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
Building the Machine
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!
Update 8 Changelog
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- 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
CalculateIsValidTargetForMachineStructureRightNow()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.
Full Changelog
A full, comprehensive breakdown of every change from this patch can be found in the Heart of the Machine Wiki, found here.
Guides to Tame the Machine
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:
- Aggro, Awareness, and Alarms
- How to Improve Engineering
- Should I Restart If I Skipped to the Final Doom?
New Minds, Start Here
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
Connect with the Machine
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