Greetings Viceroys!

Days since the last interface rework: 28 0

It’s been almost a month since we last reworked the entire UI. About time to do it again. Although this time, we learned our lesson. Here’s what new:

• Improved interface
• Consumption Control
• Balance changes
• Italian community translations (by @Lollo and @MrPinguinoEUW)
• And more!

If you like the new changes, please consider leaving a short review on Metacritic. 

DEVELOPER NOTES

In today’s update, we’re introducing two things that were highly requested by you, the Against the Storm community! These are – the Consumption Control system, and the new improved UI (after the misstep that was the flat and minimalistic style from a few updates back).

We know that many of you didn’t like the blue-ish, minimalistic design of the UI we introduced a few updates ago (in the Interface Update). Although the reactions hurt at first, they were justified – we wanted to clean up the UI and improve the overall user experience, but in doing so, we removed something very unique from the game, a part that many players fell in love with. This was a valuable lesson for us – to communicate and ask for feedback as soon as possible when making drastic changes to the game. That’s why in the last couple of weeks we published quite a few UI teasers and asked you to give us your opinions on a new direction for the game’s interface.

Before/After slider.

So here we are! The updated UI is finally ready! In this update, we bring you a marriage between what we think is the best of both worlds – the decorative and warm style of the old interface, and the clean, readable structure of the new one. As usual – there certainly will be places where things could still be improved, so in the future, we will slowly tweak and streamline the UI further.

The second big thing is the Consumption Control System. This has been on the top of the suggestions list on our feedback board for a while now, so it’s high time we introduced this feature. To be completely honest – we weren’t big fans of this when it was first proposed (around the time of the initial Early Access release of Against the Storm), as we felt that this would have a negative impact on the game’s mechanics and balance. But a lot has changed since then – Against the Storm has evolved to a place where more control over your villagers would actually be beneficial for the long-term health of the game. And thanks to this new system we can design Orders and Glade Events more freely (who remembers the dreaded Order to deliver 50 Mush Soup back in the day?).

Consumption control.

At this point, it’s important to note that the Eremite dev team weren’t the only ones working hard on this release. Thanks to our talented community translators, @Lollo and @MrPinguinoEUW, you can now experience Against the Storm in Italian!

Last but not least – we also smuggled in a few balance changes, mainly for Orders and Cornerstones. Our goal here was to create more interesting decisions when picking Orders, so we increased the rewards for some less attractive objectives and decreased the amounts of goods for the “obvious choices”. We also tried to make some of the least picked Cornerstones more attractive, and trim down some of the blatantly overpowered ones.

Orders window.

Enjoy the new additions to Against the Storm, and as always, feel free to share your feedback on our Discord server or using the official feedback tool.

NEW INTERFACE GALLERY

CHANGELOG

Changes marked with ⚡ were inspired by community.

New content and features

• ⚡ Added a Consumption Control system, where you can decide what is being consumed and by whom. 
  • The Consumption Control feature can be unlocked by buying an upgrade in the Smoldering City – Obsidian Archive Level 5.
  • After unlocking Consumption Control, it will appear as an icon in the top right corner of the HUD (similarly to how the Order Panel or the Recipe Panel work).
  • In the Consumption Control panel, you can use checkboxes to select which goods are consumed by what species. You can limit the consumption of raw food, complex food, clothing, and luxuries.
  • Limiting consumption can have an impact on Resolve. Each denied need has a different Resolve penalty value.
  • Resolve penalties are only applied if a restricted good is available in the Storage. If you deny consumption of a resource that you don’t have, no penalty will be activated. 
  • The Resolve penalty for denying a need to a given species grows if another species can still consume that good. For instance – if you forbid Pie consumption for Beavers, but Humans can still eat it, the Beavers will get a substantial Resolve penalty.
  • Restricting the consumption of raw foods (mushrooms, meat, vegetables, etc.) does not activate any Resolve penalty. 
  • All Resolve penalties can be previewed in the Consumption Control panel, under each checkbox. The preview is divided into two categories: current impact (how the Resolve is currently changed by the enabling/disabling of the need), and max. impact (the maximum amount of a Resolve bonus or penalty for a given need).
  • You can change the default checkbox state for raw food and complex food in the options menu (from “on by default” to “off by default”).
• Added 12 new Orders:
  • Farming
    • Objective: building a Small Farm/Plantation/Grove/Herb Garden and delivering Grain/Plant Fiber/Crystalized DewHerbs
    • Rewards: 2 villagers, 3 Parts, 20 Flour
  • Trade Connections
    • Objective: deliver Pack of Trade Goods
    • Rewards: Value Added Tax Cornerstone, Beneficial Agreement Cornerstone, 10 Coal
  • Botanist
    • Objective: produce Berries and Plant Fiber in the Plantation
    • Rewards: Rich in Fiber Cornerstone, Fiber Delivery Line Cornerstone, and 2 villagers
  • Farm Life
    • Objective: produce Vegetables and Grain in the Small Farm
    • Rewards: Grain Delivery Line Cornerstone, Mold Supply Cornerstone, 2 villagers
  • Garden Life
    • Objective: produce Roots and Herbs in the Herb Garden
    • Rewards: Root Delivery Line Cornerstone, Steel Penknives Cornerstone, 2 villagers
  • Ranch Life
    • Objective: produce Meat and Eggs in the Ranch
    • Rewards: Meat Delivery Line Cornerstone, Tanning Racks Cornerstone, 2 villagers
  • Sacrificing
    • Objective: sacrifice Wood/Coal/Oil
    • Rewards: Firekeeper’s Secret Techniques Cornerstone, Ancient Artifact Cornerstone, Advanced Fuel Cornerstone
  • Beaver Relatives
    • Objective: satisfy the need for Pickled Goods, build Beaver Houses
    • Rewards: Beaver Clan Support Cornerstone, 5 Beavers, 50 Roots
  • Harpy Relatives
    • Objective: satisfy the need for Jerky, build Harpy Houses
    • Rewards: Harpy Clan Support Cornerstone, 5 Harpies, 50 Insects
  • Human Relatives
    • Objective: satisfy the need for Biscuits, build Human Houses
    • Rewards: Human Clan Support Cornerstone, 5 Humans, 50 Mushrooms
  • Lizard Relatives
    • Objective: satisfy the need for Skewers, build Lizard Houses
    • Rewards: Lizards Clan Support Cornerstone, 5 Lizards, 50 Meat
  • Peddler
    • Objective: sell Ancient Tablets/Resin/Sparkdew/Packs of Goods
    • Rewards: Enriched Amber Cornerstone, 20 Amber, Forum Blueprint

Balance

• ⚡ Rebalanced the rewards for the following Orders:
  • Amber Trade – removed Pottery, added 30 Biscuits.
  • Clearing Glades – added 2 villagers
  • Foragers’ Camp – added the Nets Cornerstone 
  • Herbalist – added the Sharp Sickles Cornerstone
  • Metal Veins – added 15 Coal and 6 Simple Tools
  • Lost in the Woods – added the Root Delivery Line Cornerstone
  • Problem Solver – added 3 Infused Tools
  • Booming Economy – added 20 Wine
  • Exploration – added 10 Planks
  • Farming – removed Fabric, added 20 Flour
  • Camps – added 15 Reeds
  • Help from the Queen – added 20 Mushrooms and the Fungal Growth Cornerstone
  • The Grove – added 20 Roots
  • Herbs – added 20 Coats
  • Trappers – added the Tanning Racks Cornerstone
  • Basic Logistics – added 10 Stone
  • Beaver Influx – added 15 Ale
  • Risky Expedition – added 3 Infused Tools
  • Into the Wilds – added 5 Amber
  • Harpy Influx – added 20 Cosmetics
  • Human Influx – added 15 Incense
  • Lizard Influx – added 20 Training Gear
  • Outpost – added 6 Metal Tools
  • Infrastructure – added 15 Stone
  • Population Influx – added the Farmer’s Pack Cornerstone
  • Ancient Artifacts – added 3 Infused Tools
  • Advanced Trading – added the Export Specialization Cornerstone and 20 Barrels
  • Luxurious Delivery – added 20 Copper Bars
  • Brotherhood – added the Bigger Grill Cornerstone
  • Cups and Glasses – added 20 Waterskins
  • New Clothes – added 10 Fabric
  • Advanced Logistics – added the Sturdy Boots Cornerstone
  • Varied Delivery – increased the Ale production bonus in the Bigger Barrels Cornerstone from +1 to +2
  • Lizard Resolve – added the Meat Delivery Line Cornerstone
  • Tick Tock – removed Berries, added the Artisan Blueprint
  • Playing with Fire – added 40 Copper Ore
  • Travel Rations – added the Scroll Delivery Line Cornerstone
• ⚡ Rebalanced 7 Cornerstones in the game. 
  • Vineyard Town – The settlement specializes in Wine production. Gain +1 to Beaver Resolve for every 75 (previously 100) Wines produced. 
  • Spices – Herb and Root production is increased by +1 for every 75 (previously 100) Biscuits produced.
  • Forge Trip Hammer – A powerful hammer is installed in each Crude Workstation, but working conditions decrease. Parts can be produced in the Crude Workstation but each worker has -5 (previously -10) to Resolve.
  • Ancient Stabilizer – A strange relic that fits into the Hearth. Wood production is higher by +2 (previously +1), but the Storm lasts 40% (previously 33%) longer.
  • Ritual of prosperity – The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. Newly discovered resource nodes have 20 more charges, but each time you uncover a glade 1 (previously 2) villager dies.
• ⚡ Improved the randomization of recipe priority in production buildings and camps. Workers will now try to alternate between active recipes, which should eliminate situations where someone is “constantly” making one good.
• Changed several Orders in the Tutorial:
  • Exploring the Wilds – now requires the player to assign 5 Beaver woodcutters, instead of any woodcutters.
  • Food Supplies – now requires the player to collect 5 Vegetables instead of delivering 5 Vegetables. 
  • Stonecutters’ Camp – now requires the player to collect 5 Clay instead of delivering 5 Clay. 
  • Scavengers’ Camp – now requires the player to collect 5 Plant Fibers instead of delivering 5 Plant Fibers.
  • Building Blocks – now requires the player to make 4 Planks, 4 Bricks, and 4 Fabric instead of delivering them. 

UI/UX improvements

• ⚡ Overhauled the entire UI of the game.
  • The whole aesthetic of the UI was redesigned to be more reminiscent of the old interface. 
  • The UI now has warmer colors, more ornaments, decorative elements, textured backgrounds, and more physical UI frames.
  • Most UX improvements from the previous UI change are still there – fonts, layouts, object sizes, information structure, etc.
  • We brought back some of the old UX solutions, like text fields with frames under icons, and a centralized layout of time control buttons on the HUD.
  • Citadel Resource icons have been changed to a more fitting style.
  • Building Blueprints in the Reputation Reward popup now show the building’s description right away.
  • We changed the UI for all service buildings. They are now divided into tabs, similar to how it works in workshops. 
  • Reputation and Impatience bars are now bigger and easier to track, with separated markers for new Blueprints and Altar charges.
  • Prompts on the screen (about building rotation or marking trees) now have a background and are easier to read.
  • And much, much more. The changes are too numerous to list here, so we encourage you to get into the game and see for yourself!
• ⚡ Added a tooltip to the Trade Route button in the top right side of the HUD.
• ⚡ Added a “tracked” option to the search bar in the Deed Panel. Selecting it will sort Deeds based on whether they are tracked or not.
• Added rarity labels to Cornerstones in the Atlas. The rarities are as follows: Uncategorized, Common, Uncommon, Rare, Epic, Legendary, Cursed.
• Added a sound effect for completing Deeds in the Deed Panel.
• Removed unnecessary text from Embark Bonus tooltips in the Citadel and Deeds Panel.
• Paths and roads are now displayed above the radius indicators of camps. 

Bug fixes

• ⚡ Fixed a bug that caused the No Quality Control Cornerstone to not remove wood after each Storm (the name of the Cornerstone is quite fitting…)
• ⚡ Fixed a bug with the Ruined Forum having an incorrect footprint size.
• ⚡ Fixed a bug that made it impossible to decline offered Cornerstones. 
• ⚡ Fixed a bug with the Destroyed Rainpunk Foundry not spawning Blightrot Cysts when it’s being worked on by scouts.
• ⚡ Fixed a bug with the Treasure Deed not completing after winning a gamer with 20 opened Caches.
• ⚡ Fixed a bug with the Thorough Exploration Deed not completing after winning a game with 30 discovered Glades.
• ⚡ Fixed a bug with the Refinery Deed not completing after winning a game with the Mine, Smelter and Smithy built.
• ⚡ Fixed a bug that allowed items to have a negative trading value.
• ⚡ Fixed an issue with the Rotting Wood Forest Mystery not destroying woodcutters’ yields. 
• ⚡ Fixed an issue that caused text labels to cover storage values in small tooltips in French. 
• ⚡ Fixed a bug that caused the win ratio to be incorrectly calculated in the Deeds Panel.
• ⚡ Fixed a bug that caused the total playtime to be incorrectly calculated in the Deeds Panel.
• ⚡ Fixed a bug that caused the Envoy’s dialogue in the Order Pick Popup to not be localized into languages other than English.
• ⚡ Fixed a bug that caused some recipes to not show up in the Production Overlay ([CTRL]).
• ⚡ Fixed an issue with two orders having the same name (Luxurious Delivery).

Other

• ⚡ Added a new community translation – Italian! Many thanks to our community translators, @Lollo and @MrPinguinoEUW, for making this a reality. 
• ⚡ Changed the texture for the Path – it’s now narrower and blends with the terrain more naturally.
• ⚡ Changed the size of the Paved Road tile. It’s now a bit narrower.
• ⚡ Added a new save recovery system and improved overall save stability. Now if an issue with the save file occurs, you will get a new type of popup message, where you will be able to pick one of two options: use an automatic backup or remove the corrupted save and start fresh.
• Introduced some small changes to the Spanish localization (minor capitalization changes, tweaks, etc).
• Updated screenshots and video in the “help” section of the in-game Atlas.

We’re super grateful to everyone who contributed to this update. Your translations, suggestions, and reports are extremely appreciated! You can always track the progress of reported issues on our Public Bug Tracker.

SHOW YOUR SUPPORT

If you want to help us grow the Against the Storm community, there are a few things you can do:

• Let your friends know about the game
• Share our content and announcements on social media
• Share your gameplays on relevant subreddits like r/Games or r/PCGaming 

Truth be told, we appreciate all kinds of support. Be it feedback, words of encouragement, or casual activity on Discord. It helps a lot and we’re very much grateful!

Now, enjoy the new update and let us know what you think!

May the storm be gentle on you,
Eremite Games team

Current Early Access version: 0.28.1R

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