Heart of the Machine News

Heart of the Machine Update 9: Android Upgrades, and the Ethics of First Murders

The Machine expands, and so do the possibilities within it. A 14th Tier One goal, Advocate Encounter, introduces new factions, new faces, and the chance to either gain respect or make enemies that will never forget you. Meanwhile, androids can now be fine-tuned for rage-fueled destruction or enhanced pacifism, new handbook entries clear up lingering player questions, and volunteer-designed equipment expands combat across multiple unit types.

For those who prefer their contemplations with a side of bloodshed, Cold Blood is now an option from the start—your first murder, should you choose it.

As always, your feedback pushes the Machine forward. Here’s what’s changed.

“The old world is dying, and the new world struggles to be born.” — The Dispossessed, Ursula K. Le Guin

[h2]Building the Machine[/h2][hr][/hr]Adjustments, fixes, and shifts in the Machine come from the feedback you provide. Whether changing targeting logic, balancing enemy behavior, or ensuring existential dread is properly accounted for, your input shapes what comes next. Keep sharing your thoughts!

[h2]Update 9 Changelog[/h2][hr][/hr][expand]

Advocate Encounter goal: A 14th Tier One goal has been added with two routes: Earned Some Respect or Earned New Mortal Enemies. This project introduces new rebel factions and a broader look at city life.
New achievements: Ten new achievements have been added.
Rage Circuit: A new android equipment piece, available after Intelligence Class 4, that boosts firepower at the cost of morale damage.
Oath of Pacifism: A new android equipment piece, available after Intelligence Class 4, that prevents physical damage while increasing intimidation and morale damage. Ideal for non-lethal bulk units.
Map lens improvements: New quality-of-life options allow players to jump straight from a map lens to its list-style counterpart.
Contemplation visibility: Players can now hide contemplations from the map lens if they don’t plan to pursue them in this timeline.
Mass furniture purchasing: Added a bulk-buy option for furniture, recognizing increased use cases where this is needed.
Structure tooltip expansion: Now displays net income from expense resources from the prior turn, making production chains easier to set up.
Resource tracking improvements: Holding Shift or Ctrl now displays net change from the last turn for all resources in the header bar.
Terminology update: The term middle class has been replaced with working class throughout the game for improved clarity.
Text adjustments: Reworded older text that still referenced machine origins and Netslicers.
Cold Blood availability: The Cold Blood action is now always available in StreetSense, even if the player hasn’t committed murder yet.
Food and Water for Humans handbook entry: A new guide explaining the distinction between housing and feeding in the game—clarifying that being a landlord does not mean being a mayor.
Exploration Site Progress Is Retained handbook entry: Clarifies that progress on exploration sites carries forward, making them easier to complete over multiple visits.
Projects With StreetSense Items handbook entry: Explains how StreetSense items influence project outcomes and how they affect roleplay and strategic choices.
Hacking Rules Adjustments: The hacking minigame rule of "cannot Jump to a cell that you cannot Run out of" has been removed, and when if corrupting a shard in the hacking minigame would cause you to win the minigame, it will let you do that even if it's your last shard.

[h3]New Equipment (Volunteer Contributions by RocketAssistedPuffin)[/h3]

Heavy Metals Injection (Harbingers): A new consumable that enables area-of-effect fear attacks and weakens enemy hackers.
FR-70 Hallucinogen Grenade (Harbingers): A stealthy poison grenade for Harbingers, available immediately upon unlocking them.
High-Density Rounds (Nickelbots): A contemplation-based upgrade that strengthens elite Nickelbots at the cost of heavy metals—balancing their underperformance compared to bulk Nickelbots.
ETS Tasp (Infiltrators): Found in exploration sites, this equipment provides cognition boosts and non-lethal attack specialties for Infiltrators.
Infrasonic Loudspeaker (Androids): Available via exploration sites, this device enhances morale-based attacks for any android.
Exoskeleton Arms (Sledge): An exploration site upgrade that improves attack range and Strength for Sledge units.
Liquid Identity (Stolen Human Mechs): Available as a contemplation if the player has been divorced in this timeline and has high engineering, allowing for greater mobility of stolen human-designed mechs.

[h3]Fixes and Adjustments[/h3]

Network tower explosions: Fixed a minor visual issue with network towers during destruction.
Android action restrictions: Fixed an issue where androids with no security clearance were unable to perform certain actions.
Shop meta-stat tracking: Fixed a bug where items sold via shops were incorrectly doubling in value and quantity in meta statistics.
V5 Panther armor correction: The V5 Panther now has the correct armor plating—it was mistakenly 100 lower than the V4.
Modder support: Added new features requested by modders in the ArcenExternalDllInitialLoadCall table.
LOX Bunker fix: The LOX Bunker is now properly explosive, allowing players to finally earn the Oxygen Bomb achievement.
Achievement triggers: Fixed an issue where three achievements were not triggering until the game was reloaded.
Timeline goal clarity: Improved tooltip clarity for timeline goals, specifying which are side goals, Tier One, etc. Side goals also now show slightly darker in the list of goals.
Hellraiser and Nuclear Cavalier achievements: Fixed an issue where their completion requirements were stricter than intended.
No More Undead workers: Your units cannot do work on actions-over-time on the turn that they die. This makes some Exploration Sites a bit trickier.
Last Achievement Issue: The Broombreaker achievement now properly triggers. It will be retroactively awarded on any timelines that should have it. This was the last achievement that was not working properly.
Project Edge Cases: Fixed an edge case in the Cybercratic Hub calculations that could block your progress there, and same with the bombing of SecForce stations. The latter is now no longer tedious if there are a lot of SecForce stations, in general.
Firewalls: Fixed a bug where Firewall in the hacking minigame was not costing mental energy despite saying it would. Also fixed an issue with it granting you the Kill Streak achievement for Firewall, which was incorrect.
Mission Error: Fixed a couple of bugs relating to the Oerl dome fight complaining about failing to start, or being present in a different save after cross-loading from one to another.

[/expand]
[h3]Full Changelog[/h3][hr][/hr]A full, comprehensive breakdown of every change from this patch can be found in the Heart of the Machine Wiki, found here.

[h3]Guides to Tame the Machine[/h3][hr][/hr]Even the most brilliant mind needs guidance when faced with a system as vast as this one. To help you navigate, we’ve pinned two essential resources from the Heart of the Machine wiki:

[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.

We've recently released the Heart of the Machine Hacking Guide as well! Knowledge is power. Guard it well.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3422241019

[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://store.steampowered.com/news/app/2001070/view/530965072572320673
https://steamcommunity.com/games/2001070/announcements/detail/530965072572317985

0.652.3 Hotfix 4

Here’s a quick hotfix that improves a couple of things from the prior build. The unlimited territory control flags is why I didn't just fold these into the next full update.

0.652.3 Hotfix 4 Various localization updates and improvements.
Added the Osmium Musket to the list of fear-based weapons that get upgraded by fear upgrades.
Fixed an issue where you were getting unlimited territory control flags in the prior build, still.
Fixed an exception that could happen during rendering if a building was destroyed that could be the target of a territory control flag, and the game had not yet been saved and loaded.
The game now automatically strips out any destroyed buildings as no longer being valid targets for territory control flags when you are in placement mode for them.

Full notes here.

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

[h3]Guides to Tame the Machine[/h3][hr][/hr]Even the most brilliant mind needs guidance when faced with a system as vast as this one. To help you navigate, we’ve pinned two essential resources from the Heart of the Machine wiki:

[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.

We've recently released the Heart of the Machine Hacking Guide as well! Knowledge is power. Guard it well.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3422241019

[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/530965072572320674
https://steamcommunity.com/games/2001070/announcements/detail/530965072572317964
https://steamcommunity.com/games/2001070/announcements/detail/578252481832681480

Heart of the Machine Update 8: Smarter SuperCruisers, Battery Backups, and...

The Machine adapts, and so do its enemies. SuperCruisers are no longer mindlessly locking onto you—now, they patrol, linger, and wait. Meanwhile, rebels have developed a sense of restraint (no more attacking stray animals), and your bulk androids will no longer mistake the Rebel Alliance for a threat.

Elsewhere, resource production no longer locks up when storage is full, revenge squads are a little less apocalyptic in Chapter One, and some particularly confused building ghosts have been given clearer instructions. For those suffering from existential crises, contemplation of intrinsic thoughts is now actually available.

There’s plenty more under the hood — here’s what’s changed.

"You adapt, evolve, compete, or die.” — The Forever War, Joe Haldeman

Intrusive Thoughts contemplation: Fixed an issue where this was not properly available in the prior build.
Tooltip cleanup for completed projects: The requirements section is no longer shown, as it was inaccurately displaying current information for completed projects.
Rebel Anthroneuroweave project: Fixed a bug where being at cap on Anthroneuroweave would prevent this project from properly completing.
Seeking Meeting With Shell Company text: Clarified wording: "Time to get out a PMC Impostor and have it pretend to be a human contractor."
Offscreen unit deaths: Fixed a bug where units that died offscreen were momentarily displaying their burning remains in the center of the map.
SecForce SuperCruisers movement logic: No longer beelines directly toward you, which previously caused odd patterns that made them seem like they were spawning on top of you. They now patrol the map, shooting at any of your units or buildings they see.
SecForce SuperCruisers engagement logic: Occasionally, they will directly pursue your units or other enemies. If you engage in an action-over-time event (such as an investigation), they will specifically move to harass those units. Ironically, by making them less aggressive, they have become more of a persistent threat.
Nice Alterations contemplation: No longer available if the related NPC is dead.
Resource production chains: Having both excess storage and surplus of a resource will no longer block production chains. This issue was notably affecting cotton but could impact other resources as well.
Wealth income fixes: Fixed an issue where Wealth income from deals (e.g., selling BrainPals) was not properly applied.
Building ghost snapping: Snapping logic, introduced last update, is now less aggressive (as per player feedback). Added a new setting allowing players to adjust the sensitivity or turn it off entirely.
Rebel behavior adjustments: Rebels will no longer attack helpless animals.
TPS Reports storage warnings: Fixed an issue where too many reports were complaining about lack of storage when it was not actually relevant (e.g., with cotton).
Unit order standardization: Units in the sidebar now follow a consistent order, matching their organization in other menus. Previously, the order was essentially random.
Error Prevention: Hardened the [noparse]CalculateIsValidTargetForMachineStructureRightNow()[/noparse] method against rare threading issues that could cause exceptions shortly after building deaths.
Rendering exception fix: Fixed a rare threading exception that could occur during rendering when buildings were destroyed.
PMC Revenge units: Dramatically weaker in Chapter One to prevent them from being game-endingly difficult for new players. Also now weak-from-above in general, making them easier to deal with at any time.
Codebreakers during Probe The Titan: Fixed an issue where having Codebreakers too early could prevent project completion. The project now correctly considers both decrypted and encrypted data.
Mental energy cost on weapons: Fixed an issue where weapons adding a mental energy cost were mistakenly applying that cost to bulk androids. This was causing bulk androids to fire sporadically, depending on how much mental energy was available.
Consumable item effectiveness upgrades: Now explicitly explain their effects.
Military Batteries: Repair Spiders, Repair Crabs, Contraband Scanners, and Neuroweave Factories now all have battery backups that prevent them from going offline when your electricity is below baseline. This helps players in a bad situation not be softlocked by roaming bands of enemies.

[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.

We've recently released the Heart of the Machine Hacking Guide as well! Knowledge is power. Guard it well.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3422241019

[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/games/2001070/announcements/detail/530965072572317985
https://steamcommunity.com/games/2001070/announcements/detail/530965072572317964

Heart of the Machine Update 7: On New Contemplations, Tactical Fear, and...

The Machine thinks, therefore you suffer. But now, thanks to a new Intrusive Thoughts contemplation, you can choose to think less in Update 7. If the Cold Blood action in StreetSense has been weighing on your digital conscience, you can now remove it entirely in exchange for more 12cm Spiders and Network Attendants. More tiny robots, fewer existential crises—it’s a tradeoff.

Meanwhile, Bulk Android squads now have access to Deter and Attack, an alternative stance to Deter and Defend that’s significantly less defensive. Units in this stance go fully weapons-free and become innately alarming, which is a polite way of saying they’ll cause problems on purpose.

Elsewhere in the timestream, lost War Raptors can now spill into nearby timelines. Whether that’s a feature or a warning is entirely up to you.

In matters of corporate ethics, you now have a third way of dealing with the Atca Retail president. Instead of blackmailing him or removing him from the equation, you can force him to shut down his scam. It’s a morally upright choice, though perhaps not the most financially rewarding one — your AGI can stay virtuous, but it won’t get rich doing it.

Smaller but no less vital improvements include accurate cat house descriptions (yes, they wander), six new machine handbook entries answering common player questions, and building placement fixes that finally let you construct things without tiny debris getting in the way. If you’ve ever struggled to wedge a structure into a gap because a pebble refused to acknowledge your authority, that should be less of an issue now.

“Sometimes the smallest things take up the most room in your mind.” — Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

[h2]Building the Machine[/h2][hr][/hr]Thank you all for taking the time to share your thoughts. Whether it’s highlighting what works, pointing out what doesn’t, or offering cautionary tales about the consequences of unchecked intelligence, your feedback helps shape what comes next. We see it, we appreciate it, and it makes a difference.

[h2]Update 7 Changelog[/h2][expand]

New Contemplation – Intrusive Thoughts: Players can now remove the Cold Blood action from StreetSense in exchange for 12cm Spiders and Network Attendants. This fulfills two player requests—one for removing intrusive thoughts and another for acquiring more scarce internal robotics for scanning, repairs, and network expansion.
New Bulk Android Stance – Deter and Attack: A more weapons-free alternative to Deter and Defend that makes units innately alarming. Added by player request, and now ready for tactical experimentation.
Horrify and Demoralize Status Effects: These attacks now apply maluses, causing enemies to take twice as much of the opposite kind of morale damage for one turn.
Timeline Crossover – War Raptors: Lost dinosaurs from Endless War Raptors can now appear in nearby timelines, creating new potential encounters.
New Atca Retail Negotiation Path: Instead of blackmailing or eliminating the Atca Retail president, you can now force him to shut down the scam. Not the most mechanically optimal choice, but an option for AGIs who want to keep their conscience clean.
Item Upgrades: Fixed a bug that was preventing most item upgrades from actually being upgradeable. Your ability to field higher-armor-piercing just got MUCH stronger.
Cat Houses Now Accurately Describe Cat Behavior: Describes more wandering than previously indicated.
New Machine Handbook Entries: Six new handbook entries have been added, addressing frequently asked questions from the Steam forums, Discord, and community discussions.
Building Placement Improvements: Small objects no longer block construction, as buildings will now simply smoosh minor obstacles out of existence.
Building Ghost Snapping: While placing buildings, the ghost now snaps to the last valid hovered spot, making it easier to position structures in tight spaces. Huge thanks to players for suggesting this clever solution.
Heavy Metals Clarity: When you're unable to produce filtered water due to clogged filters, it is far more clear now.
Stealth Kill Consistency: In chapter one, when you have a chance to stealth kill a soldier, that no longer counts as a murder. That was inconsistent with the rest of the game. Additionally, taking him out non-lethally now works properly (that was a regression in the prior build).
Improved Network Consistency: The logic for if you can build skimmers in mining facilities is now always consistent and clear.
Fixed Laser Printer Project Issue: No longer starts if all related NPCs were dead.
Fixed Attack Range Clamping Issue: Units with longer attack ranges than movement ranges were incorrectly being limited by movement range, leading to unintended targeting behavior.
Fixed Mindrunner Buff Bug: Mindrunners providing buffs to units in vehicles were accidentally
providing the buffs to the vehicles, instead, which made the vehicles monstrously overpowered.
Fix "The Coming War" Bug: The final doom is now spaced properly after this, rather than coming up way too fast.
Fix Several Project Progression Bugs: Most of these were exceedingly rare or did not actually block progression, but they're all fixed now.
Fix Ability To Continue Hacking Titan: There were several cases after hacking the titan where you couldn't keep doing that. In general, after getting the goal state related to the titan, there was meant to be another hack possible that has quite a bit of lore related to it. That was inaccessible, but now can be reached.

[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.

We've recently released the Heart of the Machine Hacking Guide as well! Knowledge is power. Guard it well.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3422241019

[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/games/2001070/announcements/detail/530965072572317964
https://steamcommunity.com/games/2001070/announcements/detail/578252481832681480

Heart of the Machine Update 6: On Targeting Improvements, Upgraded Bulks, and...

The Machine adapts, and so do its enemies in Update 6. This update brings major shifts to targeting logic, making enemy gunfights a little more their problem and less yours. Units with armor-piercing capabilities will now focus on the optimal threats, bulk androids are getting buffs to make a wider variety of them useful, and Hackamajigs are no longer a joke — they’re a weapon.

Elsewhere, Vorsiber Inquisitors during the civil war have been dialed down from “unstoppable zealots” to something slightly more manageable, and certain item requirements have been adjusted to keep your inventory clean and focused.

On the narrative side, jumping ahead to the brink of WW4 will now bring the final doom timer along for the ride (as it always should have), and sparing the PMC Officer in Chapter One is no longer locked behind an ammo type—just spend a little Determination.

“Sometimes it is the quietest adjustments that change everything.” — William Gibson, Pattern Recognition

[h2]Building the Machine[/h2] [hr][/hr]Thank you all — Heart of the Machine has blasted past 500 reviews! That’s over 500 people who took the time to put thoughts into words, whether to highlight what works, call out what doesn’t, or warn future players about the dangers of letting the wrong machines run loose. We see them all, we appreciate them all, and they help shape what comes next.

[h2]Update 6 Changelog[/h2][expand]

Targeting changes: NPC units and bulk units are now more likely to shoot at each other instead of focusing all their aggression on your units. Stragglers will be easier to pick off, reducing spillover enemy aggression.
Improved armor-targeting: Units with the ability to harm armor-plated targets will now prioritize them appropriately.
Hackamajig overhaul: Now vastly more effective and extremely powerful. It forces enemies to overkill your sacrificial unit by a percentage that increases as you upgrade it. It also fully interrupts normal enemy targeting, making it significantly stronger than before. Given its new power (up from being practically useless), its cost has changed to 2 Creativity instead of 12k Wealth.
Machinist adjustments: The CN-1 Machinist is no longer harder to hack than the BL-1 Machinist.
Solve Homelessness project QoL: Your Sheltered, Abandoned, and Refugee human counts now remain visible at all times.
Item list decluttering: Some items now only appear for units that meet their requirements—the tossing of weaponized insects and arachnids now requires 40 Agility, and Animate Office Equipment only appears for units with 150 Hacking Skill.
Vorsiber Inquisitors rebalance: No longer ridiculously overpowered during the civil war.
Bulk android buffs: Mild to moderate improvements to all of the non-Nickelbot variants to help them compete with bulk nickelbots (which already scale well in the late game). Changes are measured—further tweaks may be needed, but avoiding overcorrection for now.
Improved AI for bulk and captured units: They will now engage alarmed enemies more effectively and not target enemy hackers that retaliate when damaged.
WW4 timeline fix: The contemplation that jumps you forward to the brink of World War 4 now correctly advances the final doom timer.
Enemy playback speed options: You can now slow visual playback of enemy units even further.
PMC Officer requirement fix: Previously, sparing the PMC Officer in Chapter One required Sublimating Shells, which was confusing for many players. Now, you can simply spend 1 Determination instead.
Mouse hitbox fix: Space nation vehicles now have appropriately sized hitboxes.
Other minor fixes: Including Establishing Meaningful Social Change no longer getting stuck at 5% if you completed "Is It Justice?" via the dragons and then did the AGI route afterward.

[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.

We've recently released the Heart of the Machine Hacking Guide as well! Knowledge is power. Guard it well.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3422241019

[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://store.steampowered.com/news/app/2001070/view/578252481832681479
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/2001070/view/509572340673151073