It's hard to find a game that updates more frequently than Heart of the Machine. In just the last few months, its solo developer has released a both major update and some of the most unhinged update notes we've ever seen. Here's a roundup of all the recent development news that you might have missed.
Heart of the Machine is also part of the Hooded Horse January Publisher Sale at 50% off.
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Heart of the Machine News Recap
In early December, Heart of the Machine hit 50 updates, and celebrated the occasion with a major update! Update 50 focuses heavily on complexity management, allowing players to adjust how complex their experience is without losing the essence of what makes this game so unique.
Here's a brief overview of what Update 50 brought to the game:
- Added Complexity/Accessibility options that can be changed at any time
- Adjusted story mode so players can granularly simplify certain aspects
- Options to simplify the economy, combat, construction, defenses, and hacking
- Added an auto-debate option for the debate mini-game
- Improved clarity in tooltips and UI elements
- Key balance changes (including more productive spiders)
- Player experience improvements for the Prologue and Chapter 1
This list only scratches the surface of what each change means for your Heart of the Machine experience. To get the complete picture, you'll want to check out the full changelog:
https://steamcommunity.com/games/2001070/announcements/detail/535495308456493112
Following Update 50, Heart of the Machine has received 9 additional patches! Each one has been packed with balance changes, UI/UX improvements, new story routes, an additional game mode, and more! Here's a quick look at what's been adjusted with each one.
- Update 51 added the second act of the Civil Spycraft story, and (more importantly) implemented the ability to pet dogs.
- Update 52 rebalanced biological mainframes, reworked the regional map, and tweaked a few other player experience items
- Update 53 added a new Tier 1 Goal, made some small quality of life changes, and fixed few bugs, so now your canneries will continue working no matter how many bodies pile up!
- Update 54 added a second path through Chapter One, introduced the furniture shop, and made some quality-of-life tweaks to late-game timelines.
- Update 55 was a big performance pass that focused on clarity, balance, and performance optimization with a specific focus on increased framerates.
- Update 56 focused on late-game difficulty, clarifying a few story paths, and ensuring that all tiny murderous homunculi were properly differentiated from other mechs in the UI.
- Update 57 added Misery Mode -- a new difficulty level above extreme for the rare min-maxers who like playing AI War on difficulty 10. You know who you are.
- Update 58 implemented lots of player feedback regarding clarity and balance, added more uses for Hatred, and introduced some new Doom cancellations.
- Update 59 focused heavily on Daring and Future Sight, making the game more generous with the Daring it provides and ensuring that Future Sight provides far more information than it used to on any timeline beyond the first.
There are, of course, so many more changes in these updates than what's listed here. If you find yourself unable to keep up, please consult this helpful collection of our favorite Heart of the Machine changelog lines for more information.
Thanks for reading, and happy gaming!
- The Hooded Horse Team