Genre: Real Time Strategy (RTS), Simulator, Strategy, Indie
Against the Storm
Hotfix 0.55.5 (Cycle end freeze)
Greetings, Viceroys!
We just released a hotfix that addresses a very specific issue that occurred after today's 0.55.3 patch. Players who quit the game in the middle of the Sealed Forest settlement and returned to the game after the patch was downloaded, experienced an issue with the frozen game upon attempting to complete the Cycle.
If you were affected by this issue before we released this hotfix (0.55.5), and want us to manually modify your save file to compensate for the loss of the Seal, please message us at support@eremitegames.freshdesk.com and include the zipped contents of the entire game saves folder. It's located here: %userprofile%\appdata\locallow\Eremite Games
We deeply apologize for the inconvenience this caused and thank you immensely for your quick reports and help in resolving the issue.
May the storm be gentle on you, Eremite Game
Hotfix 0.55.3 (Trader Match, Dangerous Lands)
Greetings, Viceroys!
Thank you for the warm reception of the new update and for providing us with the feedback and reports. We just released a hotfix that deals with the issues you might have experienced.
Changelog
Fixed an issue with force-finished Seal games not giving back Seal Fragments. Unfortunately, this fix does not work retroactively, so if you experienced it, you will not get your fragments back, for which we are terribly sorry.
If you don't mind waiting for a little while, you can contact us directly on Discord or via email (support@eremitegames.freshdesk.com) and we can add them back manually. Please provide us with the entire zipped game save folder: %userprofile%\appdata\locallow\Eremite Games
Fixed an issue with workers sometimes getting stuck when fetching goods from storages.
Fixed a bug that caused some Forbidden and Dangerous glades to not uncover fully when opened.
Fix a bug with the Ruins Modifier spawning near the Forbidden Lands, Dangerous Lands, and Untamed Wilds modifiers on the World Map.
Fixed a bug with the effect descriptions for the last stages of the Snake and Spider Archaeological Discoveries being switched.
Removed the unnecessary "stop sacrifice" checkbox in the Small Hearth UI.
Fixed a rounding issue with some resources in the Trade Panel when using the auto-match feature.
Fixed an issue with the last difficulty ring on the World Map having the same minimum difficulty as the one before it.
Fixed a bug with the Followers of the Forsaken Gods World Event challenge being visible in the Deeds panel.
Fixed an issue with trade route notifications appearing twice.
Fixed an issue with the Soft Stems Forest Mystery being selectable in the Training Expedition UI.
Fixed a typo in the Embark button toolitp.
Fixed an issue with the Mole spawning in the Stormbird-themed unique glade.
Fixed an issue with some glades not uncovering correctly in games with the Untamed Lands modifier.
Removed the Baptism of Fire Cornerstone from the reward pool for catching a Treasure Stag.
We've got a little surprise for you! On August 12, we'll launch a crowdfunding campaign for a Beaver Villager plushie on Makeship.
We're extremely excited as this is the first-ever official Against the Storm merch and we can't wait to welcome our lovely lumberjacks into our homes.
You can learn more about the campaign here: https://www.makeship.com/products/beaver-villager-plush
We encourage you to subscribe on the page to receive updates about this campaign.
As with all other plushies on Makeship, the Beaver Villager will cost $29.99 plus shipping costs. A few days before the campaign launches, Makeship will also host a giveaway in which you'll be able to win the plushie.
Stay tuned for more news!
DEVELOPER NOTES
The main theme of today’s update is payments, because who doesn't love to think about taxes when they want to have a good time playing a video game? Fortunately, we’re not adding any new system that will require you to pay the Crown regular fees, we’re simply adding a tool that will help you manage payments triggered by already existing effects (such as Land Tax).
With this update, we also bring you numerous balance changes, new unique glade layouts, a lot of UI improvements, and of course bug fixes. So without further ado, let’s get into it.
First of all, let’s talk about payments. There are already some effects in the game (such as Land Tax, Vassal Tax, or Cloudburst) that require you to make more or less regular payments. And most of the time, missing a payment triggers a negative consequence (such as a villager dying). We’ve always felt that this mechanic was very promising, as it created a lot of unique interactions, but at the same time it was extremely frustrating - payments would appear seemingly out of nowhere, and players didn’t have a say in whether they wanted to pay a fee or intentionally miss it.
So because of this (and because we want to make room for some interesting effects and perks in the future), we decided to add a dedicated Payment Panel to the game. From now on, payments will no longer trigger instantly, and will instead appear in a new window (located in the top right corner of the HUD, same as all the other control panels). There, you will have the option to pay right away, wait, or simply ignore a fee. You will also have more time to collect the required resources, as most payments are due at the end of the next season.
Payment panel
This new panel offers a lot of information about your payments - what is their source, how many resources you need, how long do you have, and what the exact consequences are for not paying. You can also choose from two “auto payment” options in this panel - instant and last minute (you can also set a default auto payment value in the Options menu).
But enough about taxes, let’s instead talk a bit about exploration. This update brings 8 new unique layouts for small and forbidden glades. You might have already encountered something similar in the past, in the form of glades with a lot of ruins and stone roads, but this time we wanted to diversify the pool a bit. That’s why from now on, you might find a forbidden glade filled with egg deposits, with a giant Stormbird in the middle, or an abandoned mining town filled with ore and drilling equipment. Our overarching goal here is the same as with a lot of previous changes to glades - to make small glades more viable and to make forbidden glades more interesting and rewarding.
In this update, we also bring you some minor balance changes. Most notably, we rebalanced a few over and underperforming Cornerstones, like for example Hidden from the Queen, which was given a unique drawback to change the way it influences the run. Similarly, some underpowered perks (like Economic Migration) were slightly buffed. Our goal was as always to expand the pool of viable choices and bring some less frequently used Cornerstones to the forefront.
We also added a new Forest Mystery, changed the reward for the Crashed Airship World Event, moved the Loremaster World Event closer to the Citadel, and slightly tweaked map generation during a run. Additionally, we had to revamp the Fishman Soothsayer’s working effects to accommodate the new payment panel (the old effects wouldn’t work too well with the option to delay payments).
As with every update, we again took some time to improve the UI in various places. Most notably, we added difficulty rings to the World Map (narrow dark lines that show where a difficulty level ends), introduced a “minimum difficulty” section to map field tooltips, implemented an “auto-match” button to the trading screen, and changed a lot of descriptions and names to make some aspects of the game less confusing.
Lastly, there are of course a lot of bug fixes, corrected typos, improved translations, and minor adjustments in this update, as well as a new Ghost Chest mesh, and a graphically refreshed Brickyard.
Difficulty rings
Auto match the offer
Updated Ghost Chest and Brickyard
As always - thank you all for providing feedback and suggestions for the new update. If you’d like to share your ideas for upcoming updates, here are some useful links:
P.S. One of the best things you can do to help indie games is to leave a Steam review. If you’ve had a chance to play Against the Storm, we’d love to hear any feedback, positive or negative. Thanks!
CHANGELOG
Number of changes: 66 Inspired by community: 78%
Changes marked with ⚡ were inspired by the community.
New content and features
⚡ Added 6 new unique Forbidden Glade layouts.
These glades are thematically different from the usual Forbidden Glades and contain a bit more resources or treasure than usual. They are also very rare.
We won’t spoil all of them here, but here are two examples: a glade filled with big and small egg deposits, and a giant Stormbird in the middle, or a destroyed mining town with a lot of ore, drills, and a Rainpunk Foundry.
Our goal was to add more variety to exploration and to make Forbidden Glades more interesting and rewarding in general.
⚡ Added 2 new unique small glade layouts.
The new unique small glades are similar to already existing unique Dangerous and Forbidden Glades, as they contain a themed layout of ruins and/or resources (the only difference being that they are of course smaller and less rewarding than their bigger counterparts).
With this addition, we wanted to take yet another step in a series of many recent changes to the content of small glades. Our goal is still the same - to make small glades more interesting and less punishing to interact with.
Added a new Forest Mystery.
Rotten Vapors - Machinery has to be cleaned with specially prepared Drizzle Water. Otherwise, Blightrot will spread. Once this effect activates, you have to pay 5 Drizzle Water (multiplied by the number of years). If you don't, 3 Blightrot Cysts will spawn in your settlement.
Balance
⚡ Rebalanced multiple Cornerstones.
Rebellious Spirit - added a drawback. Now every time a villager dies, Impatience is increased by an additional 0.2 points.
Protected Trade - increased the amount of Amber required to trigger the Hostility reduction from 25 to 30.
Hidden from the Queen - added a drawback. Now Impatience will grow 600% faster after year 8.
Burnt to a Crisp - this perk was promoted from Epic to Legendary quality (without any numerical changes).
Economic Migration - introduced an additional positive effect. Now every level of standing also increases the amount of resources brought by newcomers by 10%.
Force of Nature - buffed the numbers and introduced an additional positive effect. Now this Cornerstone increases Storm Water production by +3 instead of +2, and increases tank capacity by 50 (the Stormforged version was also buffed accordingly).
⚡ Changed the reward given for solving the Crashed Airship World Event. It no longer gives the Guild Logbook blessing. Instead, the player gets the Guild’s Sigil effect.
Guild’s Sigil - A ring given only to the closest friends of the Merchant Guild. Traders will arrive 25% faster, and perks and blueprints will cost 25% less Amber.
Changed the consequence for missing a payment with the Vassal Tax Forest Mystery.
Vassal Tax - adds an Impatience point as a consequence of a failed payment instead of making Impatience growth faster by 33%.
Changed the working effects of the Fishman Soothsayer glade event.
Rain Sorcery - A powerful spell that feeds on the insatiable anger of the forest. Hostility is increased by 50 for every scout in your settlement. This includes idle scouts and workers assigned to this event.
Blood Sorcery - The comforts of the civilized world are disgustingly unnatural to the Fishmen. Every time 10 Complex Food, Clothing, or Service needs are fulfilled, 2 random villagers are killed.
Changed the map generation for Settler difficulty. Previously, there was a chance of no Forbidden Glades spawning (and Dangerous ones taking their place instead). Now, a few Forbidden glades are guaranteed to spawn in every game (just like it is for higher-difficulty games).
The Obsidian Loremaster World Event can now spawn closer to the Citadel.
UX/UI improvements
⚡ Added a dedicated payment panel to make tax/maintenance effects easier to keep track of.
The payment panel is located on the top right of the HUD. It’s represented by a round icon, like all the other control panels. It will only appear once payment is triggered.
You can navigate to the payment window from any other panel (like Consumption Control or Orders) using the tabs on top of the window.
All so-called “payment effects” (Vassal Tax, Land Tax, Cloudburst, Sacred Flame Rituals, etc.) will appear in the payment window once they are triggered.
Once you trigger a payment (for example by discovering a glade on Prestige 19), you will be required to pay it before the next season ends. So if a payment request started in Drizzle, you have time until the end of the Clearance to pay it.
The payment window contains a lot of useful information - the required resource amount, the source of the payment, when it’s due, and what the consequences are for not paying it.
There is also an “auto payment” option in the payment window. Using it, you can set a payment to “instant” (paid the very moment it’s triggered), or “last minute” (paid just before the deadline).
You can set a default “auto payment” value in the Options menu, under the Gameplay tab.
There is a reminder notification that appears when a payment is due at the end of the current season. It can be turned on or off in the Options menu, under the Alerts tab.
Due to this change, we had to adjust a few payment effects in the game. You might notice that some descriptions were rewritten, some penalties were changed, and the Fishman Soothsayer (the only glade event based on a payment effect) was given new working effects.
We added this panel to make it easier to manage payments, and to avoid surprising players with a sudden negative consequence that triggered in the background. Additionally, this should allow us to create some new and interesting payment perks in the future (without worrying about readability issues).
⚡ Added visible difficulty rings to the World Map. From now on, a faint black line will show you where exactly a difficulty level range ends and starts.
⚡ Added information about the minimum difficulty to the tooltip displayed when hovering over a World Map field.
⚡ Added retroactive effect previews to perks displayed in the Forsaken Altar panel.
⚡ Added a button to match a trader’s offer in the Trading Post. If there is something selected on one side of the barter UI, you can simply select a resource on the opposite side and press the “auto” button to automatically add enough goods to balance out the deal.
You can also use the Middle Mouse Button. Simply press MMB over a resource and it will be added to the offer in an amount that is enough for the deal to become acceptable.
⚡ Added a checkbox to the Hearth UI to automatically stop sacrificing resources after the Storm. There is also a way to set a default value for this checkbox in the options menu.
⚡ Added the Game History button to the lower panel in the Smoldering City.
⚡ Added town names to the Game History panel.
⚡ Added a checkbox for auto-pause on newcomer arrival in the Options menu (under the Gameplay tab).
⚡ Changed the Seal entry in the in-game Encyclopedia to be more accurate and in line with the most recent changes to the system (added information about attempting a Seal run early, and when years are added to the Cycle).
⚡ Changed the description of the Ghost Chest to be clearer and more understandable.
⚡ Changed the wording of the Deserted Caravans Cornerstone description to be more accurate.
⚡ Changed the names of the Harpy Resolve, Lizard Resolve, and Fox Resolve Orders to avoid confusion (as the objectives have nothing to do with Resolve).
⚡ Changed the name of the Seal Fragment Cornerstone to Forbidden Seal Shard to avoid confusion.
⚡ Added a tooltip to the Amber icon on the “decline” button in the Cornerstone Choice Popup.
⚡ Changed the wording in all Orders and Deeds tied to Abandoned Caches found in the forest. It should now be clear that both opening and sending caches counts.
⚡ Changed the description of the converted Stonetooth Termite Burrow decoration to describe its effect more clearly.
Changed the descriptions of the reconstructed skeletons in the Scarlet Orchard to unify them with other converted decoration descriptions (with the decoration tag, a clear indication of the positive effect, and the decoration score).
Changed the wording on tooltips for Embark Resources taken away by World Events. From now on there will be a full sentence saying a good has been taken away (instead of a simple “- 20 Eggs”, etc.).
Removed the names of unlocks in the level-up popup. This information was moved to the tooltip.
Changed the name of the Stormbird Nest resource nodes found in glades to avoid confusion with dangerous events and effects tied to Giant Stormbirds.
When first coming up with Stormbirds, we had two subspecies in mind - the regular one, and the giant variant.
To avoid confusion, we renamed the harmless Stormbird variant to Drizzlewing. So from now on you will collect eggs from Drizzlewing Nests instead of Stormbird Nests.
Bug fixes
⚡ Fixed a bug with the trees in the Sealed Forest not giving Leather as a byproduct.
⚡ Fixed a bug with the Wandering Eremite World Event subtracting 5 years from the Cycle instead of adding them.
⚡ Fixed a bug with resource nodes in glades not being generated correctly (they were spread too evenly).
⚡ Fixed a bug with the “sell goods” objective description for the Ancient Tablet showing an empty “obtained by” section.
⚡ Fixed an issue with the Stormforged version of the Lost in the Wilds Cornerstone showing incorrect Hostility values.
⚡ Fixed a bug with Seals being generated right next to each other on the World Map.
⚡ Fixed an issue with the Stormwalker Tax Cornerstone being offered for releasing a Treasure Stag.
⚡ Fixed a bug with the Haunted Forest modifier spawning next to the Cursed Royal Woodlands.
⚡ Fixed a bug with missing names for neighboring towns in Training Expeditions.
⚡ Fixed an issue with the Blight Incantation working effect (Altar of Decay) not having a state preview in its tooltip.
⚡ Fixed a bug with the Followers of the Forsaken Gods World Event objective being listed in the Deeds panel.
⚡ Fixed an issue with old icons still being visible in upgrade effects in the Archaeologist’s Office.
⚡ Fixed an issue with the “Fuel Burning Rate” stat in the Citadel being incorrectly labeled.
⚡ Fixed a bug with the old Weather Anomaly modifier still being generated on the World map.
⚡ Fixed a discrepancy between the objective description of the Somber Procession World Event and the goal displayed once the settlement was started.
⚡ Fixed a bug with some farms spawning additional fertile soil when destroyed by lightning.
⚡ Fixed an issue with the trader notification staying on the screen after the Trading Post was deleted.
⚡ Fixed an issue with the Russian translation of the “No Strangers” bonus in the scoreboard at the end of the game.
⚡ Fixed a typo in the description of the Barren Lands modifier in Italian.
Improved numerous Deed descriptions in French.
Fixed a bug with Ruined Small Farms and Ruined Herb Gardens having a lower-than-expected spawn rate on certain glades.
Other
Changed the mesh of the Ghost Chest. It no longer looks like a normal Abandoned Cache.
Slightly refreshed the Brickyard’s visual representation (both the building and its ruined version).
The current game version is 0.55.1.
COMMUNITY CORNER
Click to unfold: [expand type="showmore"] Check out some of the best community artwork and screenshots from the recent days:
We invite you to join us later today, at 3:00 pm UTC, for a livestream during which we’ll present the upcoming features and changes of tomorrow’s Payment Planner Update.
During the stream, we’ll present the new Payments window (that helps to keep track of and manage the recurring payments), describe the balance changes made to cornerstones, and host a short Q&A session.
If you can’t join us live, the recording will be later uploaded to our YouTube channel, where we keep the Livestream Archive playlist with the recordings of all our streams.
We can’t wait to see you later today and kindly remind you that as usual, all the ongoing settlements will have to be force-finished (more information below).
May the storm be gentle on you, Eremite Games
How to prepare
We release new content Updates every two weeks on Thursdays around 1 pm – 3 pm UTC. As we make multiple changes to the game’s systems, balance, and content, the game needs to force-finish any settlements that are in progress when you download the update. This aims to prevent various game-breaking bugs that could occur otherwise.
IMPORTANT: If you have a settlement in progress, it will have to be force-finished when you download the Update. You will be reimbursed with Citadel Resources but you will have to start a new settlement. Your meta progress (that is: Experience, Level, completed Deeds, unlocked Upgrades, Citadel Resources, etc.) will remain intact.
In the main menu, under the “Play” button, there’s a countdown to upcoming Updates. Please finish your current settlement before the update day if you don’t want it to be completed automatically.
Today’s update is a bit of an extension of the previous release (the Cycles Reforged Update). The main theme (as you might have guessed) are the new World Events, but there are also a lot of UI improvements to the World Map, quite a hefty number of bug fixes, and big stability improvements to the game. So without further ado, let’s jump right into the details!
With this release, we’re introducing 5 brand new World Events you can encounter while traversing the World Map. All of them offer new types of decisions, challenges, and consequences, as well as some small insights into the lore of Against the Storm. We’re also slowly working on making events more flavorful in general, so that’s why today’s update includes unique illustrations and sound effects for 8 existing events. We will release more of these visual and auditory improvements in the near future so that eventually every World Event feels special.
Stormbird Egg
We also focused heavily on the UX of the newly introduced Cycle revamp, in an effort to make the system more player friendly and easier to interact with. Thanks to your invaluable feedback, we came up with several UI improvements, such as:
The ability to reforge a Seal at any point during the Cycle. This still requires Fragments and being close to the Seal, and it will end the Cycle right away, but we got rid of the unnecessary step of skipping the rest of the Cycle using the button in the calendar HUD.
World Event objectives being shown in the game, above the Order HUD.
New, clearer tooltips when hovering over question marks and World Events.
World Event objectives being shown in the Embarkation Panel.
A highlight around the Sealed Forest, showing if it’s accessible or not.
And much, much more!
World Event objective
Seal access highlight
Additionally, we introduced some miscellaneous UI changes not directly tied to the meta layer of the game. For example, you can now see global villager stats above the species panel (population, free workers, homeless people), and there are around 61 new custom icons throughout the game (this is an ongoing process - we’re slowly replacing a lot of the old icons, as this is the only place where we still use some store-bought assets).
Global villagers stats
New icons
This update also introduces some smaller balance changes to spice things up a bit. We increased the maximum trade route distance by 50%, so even if you are very far away from the Citadel, there are still enough towns to trade with. Additionally, we slightly increased the Obelisk’s spawn rate in small glades, and we increased the number of fertile soil tiles spawned around haunted farm ruins. You can read about all the balance changes in the changelog below.
Lastly, with this update we not only fixed a lot of bugs (as is tradition with every patch), but we also greatly improved the game’s stability. This means you should finally see way fewer crashes and issues in general after updating the game to the newest version.
As always - thank you all for providing feedback and suggestions for the new update. If you’d like to share your ideas for upcoming updates, here are some useful links:
P.S. If you've picked up Against the Storm and have been playing it, make sure to leave a Steam review! They help a lot!
CHANGELOG
Number of changes: 152 Inspired by community: 48%
Changes marked with ⚡ were inspired by the community.
New content and features
⚡ Added 5 new World Events to the World Map.
The Gambler
Crashed Airship
Followers of the Forsaken Gods
Wandering Eremite
First Dawn Company Caravan
We don’t want to spoil any lore or share the event decisions here, so it’s up to you to find these new points of interest on the map.
Added custom illustrations and sound effects to 9 World Events.
The Gambler
Hanged Viceroy
Commenda Contract
Obsidian Loremaster
Wandering Eremite
Followers of the Forsaken Gods
Stormbird Egg
Cloaked Wanderer
First Dawn Company Caravan
Events not listed here still have a placeholder illustration and a universal sound effect. We will add new illustrations and sounds in future updates.
Balance
⚡ Increased the range of trade routes by 50%. Now you can trade with settlements as far as 15 tiles from your current location.
⚡ Added Leather as a possible bonus resource from trees in the Sealed Forest.
⚡ Increased the threshold at which the Resolve bonus triggers in the Guild's Welfare effect (in the Guild House) from 60 to 75 Amber.
⚡ Increased the number of spawned fertile soil tiles around haunted farm ruins (Haunted Small Farm and Haunted Herb Garden).
⚡ Slightly increased the Obelisk’s spawn rate in small glades.
⚡ Ore deposits can no longer spawn under resource nodes.
UX/UI improvements
⚡ Added a global counter for population, available workers, and homeless villagers. It’s located above the species panels in the top left corner of the HUD.
⚡ You can now attempt to reforge a Seal at any point during the Cycle, without needing to press the skip button on the calendar.
All other requirements are still binding - you need enough Seal Fragments, and the Seal needs to be within your Embarkation Range.
Starting a game in the Sealed Forest early will automatically skip the rest of the Cycle. After finishing the game (doesn't; matter if it was won or lost), the Cycle will be over.
Due to this change, the tip displayed on the HUD about skipping the Cycle near the Seal has been removed.
Added a warning next to the Embark button when trying to play in the Sealed Forest before the Cycle’s end.
⚡ World Event challenges (like winning a game with 150 Amber) are now displayed on the main HUD during gameplay (above Orders).
⚡ Added generic tooltips to World Events when hovering over them in the World Map. These tooltips give only the name of the event, and some tips to make it clearer how events work (how to interact with them, and that they will disappear after the next game).
⚡ Added World Event effect icons to the Embarkation Panel when starting a game from an event.
⚡ Added the objective text for World Event challenges to the Embarkation Panel when starting a game from an event.
⚡ Added a highlight to the Sealed Forest biome on the World Map to clearly show when it is in range and available (all the conditions are met).
⚡ Added a tooltip to “?” markers on the World Map.
⚡ Added custom flavor text to reward pop-ups for all existing World Events (these pop-ups appear after winning a challenge run offered by an event).
⚡ Updated the “Logistics” entry in the in-game Encyclopedia.
⚡ Added information about Seal Fragments and the Royal Resupply to World Map tooltips (when hovering over playable tiles on the map).
⚡ Reworded the descriptions of multiple World Event rewards to clearly state that they are only given for the duration of the current Cycle.
⚡ Changed the description of the Storm Ant Column challenge - it now states that all food is removed when starting a game, including Embarkation Bonuses.
⚡ Changed the wording in the description of effects triggered by sacrificing goods (Desecrator, Sacrament of the Flame) to make it clearer that burning multiple resources at the same time progresses the perk’s counter quicker.
⚡ Changed Cycle perk labels in the city builder layer to “Cycle Blessing” and “Cycle Curse” to make it clearer where they came from during gameplay (one-time world event effects are still labeled “World Event”).
⚡ Changed the wording in the short objective version of the “use rainwater in engines” Order to make it clearer that it only counts using rainpunk engines (and not production).
Replaced 61 old icons with new custom assets.
Archaeologist’s Office upgrades
Firekeeper bonuses
Multiple meta rewards attached to Citadel Upgrades.
Service Building bonuses.
Over the last couple of months, you might have noticed that we’ve been slowly replacing a lot of the icons in the game, as this is the only place where we still use store-bought assets. Using asset packs is very helpful when trying to quickly iterate and balance the game (we have hundreds of perks, resources, upgrades that all need icons), but we want to gradually move to something more unique and tailor-made for us.
Renamed old Wealth Resolve effects that would sometimes appear in villager panels. They now have the same name and icon as their source perk (like Prosperous Settlement) to make it easier to understand where a bonus came from.
Changed the descriptions and names of Cycle effects with additional villagers (so that they are coherent).
Bug fixes
⚡ Greatly improved the game’s stability. You should see way fewer crashes and have a better experience overall.
⚡ Fixed an issue that caused the World Map to stop responding to player inputs if players tried to settle on the very edge of it.
⚡ Fixed an issue with Daily Expeditions sometimes not having neighboring towns to trade with.
⚡ Fixed a bug that caused tooltips to not appear for some Forest Mysteries in the Game History panel.
⚡ Fixed a bug with the Reserve Embarkation Point counter not refreshing correctly right after taking the Supply Package reward from negative modifiers.
⚡ Fixed an issue with the Resolve preview sometimes showing incorrect values when hovering over the Favoring button.
⚡ Fixed a bug with Dangerous Lands, Forbidden Lands, and Untamed Wilds being spawned next to each other on the World Map.
⚡ Fixed a bug with the Bandit Camp Modifier spawning next to a Land of Greed modifier on the World Map.
⚡ Fixed a bug with the Lizard Relatives Order not taking Purified Lizard Houses (rebuilt haunted ruins) into account.
⚡ Fixed an issue with some species-specific Deeds (Harpy Utopia, Lizard Utopia) not taking rebuilt haunted ruins into account.
⚡ Removed the outdated Faction loading tip.
⚡ Fixed an issue with species in the Consumption Control panel being shown in reverse order.
⚡ Fixed an issue with the foldable roof in the Clothier building not being animated when the Storm starts.
⚡ Fixed an issue with the No Contact modifier showing a “+1.0” value below its icon.
⚡ Fixed an incorrect Resolve value in the Fallen Viceroy Commemoration effect.
⚡ Fixed an issue with the calendar text at the end of the Cycle being covered by other UI elements.
⚡ Removed a duplicated Haunted Forest modifier from the Training Expedition panel.
⚡ Fixed some geometry issues with the Cookhouse building mesh.
⚡ Fixed an issue with animated production lines between buildings sometimes not disappearing correctly.
⚡ Fixed a bug with some decorations having incorrect construction costs in the in-game Encyclopedia.
⚡ Fixed an issue with the Temple sound effect being incorrectly pitched when selecting the building.
⚡ Fixed a bug with the bath House having the same sound effect as a Temple after selecting it.
⚡ Fixed an issue with the Twitch vote feature sometimes not connecting to chat correctly.
⚡ Fixed an issue with some individual fertile soil tiles being spawned under trees.
⚡ Fixed a typo in the Blightstorm tutorial and Encyclopedia entry.
⚡ Fixed a typo in the Seal tooltip in the Embarkation Panel.
⚡ Fixed an issue with the “sell Ancient Tables” Order objective showing an empty “obtained by” text description.
⚡ Fixed a double negative in the description of the Sacrament of the Flame effect.
⚡ Fixed an incorrect description of the Procrastination Prestige modifier in Ukrainian.
⚡ Fixed multiple typos and inconsistencies in Simplified Chinese (perk descriptions, World Event descriptions, World Event decisions, biome names, rebuilt haunted ruin names).
Fixed some inconsistencies in Order objective text in Czech, French, Japanese, Italian, Turkish, and Ukrainian.
Fixed an issue with the “failed” and “completed” text being misaligned in the Order panel.
Fixed a bug with the Fallen Viceroy Commendation Resolve effect having a placeholder icon.
Fixed some paragraph spacing issues with entries in the in-game Encyclopedia.
Other
Added a new sound effect to the “end cycle” button.
Added a new sound effect to the reward screen shown after finishing a settlement.
Changed the interaction sounds in the Deed panel.
COMMUNITY CORNER
Click to unfold: [expand type="showmore"]Everything comes to an end. And everything will be alright. Here are the two last Against the Storm comics from TonyShape.
TonyShape, we all at Eremite Games are extremely grateful for your comics and we’ll miss them a lot. They were always spot-on and hilarious. We wish you all the best!
Recently, we announced 500,000 of you played Against the Storm already. We were super surprised to see this celebratory art:
We will talk about the new World Events, UX changes, and game stability improvements (aimed at preventing certain crashes) that are the headliners of the update.
If you can’t join us live, the recording will be later uploaded to our YouTube channel, where we keep the Livestream Archive playlist with the recordings of all our streams.
We can’t wait to see you later today and kindly remind you that as usual, all the ongoing settlements will have to be force-finished (more information below).
May the storm be gentle on you, Eremite Games
How to prepare
We release new content Updates every two weeks on Thursdays around 1 pm – 3 pm UTC. As we make multiple changes to the game’s systems, balance, and content, the game needs to force-finish any settlements that are in progress when you download the update. This aims to prevent various game-breaking bugs that could occur otherwise.
IMPORTANT: If you have a settlement in progress, it will have to be force-finished when you download the Update. You will be reimbursed with Citadel Resources but you will have to start a new settlement. Your meta progress (that is: Experience, Level, completed Deeds, unlocked Upgrades, Citadel Resources, etc.) will remain intact.
In the main menu, under the “Play” button, there’s a countdown to upcoming Updates. Please finish your current settlement before the update day if you don’t want it to be completed automatically.
We just released a hotfix that addresses the reported issues that occurred after last week's update. We are grateful for your reports and for providing us with files that helped us identify the sources of issues.
Changelog:
Fixed a bug with Cycle bonuses not being applied after a game restart.
Fixed an issue with rebuilt service buildings not appearing in blue in tooltips.
Fixed a bug with the Embarkation Summary view incorrectly showing 3 Royal Resupplies as rewards for winning a game in the Sealed Forest.
Fixed a bug with the Embarkation Point penalty appearing on the world map HUD.
Fixed a bug with the Cycle Summary panel sometimes appearing when selecting the first World Map tile in a Cycle.
Fixed a bug that allowed players to play the Lead Seal game on Settler difficulty.
Fixed some missing translations and typos in Polish (decisions in two World Events).
Fixed an issue with modifiers increasing Order choices and Timed Order spawn rates appearing near the Fishmen Ritual Site modifier.
Fixed an issue with the game result screen showing an outdated Seal Fragment icon.
Fixed an issue with the Heavy Drops Forest Mystery not being listed in the Rain Collector UI.
Fixed an issue with the Oil starting resource bonus being called "Eggs".
May the storm be gentle on you, Eremite Games
The current game version is 0.53.4.
Hotfix 0.53.3 + additional information regarding the Seal progress transfer
Greetings, Viceroys!
We hope you’ve been enjoying the new Cycles Reforged Update*! We’re grateful for your swift reports that allowed us to identify and fix a couple of issues that slipped our attention. We also realized the description of the Seal progress transfer (and the Seal ladder itself) wasn’t clear enough, so we’ll try to provide some additional information and dispel doubts below. We hope this helps!
*We’re crying we missed the opportunity to call it Cycles Stormforged Update.
Changelog
Fixed a bug with perks being incorrectly assigned when there were more than 16 active.
Fixed a bug with the Fishman Soothsayer glade event not disappearing after completion.
Fixed an issue with Fertile Meadows and Barren lands modifiers being spawned next to each other.
Added information about Hostility scaling based on difficulty in the Desacrator effect description (Fire Moths World Event).
Added the Royal Resupply reward to the list of rewards in the embarkation view.
If no seal was reforged, the UI in the CItadel shows no icon (instead of the previous placeholder icon).
Seals ladder and progression transfer
When you enter the game for the first time after downloading the Cycles Reforged Update, you will be given a choice to either climb the Seal ladder from the Settler level or from a higher difficulty level (one that reflects your current highest difficulty beaten).
If you’re having doubts as to which option to choose, here’s a bit more information that hopefully will help you decide.
Q: What are the Seals? The Ancient Seals are a new World Map system. Your task is to journey toward the Seal, gather enough Seal Fragments (necessary to play near the Seal) on the way, and when the Cycle is almost at its end, you can attempt to play on the Sealed Biome. By winning a game on the Sealed Biome, you successfully reforge a Seal.
Q: What dictates the Seal’s difficulty? The Cycles Reforged Update introduced difficulty rings to the World Map. Due to the increasing distance from the Smoldering City’s line of supplies, it is more difficult for Viceroys to settle the farther they are from the Citadel.
Each Seal is located a bit farther from the other and each is located in a different difficulty ring.
Q: How many Seals are there?
There 8 Seals you can complete in total:
Bronze Seal (Settler and up)
Lead Seal (Pioneer and up)
Silver Seal (Veteran and up)
Gold Seal (Viceroy and up)
Platinum Seal (Prestige 5 and up)
Cobalt Seal (Prestige 10 and up)
Titanium Seal (Prestige 15 and up)
Adamantine Seal (Prestige 20)
During each Cycle, 4 Seals will spawn on the World Map:
2 Seals of the highest difficulty that you already reforged
2 Seals of a higher difficulty than the highest one you reforged
For example: When you reforge a Silver Seal, during the next Cycle, 4 Seals will spawn: 2 Silver Seals and 2 Gold Seals. Lead Seals will no longer spawn on the World Map.
Q: What are the rewards for reforging a Seal? By reforging each Seal, you get additional 8 years added permanently to the Cycle. It’s a one-time reward and you won’t get additional years for reforging the same Seal twice.
After reforging a Seal and completing a Cycle, a new higher-tier Seal will spawn on the World Map (and the one that you just completed) as explained above.
You will also get additional Citadel Resources (a percentage value of all Citadel Resources that you collected during this Cycle).
In the Smoldering City, you will see the Highest Seal that you reforged.
Q: How does playing on the Sealed Biome differ for every Seal? The Sealed Biome (Sealed Forest) will have exactly the same visuals, the same music, and the same mechanic on every difficulty level - there's no difference here no matter if you're playing on Settler or Prestige 20.
The difficulty may be scaled in some aspects aside from the regular increase in difficulty between levels.
Q: Do you unlock difficulty levels by reforging Seals? No. The difficulty ladder and the Seal ladder are two different features. You unlock higher difficulties by winning games on the current highest difficulty. You can do this on every biome in the game and at any time during the Cycle. You can unlock Prestige 20 even if you never reforged any Seal.
Q: I still can’t make up my mind. What should I choose? In our opinion, there’s no bad option here.
If you decide to start from the first - Bronze - Seal, you can always play it on a higher difficulty than the minimum one. However, you will start with the Base number of Years per Cycle (32 years). You can also skip to the end of the Cycle if you reach the Seal early.
However, if you don’t want to play multiple Cycles to get additional years that you’d normally get for reforging all the Seals up to the highest difficulty that you unlocked, you may choose the second option and start from a higher-level Seal. You will get all the additional years.
For example: if you’re on Prestige 10, you will get additional 48 Years (as if you’ve beaten the Cobalt Seal). We hope this helps! If you have any additional questions, please let us know in the comments and we’ll provide additional information.
We wish you a lot of fun on your journeys toward the Seals and a joyful weekend.
