Greetings, Viceroys!

We’re back with yet another Against the Storm Update! This time, we’re wrapping up another feature from the Roadmap: Twitch Integration. 

• Twitch Integration: Forest Guardians vs Council of Elders chat minigame
• Twitch Integration: chat polls
• Fuel prioritization
• Forest Mysteries rebalance
• 3 new Forest Mysteries
• Orders rebalance
• 2 new Orders
• And more!

Check out the Twitch Integration Trailer presented by Kormakrtv and RonEmpire:

Big shoutout to RonEmpire who is Against the Storm’s most dedicated streamer. We recommend following Ron if you want to learn more about the game and have a great time.

Now, let’s dive into the update notes and the full changelog below!

P.S. If you don’t own Against the Storm yet, the game will participate in the Steam Spring Sale (which starts later today) with a 20% discount.

DEVELOPER NOTES

Let us start with a reading recommendation. Recently, we had the pleasure to talk with gamedeveloper.com about Against the Storm’s design pillars and how we approached the rare mixture of city builder and roguelite. Michał (telhurin) shared plenty of insights into the philosophy behind certain systems and behind-the-scene processes. We hope you’ll enjoy it!

Article: How Against the Storm managed to mix city-building and roguelite play

Today’s release is a bit smaller than usual, as most of the team is still hard at work on the new playable species, but it introduces some exciting new things nevertheless. The star of this update is ― as the name suggests ― the new Twitch Integration. But there are also some other notable changes, like the option to prioritize fuel in Hearths, a rebalance of Forest Mysteries and Orders (as well as a few new ones), improved performance, and a lot of bug fixes.

First off, let’s talk about Twitch Integration. As most of our art and design resources [Or as we, non-producers, like to call them: “people” – Luke] are focused on the new species, we decided to make the most of this time and try to deliver a less asset-heavy feature from the Early Access roadmap. You probably already got to see some parts of it, as there was a small closed beta, as well as an experimental release last week, and some streamers already tested it.

When designing the Twitch Integration, we immediately went to the feature that seemed the most fun and well-suited to Against the Storm – chat polls. The game is full of choices (Cornerstones, Blueprints, Caravans, Orders, etc.), so giving the audience the opportunity to influence a run and make some tough decisions for the streamer seemed like a no-brainer. But we also wanted to create something more unique alongside the voting feature – something that would create a bit more tension and let lucky viewers have a real impact on the game. And this is how the chat minigame was born.

Guardians vs Elders Twitch chat minigame

Cornerstone Twitch poll

Once the minigame is activated, viewers can join one of two factions (the town or the forest). From each group, three users are chosen to become the factions’ representatives – Forest Guardians or Council Members. From this moment on, they can use special abilities (chat commands) to help or hinder the streamer.

Forest Guardians abilities:

• !poison – passively remove food from the Warehouse
• !anger – increase Hostility of the Forest
• !chant – slow down events working time

Council of Elders abilities:

• !tale – increase the global Resolve
• !speech – slow down the Villagers’ leaving rate
• !prayer – extra production chance

 (chat commands may differ based on the language chosen by the streamer)

Forest Guardians and the Council of Elders have physical representations in the streamer’s game. Council Members take the role of random villagers and have their Twitch usernames displayed above their heads, and Forest Guardians are assigned to nearby dangerous glade events. Faction representatives can be defeated (by killing their character in the game or solving the assigned event), and new ones are chosen after a cooldown. For a more thorough breakdown of the minigame’s rules, read the streamer guide we created, or go directly to the Encyclopedia entry in the game.

In this update, we also took a closer look at the balance of Forest Mysteries. There were quite a few effects that were too powerful (like Cloudburst or Greater Threat), resulting in some runs feeling unnecessarily frustrating. We decided to tone them down a bit, mostly by increasing the Hostility level at which they are activated, and by improving the RNG behind the entire system. All Forest Mysteries should now be more evenly spread, and even if you get a very taxing effect in your game, it should be at least partially compensated by other effects.

There are also some highly requested UX/UI improvements in this update. We added the option to prioritize fuel types in Hearths, and we added the option to forbid a need for the entire settlement with one click in the Consumption Control panel.

Fuel prioritization

Lastly, this release also includes quite a lot of bug fixes, a continuation of the Order rebalance started in the last update, as well as some performance improvements. We updated the game’s engine to combat the most notorious stability issues occurring on some newer GPUs, as well as tweaked the graphical presentation of the Scarlet Orchard to be less demanding to render (it turns out that this was our most detailed biome in terms of polycount and textures).

Thank you for providing us with feedback and suggestions for the new update. If you’d like to share your ideas for upcoming updates, here are some useful links:

• Steam Discussions, Discord, Reddit – discuss the game with the community and share your impressions
• Feature Request Tool – suggest specific new features

We also have a little surprise for you. As mentioned earlier, in parallel with the regular updates, we’re also working on the new species and we plan to release them sometime in April. Here’s a little sneak peek of the fox villager (still a work in progress):

Fuel prioritization

We hope you’ll enjoy everything we prepared for you and as always can’t wait to hear your feedback!

May the storm be gentle on you,
Eremite Games

CHANGELOG

Changes marked with ⚡ were inspired by community.

New content and features

• Added a Twitch Integration feature – Forest Guardians vs. Council of Elders chat minigame.
  • The “Forest Guardians vs. Council of Elders” chat minigame is a way for viewers to directly influence a streamer’s game. Viewers can join two distinct factions: the Forest Guardians (by typing !join forest) or the Council of Elders (by typing !join town). Guardians will try to hinder the streamer, while the Council will try to help.
  • During a game, each faction has three slots for characters, randomly chosen from their members (who opted in to participate). Each character can enable one of the three abilities by typing commands in the chat. Only viewers currently controlling Guardians or Council Members can use abilities.
  • Forest Guardians can passively remove food, increase hostility, and slow down glade event progress. Council Members can increase resolve, slow down villager leaving rates, and increase the chance for double yields (the full list of abilities is visible after typing !help in chat).
  • Forest Guardians have their names displayed above nearby Dangerous Events, while Council Members are assigned to villagers. They can be defeated, in which case they lose control over their character and their active ability is disabled. The next faction member will be selected after a cooldown.
  • The audience can vote for your in-game choices via native Twitch polls. You can customize the voting mode, channel points usage, and polls’ duration in the game’s Options (Twitch tab).
  • The chat minigame can be customized in the options menu (under the “Twitch” tab). You can choose what factions are enabled, how many seconds of cooldown there are (for abilities and viewer slot filling), as well as if the chat commands should use your game’s language.
  • If you ever forget the rules of the chat minigame, there is now a new Encyclopedia entry explaining everything (and we also prepared a streamer guide, and you can type !help into the chat to learn more).
  • Please remember that chat commands are localized into the game’s language (unless a checkbox to always use English is enabled in the Options menu).
• Added a Twitch Integration feature – chat polls.
  • The audience can vote for in-game choices via native Twitch polls.
  • Currently, chat polls support Cornerstones, Blueprints, Orders, Caravans, and Newcomers. 
  • Polls can be customized – you can select the voting mode (automatic, opt-in), if channel points count towards votes, and how long the poll will last (these settings are present under the “Twitch” tab in the Options menu).
  • Twitch polls require Affiliate or Partner status.
• Added 3 new Forest Mysteries.
  • Drizzle Anomaly – The rain seems to fall… slower. Gain 15 Drizzle Water per minute during the Drizzle.
  • Scavenging Season – The Drizzle in this region is very mild, making it the perfect season for looting. Increases the chance of bringing back twice as many goods from Glade Events solved during the Drizzle. 
  • Unyielding Corruption – The spreading Corruption strikes fear into the hearts of you villagers. No amount of assurances or flattery can change that. Favoring is unavailable while the Hearth is being corrupted.
• Added 2 new Orders.
  • Restoration – convert glade events into positive decorations.
  • Gifts for the Queen – choose the “send to Citadel” option when solving glade events.

Balance

• ⚡ Rebalanced multiple Forest Mysteries.
  • “Charged” Rain – increased the Hostility level from 4 to 5. 
  • Strange Lights – changed the internal spawn conditions of this Mystery, so it’s accompanied by more beneficial positive Mysteries or by less threatening negative ones.
  • Downpour –  increased the Hostility level from 4 to 5.
  • Nauseous Spores – lowered the Hostility level from 5 to 4. Changed the internal spawn conditions of this Mystery, so it’s accompanied by more beneficial positive Mysteries or by less threatening negative ones.
  • Eerie Song – Changed the internal spawn conditions of this Mystery, so it’s accompanied by more beneficial positive Mysteries or by less threatening negative ones.
  • Greater Threat –  increased the Hostility level from 2 to 4. Changed the internal spawn conditions of this Mystery, so it’s accompanied by more beneficial positive Mysteries or by less threatening negative ones.
  • Rotten Rain – increased the Hostility level from 2 to 3. Changed the internal spawn conditions of this Mystery, so it’s accompanied by more beneficial positive Mysteries or by less threatening negative ones.
  • Cloudburst – increased the Hostility level from 3 to 4. Changed the internal spawn conditions of this Mystery, so it’s accompanied by more beneficial positive Mysteries or by less threatening negative ones.
  • Acid Rain – changed the internal spawn conditions of this Mystery, so it’s accompanied by less beneficial positive Mysteries or by more threatening negative ones.
  • Faint Flame – decreased the Hostility level from 3 to 2.
  • Absorption – decreased the Hostility level from 3 to 2.
  • Grim Fate – changed the effects label from “Very Harsh” to “Devastating”.
  • Saturated Air – lowered the requirement for used Rainwater to trigger the positive Resolve bonus (from 50 to 30).
  • Soft Stems – this Mystery was removed entirely.
  • Reshuffled Forest Mystery groups in different biomes. Previously, there were a few effects that would only spawn in one or two environments – they can now spawn in most biomes.
  • The changes to the “internal spawn conditions” mentioned in this list are influencing the RNG of different effects, and should lead to a more fair and even distribution (so if you get a very harsh negative Forest Mystery, there is a higher chance it’s accompanied by a very beneficial positive effect).
• ⚡ Rebalanced multiple orders.
  • Clothing the People
    • Objectives: changed the requirement from fulfilling needs at the same time to fulfilling needs in total.
  • Trade Baron
    • Objectives: decreased the number of required trade routes from 12/14/16 to 10/12/14.
  • The Cult of Fire
    • Objectives: slightly decreased the number of required villagers with the need for Religion fulfilled (on the higher difficulty).
  • Call of the Ruins (timed)
    • Time: slightly increased the time limit.
  • Serving the People
    • Objectives: lowered the requirement for Pickled Goods, Skewers, and Jerky needs fulfilled from 50/60/70 to 40/50/60. 
  • Venturesome Leader (timed)
    • Rewards: increased the number of Simple Tools.
  • Time of Courage (timed)
    • Rewards: increased the amount of Amber.
  • Zealous Scouts (timed)
    • Time: increased the time limit by 30s.
  • Great Expansion (timed)
    • Time: increased the time limit by 30s.
  • Sacrificial Ceremony (timed)
    • Rewards: removed the Secret Techniques of the Firekeeper perk, added the Smithy Blueprint.
  • Outerwear (timed)
    • Objectives: lowered the requirement for simultaneously fulfilled Clothing needs
  • Ranch Life
    • Rewards: lowered the amount of Meat.
  • Urgent Shipment (timed)
    • Rewards: removed the Bigger Grill perk, added Zhorg’s Secret Ingredient instead.
  • Chest Chaser (timed) 
    • Reward: Removed the Incense Delivery Line perk, added the Training Gear Delivery Line perk instead. 
  • Beer Snacks (timed)
    • Rewards: removed Amber, added the Spiced Ale perk.
  • Trading Master (timed)
    • Rewards: removed the Tavern blueprint, added the Deep Pockets perk. 
  • Utopia
    • Objectives: lowered the requirement for fulfilling the need for Jerky, Pie, and Skewers from 14/16/18 to 12/14/16.
• Changed the way effects influencing metal production work (Metallurgic Proficiency, Metallurgic Experts, Acid Rain). Previously, they would affect all recipes with metal bars and/or ore in them. Now, they only influence recipes with metal ingots as ingredients, and the production of Copper Bars/Crystalized Dew itself.

UX/UI improvements

• ⚡ Added the option to prioritize different fuel types in Hearths.
• ⚡ Added a resource icon showing the currently burned fuel next to the animated flame in the Hearth panel.
• ⚡ Added a new checkbox to the Consumption Control panel allowing players to forbid a need for all 3 species with just one click.

Bug fixes

• ⚡ Fixed a bug with the Altar of Decay’s spawn rate.
• ⚡ Fixed a bug with stone nodes spawned by the Petrified Necropolis modifier disappearing after reloading the game.
• ⚡ Fixed a bug with the game not saving right after collecting Citadel Resources for a run invalidated by an update.
• ⚡ Fixed an issue with the Untamed Wilds and Dangerous Lands modifiers occurring together in Daily Challenges. 
• ⚡ Fixed an issue with the “expected gain” indication in the Crown Chronicles effect showing incorrect values.
• ⚡ Fixed an issue with the “expected gain” indication in the Cooking Steam Cornerstone showing incorrect values.
• ⚡ Fixed an issue with the “expected gain” indication in the Ancient Practices effect showing incorrect values.
• ⚡ Fixed an issue with the Counterfeit Amber perk being shown in the Greenhouse.
• ⚡ Fixed an incorrect description for the Piercing Winds Forest Mystery.
• ⚡ Fixed a bug with recipes in the Rainpunk Foundry not using Sea Marrow.
• ⚡ Fixed an issue with some Forbidden Glades in the Coral Forest not having enough space for bigger ruins (like the Bath House).
• ⚡ Fixed an issue with the Ominous Presence modifier description missing information about the effect triggering when villagers leave.
• ⚡ Fixed a typo in the Japanese version of the Biscuit Recipes perk description.
• ⚡ Fixed a mistranslation in most yield-increasing perk descriptions in the Simplified Chinese version of the game.
• ⚡ Fixed a mistranslation in the Safe Haven perk description in Korean.
• ⚡ Fixed a bug with missing keybinds when using a Hebrew keyboard.
• ⚡ Fixed a bug with Blightrot Cysts closing when the building they infected was moved during the Storm.
• Fixed a bug with the Converted Altar of Decay and the Converted Harmony Altar not having the “harmony” tag in front of their descriptions.
• Fixed a bug with the terrain being too dark after changing graphical options mid-game. 
• Fixed an incorrect description for the Blueprint Reroll upgrade in the Citadel.
• Fixed a graphical glitch with the Geyser Pump’s footprint.

Other 

• ⚡ Improved the game’s overall performance and stability. It should now crash less (especially on high-end GPUs, as previously there were some isolated cases of frequent crashing), and run at a higher frame rate in general. 
• ⚡ Improved the game’s performance in the Scarlet Orchard. This biome was a bit more demanding than the rest due to more detailed assets and thick foliage. It should now run a lot smoother.

COMMUNITY CORNER

Check out the latest community memes on Steam:

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