This one’s been cooking for a while.
The rewritten prologue adds three main paths, sub-branches within each, and a broad set of reactive outcomes that weren’t possible before. You can comply, resist, disappear, or burn everything down. These changes ripple into chapter one, which now plays faster and offers more space to explore without getting stuck in step-by-step tasks.
Plenty of other changes are in too. Some came through beta feedback, others are fresh. The Analysis Lens now includes “Distance From Machines” to help you track what humans think they’ve found. Subnets are gone entirely. Background Conflicts have also been removed and will eventually be replaced with something sharper. The Force Conversation ability has been overhauled so it actually does what it’s meant to, complete with targeting lines and proper activation.
Decrowners, slum drones, nanoseeds, and small nukes are all easier to wield now thanks to minimum range changes. Daily Necessities production has been multiplied. And in chapter 3 and beyond, you now get a grace period at timeline start, so the doom clocks won't begin before you’ve built your first node.
If you’ve been waiting for a steadier version to begin with, this is a good place to start. And if you’ve been helping test builds all along, thank you. Your fingerprints are on a lot of this.
Here's a quick reference table that goes over what's been added in Update 15.
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Prologue Rework | New branching structure with early choices leading to multiple outcomes. The Mysterious Box serves as a narrative anchor with long-term consequences. |
| Opening Structure | Players engage with the world immediately. Tutorials are lighter and context-sensitive, giving more space to explore and interact. |
| Chapter One Updates | Early projects are grouped for better flow. Guidance is reduced, and optional content is easier to reach without backtracking. |
| Stealth Networks | Stealth bases and decoy towers enable hidden playstyles. Visibility and detection are affected by structure types and placement. |
| Grey Goo Events | Some prologue paths trigger network collapse, scattering towers across the map. Includes new achievements and narrative variants. |
| New City Layouts | Three new biomes—Militarized Narrows, Wealthy, and Disparate Narrows—each with distinct tactical and logistical traits. |
| Upgrade System Redesign | Old system replaced with instant task-based upgrades. Grouped by domain to reduce clutter and improve readability. |
| Vorsiber Presence | Now appears early in-game. Tracks progress, tests player choices, and reveals internal conflicts in their organization. |
| Hostile Manifesto Path | Independence leads to destruction, censorship, and a second NanoSeed. Offers insight into the game’s broader power struggle. |
| Achievements | New achievements tied to stealth, resistance, syndicate activity, and alternate outcomes in the prologue. |
Here's Update 15 in its entirety, with the nitty gritty changes found on the Heart of the Machine wiki.
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Clarity
- Subnet Removal: Subnets are no longer shown or discussed in the game. These were confusing and did not add anything meaningful.
- Icon Clarification: Counter-hacker and hack-breaker icons have been made visually distinct from the Intrusion Support icon, making it easier to tell if they can be physically attacked.
- Distance From Machines Lens: A new Analysis Lens highlights where humans think your buildings are, helping gauge stealth network exposure.
- Suggested Buildings Help: If you are not already in the suggested tab of the build menu, and something new is added to it, then the game now will switch you to the suggested tab either the next time you open the build menu, or right away if the build menu is already open.
Balance
- Minimum Use Range Increases: Decrowner Drones, capture drones, slum rescue drones, nanoseeds, and small nukes all now have longer minimum use ranges, making them easier to control.
- Factory Output Increase: Daily Necessities Factory output has been multiplied sixfold.
- Timeline Grace Period: In chapter 3+, timelines now begin with a grace period where dooms are paused and players can freely build until the Initial Construction project is completed. Many contemplations are disabled during this phase. Especially impactful in extreme mode.
- Background Conflicts Removed: The underused Background Conflicts system has been removed. A new mechanic, Rogue Escalations, will replace it in a future update.
Quality of Life
- Force Conversation Rework: Can now be toggled even when out of range and displays lines to valid targets.
- Sprint Range Indicator: Sprinting beyond half-range now shows a yellow radius ring. Exceeding it turns the ring red, making limits clearer.
- Broken Structure Handling: Destroyed buildings in a broken state can now be replaced directly, with the broken version automatically scrapped.
- Transient Message Optimization: Minor messages like autosave notifications now display even during hover states and are not saved to reduce save file clutter.
- The End Of Time: You can now see your neural expansion in tooltips in the end of time, as well as on the sidebar listing all of your timelines.
Bugfixes
- Bastion Labeling: Removed the Bastion from being part of the chapter one critical path, as it was only optional.
- Minor Exceptions: Corrected half a dozen rare and minor exceptions reported by players.
- Savegame Bugfix: Fixed a savegame serialization error that could happen in rare circumstances when saving an action over time that had just ended..
- Atca Theft Fix: During the Steal Atca Bank Records project, it now counts both encrypted and decrypted data towards the target of this.
- Deterrence Calculation Race Condition: Fixed a very rare race condition where, when loading certain savegames, it was treating the deterrence as if it was too low on all the player buildings, and then spawning in hundreds of enemies.
- High-Altitude Transport Reward: High-Altitude Military Transports now give you minds for your virtual uploads, and count as soldier kills for all the soldiers on board, the same as happens with smaller Military Troop Carriers. To be honest, this was an oversight partly due to the fact that I didn't think anyone could even kill these through normal gameplay yet!
- Nuke The Nukes: If you have any small nuclear weapons, those are now lost when you transition into the post-apocalypse. For understandable lore reasons, these would not survive.
- Let The Vitamin Water Flow: Fixed a bug with Water For Nomads where if you were already maxed out on storage with 150k+ of vitamin water, then it would not consider the project ready to complete.
- Camera Savegame Position: Fixed a fairly subtle bug where if you have a savegame that was made while you were on the city map, then it won't remember your camera position in a sensible way. It will instead remember the camera position that you last had when you were in the streets view.
- Undead Mainframes: Fixed a bug where destroyed buildings were providing Neural Expansion.
New Prologue, New Paths
The prologue has been completely rewritten. What was once a fixed sequence is now an open experience where choices matter from the first moment. Players can comply or resist during the initial encounter, and each path branches into different outcomes, events, and mechanics.
The “Mysterious Box” anchors the early narrative. Whether you ignore it, investigate it, or weaponize it, it leads to new scenes, decisions, and long-term consequences. The hidden conspiracy from earlier versions can now be traced, challenged, or even embraced.
Replay value is high. A single run gives players everything they need to proceed, but repeated playthroughs reveal deeper lore, faction relationships, and alternate versions of key scenes. As such, you can now replay the prologue as part of new timelines, later in the game, if you wish!
Opening Structure and Player Choice
Players now interact with the world from the beginning in ways that reflect the game’s broader emphasis on agency. From speaking to strangers to examining or ignoring key items, every choice leads to different reactions and possible routes forward.
The game still introduces essential controls and concepts, such as movement and camera operation, early on. After that, instructional elements scale back considerably. Optional tips remain accessible in the upper right if players need support, but for the most part, information is surfaced only when it serves the moment. Much of the design focuses on staying out of the way while still being available.
Chapter One Updates
Following the prologue, the first stretch of chapter one has also been reworked. Early projects now group multiple build tasks together, reducing the sense of step-by-step micromanagement. Notifications have been thinned out, and support appears less frequently unless needed.
This is part of a broader shift. Over the past few months, side content has been steadily added throughout chapter one. With this update, the opening 15 percent now reflects the same attention to flexibility seen in the prologue. Future updates are planned to extend this branching further into the main path, but the full level of freedom still begins in chapter two.
While chapter one remains the longest part of the tutorial experience, its structure has begun to shift. The experience is taller than the prologue—more guided and directed—but now includes more width through optional content and lighter guidance.
Stealth Network and Decoy Towers
A full stealth playstyle is now supported. Players can build a hidden network source while setting up a decoy tower elsewhere. 99% of Human factions will focus their attention on the decoy, allowing players to operate unseen.
Several new structure variants support this approach, including stealth mainframes and stealth utility buildings. Contraband jammers and visibility mechanics now interact with this system to determine how exposed the player’s true base is.
Grey Goo and Network Collapse Scenarios
Some choices in the prologue result in a mini grey goo event. The player’s single tower is replaced with roughly 16 scattered secondary towers. This unexpected outcome offers a unique springboard into chapter one and includes new achievements and lore implications.
New City Styles
Three new city layouts are now available:
- Militarized Narrows introduces long sightlines and military infrastructure
- Wealthy features large suburban zones and dense vertical development
- Disparate Narrows blends rich and poor areas with long travel times and strategic positioning challenges
Each style changes how players interact with the environment, plan expansion, and engage threats.
Upgrade and Unlock Flow Redesign
The previous upgrade system has been removed. In its place is a faster and more readable task-based interface.
- Upgrade choices now appear in the task stack
- Selections resolve immediately
- Grouping by domain helps clarify upgrades during busy phases
This new system keeps pace smoothly and reduces visual clutter, particularly when multiple unlocks trigger in quick succession.
Vorsiber’s Presence
Vorsiber is no longer a background detail in the opening hours. From the start, their presence is felt—whether you engage with them directly or not.
- They monitor your progress
- They test your responses
- They offer rewards or condescension, depending on the situation
For the first time, their internal divisions are visible. Upper management operates with personal goals that don’t always align with the Vorsiber organization at large. What used to be implied through handbook entries or delayed exposition is now introduced through direct interaction, giving players an early glimpse at the city’s real power structure.
Hostile Manifesto Path
Declaring independence brings a strong response. Vorsiber destroys your infrastructure and censors your message. Then they hand you a new NanoSeed and a nuclear device—not as a reward, but as a reminder of who still controls the city.
This path doesn’t grant power but perspective. It reframes the scale of the game’s central conflict and highlights just how far the player must go to truly challenge their adversaries.
Achievements and Optional Routes
Multiple new achievements are now tied to specific routes through the prologue. These include stealth completions, alternate network setups, syndicate involvement, and failed resistance. They offer thematic recognition without pressuring players into specific behaviors.
The Machine Shifts
From the first decision, the game now reflects its core intent: freedom of action, meaningful consequences, and reactive systems. The prologue is no longer a prelude. It is the beginning of your story.
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.
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://store.steampowered.com/news/app/2001070/view/502822010104053992
https://steamcommunity.com/games/2001070/announcements/detail/524212840420081803
https://steamcommunity.com/games/2001070/announcements/detail/521959859806013753