This first update brings a series of fixes and adjustments based on early post-launch feedback. It addresses achievement issues, power outage mechanics, scientist management, and more. Additionally, we've improved Steam Deck support for better keyboard and mouse handling in docked mode
“The pretense of free will is comforting, isn't it?” – Philip K. Dick, "The Adjustment Team"
Update 1 Changelog
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- Early Combat Balance: The fight with the cruiser in chapter one is now substantially less brutal.
- Engineering Balance: Your ability to gain high levels of engineering in chapter 2 and beyond is now much more flexible, making it easier to get to some of the advanced project chains.
- Clarity Adjustments: A couple of clarity things that came up, just minor wording pieces.
- Scientist Management: Automated Personnel Management is now something you can quickly unlock, allowing scientists to be removed from your staff at ease.
- Dissident Management: Your own guards no longer prevent the removal of dissidents if you are establishing a Cyberocracy.
- Achievements Fixes: A few achievements were not triggering under some conditions, and now will.
- Power Outage Improvements: An improvement to power outages so that you don't have to wait a turn for the power to come back on.
- Exploration Site Visibility: A fix to Exploration Sites being discussed in the history tab before they are actually unlocked.
- Debate Tutorial Fix: Fix to the debate tutorial being blocked if you already had another message of a different sort open when you started the debate.
- Map Seeding: There are now a proper number of donut shops in the city, preventing some projects from being blocked.
- Investigation Target Visibility: A couple of investigation targets are now easier to see on the map.
- Future Self Dialogue Tweaks: A couple of shifts to wording from your future self to make it clearer who is talking.
- Code Stability: Fixes to a couple of rare code exceptions.
- Memory Management: Fixed an issue that could occur with long continuous playtimes on some systems, where the unity log would get bloated and impact performance and eventually start having out of memory exceptions. This did not affect most machines, but was intense on a few (after about 10 hours of nonstop play).
- Steam Deck Support: Added a new option for better keyboard and mouse handling on the Steam Deck when in docked mode.
Full Changelog
A full, comprehensive breakdown of every change from this patch can be found in the Heart of the Machine Wiki, found here.
Getting Started with Heart of the Machine
New to Heart of the Machine? Check out our Beginner’s Guide for tips on the basics, from UI to early strategies. Want a deeper dive? Our Mastering the Machine guide includes three videos covering everything from your first 50 turns to tackling complex missions.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3417729988
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3418900822
How Many Times Should You Play Chapter One?
Chapter One and the Prologue serve as a one-time introduction and tutorial. While you can replay them if you’d like, their main purpose is to ease you into the game. The deeper, more replayable experiences await in the later chapters!
Echoes in the System: Your Voice Shapes the Machine
Alright, that's it for now. Thank you for stepping into the world of Heart of the Machine. We are watching, listening, and adjusting the dials. Every action ripples outward, and every piece of feedback shifts the code of what comes next.
Indie games survive by signal strength alone, and on Steam, that signal is reviews. Praise, critique, speculation — whatever you transmit helps more players find their way here.