Greetings Viceroys!

Before we begin the changelog routine, we want to make sure you’re having a great day, so here are some pictures of Eremite pets:

From left: Hektor, Wonder, Leia, Xsavi

By the way, there’s a dedicated #animals channel on our Discord server that will boost your serotonin level whenever you need it. Come join us!

Now that we know you’re all cheered up, we can continue to throw goods at you. Here we go:

• Upgradeable hubs – get bonuses for growing Hearths’ hub levels
• Villagers fulfill their needs at Hearth
• 8 new decorations
• 10 new Cornerstones
• 8 new Orders
• And more!

You can find our design notes and a full changelog below. If you like the game and the updates, you can support us by writing a short Metacritic review.

DEVELOPER NOTES

Last update, we released a somewhat controversial change to housing and villager routines. Since then, we got a lot of feedback, both positive and negative, about how your experience with the game had changed because of it. This prompted us to take another look at the system and try to figure out a better way of solving the house placement problem and its relation to hearths. After some intense design work and a very successful experimental phase, we came up with a promising new mechanic that would replace the latest change to villager routines – the hub system.

Hubs have existed in Against the Storm for a long time now, but they were only vaguely explained in the Atlas and served mostly as logistics centers. In earlier versions of the game, you would simply place a Makeshift Hearth and a Storage on distant glades, so your villagers would have a shorter distance to cover each time they took a break. Then, after the previous update’s villager routine change, the Hearth was pushed out in favor of shelters, so a hub was essentially anywhere you moved your houses to. This gave homes a lot more meaning, but had unintended consequences – more micromanagement, less flavor, and a constant fear of nonoptimal house placement.

Hearth panel with Hub level.

With the new hub system, we want to get rid of all these not-so-fun elements, strengthen the fantasy of building hubs, and improve overall town layouts. That’s why we decided to revert the last change to housing (villagers once again fulfill their needs by the Hearth), and introduce a brand new mechanic – upgradeable hubs.

From now on, each Hearth has a radius that indicates the area of its hub. Within this area, you need to build houses, decorations, and service buildings to progress the hub level of a given Hearth. Each hub level gives special global bonuses (resolve, production speed, etc.). At the same time, villagers will not move into houses that are outside of a Hearth’s reach, and other Hearths’ radiuses can not intersect. Each Heart essentially creates its own hub that needs to be progressed, and the bonuses of these hubs stack.

New decorations.

Additionally, decorations now play a much bigger part in a settlement’s development (as they help progress a hub to higher levels). We decided to go even one step further and divided them into three categories: 

• Comfort,
• Aesthetics,
• and Harmony.

Each category has a different resource cost and each hub level requires a growing amount of decorations from different categories to be placed within a Hearth’s radius.

Last but not least, with this update, we also bring you some smaller content changes. We added 10 new regular Cornerstones, 8 Stormforged variants, 8 new Orders, and 8 decorations. We also buffed traders a bit, removed some lackluster perks, and improved the balance of a few Orders and Cornerstones.

Some new Cornerstones.

Enjoy these new additions and let us know what you think (Discord might be the best place for that). If there are any features you’d like us to consider in the future, create a suggestion via our official feedback tool and vote for other ideas that matter to you.

Have fun and may the storm be gentle on you,
Eremite Games

CHANGELOG

Changes marked with ⚡ were inspired by community.

New content and features

• ⚡ Added a new hub system to the game.
• Every Hearth now has a radius around it and a new section in its UI, called “HUB”.
• Hearth radiuses can’t overlap. You won’t be able to build Makeshift Hearths too close to other Hearths.
• Houses now need to be built within a Hearth’s radius. If a house is placed too far away from a Hearth, no villagers will move in. If the fire in a Hearth goes out, homes in its radius will be deserted.
• Hubs can be upgraded by meeting requirements described in the “HUB” section of a Hearth. These requirements are all based on constructing specific types of buildings within a Heart’s radius (homes, decorations, service buildings). 
• There are 3 different hub levels, and each one gives unique bonuses:

• • Each hub level changes the visual representation of the Main Hearth and Makeshift Hearths. At level 0, they start off with almost no additional elements, and with each gained level, new assets are added to the building (fences, crates, barrels, pipes, etc.).
  • Decorations are now divided into three categories: Comfort, Aesthetic, and Harmony. Different amounts of each tier of decorations are needed to progress hubs.
  • Decoration tiers are indicated by a colored frame in the construction menu and a keyword (Comfort, Aesthetics, Harmony) in a decoration’s tooltip.
  • Some events found in Glades (like lore tablets and converted totems) count as decorations and will also influence a hub’s level.
  • Villagers once again fulfill their needs at the closest Hearth (even if their home is in another hub).

• ⚡ Added 8 new decorations.
  • Wall Corner – unlocked by completing the Lost Colonies Deed
  • Anvil – unlocked by completing the Ruined Armory Deed
  • Pipe – unlocked by completing the Overcoming Difficulty Deed
  • Valve  – unlocked by completing the Flooded Mines Deed
  • Pipe Elbow – unlocked by completing the Prestigious Expedition III Deed
  • Pipe T-connector  – unlocked by completing the Beaver Utopia Deed
  • Pipe Cross – unlocked by completing the Sparkdew Crystals Deed
  • Pipe Ending – unlocked by completing the Ruined Armory Deed
• Added 10 new Cornerstones.
  • Urban Planning – All houses have 1 more housing spot for every hub at the level: District, but construction is 25% slower. 
  • Generous Gifts – Wealthy settlements attract wealthy settlers. Newcomers bring 20% more goods for every gained hub level. 
  • Safe Haven – -50 to Hostility for every hub upgraded to level: Neighborhood (or higher). 
  • Trade Negotiations – Trade Routes give 1 more Amber. Doesn’t apply to Routes already in progress. This effect scales with quantity.
  • Cheap Construction – All buildings cost 33% less, but every discovered resource node has 5 fewer charges. 
  • Specialized Boots – Woodcutters move +20% faster.
  • Frequent Caravans – The constant flow of goods keeps villagers distracted. Gain 3 to Global Resolve for 60 seconds every time you finish a Trade Route (stacks duration). 
  • Influential Friends – Gain 1 Cornerstone Reroll Charge for every 1 level of Standing with other settlements in Trade Routes.
  • Prayer Book – Scouts work 10% faster on Glade Events for every Firekeeper assigned to a Hearth.
  • Bed and breakfast – Traders like staying in your settlement. Prices are +5% lower for every gained hub level. 
• Added 8 new Stormforged Cornerstone variants.
  • Tightened Belt (Stormforged) – Travel Cost in Trade Routes is reduced by -3. Doesn’t apply to Routes already in progress. This effect scales with quantity.
  • Deep Pocket (Stormforged) – Receive 15 Amber for every 3 completed Trade Routes.
  • Urban Planning (Stormforged) – All houses have 1 more housing spot for every hub at the level: Neighborhood.
  • Generous Gifts (Stormforged) – Wealthy settlements attract wealthy settlers. Newcomers bring 40% more goods for every gained hub level.
  • Trade Negotiations (Stormforged) – Trade Routes give 3 more Amber. Doesn’t apply to Routes already in progress. This effect scales with quantity.
  • Cheap Construction (Stormforged) – All buildings cost 40% less.
  • Prayer Book (Stormforged) – Scouts work 20% faster on Glade Events for every Firekeeper assigned to a Hearth.
  • Crowded Houses (Stormforged) – All houses have 1 more place and break time for all villagers is 50% shorter.

• Added 8 new Orders.
  • Seller
    • Objective: complete 4/5/6 Trade Routes, deliver 10/15/20 Amber
    • Rewards: 15 Amber, 10 Bricks, Reinforced Needles
  • Making Connections
    • Objective: have a standing level of 1 with 1/2/3 settlements
    • Reward: Ways of the Forest, 30 Oil, 5 Parts
  • Advanced District
    • Objective: have 1/2/3 hubs at level 2
    • Reward: 4 villagers, 15 Fabric, 15 Bricks
  • Income Tax
    • Objective: complete 6/8/10 Trade Routes, deliver 10/15/20 Amber
    • Reward: Specialized Boots, Beneficial Agreement, 8 Parts
  • Export
    • Objective: complete 8/10/12 Trade Routes
    • Reward: Export Specialization, 4 villagers, 8 Parts
  • Good Friends
    • Objective: have a standing level of 2 with 1/2/3 settlements
    • Reward: 12 Simple Tools, 30 Amber, 40 Waterskins
  • Trade Baron
    • Objective: complete 14/16/18 Trade Routes, deliver 30/35/40 Amber
    • Reward: Stormwalker Training, Gathering Tools, 12 Parts
  • Allies
    • Objective: have a standing level of 3 with 1/2/3 settlements
    • Reward: Specialized Mining, 5 villagers, 40 Wine

Balance

• ⚡ Removed 4 Cornerstones that were very rarely picked and didn’t create interesting gameplay (they were also removed from level up rewards).
  • Infused rainfall – The rain is getting heavier. Vegetable production is increased by +3, but Global Resolve is decreased by -2.
  • Sacrificial Rituals – An ancient ritual. Ruthless but effective. The Storm is 33% shorter, but 1 villager is killed after each Clearance.
  • Overtime – Results matter more than villager health. +30% to global production speed, but villagers have a +1% chance of dying every 60 seconds.
  • Black Market – Gain 2 additional Trade Route slots, but Impatience grows 15% faster. 
• ⚡ Increased the variety of goods traders can bring each visit. On average, most traders should now have around 2 or 3 more types of items with them.
• ⚡ Added building materials to all traders’ item pools. They all now have a chance of bringing Planks, Bricks, and Fabric when they come to visit your settlement. 
• ⚡ Adjusted the glade generation for the Forbidden Lands and Dangerous Lands modifiers. There should now be less forest and more Glades. 
• ⚡ Removed the Cursed Rain Forest Mystery.
• ⚡ Lowered the requirements in some high-tier Orders based on fulfilling needs. All of these required the player to have 16/20/24 instances of the same need fulfilled at the same time. They were lowered to 14/18/22.
  • Bloodthirst
  • Knowledge
  • The Cult of Fire
  • Folks gotta eat!
  • Utopia
  • Leisure
• Changed the cost of all decorations in the game. It’s now based on their categories: Comfort, Aesthetics, and Harmony.
  • Comfort – 2 Wood
  • Aesthetics – 1 Plank
  • Harmony – 1 Plank, 1 Brick, 1 Fabric
• Changed the objectives in the Advanced Outposts and Outpost Orders to now require having a hub at a given level instead of just building a Storage and Makeshift Hearth.
• Changed the objective in the Outposts Timed Order to require having 2 hubs at level 2 instead of building multiple Storages and Makeshift Hearths (also, the time limit has been adjusted).
• Moved some of the newly added Cornerstones to level up rewards.
• Level 4 – Safe Haven
• Level 5 – Generous Gifts
• Level 6 – Frequent Caravans
• Level 7 – Prayer Book
• Level 10 – Cheap Construction
• Level 15 – Trade Negotiations
• Level 16 – Influential Friends

UX/UI improvements

• ⚡ Increased the number of item slots in the Trader Panel. There should no longer be issues with goods overflowing the UI.
• ⚡ Added a “What’s new” popup when starting the game for the first time after an update. This popup briefly describes what was added and links to our website for more info. You can also use the arrow buttons next to the patch name to learn more about previous updates.
• ⚡ Added an option in the settings panel to turn on an FPS counter.
• ⚡ Added an option to turn VSync on or off in the settings panel. 
• Updated the “Hubs” page in the Atlas to more accurately describe how hubs work in the current version of the game.
• Updated house description to inform about the need to place them near Hearths.
• Updated the Makeshift Hearth’s description to inform about Hearth placement rules.
• Updated a few translations in French for better consistency.
• Updated a few translations in German for better consistency.

Bug fixes

• ⚡ Fixed a bug with the Forbidden Lands modifier not working in Daily Expeditions.
• ⚡ Fixed a bug with Glade Events ending too soon (and losing a portion of their items) when unassigning a scout while they were carrying the last part of an Event’s reward. 
• ⚡ Fixed a bug with the camera rotations speed not being saved between sessions. 
• ⚡ Fixed a bug which caused chests belonging to other factions to be opened by the player on the World Map.
• ⚡ Fixed a bug with the Viceroy’s Survival Guide Cornerstone not affecting Greenhouses.
• ⚡ Fixed an issue with the Storage showing stored goods even before its construction has been finished.
• ⚡ Fixed a few missing translations in the Russian language.
• ⚡ Fixed an issue with the Press and Stamping Mill being translated into the same word in German. 
• Fixed an issue with building radius indicators and roads overlapping incorrectly. 
• Fixed a bug with the “Effects & Upgrades” panel in workshops not scaling correctly. 
• Fixed a bug with some alerts overlapping on the HUD. 
• Fixed a bug which caused the production indicator around worker portraits to sometimes freeze in place. 
• Fixed a bug with some decorations sticking out of the ground when unconstructed.

Other

• Lowered the saturation and brightness of all textures used in Beaver architecture. From now on they should better fit in with the rest of the assets in the game.

We want to thank you for all your contributions and feedback from the Experimental Branch. Your translations, suggestions, and reports are extremely appreciated! You can always track the progress of reported issues on our Public Bug Tracker.

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