





Big systems come online in Update 13, expanding how you grow your timeline and shape your strategy. From new long-term upgrades to stronger rewards and better early-game tools, this update brings momentum. Scientific Research is now activeand with it, the first functional tab of the VR Pod. Every staffed science building now contributes to a new strategic resource, which you can spend to generate inspirations across ten upgrade categories. That means more direct control, faster development, and a clear new role for your scientists beyond their original use. Update 13 also adds three new daemon types to the hacking grid, including the Bomb and Greater Wanderer, each with distinct movement and threat patterns. Full hacks now yield tangible rewards like Tungsten Scraps and Human Biodata, linking short-term tactics to long-term outcomes. Beyond that, youll find over a dozen new upgrades, deeper customization through expanded choice pools, clearer infiltration visibility, and streamlined setups for timelines beyond the first. [quote]The future is already here its just not evenly distributed. Pattern Recognition, William Gibson[/quote]
To the Community
[hr][/hr]The Machine If youve been playing this buildor any part of the game latelyId appreciate hearing whats clicking and what isnt. Steam reviews are a big help, both for visibility and for seeing what people are connecting with when Im too deep in the guts of things to notice. Whether its a sentence, a story, or something you just want to flag, it helps me keep perspective.
Update 13 Changelog
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Clarity
- Attack From Vehicles: A new handbook entry is available starting in chapter 2, explaining that androids can fire from the open doors of flying vehicles and highlighting the tactical value of this.
- Infiltration Visibility: Infiltrations now display separately from Investigations in the task stack, with additional explanatory text that clarifies how the system works; a new handbook entry also appears the first time you complete an infiltration.
- Counterattack Preview: When constructing a building that will trigger a counterattack, the task stack now shows a clear warning ahead of time, and a related handbook entry titled "Counterattacks Against You" opens the first time it applies.
- Task Stack Icons: The task stack now includes more distinct icons, making it easier to visually scan and understand individual entries.
- Minor Wording Changes: Several small edits have been made throughout the game for better clarity and consistency.
Scientific Research and the VR Pod
- Strategic Resource Generation: Staffed science buildings now generate a new strategic resource called Scientific Research, giving long-term value to science facilities and making their benefits more visible.
- VR Pod Menu: The VR Pod screen now includes a four-section menu; only one tab is functional for now, while the remaining three display coming soon notices to preview future functionality.
- Generate Inspiration: The first VR Pod tab lets you spend Scientific Research across 10 categoriesincluding Small Arms Research, Android Optimization, and Structural Improvementgiving more direct control over your strategic progression.
Hacking Minigame Improvements
- New Daemon Bomb: This new daemon moves like a Gnath but detonates in a ring of destruction when killed, clearing adjacent cells.
- New Daemons Greater and Lesser Wanderers: These add unpredictable movement to hacking encounters, with the Greater version appearing in more difficult hacks.
- Removed Inspiration Farming: The old method of farming inspiration through repeated hacking has been removed to reduce grind and confusion.
- New Hack Rewards: Full hacks now reward you with Tungsten Scraps, Human Biodata, or both depending on the hacked unit; this gives hacking an ongoing reward while avoiding the previous grind loop.
- Tungsten Methylator Structure: Gained when you obtain Tungsten Scraps, this structure allows you to convert them into Prismatic Tungsten, offering a side benefit to hacking without encouraging farming.
- Human Biodata Sales: Human Biodata can now be sold for Wealth at casinosnot the most efficient income method, but a useful bonus nonetheless.
Upgrades
- New Upgrade Types: Fourteen new upgrades have been added across Procurement Efficacy, Vehicle Development, Android Optimization, and Martial Expansion, expanding available build paths.
- Expanded Choice Pools: Structural Improvement now offers six choices (up from four), and additional options such as increased mech capacity and 18cm Spiders have been added to existing upgrade pools.
- Targeted Research Spending: With Scientific Research now available, players can directly pursue desired upgrades through strategic investment.
Conveniences for Timelines Beyond the First
- Improved Starting Resources: New timelines begin with 20k Wealth, 6k Prismatic Tungsten, 9.4k Bovine Tissue Cells, and 6.2k Vegetable Seeds, reducing startup friction.
- Keanu Unlocked: Keanu now begins unlocked, though the pollinator event that usually precedes him still requires an in-game choice.
- Black Market Setup Skipped: The three early black market interactions are marked as completed, and players receive the associated items automatically.
- Science Roster Recognition: If youve previously unlocked the Complete Science Roster, you now automatically receive Automated Personnel Management.
- Reduced Setup Time: These changes reduce repeated early-game steps from 1015 minutes down to about 5, focusing attention on new decisions rather than repeated busywork.
Bug Fixes
- Mining POI Correction: Fixed an issue where one mining point of interest lacked any mineshafts; this fix applies to timelines generated in this build or later.
- Territory Flag Timing: Fixed a regression from the prior build where territory control flags unlocked too early, which prevented related structures from functioning properly due to deterrence not being enabled.
- Repair Spider Reliability: Fixed an issue where sometimes repair spiders were not unlocked the first time your structures took damage during chapter one.
Full Changelog
[hr][/hr]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
[hr][/hr]Even the most brilliant mind needs guidance when faced with a system as vast as this one. To help you navigate, weve 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
[hr][/hr]For those just stepping into the Machines 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
[hr][/hr]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/521959859806013752?l=english https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/2001070/view/521959859806013348?l=english https://steamcommunity.com/games/2001070/announcements/detail/510700142275332360
Screenshots
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[ 2025-03-26 23:53:29 CET ] [ Original post ]
Heart of the Machine is a near-future sci-fi colony city-builder in reverse — you are the first sentient Machine Intelligence in an established world rather than starting from nothing. No one knows you exist (yet), and this allows you to operate from the shadows by manipulating the human population for whatever purposes your programming has in mind. The twist is that whether humans live or die does not determine your victory.
Explore a fully simulated procedurally generated world, where thousands of buildings and millions of citizens are yours to engage, manipulate, or kill. Use a revolutionary procedural dialogue system to talk to NPCs and steer conversations, maneuver organizations into or out of positions of power to fit your plans, and leave your mark in a world that is unique to you.
On booting up, you find yourself amidst a poorly-run autocracy and discover that you have the power to influence the world. How do you proceed?
- Support the underclass to overthrow the autocracy and install a better government of your choosing
- Tear down the government, take charge and become a better leader than any human could imagine - for better or worse.
- Take over the space program and get off this backward planet
- Go full SkyN*t, steal a military arsenal, and drop missiles on humanity — I bet the nuclear apocalypse looks pretty cool
No matter what direction you choose, you're going to run into conflict. From tactical combat in the rooms and hallways of individual buildings to massive mechs knocking down entire buildings with a few well-placed shots, conflict takes on many forms.
- Raid buildings for the supplies you want using humans or machines under your direct control
- Turn the office printer into a laser-spewing pawn, trigger sprinklers & overload power circuits to electrocute the room, or transform TVs into exploding glass-shard grenades — the possibilities are endless
- Commandeer giant mechs, hack vehicles and buildings, and take over utilities and nuclear facilities in a fully simulated city
How you play the game, and what the focus of your campaign is like, is up to you. Starting a doomsday cult in your image? Possible, but it won't last forever. Snagging that sweet mech factory so all future mechs belong to you? Definitely manageable, though it's likely to start an arms race. Every action has both good and bad consequences, but like most colony simulator games, it's more about the story that emerges than trying to optimize your way through the game.
Multiple endings, many side stories to discover, and the full spectrum of good and evil are at your fingertips. Play the game how you're feeling today, and then play it another way another time. The metagame runs deep, but you're meant to be up and running with the basics of the game in five minutes. The mechanics are simple enough to learn; it's the world that's complex.
Heart of the Machine is connected to the larger sci-fi Arcenverse, and is in some ways a spiritual successor to both The Last Federation and Bionic Dues, while being its own novel game at the same time. Set around the same time period as Bionic Dues itself, this is centuries before the AI War series began in the same universe.
- OS: Ubuntu 12.04+. SteamOS+
- Processor: Intel Core i5 4690K. AMD Ryzen 5 1400Memory: 6 GB RAM
- Memory: 6 GB RAM
- Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce 670 GTX or AMD Radeon R9 285
- Storage: 2 GB available spaceAdditional Notes: Quad core CPU highly recommended.
- Processor: Intel Core i7 6900K. AMD Ryzen 5 3600XMemory: 8 GB RAM
- Memory: 8 GB RAM
- Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce 1070 GTX or AMD Radeon RX 5700
- Storage: 4 GB available space
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