Heart of the Machine News

Update 44: Civil Spycraft Act One

[p]This build includes the first half, roughly, of Civil Spycraft. I wasn't intending to release that in parts, but it turns out it works well that way. The beta branch (English only) includes 95% of the second act of Civil Spycraft if you want to see that. This build looks small based on the release notes, but there's a large amount of gameplay and story in here.

You may notice I'm slowing down a bit lately with the releases, but that's actually because I'm working on really large pieces of content. Expect that to continue for another 4 weeks or so. I'm wrapping up the last of Civil Spycraft, and then diving headfirst into a bunch of Tier 3 goals for the first time. That's all very exciting, but it makes it harder to do smaller intermediate releases. You'll see about one per week during this period, and you'll also notice that I'm a lot less responsive to feature requests or bugs that aren't severe.

After this sprint, I'm going to be back onto feature requests, lesser bugs, and so forth. Sometimes these things come in waves!

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 44 Changelog[/h2]
[h3]Civil Spycraft Act One[/h3]

"Attempt To Restore Order" During The Civil War: Later this will be noted as starting Civil Spycraft, but for now it does not have that label since you can only get through act one. Regardless, you can go far enough with this that you make some surprisingly major changes to the city, involve your cult, and can end the civil war.
"Two Branches: The first act of Civil Spycraft has two completely independent branches that involve two different fedcorps. They are mechanically distinct, give you some two separate angles on the story, and also have their own separate major useful buffs/jobs that come out of them.
Two New Achievements: I'm not saying much because of spoilers, really.
Mysteries Unresolved: The first act of Civil Spycraft does kind of deepen a few mysteries, and act two (on the beta branch now, or will be more widely available in 2ish weeks) ties those up.

[h3]Other Changes[/h3]

Make A Shell Company: If you somehow get to the Organometallic Form project (for creating mimics) without ever having created a shell company, there is now an Establish Shell Company project that pops up with guidance on that.
Resource Cost Clarity: Improved the readability of StreetSense project actions when they cost one or more resources.
Aftermath Text For Goals: There have been notable updates to the post-goal summary screen. It now shows what resources you gained from that goal, and which paths of the goal you completed. In English, it also then has aftermath text for every goal except for the "Pressuring The City" side goal (which doesn't need aftermath text). This is something that will be coming to other languages in about two weeks. You can then click through from this first screen with this new info to see the same mix of stats and possible achievements that you would see in the past. In both of these screens, the header also now shows the name of the goal that you completed, and lets you see its tooltip simply by hovering that header.

[/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]

Update 43: Opening The Armory

[p]I'm very excited about the sheer number of new options for you to customize your units in this build! This one has 3 new augments for androids, 2 augments for vehicles, the first 5 armors for vehicles, 6 new augments for mechs, and 5 new armors for mechs (each in two variants for small and large mechs). Overall, 26 new pieces of equipment.

There are also a number of units that have additional equipment slots, and various other balance items and bugfixes. The names of the equipment won't be localized to non-English languages until next week, but since that winds up mostly being cosmetic (since all the stats are in your respective languages), I decided to go ahead and bring this out now.

In other news, I've been working hard on Civil Spycraft and some other late-game content. Part of that just went to the localization teams, and that same part is now out on the beta branch here. If you want to check that out, you can use the password previewterminator to opt into the beta. All of those bits are only in English until the official launch, though.

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 43 Changelog[/h2]
[h3]Clarity[/h3]

"Obscured By Clothing" Removed: This perk is now gone, instead with all of its versions just being Blending In. This is simpler for players, and less clutter visually.
Final Doom Wording Clarity: The in-game text now makes it clearer that you'll be dealing with a "post-apocalyptic aftermath" rather than not specifying a noun.
Investigation Clarity: When you're doing one investigation that requires work over time, it no longer blocks other investigations that just require site visits.
Investigation Snapping: Improved the snapping of the cursor to nearby investigation targets.

[h3]Balance[/h3]

Meaningful Social Change: Rather than failing this project when you start doing For The Sake Of Those Bound, it instead shifts so that the percentage goes up some based on what you've done in that other project, and then is completed as a success when you complete that other project. There's a nontrivial amount of strategic resources this grants you, as well as being clearer.
Buff To Nuclear Power Skimmers: These now generate 100k more power each.
Sledge Equipment Slots: They now have two armor slots rather than one (it layers them on top of each other), and also an augment slot (they previously did not have this at all). This is a HUGE buff, so they can be a real walking tank.
Predator Augment Slot: They now have an augment slot for the first time. Less dramatic than the Sledge boosts, but it's still an interesting buff.
Unwaveringly Aggressive: The Oath Of Pacifism now can't be used by Predators, Harbingers, or Carvers. This is mostly thematic.
Unchangeable Cognition: Sledge, Predator, Keanu, and Carver are now barred from using Additional CPU, Smart Pistol, Book Of Rhetoric, Spooky Nonsense Generator, and Propaganda Circuit. This is mostly thematic.
Infallibly Kind: Sledges cannot use Rage Circuit or Saw Arms, which they otherwise would now be getting. This is mostly thematic.
Debate Seeds Shift Over Time: Every turn, the set of what comes up in a given debate scenario now changes, rather than being locked to whatever you initially find. This makes it so that if you run into an insane scenario (the third writ is notorious for this), then you're able to try something different.
Armor Slot For Bastion: That lets it join the foundry, troopship, mindport, and mech carrier in having armor, which is new for vehicles this build.
Doubled Mech Carrier Armor: This ultimate vehicle now has 2 armor slots, rather than 1, making them kind of like Sledges in terms of how beefy they are from a vehicle standpoint.
Buffed Vehicle CPUs: The Additional CPU equipment for vehicles now has a base of 60 engineering rather than 40, to match the android version.
Loudspeakers Removed From Shoulders: Infrasonic Loudspeakers on androids can now be used by any android with augment slots, not just those that can handle shoulder mounts.

[h3]New Android Equipment[/h3]

Hydraulic Musculature: Available at intelligence class 6. Augment that increases intimidation by 24, strength by 60, and gives recoil suppression.
Saw Arms: Available at intelligence class 6. Augment that increases attack power by only 10, fear attack power by 70, and intimidation by 140.
Quantum CPU: Available for Souldroids when at intelligence class 4. Augment that increases cognition by the same amount as the regular "Additional CPU" (including any after-market upgrades), and then increases both hacking and net control by 60 each. VERY useful.

[h3]New Vehicle Equipment[/h3]

Ultralight Components: Available at intelligence class 3. Augment that increases attack range by 16, move range by 30, and reduces health by 180. And yes, this stacks. Super useful on units like Iris.
Drone Dock: Available at intelligence class 3. Augment that increases attack range by 20 and drone quality by 100, but reduces attack power by 100. Incredibly useful for Mindports, among others.
Chromium Plating: Good health. New armor gained when you get Ultralight Plating for androids.
Depleted Uranium: Beefy but slowing. New armor gained when you get 35mm Halfplate for androids.
Heptagonal Tungsten: More action points! New armor gained when you get Tungsten Plate for androids.
Active Graphene Mesh: Some health, but a lot more movement. New armor gained when you get the android version of this.
Technologist Hardpoints: Not much health, but a ton of drone quality, scavenging skill, and engineering skill. New armor gained when you get Diamond Nanothread Weave for androids.

[h3]New Mech Equipment[/h3]

Basic Augments: From the start of the game, there is now an Additional CPU and Optical Processing Priority augments available for mechs, matching those that are available on androids (unlike the vehicular variants, there is cognition added for the CPUs).
Drone Dock: Available at intelligence class 3. Augment that increases attack range by 20 and drone quality by 150, but reduces attack power by 100. This is a more extreme counterpart of the new vehicular augment by the same name.
Shoulder-Mounted Rockets: Available at intelligence class 3. Augment gives attack power, range, and intimidation. Everything but the range is doubled from its android counterpart with the same name.
Shoulder-Mounted Lasers: Available when its android counterpart is unlocked. Augment gives huge attack power, lowered range, and huge armor piercing. Everything but the range is doubled from its android counterpart.
Infrasonic Loudspeaker: Available when its android counterpart is unlocked. Augment gives a bit of argument attack power, notable attack range, and huge fear attack power. Everything but the range is doubled from its android counterpart.
Chromium Plating: Really good health. Large and small mech armor variants gained when you get Ultralight Plating for androids.
Incandescent Uranium: Good health, great intimidation. Large and small mech armor variants gained when you get 35mm Halfplate for androids.
Heptagonal Tungsten: More action points! Large and small mech armor variants gained when you get Tungsten Plate for androids.
Active Graphene Mesh: Some health, but a lot more movement. Large and small mech armor variants gained when you get the android version of this.
Cubic Boron Rails: Tiny health, but solid drone quality, and extremely high attack range increase. Large and small mech armor variants gained when you get Diamond Nanothread Weave for androids.

[h3]Bugfixes[/h3]

But You Promised You Wouldn't Complain: Fixed an issue where the tungsten methylator was complaining on your HUD in the TPS Report category when it should not have been.
Armored Executive Was Lonely: Fixed an issue where if you were in the setup phase in a fresh timeline and had chosen a start with the shell company involved, then the Senior Technician and Economic Transport would not be unlocked until you ended the first turn. They are now available right away.

Hotfix 23

[p]One fix and one clarity improvement.[/p]

[expand]
[h2]Hotfix 23 Changelog[/h2]
[h3]Clarity[/h3]

Purple Murnong Visibility: Adjusted the icon of purple murnong transports to be that of purple murnong, so that you can see it at a glance in the Forces tab. Also adjusted these to show in the Forces tab even if you've not filtered to a specific sub-section.

[h3]Bugfixes[/h3]

Properly Forcing Conversations Again: Fixed an issue where force conversation was not working properly in the prior build with who was supposed to be only spoken to by an armored executive.

Update 42: Enemy Protocol

[p]Nothing all that large in this one, in the main -- just general housekeeping. This makes some things smoother and clearer, and resolves the bulk of the items reported or requested by players in the last little while. A couple of the bugs are rather humorous.

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 42 Changelog[/h2]
[h3]Clarity[/h3]

Understanding When It's World War 4: If you are in the part of the game where you have triggered the inevitability of WW4, but you have not yet actually gotten the goal completion for it yet, the game now shows a message in the task stack stating that this is "Early WW4" and how much longer you need to survive for it to be full-blown.
Analysis Lens Color Clarity: Fixed the Deterrence Coverage and Protection Coverage descriptions to be accurate to the current color scheme. The colors were adjusted in the past to be more clear, but the description did not match.
Decimal Feats: Fixed a visual issue where feats were not always shown as a decimal, but instead sometimes were shown as a rounded integer.
Nonplussed: Removed the plus sign in front of the feat number on equipment, so that it is more likely that players will realize that the highest value is taken rather than them being additively taken. That's a fairly minor detail most of the time, which the "Feats" entry in the "Status Effects" section of the handbook mentions.
Infinity War: If you are in the full WW4 scenario, it no longer shows a military invasion of 99 turns, but instead shows an infinity symbol and says WW4, with some other added notes for this.
Units Crying Wolf: Fixed an issue where if you hovered over a unit that you could select, it would show some random incoming damage predictions rather than what was actually planned against it for the moment. I can't believe nobody ever noticed this or said anything, as it's not new at all. Anyway, it's fixed now.
Knowing Their Fate At A Glance: Added the incoming damage to NPC/bulk units and structures, to match how it works (properly now) when you hover your own units.

[h3]Balance[/h3]

Setup Phase Generosity: During the setup phase of the game, you now are given a constant minimum of 5k Scandium, Alumina, and Neodymium rather than 2k. 2k was not enough to set up shell company buildings, which was annoying.
PMC Impostors Blend In: PMC Impostors now have the Blending In perk as well as their PMC-related ones. This makes it so that they can be used for things like Excuses and Justifications can be done by them.
So Do Basic Armor And Hoodies: MilStyle Armor now also grants the Blending In perk, as does Security Jacket, on top of the other perks they grant.
Extra Enemy Politeness During Setup Phase: Since this was confusing to people, vulnerable structures (those with insufficient protection or deterrence) don't cause any aggressive enemies to spawn during the setup phase. Same with vulnerable territory control flags. Originally it was meant to only be counter-attacks that were suppressed during this phase, but the distinction between those was not adequate.
Enemies More Punctual When Attacking You For Revenge: There are some intentionally-delayed "I hate you and want revenge" spawns, but those are now a lot less delayed than they were before. Also, in general, when countdowns finish to a revenge spawn, it now finishes the countdown earlier in the turn-change logic so that any enemies that should immediately spawn will now do so.
Enemies Not Showing Up For Revenge Mid-Turn Just Because You Visited A Shop: Adjusted things so that certain kinds of NPC managers (revenge spawns among them, but there were 56 spots in all that got this change) won't ever spawn new units except during turn-change. This prevents them from spawning when you force conversations, complete contemplations, interact with StreetSense, and so on.
Immediate Visibility When Equipping Scopes: After any of the stats of your units change (not your bulks and workers and converted, since those don't matter for this), it does a visibility recalculation pass. This is a big improvement for when you increase the attack range of a unit, you get vision from them right away rather than the vision not increasing until some unit moves.

[h3]Bugfixes[/h3]

Armored Executive Exclusive Discussions: Fixed a generalized issue where if a dialog was supposed to be between some third party and one of your armored executives, then it would actually allow any of your shell company units to do it.
My Great Shame: Fixed a surprising typo (they're instead of their) in the sheltered citizen tooltip.
Inability To Finish Breaking Into Prisons: Fixed an issue where the "Now What?" project could not progress properly, and did not register your investigations with Liquid Metal. The same problem was there with the Yinshi Umbilicals not giving you any umbilical cords after you snuck in.
Mimic Journey Deja Vu: Fixed an issue where you could send mimics out of the city twice (and have the same thing happen both times) if you sent them out without the thumper designs, and then got the thumper designs, and then sent them out again. It now properly blocks the second case if you already did the first case, as the two are meant to be different wordings for the same thing in slightly different circumstances, not two distinct events.
When Investigation Spots Get Nuked: In the event that an investigation target has been destroyed -- nuked, burned down, whatever -- that investigation target is now properly removed, rather than still being a place you can investigate as if it was still there.
404 Investigator Not Found: If you are in the "Now What?" project and trying to investigate more prisons, but the investigation is missing, it now self-corrects that. However, if it can't find any functional prisons after 12 seconds of you having loaded the game, then it fails the project with the note that somehow there are no more prisons on the map (this is usually because of them all being nuked or similar).
Enemy Status-itis Finally Cured: Fixed a longstanding issue where any unit afflicted by a status effect would randomly lose some health or morale. It was some sort of threading issue when calculating status intensities during initial load of a savegame. I solved this by having it recalculate the status intensity after all the other data is loaded and a one-second delay. In all of the existing cases now, except where savegames were saved-over, loading them should now have the original health and morale that was saved.
Ghosts Exploration Sites: Fixed an issue where exploration sites could be kind of there (but not really there) if you had completed them but they were still locked to a location. They were invisible on the map and in the listing, but would show up in the totals, being very confusing.

Hotfix 22

[p]Three fixes I figured I would go ahead and get out quickly.[/p]

[expand]
[h2]Hotfix 22 Changelog[/h2]
[h3]Bugfixes[/h3]

Enthusiasm In The Wrong Direction: Fixed an issue where Enthusiastic Cultivation was granting Computing Host upgrades rather than Cultivator upgrades. This fix is not retroactive in existing saves for upgrades already wrongly applied, but any new upgrades will apply correctly. I also verified that none of the other VR upgrades were wrong.
Log Clutter: Fixed an issue with the prior build where some excess stats were being logged on adjusting game settings.
Sleep Mode Awakening Improvements: The game no longer allows for "delta times" for a frame more than 1000 milliseconds. This would normally be indicative of something like the OS having been put into sleep mode and then resuming. Depending on the OS. The overall time that was taken could be reported as a giant delta on return, on the order of hours, which could lead to the logged amount of time in a given timeline counting up a bunch under these specific circumstances. It didn't affect anything else.