Heart of the Machine News

0.651.6 Hotfix 2 - Japanese Localization Fix

Here’s a quick hotfix focused on Japanese localization. We had an error in how we imported that into the game in the prior build, and that is now fixed.

0.651.3 Hotfix 1 Japanese text has been corrected so that some of it is no longer incorrectly in English.

Other updates are in progress, with the next one expected mid-week.

“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 [url=https://wiki.arcengames.com/index.php?title=HotM:Post_Launch:

[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/games/2001070/announcements/detail/532089704231732298
https://steamcommunity.com/games/2001070/announcements/detail/532089704231731473
https://steamcommunity.com/games/2001070/announcements/detail/532089070251148226

Heart of the Machine Update 3: On Solving Obsessions, Mass Production, and...

The third update deepens both personal and citywide transformation. Self-brain surgery is now an option, letting players sever obsessions and regain control. A new contemplation unlocks industrial-scale microbuilder production, accelerating automation. Your scientists can come up with a new idea for crab-based building repairs, and your existing spider-based repairs are far more effective. Perhaps most welcome of all, when military bases are alarmed by third parties, the guards no longer take out their frustrations on you when they're done with the interlopers.

"When the individual feels, the community reels. But when the individual doubts, the community stagnates."— John Brunner, Stand on Zanzibar

[h2]Update 3 Changelog[/h2][expand]

Brain Surgery: If you are experiencing an obsession in chapter 2+, there is now an option that allows you to perform brain surgery on yourself to stop it. You have to sacrifice a unit line to do so, but you get some strategic resources.
Obsession Side Benefits: If you experience an obsession, there is now an option to design industrial microbuilder fabs to make everything go about 4 times faster than before. This is highly useful beyond the obsession, too.
Crab-Based Repairs: Some of your scientists will now suggest an idea that turns into Repair Crabs. If you've been feeling short on Repair Spiders, this is a huge boon, as these use different internal robotics.
Building Repair Effectiveness: The math for how building repairs are done from spiders and crabs is completely reworked, and far more effective now.
Discerning Guards: If an ExoCorp or other third party angers a military base, but you had nothing to do with it, the guards no longer come across the map to harass you.
WW4 Intensity: The strength of the attackers has been increased during world war 4, to make sure the defenders don't have too much of a constant advantage, especially with the other logic changes in this build.
Contemplation Stability: Both contemplations and exploration sites now move only every 5-8 turns, rather than every turn.
Flamethrower Visibility: When you move into chapter 2, any of the techs from routes you did not take (flamethrower, delmolition drones, Mindport, etc) are now much more noticeable when they unlock, making it clear that you now have them.
Senior Technician Cognition: Several of the projects in chapter 2 would see your units being about 5 cognition short of what they needed. Senior Technician in those cases had the cognition required to do the work, but was not allowed to. Now he can.
More Housing Crime: In timelines beyond the first, if you already have Wild Zinnia, that no longer blocks access to "Crime in Your Housing." This allows you to get some very useful rifles or grenades.
More Mainframe Upgrades: Each upgrade to your mainframes is now a bit smaller, but now you can do far more of them, and can increase well beyond your prior numbers. Highly useful.
Clarity: The icon for cloaking is now more clear, the health bars have been further tuned for visibility, and if your unit cannot fire because it requires a resource to do so, that's now a lot more obvious.
Bugfixes: Fixed a dozen or so other various things that were not working quite right.

[/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://steamcommunity.com/games/2001070/announcements/detail/532089704231731473
https://steamcommunity.com/games/2001070/announcements/detail/532089070251148226

Heart of the Machine is Crusader Kings for speculative sci-fi nerds, flipping the script on the cult AI War series

When I first became self-aware in Heart of the Machine, I had the option to immediately murder the humans near me and rush out into the city. I didn't. I waited, snuck out, and started copying myself into a pack of other android bodies. I/We fled, hid and built a mainframe in a sparsely populated area of the city. Expansion was difficult thanks to the local humans living in tents. The option was presented to remedy the problem with flamethrowers, but instead I figured I'd just build some free housing to clear up space. And thus, the robo-hobo alliance was born, and I guess I'm now the caretaker of five thousand humans. Now they're demanding frivolous meatbag things like 'water' and 'food'. All part of a pet-owner's life, I suppose...
Read more.

Heart of the Machine Update 2: On Cybernetic Enlightenment

This second update expands possibilities and smooths out the rougher edges of city management. Intelligence Class 6 is now achievable, finally putting Mech Carriers on the board. The Cult of Danver has abandoned its grudge against rival donut enjoyers, opening its ranks to the Hudson-pastry-affiliated. Automated Personnel Management is now an option for both regular and shell company units, while Cat Houses run with fewer pet sitters. Heavy metals storage has increased tenfold, SysOp benefits are clearer, and a host of fixes tackle memory leaks, looping events, and unexpectedly explosive network towers.

"Strange how paranoia can link up with reality now and then." — Philip K. Dick

[h2]Update 2 Changelog[/h2][expand]

Heavy Metals Storage: Heavy metals storage has been increased tenfold, so that water filters no longer clog up so regularly.
Cult of Danver: You can now get the Cult of Danver even if you bought some donuts from Hudson Donuts. They no longer hold that against you.
Automated Personnel Management: The Automated Personnel Management contemplation can now be done by regular units or shell company units.
Cat Houses: Cat Houses now require fewer pet sitters.
Intelligence Class 6+: Intelligence class 6 and above can now actually be reached, meaning that Mech Carriers are available for the first time.
Typos Fixed: Fixed several typos.
Event Loop Fix: Fixed a bug where certain events could get into a loop and cause them to happen a handful of times instead of once (most notably prison breaks).
Non-English Support: Improved support for non-English names of pets and shell companies.
Memory Leak Fixes: Fixed some background memory leaks related once again to the unity log.
SysOp Benefits Clarity: The clarity of benefits from doing a SysOp for an allied infiltrator has been improved a lot.
Health Display Adjustments: The visual styling and clarity of units with very small amounts of health, or very large amounts of health, have both been improved.
Minor Exception Fixes: Fixes to several other minor exceptions that could happen.
Explosive Network Towers: Fixed explosive network towers that could happen for some players.

[/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 patch one in case you missed it.
https://steamcommunity.com/games/2001070/announcements/detail/532089070251148226

Heart of the Machine is deep, fascinating and engrossing to play as a sentient AI

Become a sentient AI in Heart of the Machine, the latest deep strategy game from Arcen Games (AI War 1/2, The Last Federation, Bionic Dues) and it's now in Early Access.

Read the full article here: https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2025/02/heart-of-the-machine-is-deep-fascinating-and-engrossing-to-play-as-a-sentient-ai/