Heart of the Machine News

[p]Time travel is difficult -- who would have thought? I've made a number of improvements to the way that late-game timelines function, solving a number of edge cases that you could run into. Mind Annexes have also been rebalanced so that it's much more tempting to get some of the other options beyond just Coprocessors. Your worker androids are notably more intelligent and effective, but so are Slumlords and angry gangs and rebels.

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]
[expand]
[h2]Update 22 Changelog[/h2][h3]Clarity[/h3]

• [p]Pressure Points That Are Also Deals: Water Supplier and Open Pantry are now properly categorized as both Pressure Points and Deals in the dropdown.
  [/p]

[h3]Balance[/h3]

• [p]Firestarter Sanity: The Firestarter perk has been nerfed to only do 0.95x the intensity of "set the target on fire" that Flamethrower does, rather than 2.5x the intensity. This was massively overpowered to a ludicrous degree rather than being minor little addition to an already cool gun.
  [/p]
• [p]Mind Annex Options: The number of Mind Annexes that you get has been tripled. The cost of Coprocessors and Temples of Minds have also been tripled, so there is effectively zero change here. Android, Vehicle, and Mech extenders have had their costs stay where they were, which means that they are effectively 1/3 the price they used to be. This should help make them more competitive with Coprocessors, which otherwise dominate.
  [/p]

[h3]Timeline Shenanigans[/h3]

• [p]Timelines Kept Up To Date: Updated the game so that every time you save any savegame, and you're in the correct profile folder for it, AND you're in the most recent turn for that timeline, it updates the central timeline data for that timeline. It does this via a very simply file copy, making things really straightforward. This means that people who use quicksaves to jump between timelines are not going to run into stale older timelines. A very small number of people were doing this, but it was quite confusing.
  [/p]
• [p]Remembering Chapter 4: Fixed an issue where if you loaded older savegames in a certain order, your central profile metadata could be overwritten such that it would forget that you were actually in chapter 4. It would get you back to chapter 3, but no further.
  [/p]
• [p]Intelligence Class Crossloading: When you are directly loading or saving savegames, or diving into or our of timelines, it no longer plays the sound and shows the animation and message about your intelligence class going up or down.
  [/p]
• [p]The Click Paradox: Fixed a complicated issue where some timelines were not properly accessible in the {redacted} if you merged savegames in a certain way. It now repairs the data so that they are properly clickable.
  [/p]

[h3]Unit Intelligence[/h3]

• [p]Better Worker Spawns: When you have a cyberocracy hub or similar, it will no longer spawn workers androids in locations that have a security clearance that is too high for them. This was causing needless conflict.
  [/p]
• [p]Off Limits Areas: Your worker and bulk androids now make an extra effort to no longer take shortcuts through high-security locations.
  [/p]
• [p]Reigning In Aggression: Fixed an issue where if Worker Androids didn't have anything better to do, they would go pick fights with non-alarmed enemy guards. They are meant to hunt enemies, but are only supposed to go after enemy guards if the alarm is one.
  [/p]
• [p]increasing Aggression: Slumlords, and angry gang members or rebels, were being way too passive when thrust into a conflict with the player. They now appropriately take out their displeasure on players once more.
  [/p]

[h3]Bugfixes[/h3]

• [p]Post-Apocalyptic Stealth: Fixed an issue where if you were in the post-apocalypse, and you were playing a stealth network, then it was complaining about your lack of decoy tower.
  [/p]
• [p]Wealth Volume Correction: Corrected the commentary about the amount of wealth in one of the private residences. It now says (of 500k wealth): Even amongst managers, it would take over 250 years to earn that much, and it was just lying around. For an average citizen, this is twelve thousand years' worth of income.
  [/p]
• [p]Post-Apocalyptic Intelligence: Fixed an issue where your intelligence class could remain too high in the post-apocalypse if you had a deal with the NCOs, or possibly if you had sold a bunch of brainpals. Those no longer help you.
  [/p]
• [p]Pocket Nuke Fix: Fixed an issue where if you had two or more of the same kind of pocket nuke, it would accidentally expend two of them whenever you used one of them.
  [/p]

[/expand][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]

A new layer of side stories, tactical rewards, and visual clarity arrives in Update 21.

The Dark Underbelly framework opens with its first narrative thread, "The Executive Tomb," a contemplation-initiated side arc that is available as early as Chapter 1. Depending on your choices, it can lead to rapid-fire weapons, augments, and the game’s first diseases. All of it is optional. All of it reactive.

Networked weapons and telemetry augments join the Intelligence Class 5 unlock pool, and a set of quality-of-life improvements make territory control and structure placement easier to navigate. One upgrade gets stronger. One hacking event gets a failsafe. And quite a few quality of life improvements on top of all that.

If you’ve been spending time with Heart of the Machine and would like to leave a review, I’d be grateful. It doesn’t have to be long. Just your honest thoughts, whatever stood out or stuck with you. Steam reviews matter a great deal for a project like this, and they help guide future patches.

Thanks again for playing.

[h2]Update 21 Changelog[/h2]
[expand]

[h3]General[/h3]

• New Side Goal—Dark Underbelly: Introduced to house smaller side stories. The first, The Executive Tomb, can begin in Chapter 1—rare for timeline goals.
  
• Quick-Hack Failsafe: During the first hacking scenario, players now always receive enough Determination to choose the quick-hack route.
  

[h3]The Executive Tomb (Dark Underbelly Storyline)[/h3]

• Contemplation Unlock: "Exploring Wealthy Residences" is now available as a contemplation when Contemplations first unlock.
  
• Flexible Timing: Can be pursued across most chapters (not post-apocalypse).
  
• Dome Encounter: Optional fight under a dome unlocks 3 new rapid-fire weapons and a new augment—designed by community member Pingcode.
  
• Diseases Introduced: Completing the storyline unlocks the first in-game diseases, with wide-reaching timeline applications.
  
• Achievements: 5 new achievements tied to this storyline.
  

[h3]Intelligence Class 5 Additions[/h3]

• Networked Arsenal:
  
  
  
  • 4 new android weapons with networked targeting
    
  • 1 cruise missile for vehicles
    
  • Augments for androids, mechs, and vehicles that enable telemetry-sharing for these weapons
• Community Credit: All networked weapon content designed and implemented by Pingcode.
  

[h3]Clarity[/h3]

• Flag Placement Guidance: Territory flags now show tooltips and draw a line to the nearest valid placement.
  
• Embedded Structure Assistance: Structures placed inside human buildings now draw a pink line to the nearest valid host (e.g., skimmers).
  
• Minor Wording Improvements: In chapter one, several minor pieces of wording have been clarified.
  
• Bulk Unit Equipment: Feats and costs on equipment that don't apply to bulk units are no longer shown on bulk androids. For example, the Ambush feat, or the Mental Energy cost.
  
• Building Status Visibility: Badges and other statuses on buildings are now drawn in their tooltips as they are on units, making them much easier to see.
  
• "Highest Respect" Confusion: If you reach chapter one without overwriting any other androids, it now gives you Highest Respect immediately, rather than only doing that after you've talked to the AGI researchers.
  

[h3]Balance[/h3]

• Microbuilder Upgrade Extension: "Better Microbuilder Fabs" now boosts Full and Industrial Microbuilder Fabs. Vorsiber DRM-locked midsize fabs remain unchanged.
  
• Cybercratic Haven Establishment: When you are in the project Secure Your Cybercratic Haven, if you've reached at least 98% secured, then it goes ahead and just marks it as done. Those last 1-2% could be painfully slow in some cities.
  
• Unidentified Hostile Aircraft: For vehicles that are marked defective, they are instead now marked as Unidentified Hostile Aircraft, which is much more thematically-appropriate, as well as being just much worse in general. Aka, it's a lot more like Innately Alarming, and guards and other passerby really want to shoot down the aircraft a lot more intently.
  
• Enemy Spawn Cascade Prevention: Vulnerable buildings now stun themselves when overwhelmed, preventing uncontrolled enemy spawns in mid-to-late game.
  
• Enemy Spawn Cascade Reversal: After units have spawned against your vulnerable buildings, they now leave the battlefield if their target is destroyed. This is useful for cases where you're all right taking that loss, but don't want a ton of angry enemies then swarming the rest of your empire.
  
• Faster Housing Agencies: Housing Agencies now work 50% faster than before, making the Solve Homelessness project not last so long.
  

[h3]Bugfixes[/h3]

• Chapter One Achievements: The Journey Begins, Budding Pacifist, and Taking Extra Care can now be properly achieved on a playthrough in a secondary timeline in an existing profile.
  
• Mech Hacking: Fixed a regression where the hacking scenario for mechs was always being the basic tutorial, rather than the full hacking experience.
  
• No Revelation During WW4: Fixed a bug where The Revelation was still available during WW4.
  
• Exponential Power Growth: Fixed an issue where you could get softlocked in chapter one if you finished building a better brain before you build any computronium refineries (this is very difficult to do, and quite an edge case).
  
• Worker Units Tab: Fixed a bug where if you played through The Great And Terrible Protector, it was possible that the "Worker Units" concept was not also unlocked, and therefor you could not use the Workers tab of command mode.
  
• Messages On Replay: Fixed a generalized issue with certain messages not showing up if you were replaying chapter one for a second time in the same profile.
  
• Stuck Freighters On Long Maps: Fixed an issue where on long and narrow maps, if a regional or international freighter spawned at just the wrong spot, and the related airport was super far away, then they would just sit around indefinitely at the edge of the map.
  
• Worker Android Sanity: Worker androids will no longer open fire on protestors or other nonviolent parties.
  
• Proper ID Scrub: Fixed an issue where the Contractually Valid Target badge was not being removed by ID-scrubbing-type activities.
  
• Territory Flag Aggro On Load: Fixed an issue where, when loading savegames, sometimes it would act like you did not have enough deterrence and spawn in a bunch of enemy units around territory control flags.
  
• Morale Can't Be Murder: If you attack units with morale attacks, that no longer ever counts as a murder or an attempted murder. It wasn't intended to, but there were some cases where it did.
  
• Safety From High-Altitude Transports: Even if high-altitude military transports (and a variety of other NPC units) have less than full health, they will no longer attack players and player-allied units UNLESS the player has done either physical or morale damage to the units in question.
  

[/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.

[p]Four substantial updates in one week, this week! Next week will be slower, as I'll be working on new late-game goal paths, and that takes a lot of time. That said, there's a lot of exciting things on the horizon over the next couple of weeks, including another feature update tomorrow.

Update 20 includes a lot of long-time player requests -- and some more from the last few days. The game has always supported borderless windowed, but now it does so in a manner that does not minimize when you click out of it. There's now a dedicated screen to seeing how much neural expansion you get from each source in a timeline. Several elements that were confusing to new players have been clarified. A couple of the weaker weapons have gotten buffs to ensure they remain interesting.

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 20 Changelog[/h2][h3]Features[/h3]

• [p]True Borderless Windowed Mode: The game has been adjusted to be visible in the background if you switch away from it using OS hotkeys, or clicking to an adjacent monitor.
  [/p]

[h3]Clarity[/h3]

• [p]Clarity For Vorsiber Collaborators: If you are a Vorsiber Collaborator start, it now makes sure that you have the midsize microbuilder fabs from the very start of that point, and also makes sure that you are instructed to build those rather than the mini-fabs. This was biting some new players who were using this exit from the prologue.
  [/p]
• [p]Flamethrower Math: When holding shift to see the expanded tooltip, Flamethrower now shows the math of how it gets to the amount of morale damage it will inflict.
  [/p]
• [p]Quick Electrical View: Clicking the electricity display in the resource header now takes you directly into the input/output list for electricity.
  [/p]
• [p]New Neural Expansion View: In the input/output screen of the Resources window, if you have unlocked seeing your intelligence class, Neural Expansion is now the second option in the menu, under Electricity. This shows you the details of where all of your neural expansion is coming from in the current timeline (it also shows contributions form other timelines in one lump amount, for reference).
  [/p]

[h3]Balance[/h3]

• [p]Firestarter: he AG-31 Relumine shotgun now has a new Firestarter feat attached to it, which sets targets on fire if they are vulnerable to that. The strength of the fire damage is 2.5x of what a Flamethrower does, but only applies to a single target rather than a group.
  [/p]
• [p]High-Density Rounds Utility: These have been rebalanced so that they have less of a range penalty, give a little bit less of a damage boost, and give a powerfully-scaling armor-piercing boost.
  [/p]
• [p]Shotgun Ambushes: The TS-11 Light Shotgun now gives a 3x Ambush feat (which does stack with other sources of Ambush), making it actually an interesting weapon for those that can use it. The TS-29 Shotgun, which is already quite useful, has been given a 1.5x Ambush value to make sure that it remains competitive in the spectrum of other weapons around the game.
  [/p]
• [p]Precision Flamethrowing: Flamethrowers by non-shell-company operatives no longer hit units targeting your shell company, and vice-versa. This is much more in keeping with the nature of how the shell companies are meant to function combat-wise.
  [/p]
• [p]More Targets Vulnerable To Fire: The following units were not considered Flammable for purposes of being able to be set on fire by flamethrowers or Firestarter, but now are: Vorsiber Soldier, Vorsiber Inquisitor, SecForce Negotiator, Citizen Advocate (both kinds), and PMC Troopers. Originally, the idea was that their armor protected them, but this was very unclear and gave the wrong impression, such as that perhaps the Fearless perk was blocking them from being set on fire. It also didn't feel right for balance in general.
  [/p]
• [p]Nickelbot Engineering Balance: "Nickelbots Are The Worst" now only requires a Nickelbot with 116 engineering skill, rather than 140, making this a bit better balanced for early chapter two.
  [/p]
• [p]Drone Cores: The Avionics Core has been split into that plus also a Drone Core. In chapter one, it was really easy to get into a spot where you could block yourself with building too many drone factories and then being unable to build the aerospace hangar.
  [/p]

[h3]Bugfixes[/h3]

• [p]Pathfinding Exception Fix: Hardened some of the npc pathfinding methods against having exceptions when a building has just recently been destroyed when they are trying to pathfind around.
  [/p]
• [p]The Return Of Stealth Vehicles: Fixed a regression in Update 19 where I accidentally removed the ability to cloak from the Iris, Spectre, and Wraith vehicles. That has now been restored.
  [/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]

[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.
  [/p]

[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.
  [/p]
• [p]Shelter Coordinator Speed Increased: These units now perform their jobs significantly faster, eliminating long-standing sluggishness.
  [/p]
• [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.
  [/p]
• [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]

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.