Greetings, Viceroys!

We’re back to occupy your screenspace with news about Against the Storm’s brand-new update. Here’s what have in store for you today:

• Rainpunk Technology
• Revamped Blightrot system
• 7 new Upgrades
• 9 new Orders
• 2 new Forest Mysteries
• And more!

Let’s dive in!

DEVELOPER NOTES

Today’s update is an exciting one! Not because of the new content, or because we added a brand-new gameplay mechanic and revamped the entire Blightrot system. No, nothing like that! It’s because we finally let you build gates on roads!

The most anticipated feature is here!

But in all seriousness, let’s first talk about the new gameplay mechanic. From the beginning of this project, we envisioned a world where the rain never stops and is both dangerous and beneficial at the same time. And while we nailed the first part of this statement, there was always something missing when it came to showing the power of the rain itself. Very early on we came up with so-called Rainpunk technology – a concept similar to steampunk but machines would be powered by the unique magical properties of the rain itself. We tried to hint at it in multiple places in the game, but it was never really something players could interact with. Well, at least until today.

The new system we’re introducing today is the aforementioned Rainpunk Technology. Thanks to it, you will be able to install advanced Rain Engines in your production buildings to make work easier for your villagers and boost their efficiency. This advanced machinery has to be powered somehow of course, and that’s where a new resource type comes in – Infused Rainwater.

There are three types of Infused Rainwater: Drizzle Water, Clearance Water, and Storm Water. These need to be extracted from geysers found in glades. Each geyser contains only one type of water, and a Geyser Pump must be built on top of the geyser to extract it. Additionally, different buildings require different types of water. Drizzle Water is primarily used in food production, Clearance Water is for crafting and artisanry, and Storm Water is used to boost heavy industrial production.

Storm Water Geyser

Geyser Pump on Storm Water Geyser

Now onto the second big feature of this update – the Blightrot revamp. As you might already guessed, it is tied to the new Rainpunk mechanic. Blightrot is no longer generated passively with every production cycle and is instead spawned when using Rain Engines in production buildings. The more you boost production, the higher the Blightrot Footprint of your recipes, and the quicker cysts will start appearing. It is also important to note that from now on, Blightrot won’t stop at 3 cysts per building. If the maximum is reached, the parasite will start infecting other nearby structures (houses and service buildings included).

Smelter (uses Storm Water) with installed Rainpunk Engines

The main reason why we decided to change the Blightrot system was your feedback – in which you correctly pointed out how static, unchanging, and tax-like the Blightrot was. Boiled down to its most basic component, it was a tax on fuel and workforce charged for every good produced. There was hardly any choice or strategy involved and it stuck out compared to other systems. So we decided to make it an opt-in mechanic instead, where you can have more control over it (and where Blightrot is a consequence, not a tax). This also opens up more design opportunities for us in the future, in the form of two-way interactions between systems (for example glade events that spawn Blightrot, etc.).

At this point, we’d like to once again thank all the players on the Experimental Branch, who tried these new changes way before they were ready to be released on the main branch. Your feedback was extremely useful and eye-opening.

Now you might be asking – why is this update called “Part 1”? That’s because we still have some content we’d like to add to support the new Blightrot and Rainpunk systems, plus we anticipate some additional UI/UX work and balancing in the coming two weeks. The main things we’re looking at here are the Rain Collector, Clay Pit, and Greenhouse. We want to take some additional time to find a proper place for them in the new balance (plus, we fear Sparkdew might now be confused with Rainwater).

Last but not least – this update also brings some other less impactful changes, like improved UX in the Training Expeditions panel, a lot of bug fixes, a level cap increase to 17, and new Citadel Upgrades.

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

May the storm be gentle on you,
Eremite Games

CHANGELOG

Changes marked with ⚡ were inspired by community.

New content and features

• ⚡ Introduced a brand new system into the game – Rainpunk Technology.
  • The Rainpunk Technology system allows you to install Rain Engines in production buildings and boost productivity using Infused Rainwater.
  • To install a Rain Engine, go to the Rainpunk tab in the building UI. You will need a new resource type to pay for it – Pipes. Pipes can be made from metal.
  • Once installed, you will see that a Rain Engine has two modules – the primary and secondary engine. The first one can increase productivity, the second one influences working conditions.
  • You can freely control the Rain Engines power levels using the knobs on the two modules. The primary engine has 3 levels (increasing production speed and double yield chances), and the secondary one has only 2 (both increasing worker Resolve).
  • To power Rain Engines, you will need a steady supply of Infused Rainwater. It can be extracted from Geysers found in glades.
  • To extract Infused Rainwater from geysers, you need to build a Geyser Pump on top of it. 
  • Geysers have an unlimited supply of water, but each Geyser Pump can only hold a limited amount of water in its tank. Workers in the Geyser Pump will gradually fill it up and try to keep it at the maximum level at all times if possible.
  • Infused Rainwater is automatically transported to buildings with a Rain Engine installed (there’s no need for a worker to carry it). The speed at which it’s used up depends on the level of power the Rain Engine is operating at. 
  • There are three types of water – Drizzle Water (green), Clearance Water (yellow), and Storm Water (blue). Each type is used to power different types of production buildings. One geyser has only one type of water in it. 
  • Drizzle Water is used to boost food production buildings, Clearance Water is used to boost crafting-oriented buildings, and Storm Water is used to boost industrial buildings.
  • On higher difficulty levels (above Pioneer) using Rain Engines will cause Blightrot to spawn. The more water is used, the higher the footprint of all recipes.  
• ⚡ Revamped the Blightrot system.
  • Blightrot will no longer generate passively with every production cycle. Its main source is now the Rainpunk Technology system. The more Rain Engines are used, the quicker Blightrot accumulates in the settlement.
  • Blightrot can also be present in a settlement without the use of Rainpunk. These systems are not inseparable, and Blightrot can come from other sources as well – perks, Forest Mysteries, glade events, etc. There aren’t a lot of these in the game right now, but we will add more in the future. 
  • Passive Blightrot effects are gone – cysts no longer add any bonuses.
  • Workshops fully infected with Blightrot (3 cysts) will now slowly spread it to nearby buildings. Houses and service buildings can now also be infected.
  • Buildings infected with Blightrot can now be removed. If you remove a building with Blightrot Cysts, the cysts will simply move to another nearby host.
  • Added a new panel to the HUD with a global summary of Corruption levels. Clicking this UI element will open the Blight Post panel. 
  • Blightrot can now also be generated during the Storm.
  • The Blightrot tab in the building panels was removed. After the changes introduced to the system, it didn’t really serve a purpose.
  • Other rules of the Blightrot system are unchanged – Blightrot still activates during the Storm, it corrupts the Ancient Hearth, and cysts need to be burned by Blightfighters. The way the Blight Post and Hydrants work is mostly the same.
• ⚡ Two gate decorations (Gate and Ancient Arch) can now be placed on roads. Their size has been changed to 3×1, and the middle part has no collider.
• Increased the maximum player level to 17. Reaching level 17 requires 1200 experience points and unlocks 3 Cornerstones. The rewards will be expanded upon in the future when more content is added.
• Added 7 new upgrades to the Smoldering City. Some were added to the end of the upgrade tree, and others were mixed between existing upgrade levels (so some old upgrades were pushed further up the tree, even as far as level 16 and 17).
  • Dim Square Level 7 – Pack of Provisions Embark Bonus and Trader Arrival Time reduction.
  • Brass Forge Level 2 – Guaranteed Planks on embark and global productions speed bonus.
  • Obsidian Archive Level 6 – Rainpunk system unlock and Impatience reduction.
  • Monastery of the Vigilant Flame Level 5 – Guaranteed Fabric when embarking and increased burning duration in the Ancient Hearth.
  • First Dawn Company Headquarters Level 1 – additional villagers as an embark bonus and more chances for bonus yields.
  • First Dawn Company Headquarters Level 3 – Guaranteed Bricks when embarking and more chances for bonus yields.
  • Vanguard Spire Level 9 – Wine Delivery and Cosmetics Delivery as embark bonuses, and an additional node charge increase. 
• Added 9 new Orders tied to the new Rainpunk Technology system.
  • Beginner Engineer – build Geyser Pumps.
  • Water Delivery – delivery Drizzle Water.
  • Rainpunk Engineer – use any type of water.
  • Engines of Progress – install Rain Engines.
  • Power of the Clearance – use Clearance Water.
  • Power of the Storm – use Storm Water.
  • Power of the Drizzle – use Drizzle Water.
  • Rainpunk Enthusiast – use all three types of water.
  • Infused Rainwater – deliver two types of water.
• Added 2 new Forest Mysteries.
  • Hot Springs – Rainwater Geysers produce pleasant heat in their vicinity. Geyser Pump Operators get +10 to Resolve. 
  • Natural Filtration – Using Rain Engines causes a lot less Blightrot contamination due to the natural filtration processes of surrounding vegetation. The Blightrot Footprint Rate in all Rain Engines is reduced by 50%.
• Added 1 new Cornerstone.
  • Driving Water – Water is not only used to power engines. Woodcutting speed is increased by +10% for every 150 units of water used in Rain Engines.

Balance

• ⚡ Removed the Small Distillery Cornerstone from biomes without Resin in trees.
• ⚡ Removed Sinister Blight and Dire Blight modifiers from Training Expeditions. Blightrot can already be adjusted in the Training Expedition UI, so these effects are redundant. 
• Reshuffled some recipes in production buildings
  • Added the Pipes recipe (tier 0) to the Crude Workstation.
  • Added the Pipes recipe to the Toolshop (tier 2), removed the Waterskins recipe.
  • Added the Pipes recipe to the Smelter (tier 2), removed the Crystalized Dew recipe.
• Rebalanced Blightrot footprints for all recipes in the game (so they can be scaled based on the Rain Engine level).
• All rainpunk-themed glade events that require goods to be solved can now also be completed using Pipes.
• Removed Crystalized Dew as a possible ingredient from rainpunk-themed glade events.
• Increased production times across the board to compensate for the big bonus from Rain Engines and to create more space for production-boosting perks.
• Changed how the Forge Trip Hammer perk works. It now applies to the Smithy instead of the Crude Workstation, and has no negative Resolve effect.
• Removed the Blight Extractor Cornerstone from the game.

UX/UI improvements

• ⚡ Improved the way the game detects long clicks on 3D objects in the game world. It should be easier to select buildings, nodes, events, etc.
• ⚡ Added a Trade Route tooltip to towns in the Training Expedition panel.
• ⚡ Updated the Training Expedition description to clearly state that Deeds can’t be completed in them.
• ⚡ Added a tooltip to the modifiers section in the Training Expedition UI, explaining that some contradicting effects might be discarded when starting a game.
• ⚡ Added an example of service building to the HUB requirements tooltip. 
• ⚡ Changed the name of the Resolve effect coming from the Forsaken Crypt to be the same as the working effect on the event’s UI.
• Added two new UI elements to the HUD – a water level indicator (next to resource categories) and a Corruption overview. 
• Added a Rainpunk Overlay to the game. You can hold TAB to see where Rain Engines are installed and control their power levels.
• Updated the Encyclopedia entry for Blightrot and Corruption.
• Added a new Encyclopedia entry about Rainpunk.
• Updated the tooltip description for the Scavenging Party daily modifier.
• Replaced Cornerstones in the daily modifier pool (Hidden from the Queen and Rich Glades) with proper modifiers (with the same effect, but different labels and names to avoid confusion).
• Unified the overlay names in the options menu. 

Bug fixes

• ⚡ Fixed a bug with daily modifiers not being applied in Training Expeditions when species were not randomly generated.
• ⚡ Fixed a bug with the Regrowth Forest Mystery not being applied in Training Expeditions and never appearing in regular games.
• ⚡ Fixed an issue with the stats screen in the Smoldering City incorrectly counting game time.
• ⚡ Fixed a bug with the Violent Dusk glade event penalty (from the Giant Stormbird) lasting longer than the storm itself.
• ⚡ Fixed a bug with the Pickled Goods recipe in the Flawless Brewery not having Eggs as a possible ingredient.
• ⚡ Fixed a bug with the Fishmen Lighthouse penalty increasing event working speed instead of decreasing it.
• ⚡ Fixed a bug with the Forsaken Altar not working in Training Expeditions, when the game length was below Prestige.
• ⚡ Fixed an inconsistent border color in the Wine Shortage effect between the Training Expedition UI and the in-game tooltip.
• ⚡ Fixed a bug with three-digit population numbers being incorrectly displayed on the species HUD.
• ⚡ Fixed a bug with the Looming Darkness Storm effect not appearing in Training Expeditions when no Forest Mysteries were chosen before the game.
• ⚡ Fixed an issue with the negative Bad Reputation effect from killing traders not stacking correctly.
• ⚡ Fixed an issue with effect names being duplicated in the Trader Panel (when trade is blocked by stacked effects). 
• ⚡ Updated the name of the “+1 to Copper Ore” perk to avoid duplicates.
• ⚡ Fixed multiple typos and errors in Polish.
  • Cloudburst Forest Mystery description.
  • Work Safety Guide perk description.
  • Burnt to a Crisp perk description.
• ⚡ Fixed multiple typos and improved wording in Russian.
  • Oil resource name.
  • Manufactory and Workshop building names.
  • Forest Mystery general tooltip description.
• ⚡ Fixed a typo in the Vanguard of the Stolen Keys Encyclopedia entry.
• Fixed a bug with an empty tooltip when hovering over some fields beneath the Smoldering City on the World map. 
• Fixed an incorrect label in the working effects tied to Haunted Ruins. 

Other 

• ⚡ Refreshed and extended all music tracks in the Smoldering City. 
• ⚡ Added new ambient sounds to the Smoldering City and the World Map.
• ⚡ Added new variants of the upgrade sound in the Citadel.
• Added a continuous sound cue when villagers from a given species are leaving (when the red bar round the portrait is depleting). There’s also an additional sound effect when villagers stop leaving.
• Added a sound effect to the “investigate” button in all glade events.
• Changed a few sounds in the Smoldering City.
  • Added a click sound to the Deed button in the Citadel.
  • Removed a slide-in sound when the Upgrade window appeared.
• Changed the icon of the Gathering Technique Citadel Upgrade.

COMMUNITY CORNER

And now, the memes:

AtS UNO by Edward

Meet the Harpy by Dark Troll

Second Storm by Vince_GEC

And with that, dear readers, we conclude this edition of our update notes. We hope you’ve had as much fun reading about the latest features as we’ve had implementing them. We’ll be back in two weeks with new content to keep you entertained. Until then, have fun playing!

For more memes come to our Discord and Reddit. Have a great weekend!

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