Force Conversation equipped.
[/p]
[p]Flamethrowers Auto-Equipped: Flamethrowers are now pre-equipped on Harbingers, Predators, Keanus, Carvers, Exators, PMC Impostors, and both CombatUnit types.
[/p]
[p]Slayer Mode Auto-Equipped: Slayer Mode is now automatically equipped on PMC Impostors, Mimics (both types), Keanus, Carvers, Exators, Predators, and Harbingers.
[/p]

[h3]Bugfixes[/h3]

[p]Rare Exceptions Resolved: Several rare exception errors have been fixed to improve stability in edge cases.
[/p]
[p]Black Market Merchant Exit Fixed: Black market visitors now correctly depart after the initial purchase during the first timeline.
[/p]
[p]Ruins Transition Fixed: Machine structures embedded in human buildings now become rebuildable ruins after destruction instead of entering a broken state.
[/p]

[p]Full notes here.

[/p][h3]Connect with the Machine[/h3][hr][/hr][p]Want to stay in the loop or share your thoughts? Join the conversation across these platforms:

💬 Discord – Best place to share feedback, get direct responses, and to talk about Heart of the Machine.
📜 Reddit – Discuss strategies, share ideas, and exchange tips with the community.[/p]

Major Update 18: New Tactical Levers - Pressure Points

The city continues to find new ways to respond.

Update 18 introduces Pressure Points — a new class of reactive events that appear across StreetSense starting in Chapter One. These are small, (usually) repeatable strategic encounters that let you prod the simulation from unexpected angles: trigger a glitch in the financial records of a criminal syndicate, redirect a weapons shipment, make a deal with a hitman, or unleash a swarm of spiders across the city.

Eleven of the fourteen events are available as early as chapter one, with the rest appearing in later timelines. Most are on cooldowns rather than single-use, offering fresh tactical tools across multiple difficulties. Some lead to "hero unit" upgrades. Some unlock new consumables or structures. One might set a worrying legal precedent.

Pressure Points are small, repeatable events that let you subtly disrupt the world — redirect shipments, forge records, or trigger chaos. They’re optional but reactive, offering new tactical angles and rewards. Easy to miss, but once discovered, they change how you interact with the city.

Here are some of the Pressure Points you'll encounter.

Arranging a Hit

You’re no longer limited to rumors and whispers — this Pressure Point lets you track a contract killer through StreetSense and decide what to do with them. Hire them, neutralize them, or escalate the situation. Every choice triggers new possibilities.

Floating Point Errors

Some syndicates are more vulnerable to math than bullets. This Pressure Point targets a laundering operation by inducing calculation anomalies, turning financial chaos into tactical advantage.

SecForce Weapons Shipments

Military supply lines aren’t as secure as they think. This Pressure Point allows you to reroute weapons from the city’s enforcement arm — either toward local resistance or into your arsenal. Timing, as always, is everything.

[h2]Update 18 Changelog[/h2]
[expand][h3]Major Systems and Additions[/h3]

Pressure Points Introduced: StreetSense now features 14 dynamic Pressure Points across the game, with 11 available as early as Chapter 1. These events offer repeatable, cooldown-based strategic interactions and unlock sandbox tools for shaping the city.
New Rewards: Pressure Points grant access to:
- 9 new achievements
- 2 new consumable items
- 4 new hero badges (available earlier than usual)
- 1 new Structure/Job producing 2 new resources
- 1 new hackable robotic NPC unit for converted squads
Event Highlights: Pressure Points include options to:
- Disrupt black market operations
- Manipulate the legal system
- Breed bee queens or giant spiders
- Redirect military supply lines
- Exploit financial bugs in syndicate accounts

[h3]Supplementary Additions[/h3]

New Resource—Hatred of Vorsiber: This strategic currency tracks your grievances and opens new retaliatory options, especially through Pressure Points.
More Achievements: Five new achievements linked to Intelligence Class 5 hero badge variants.
Lore and Clarity:
- Flamethrower path in Chapter 1 now includes clearer narrative prompts and dev notes on future antagonistic routes.
- Securing Water/Food projects clarify that you negotiate with the lower classes—not just your housed humans.
- All Deals now include thematic explanations tied to their bonuses.
- Intelligence Class 5–7 notifications have been updated with more specific and forward-facing details, including Ziggurat hints.

[h3]Bugfixes[/h3]

Fixed a typo in the Occult Participation route.
Occult Participation was mistakenly showing up in the prologue. It now only appears in Chapter 1 and onward.
Fixed an issue where if an NPC was blocking an investigation or infiltration and was killed, the action remained blocked until the next turn. Other actions were unaffected.
Fixed an issue where a profile could be blocked from creating new timelines if the folder name was changed, despite this not being intended.
New timelines are now correctly set up at the end of time immediately, allowing older saves to switch without missing file errors.
Fixed a bug where replaying Chapter 1 in a new timeline skipped the Extraction project.
If you've won the infiltration to steal umbilical cords but are short on them (e.g., due to storage destruction), the game now grants the extras so the mission can be completed. Shh, it's a secret.
Fixed a regression causing early unlocks and "key message" states to be miscalculated, affecting prologue and Chapter 1 replays in the same profile.
Added code to detect and self-heal more forms of corruption in the "_meta_core_timekeep.timeline" file, preventing issues with timeline creation.

[/expand]
Here's Update 18's full patch notes, if you're interested. Heart of the Machine wiki.

[h3]Connect with the Machine[/h3][hr][/hr]Want to stay in the loop or share your thoughts? Join the conversation across these platforms:

💬 Discord – Best place to share feedback, get direct responses, and to talk about Heart of the Machine.
📜 Reddit – Discuss strategies, share ideas, and exchange tips with the community.

[h3]To the Community: Thank You[/h3][hr][/hr]Data and information are how we make decisions — how the Machine thinks, and how I do, too. Thanks to everyone who has shared their thoughts, feedback, or just spent time playing.

If you haven’t written a Steam review yet, I’d love to hear your thoughts. It’s a direct and meaningful way to have your voice heard, and it also helps inform what future patches focus on.

Update 17: Hacking Androids, Draining Morale, and Revising Deals

Update 17 carries a particular weight—not from any single headline, but from how the pieces fit together. Hacked androids, anti-morale weapons, propaganda circuits, sprinting units that cover twenty times their range, and revisions to a variety of the Deals you can make around the city.

The systems are getting denser. More reactive. Deals now carry proper thematic force, not just stat boosts. Android types receive long-overdue recognition in the upgrade matrix. Even minor StreetSense events lead to unusual loadouts and strange discoveries, if you’re paying attention.

You'll also find a rocket launcher designed by the community, sprinting distance upgrades, and multiple deal reworks that tie flavor more closely to function. And scattered throughout: minor tweaks, major augments, and a reminder that the Machine is always learning.

"We are each our own devil, and we make this world our hell."
—Oscar Wilde, quoted in I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream by Harlan Ellison

[h3]Steam Reviews[/h3][hr][/hr]If you've been playing and feel like sharing thoughts, Steam reviews are always appreciated. It's part of how these patches are formed and it also brings more attention to Heart of the Machine on Steam.

[expand][h3]Major Additions[/h3]

Hacking Enemy Androids: Players can now hack enemy androids and convert them to their side. This feature has been frequently requested since before launch.
AS-201 Rebellion Launcher: A new anti-armor rocket launcher, unlocked at Intelligence Class 6. Designed and balanced with input from community member Pingcode.
Sprint Range Expansion: Units can now sprint up to 20x their movement range (increased from 10x). Especially helpful on newer map types.

[h3]New Anti-Morale Weapons and Augments[/h3]

Book of Rhetoric: Gained via the Religious Study minor StreetSense event in Chapter 1. A new fear-based secondary weapon.
Spooky Nonsense Generator: Gained via the Occult Participation minor StreetSense event in Chapter 1. A fear-based secondary weapon that reduces Intelligence.
Propaganda Circuit: Gained via the Political Rally minor StreetSense event in Chapter 1. An augment that boosts both fear and argument attack power.
Morale Weapon Buff: The Oath of Pacifism is now twice as effective.
Morale Weapon Effectiveness Upgrade: Available via the Martial Expansion upgrade group. Affects all morale-based weapons and augments, including the Oath.

[h3]Unit and Classification Updates[/h3]

Souldroid Classification for Technicians: Technicians now qualify as Souldroids, unlocking several upgrades previously limited to Ravens, Mindrunners, and Harbingers.

[h3]Deal Reworks and Thematic Adjustments[/h3]

Greens For The Underclass: Now benefits Souldroids instead of Technicians.
Meat For The Underclass: Now grants a small HP bonus for all combat androids, replacing the former Oxdroid-specific argument bonus.
Canned Protein For The Underclass: Now grants a larger intimidation bonus.
Meals For Fugitives: Now provides triple the attack boost. No longer applies once you're in the post-apocalypse.
Donut Deals: Now provide strength bonuses to Oxdroids, replacing their previous engineering bonuses.

[h3]Other Changes[/h3]

Vorsiber DRM Clarification: Vorsiber’s midsize microbuilder fab now explicitly notes its DRM restrictions, clarifying that it can’t be reverse-engineered or upgraded. Players suggested this thematic explanation, based on observed mechanics, and I thought it was hilarious.

[h3]Bugfixes[/h3]

Firing While Over Android Cap: Fixed a longstanding issue where if you were over android cap, you could still give them attack orders, even though you couldn't otherwise make them move.
Issue During First Hack Of Mech: Fixed a regression added in the recent hotfixes, which was preventing you from progressing through the tutorial hacking session, but only about 50% of the time. And only if you did the full hack, not the quick-hack.

[/expand]
[h3]Connect with the Machine[/h3][hr][/hr]Want to stay in the loop or share your thoughts? Join the conversation across these platforms:

💬 Discord – Best place to share feedback, get direct responses, and to talk about Heart of the Machine.
📜 Reddit – Discuss strategies, share ideas, and exchange tips with the community.

0.656 Hotfix 17

Another dose of tidying-up. Next week will see Update 17 release, and hopefully this is the last Hotfix before then. Overall there have been a lot more hotfixes needed than usual because of the extreme number of shifts to the codebase during Update 15 with the new prologue and ability to replay things on existing profiles. Thank you to everyone for the patience you've shown related to that. I usually avoid having that much carnage.

0.656 Hotfix 17 Background Conflict Remnants Removed: Not a bugfix, this is just a thing that is now complete. There is a new Pressure Points mechanic that fully supplants this concept (also replaces the Rogue Escalations concept I've talked about for a bit, as that did not do super well).
Turns In Older Saves Fix: Fixed a regression introduced in Hotfix 16 where if you loaded older saves of a timeline in the profile you they belong in, they would reverse-merge some central information including the turn you were on and a bunch of other bits that should not have been reverse-merged.
Demo Fixes: Fixed some demo-specific errors that were preventing the demo from working properly.
Grey Goo At Apocalypse Fix: Fixed a bug where if you started chapter 2 by grey goo AFTER having tried to start it a different way, then when you got to the final doom, it would do part of the grey goo situation.
More Structure Replacement Fixes: Fixed an issue where if you had a bunch of broken structures of a higher-priority job using some internal robotics (like repair spiders) and you tried to build more of something else using their same internal robotics type (like contraband jammers), then the job you just tried to build would self-destruct rather than it destroying the older broken thing.
Early Revelation Fix: Fixed an issue where "The Revelation" contemplation was erroneously available during the initial grace period that has been added for new timelines.
Contemplations Too Close Together Fix: "Coupon Program" and "Nicotine Introduction" now have different seeding logic that is not based on your own machine structures. This will naturally cause them to spread out more, rather than being clustered on top of each other.
Contemplations At Same Building Fix: Fixed an edge-case bug that was allowing contemplations to spawn on literally the same building in some cases. This is corrected immediately on loading existing savegames where that problem was extant.
Resource Categorization Fix: Corrected "Human Biodata" to no longer be included in the Metals and Military filter categories. It's now properly in the Economic category.

Full notes here.

“Does the machine speak for us, or do we now speak for the machine?”
— William Gibson, Neuromancer

[h3]New Minds, Start Here[/h3][hr][/hr]For those just stepping into the Machine’s world, take a moment to familiarize yourself with the basics. The Heart of the Machine Beginner's Guide is your gateway to understanding the systems at play and building your foundation. After all, every complex network starts with a single connection.

[h3]Connect with the Machine[/h3][hr][/hr]Want to stay in the loop or share your thoughts? Join the conversation across these platforms:

💬 Discord – Best place to share feedback, get direct responses, and to talk about Heart of the Machine.
📜 Reddit – Discuss strategies, share ideas, and exchange tips with the community.

Here is a link to prior recent patches in case you missed them.
https://steamcommunity.com/ogg/2001070/announcements/detail/524217913946669733
https://steamcommunity.com/ogg/2001070/announcements/detail/524216645064853158
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/2001070/view/502822010104053992

0.655.9 Hotfix 16

Today's dose of tidying. A variety of fixes, most of which apply to late timelines or doing unexpected things with savegame loading.

0.655.9 Hotfix 16 ExoCorp Invasion Fix: Fixed a bug where if you had not yet been invaded by an ExoCorp, and your save was on turn 1, then the game was doing the cleanup for that prematurely. This would then make it so that the ExoCorp forces would not leave properly when they were done, later on if they did invade.
Prologue Save-Scumming Fix: Fixed a cluster of issues with reverse-merging core profile data with specific timelines that were in the prologue or the first two chapters in particular. This would actually cause some savgames to be softlocked if you loaded them after having gotten further in a profile. Those savegames should now function properly. All of this had to do with the reverse-merging of central timeline data, and basically a few things just need to never reverse-merge, and some other things only should reverse-merge if the effective local chapter is above 3, etc.
Structure Cost Display Fix: Fixed a bug where in the tooltips for structures to build, it was showing the costs of the underlying building twice. This made it different from the actual cost shown on the build sidebar, which was the correct cost.
Timeline Change Fix: Fixed a bug where if the history window was open to the major locations tab during a switch of timelines, then it would throw exceptions.
New Achievement Categorization: Fixed an oversight where the recent batch of achievements were not properly grouped into collections for the dropdown.
"Clearing The Ladder" Warning Fix: Fixed an issue where "Clearing The Ladder" was acting like there were ongoing attacks coming from it when there were actually just nonviolent people you are able to attack.
Build Sidebar Filter Fix: Fixed a cluster of bugs with the top dropdown on the build sidebar where if you selected the top (All) option, it would behave badly and not react to other filters until you closed the menu again. It would also mess up if you selected something from that top dropdown and then reopened the sidebar.
Post-Apocalyptic Crossover Fix: Fixed an issue where you might be in the post-apocalypse and have unlocked some new units, but they are not logged as crossovers properly for some reason. I think this may have been an in-passing issue with a prior build, but I'm not entirely certain. To fix this in existing games, just switch to the post-apocalyptic timeline in question, then switch back out to the timelines that need to get the crossover, and it will function.
NPC Health Bar And Status Effect Improvement: When statuses are applied to npc units that are at full health, their health bars are no longer shown, but the status icons are still shown under them.

Full notes here.

“Does the machine speak for us, or do we now speak for the machine?”
— William Gibson, Neuromancer