The main highlight of the update are camp changes (including essential Small Camps) that you were able to test on the Experimental Branch. Additionally, you can expect several new Quality of Life features, balance changes, and more.
Here’s a little sneak peek:
We’re adding new hotkeys.
Woodcutters’ modes will be listed right away with a checkbox next to them (one mode active at a time) instead of a drop-down list.
We’re adding Only Marked Trees & Avoid Glades mode to Woodcutters’ Camps.
Opening the recipe panel will now automatically set the focus on the search bar.
We’re adding an option to the settings menu to switch to clockwise building rotation.
We’ll reveal more during tomorrow’s live stream, so make sure to tune in!
In the meantime, please make sure you’re ready for the Camps Update.
HOW TO PREPARE FOR THE UPDATE
We release new content Updates every two weeks on Thursdays around 2 pm – 4 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.
Here’s a fact: we really value your ideas. Around 74% of the changes in the last two updates were directly inspired by your suggestions and reports.
Today, we’d like to hear your suggestions for new World Map Modifiers!
World Map Modifiers
We listed new modifiers as one of the upcoming features on the roadmap. We have our ideas but we want to hear from you first.
Modifiers are special tiles that are randomly placed on the World Map and modify the conditions of games played on adjacent tiles.
A couple of examples from the game:
Weather Anomaly - Something is wrong with the weather patterns in this area. The storm seems to last twice as long.
Flooded Mines - This region was heavily exploited by other viceroys. Hostility doesn't grow with each passing year, but you’ll gain 2 more Hostility Points per villager.
Fishmen Ritual Site - A holy site for the Fishmen. No envoy dares to pass through here. Orders are disabled.
Think about:
What new modifiers would you like to see added to the game?
Would they influence your playstyle?
Should the rewards be higher or lower than average?
All ideas are appreciated. Even the smallest hints may inspire other players. Brainstorms are group activities, after all.
Let’s talk!
What are Community Brainstorms?
Community Brainstorms are sessions during which we want to focus the discussion on a single aspect of the game. We then try to select at least some of your ideas and implement them into the game.
In today’s update, we bring you a few new additions to the game, as well as some much-requested balance and UI changes. The main highlights are new events, decorations, improvements to the decoration scoring system, and a lot of quality-of-life features.
But many of you are probably asking - what about the camp changes we released on the experimental branch last week? These will not be coming to the main branch today. While the 2.0 version of this feature ended up being very promising, we still need more time to test, improve, and polish the system. Many of you correctly pointed out that implementing such significant changes to camps would require a thorough rebalance of glades, perks, and orders, so we want to take our time and go over the details on this (plus also refresh some of the camp assets while we’re at it).
We thank you all for testing the experimental changes and providing your feedback. This was invaluable to us and helped us find a good middle ground for the camp system. We appreciate all the constructive discussions and suggestions posted on Steam, Discord, and Reddit. Expect more experimental updates in the future, as this is one of the most crucial processes of our community-driven development approach. Working on the game with your help is like having cheats enabled in a game.
Lighthouse and New Decorations
Let’s now dive a bit deeper into the changes introduced in this update. First off - new events and decorations. Glade events are constantly on our minds - they are a very fun system but it always feels like there could be more of them. That’s why we steadily increase their number and today we bring you 3 new ones - the Fishmen Lighthouse, the Escaped Convicts camp, and the Destroyed Cage of a Warbeast. We also introduce two new decorations - the Park and the Garden.
Both new decorations are a bit bigger than usual (2x2). That is because we also changed how hubs progress. Until recently, every decoration always counted as one, but from now on, the decoration score will be based on their size. So a 3x3 Converted Harmony Spirit Altar will now add 9 points to the Harmony category in the requirements of Hearth. This change was made for two reasons - to give players who are not into decorating an easier way to progress their hubs and to boost the overall value of converted Glade Events.
Fishmen Lighthouse Event
Garden and Park
But that’s not all. In our last update, we revamped the Scarlet Orchard by adding a brand-new biome mechanic, a new building, and some new events. The new additions were well received in general, but there were certain areas in which the balance and user experience could be improved. That’s why we decided to take some time and address the most common issues pointed out by the community. We removed some underwhelming upgrades and rewards, moved the archaeological discovery sites a bit closer to the starting glade, removed the resource cost of the first upgrade level in the Archaeologist’s Office, added 3 brand-new upgrades, and much, much more. You can find the exact details in the changelog below.
Woodcutters' Camp Mode
Last but not least - interface improvements and bug fixes. We’ve got a lot of feature requests and reports over the last two weeks. We can’t reply to all of them, but rest assured - we are reading and noting down everything. So here are some of the UI/UX highlights for this update:
Reworked Woodcutters’ Camp settings.
Added mouse keybinds to camera movement options.
Added a storage indicator to order and reward tooltips.
Added a list preview of produced goods in building tooltips.
Changed how achievements are unlocked (no need to visit the Citadel anymore).
We also fixed a ton of bugs and added a lot of new sound effects to places where they were previously missing - like the archaeological discoveries, restored skeletons, and minecarts.
We hope you’ll enjoy the new changes! And if you’d like to share your ideas for upcoming updates, here are some useful links:
Have fun and may the storm be gentle on you, Eremite Games
CHANGELOG
Number of changes: 118
Changes inspired by community: 73%
Changes marked with ⚡ were inspired by the community.
New content and features
Added 3 new Glade Events.
Fishmen Lighthouse - Once upon a time, there must have been a coast and a harbor here. Now this place is haunted by Fishmen and the waters have withdrawn. An ominous light is coming from the top of the lighthouse.
Escaped Convicts - Dangerous convicts from the Smoldering City are hiding in the forest. They somehow managed to free themselves during transport. You can decide their fate - welcome them and employ them in your settlement, or send them back to the Citadel where they will be punished.
Destroyed Cage of the Warbeast - A destroyed royal guard camp. It looks as if one of their warbeasts got out and razed the entire encampment to the ground. The beast, usually obedient to its masters, must have been provoked by something.
Added 2 new decorations.
Garden - a 2x2 Aesthetics decoration.
Park - a 2x2 Comfort decoration
Added 4 new Deeds.
Apprentice Archaeologist 1 - Win a game with a reconstructed Sealed Spider skeleton in the Scarlet Orchard.
Apprentice Archaeologist 2 - Win a game with a reconstructed Sea Serpent skeleton in the Scarlet Orchard.
Apprentice Archaeologist 3 - Win a game with a reconstructed Smoldering Scorpion skeleton in the Scarlet Orchard.
Master Archaeologist - Win a game with all three skeletons reconstructed in the Scarlet Orchard.
⚡ Improved the decoration system.
Previously, all decorations would count as 1 when upgrading a hub (so if a Hearth required 4 Harmony decorations, even a big 3x3 altar would only count as 1).
From now on, every decoration adds a score to the hub's progress. The score is based on the decoration’s size, so a 1x1 decoration will add 1, a 2x2 will add 4, and so on.
At the same time, all converted Glade Events (like the Rain Spirit Totem, Harmony Spirit Altar, etc.) are now moveable.
The decoration changes were made because of two main reasons. To give the players who are not into decorating an easier way to progress their hubs, and to boost the overall value of converted Glade Events.
⚡ Added 4 new upgrades to the Archaeologist’s Office in the Scarlet Orchard.
Ancient Strength - Stone tablets reveal the secret of the ancients' strength. All workers can carry +10 additional items for every 2 Ancient Tablets in the settlement's Warehouses.
Forbidden Tools - All metal is permeated with malevolent magic from the forest. Every 2 Hostility levels grant +1 to Simple Tools production. Gain additional Simple Tools every yield (from gathering, farming, or production).
Carved in Stone - Secret methods of dealing with threats are engraved in Ancient Tablets. Glade Event working time speed is increased by 10% for every 2 Ancient Tablets in the settlement's Warehouses.
Ancient Practices - Archaeologists have learned a lot about a long-lost culture by examining ruins found in glades. All workers get a +10% higher chance of doubling their production for every 2 completed Dangerous Glade Events.
Balance
⚡ Rebalanced multiple aspects of the Scarlet Orchard biome (based on the feedback we’ve got after the last update).
Every upgrade row in the Archaeologist's Office now has 3 options to choose from (instead of the previous 2).
Removed the Worker Mobilization upgrade from the Archaeologist’s Office.
The first upgrade in the Archaeologist’s Office can be taken for free.
Reduced the building cost of the Archaeologist’s Office.
Increased the impact additional scouts have on working time in archaeological discovery events.
Archaeological discoveries will now spawn closer to the starting glade.
Archaeological discoveries won’t repeat anymore in a single game.
Reconstructed skeletons now have unique passive effects.
The Scientific Grant effect (a reward for reconstructing one of the skeletons) now gives 20 Amber for every finished stage of an archaeological discovery (instead of giving Amber only for the last stage).
Reduced the amount of time needed to complete each stage of an archaeological discovery.
Added additional rewards for the first and second stage of archaeological discoveries.
Rebalanced upgrade costs and event requirements.
⚡ Lowered the penalty from the Cloudburst Forest Mystery.
The Resolve penalty was lowered from -10 to -6.
The effect now lasts 2 minutes instead of 3.
⚡ Nerfed the negative Resolve effect caused by Haunted Ruins (Frightening Visions).
The Resolve penalty now stacks every 60/60/45 seconds instead of 50/40/30 seconds (Pioneer/Veteran/Viceroy).
⚡ Deeds that require specific buildings (such as Serving Ale, Human Utopia, Beaver Utopia, etc.) now take rebuilt haunted ruins into account.
⚡ Rebalanced the way haunted ruins are generated on the map to avoid duplicates.
⚡ All converted Glade Events (like the Rain Spirit Totem, Harmony Spirit Altar, or Totem of Denial) are now moveable.
⚡ Rebalanced the Ruined Settlement world map modifier.
Settlement ruins should now spawn a little more frequently.
Some settlement remains can now spawn closer to the starting glade.
⚡ Lowered the Blightrot footprint of Sparkdew in the Rain Collector from 3 to 2.
Pickled Goods can now be made with a new ingredient - Eggs.
Crystalized Dew now takes 60 seconds to harvest in the Forester’s Hut (formerly named “Grove”).
The Forester’s Hut (formerly named “Grove”) can now have 4 workers instead of 2.
The Hallowed Small Farm can now produce Plant Fiber instead of Crystalized Dew.
Rebalanced a few orders.
Trade Connections - removed the Value Added Tax perk from rewards, added new villagers.
Farm Life - lowered the number of goods required to finish this order from 30 to 15.
Foragers’ Camp - lowered the number of goods required to finish this order from 30 to 15.
Tick Tock - removed the Toolshop blueprint from rewards, added new villagers.
Sacrificing - removed the Specialized Mining perk from rewards, added copper bars.
Increased the maximum fuel capacity of Hearths - they now have a burning time cap of 3 minutes and will request fuel after reaching the 1-minute threshold.
Baptism of Fire now reduces Hostility every 3 burned Blightrot Cysts (instead of every 2).
Active GPU
UX/UI improvements
⚡ Changed how settings in the Woodcutters’ Camp work to avoid confusion. From now on, every Woodcutters’ Camp can have 4 different modes.
Default - woodcutters cut trees normally.
Only Marked Trees - woodcutters only cut marked trees.
Avoid Glades - woodcutters cut trees normally, but don’t open glades (even if the player marks trees leading to a glade).
Avoid Glades (except marked) - woodcutters cut trees normally, but open glades only if the trees leading up to them are marked.
There is now a “propagate this mode to all camps” button in the Woodcutters’ Camp UI.
The default mode can be set in the options menu.
⚡ The camera can now be moved using the RMB by default.
⚡ Added an option to rebind mouse keys (in a somewhat limited way). You can now choose one of three options (LMB, RMB, MMD) for selecting objects in the game world, canceling actions, camera panning, and camera rotation.
⚡ Added a “stored” number to all tooltips tied to resources (for example in order objectives, event rewards, and so on).
⚡ Recipes in building tooltips are now displayed as lists, and not plain text.
⚡ Changed how achievements are unlocked. They now trigger right away (after a finished run), and not when claiming rewards for them in the Smoldering City.
⚡ Added a new name and description to the effect applied to all games on Settler difficulty.
The effect is called Settler’s Luck and its description now correctly states that it gives a 35% chance of villagers not consuming food during a break.
⚡ Changed the wording in the Ancient Ways perk description. It now correctly states that the 50% bonus influences production yields.
⚡ Added notifications when Living Matter or Fishmen Totems appear on the map (caused by an active Glade Event or Forest Mystery).
⚡ Added an option to the settings menu to have “automatically claim finished trade routes” on by default.
⚡ Improved the readability of the Giant Stormbird’s negative effects. It should now be a lot clearer why there is a permanent Resolve penalty for failing the event.
⚡ Improved the readability of some systems tied to the Scarlet Orchard.
Updated archaeological discovery descriptions.
Added explanatory tooltips to Upgrades and Upgrade Requirements in the Archaeologist’s Office.
⚡ Improved wording in multiple places in the game.
Changed the “goods sold” order objective to “value of goods sold”.
Orders that require need fulfillment now state “fulfill the need for X” instead of just displaying the need name.
Replaced the “soil” header with “fertile soil” in the embark window.
Changed road descriptions for better consistency.
Changed the name of the “Grove” building to “Forester’s Hut”, to avoid confusion.
Updated the Vanishing effect description for ghosts in the Cursed Royal Woodlands.
Improved the wording in the description of the Finders Keepers Forest Mystery.
⚡ Added a new objective in the last order in the first tutorial.
Players are now required to change the resource used to solve the Ancient Shrine glade event.
This change is intended as a way of teaching new players that resources in events can be changed (like in recipes).
⚡ Added information about the currently used GPU to the options menu.
Some players have reported that their PC is reaching high temperatures when playing the game, and we’ve found out that some occurrences of this issue might be caused by the OS running the game on the wrong GPU.
The game itself can’t change the active GPU, but this entry in the options menu should at least give players some information and allow them to adjust their system settings based on it.
⚡ Changed the welcome screen for players who bought the game after playing the demo. The message now appears in the main menu and should be a lot clearer (as opposed to the previously pop-up that appeared in the World Map screen).
⚡ Updated notification sounds in the game. Sound effects for different alerts should now be different based on the severity of the event that triggered them.
⚡ Improved the wording in the Forsaken Gods Temple’s description.
⚡ Improved the wording in the Cloudburst Forest Mystery to more clearly state when the effect starts.
⚡ Switched the names of the Aesthetics and Royal Garden orders to avoid confusion.
Removed the movement animation for the field marker on the World Map.
Bug fixes
⚡ Fixed a bug with the cornerstone reroll feature breaking when a cornerstone choice was given to the player as an event reward.
⚡ Fixed an issue with the Leaking Cauldron event penalty-breaking farms.
⚡ Fixed a bug that caused old resources to appear in a tooltip when hovering over locked event requirements.
⚡ Fixed a bug that caused some keybinds to stop working after opening the Steam overlay in-game (like the rotate hotkey).
⚡ Fixed a bug with world map chests still being hidden even if they are placed on the edge of the fog.
⚡ Fixed a bug that caused perks like Forge Trip Hammer to be drawn even if the player didn't have the Crude Workstation available.
⚡ Fixed a bug with Fallen Villagers events (Fallen Beaver Traders, Fallen Harpy Scientists, etc.) only spawning Living Matter once.
⚡ Fixed a bug with explosion previews in Glade Events showing an incorrect radius.
⚡ Fixed an issue with farms not using farm fields on fertile soil spawned by the Soil Reclamation Forest Mystery.
⚡ Fixed an issue with farms incorrectly counting farm fields on fertile soil spawned by the Soil Reclamation Forest Mystery.
⚡ Fixed a bug that caused UI input to break if another device was connected to the PC (like a gamepad).
⚡ Fixed a bug with the Stormforged version of the Back to Nature perk not working at all.
⚡ Fixed an issue with the Flawless Brewery not counting towards some order objectives.
⚡ Fixed a bug that caused the Prayer Book effect to not disappear after a firekeeper died.
⚡ Fixed a bug with the Like a Machine deed being completed even if a game was lost.
⚡ Fixed a bug with the “alternatives” tooltip not appearing by default when hovering over even requirements.
⚡ Fixed a bug with the Moss Broccoli Seeds perk being given to the player before thay even unlocked it through Deeds.
⚡ Fixed a bug with construction progress in buildings being incorrectly rounded.
⚡ Added a missing working effect warning to the Frightening Visions effect.
⚡ Fixed a bug with insect related perks being offered in the Scarlet Orchard.
⚡ Fixed a bug with coal burning too fast.
⚡ Fixed a glitched fire effect in the Hearth (on lower graphical settings).
⚡ Fixed a bug with the edge scrolling setting not working in the World Map screen.
⚡ Fixed an incorrect label on the Good Health perk.
⚡ Fixed a bug with order reward tooltips staying on the screen even after completing an order.
⚡ Fixed an issue with the Frequent Caravans Resolve effect having a different icon than its parent perk.
⚡ Fixed an issue with some species attributes in the in-game encyclopedia showing incorrect values.
⚡ Fixed a bug with the Big Phials perks having an incorrect rarity.
⚡ Fixed an issue with the recipe panel resetting filters incorrectly.
⚡ Fixed a rare bug with missing buildings in the tutorial.
⚡ Fixed a broken sound effect loop in the Stonecutters’ Camp.
⚡ Fixed an issue with production times in the in-game encyclopedia taking modifiers into account.
⚡ Fixed incorrect values in the Japanese version of orders with standing level requirements.
⚡ Fixed multiple text issues and typos in English.
Fixed a typo in the Crowded Houses perk description.
Fixed grammatical errors in Faction summaries in the in-game Encyclopedia.
Fixed a typo in the Monastery of the Holy Flame modifier description.
Fixed a typo in the Pyromania order objective.
Fixed a typo in the Sealed Spider’s description.
Fixed a typo in the Blightstorm Cycle entry in the in-game encyclopedia.
Fixed a typo in some ghost dialogues in the Cursed Royal Woodlands.
And many many more.
⚡ Improved the overall quality of the game’s translation.
Replaced multiple phrases in Polish, fixed a few typos, and removed some duplicates.
Replaced multiple phrases in Korean and improved clarity in general.
Replaced and improved multiple phrases in Japanese.
Replaced and improved multiple phrases in Traditional Chinese.
Fixed a few incorrect dev tags in Russian.
Fixed a bug with the Giant Storbird’s animations resetting after loading the game.
Other
⚡ Updated an old screenshot in the in-game Encyclopedia.
⚡ Replaced sound effects for resource collection of stone, clay, and sea marrow.
Added new sound effects.
When closing the last dialogue box during the tutorial.
When opening a chest in the World Map.
When finishing a cycle.
When selecting archaeological discoveries.
When opening the Archaeologist’s Office.
When selecting the Trader Cemetery glade event.
When selecting the reconstructed
Added an ambient sound to all reconstructed skeletons in the Scarlet Orchard.
Changed the model and texture for Reed deposits.
COMMUNITY CORNER
And now crème de la crème - the latest memes:
I paid for the whole meter I'm gonna use the whole meter by Kacangkucing
These guys have such low resolve but just don't care when it goes down by PossumFlavored
Delicious by Kacangkucing
Sacrifice by Kacangkucing
Welcome to Farmville by Mambugu
We wish you a great weekend, please take your time to contemplate the fact that the Marshalands' trees look like ducks. Bye!
Nominate Against the Storm for the Most Innovative Gameplay!
Greetings, Viceroys!
The Annual Steam Awards are here and we hope you’ll consider nominating Against the Storm in the Most Innovative Gameplay category.
When we started working on Against the Storm back in November 2019, we knew we wanted to introduce something unique and fresh. We had no doubts it would come with a risk. By mixing city builder with roguelite - two very different genres - we constantly faced new design challenges. But as you may already know, we just love challenges!
We also made one thing clear - we wanted to develop Against the Storm alongside the community. We put a special emphasis on your suggestions and feedback and provide you with multiple tools to influence and monitor the development. And we think it works! Against the Storm is currently 96% positive on Steam. It is as much your success as ours.
We thank you for all your contributions to the game and hope you’ll join us in nominating Against the Storm for the Most Innovative Gameplay.
Thank you! Natalia, Łukasz, Michał, Aron, Damian, and Mikołaj (aka Eremite Games)
Check the Experimental Update notes to learn more about the changes and how to play on the Experimental Branch. https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1336490/view/5024356235735903834
Privacy notice: Google sign-in is required to vote, but we don't collect or have access to your personal data (including your email address).
Thank you! Eremite Games
Experimental Update - Primitive Camps
Greetings, Viceroys!
We’re happy to reveal that we’re working on new essential versions of gathering camps. What’s more, you can already test them on the Experimental Branch!
Why do we approach Camps
It’s more than two years since we introduced the concept of nodes and unique camps to the game. Since then, the game evolved and we feel this old system could use some iterations. Going through your feedback we’ve noticed the inability to gather resources from the glades caused a lot of frustration and felt very rigid compared to the flexibility the other production buildings present.
What we changed
Regular and Primitive versions of Herbalists' Camp
In the experimental version, you will find four main changes:
Scavengers' Camp was removed from the game.
All remaining specialized food camps (Trappers’ Camp, Herbalists’ Camp, and Foragers’ Camp) have unique recipes without any duplicates (Forgers’ Camp has Roots instead of Insects).
Those three camps now have their essential, primitive versions. Primitive camps have all the recipes their full-fledged counterparts have, but inferior efficiency. They will gather the nodes ~25% slower and will deplete nodes much faster (3 charges instead of 1). One additional caveat is that those camps can’t gather Giant Organisms on Marshlands.
Foragers’ Camp now looks like the old Scavengers’ Camp, models are still subject to change.
The regular blueprint versions of Foragers’ Camp, Trappers’ Camp, and Herbalists’ Camp are still available to get from Reputation Rewards, Orders, and Traders.
What we’re interested in
Our main goal with this change is to bring more diversity to the games, increase the range of choices player has regarding raw resources, and reduce the frustrating inability to gather basic resources while keeping the camps’ role relevant.
The questions we are primarily interested in, are:
How do you feel about the new Primitive Camps? Are they fun?
How does this change affect your playstyle and settlement layout?
Is this new approach better or worse in your opinion?
Is this new approach easily understandable? Are there any issues with the user experience?
The Experimental Branch is an alternative version of the game dedicated to testing new features. Upcoming changes are not localized, there can be bugs, and the balance might feel way off. The experimental version has extensive logs and assertions enabled which means degraded performance. It has a separate save file from the main version and your progress can’t be transferred from the Experimental Branch to the main version. You have access to the developer console but you won’t be able to unlock achievements.
How to switch to the Experimental Branch
Switching to the Experimental Branch will require you to opt into the Beta branch on Steam. Here’s how to do it:
Open Steam
Right-click on Against the Storm in your library
Select Properties
Go to BETAS tab
Choose “experimental” from the drop-down list
Wait for the game to update the files
Launch the game
In order to switch back to the regular version, please repeat the steps above but choose “None” from the drop-down list in step 5.
Developer console commands
The Experimental Branch includes a developer console that provides various useful commands.
If you want to test new changes with a fully leveled-up profile and all content/upgrades unlocked, feel free to use the “meta.addAll” command in the console when you are on the World Map. You can open the console by pressing the ~ key on your keyboard.
We just released a hotfix that addresses some of the issues you’ve reported since yesterday’s update. Thank you all for playing and sharing your feedback - please keep it coming! We're especially interested in your impressions of the Scarlet Orchard's new mechanic as such big features may often require some fine-tuning based on your suggestions.
Changelog
Fixed a bug with the Farm Range Upgrade in the Citadel not applying correctly.
Fixed an issue with the Cursed Royal Woodlands not spawning ghosts if the Dangerous Lands or Forbidden Lands modifier was active.
Fixed an issue with the pause function not working after sending a report via the in-game feedback tool.
Fixed a bug that made it possible to copy, rotate, and move buildings even with big UI windows open (like the trader panel, recipes panel, etc.).
Fixed a glitched texture on the resin tree in the Grove.
Fixed an issue with the Corrosive Torrent modifier giving Food Stockpiles instead of Machinery as a reward.
Fixed a bug that caused some buttons to get stuck after opening the Steam overlay in-game.
Fixed a bug that made it possible to open the Citadel window too soon in the tutorial (and therefore breaking the tutorial’s flow).
Fixed a bug that caused marked trees to change color after rotating the Woodcutters’ Camp in place.
Changed the button text in the “thanks for playing the demo” popup to not mislead players that they need to reset their progress.
Fixed an issue with question marks on the World Map playing different sounds when clicking on them.
Fixed a typo in the English description of the Carpenter’s Tools cornerstone.
Fixed multiple issues with order objective text not being capitalized correctly.
We hope you’ll enjoy the changes and wish you a great weekend!
Discover the secrets of Scarlet Orchard in the new Update!
Greetings, Viceroys!
Unearth the secrets of Scarlet Orchard in the new bi-weekly update. Here's what's new:
Scarlet Orchard visual revamp
Scarlet Orchard’s unique biome mechanic
New building: Archeologist's Office
New Citadel Upgrade
Community-inspired changes
Available on GeForce NOW
And more!
We hope you'll enjoy the new changes and share your impressions with us!
And if you've already picked up Against the Storm and have been playing it, make sure to leave a Steam review. Every opinion matters to us!
DEVELOPER NOTES
Let us start with a huge thank you to everyone who decided to join us in Early Access. We are grateful for all your suggestions, reports, and reviews. They help us a lot! This has been a mind-blowing week and we're excitedly looking into the future.
Although we are not able to engage in every conversation, we do our best to read through all your messages and take notes. We shared an FAQ article in which we answered some of the most frequent questions. We also recommend using our community tools:
Knowledge Base - a growing list of troubleshooting articles
We hope that in a few days, things will calm down a bit and we'll be able to interact more with you. Now, let's move on to the overview of the Royal Archeologist Update.
Revamped Scarlet Orchard.
First off - the Scarlet Orchard. Until now, this biome was the only one in the game that had no unique mechanic and a very limited visual identity (it was way too similar to the Royal Woodlands in that regard). We decided to change that.
From now on, the Scarlet Orchard will be a region revolving around archaeology and exploration. When settling there, expect to stumble upon ancient excavation sites - big multi-stage events that require a lot of work and resources to be completed, but also give special and generous rewards. To help you find them, you can use a new upgradeable building that is only accessible in this biome - the Archaeologist’s Office.
Archaeologist's Office.
Archaeological Excavation.
Our vision for this biome was to give players a “big archaeological project” to work on while establishing a settlement, as well as offer a glimpse at some more lore and information about the world of Against the Storm.
Fully completed excavation.
Other significant changes are numerous UX and UI improvements inspired by the community. During the last week and a half, we’ve been meticulously writing down all the feedback and feature requests we received on Discord, Reddit, Steam, and through the in-game reporting tool. We are extremely grateful for every single piece of feedback, and we are taking all of it to heart. While it’s impossible to implement everything right away, we will slowly introduce as many of them as is feasible over the coming months.
Some of the highlights for today’s update are:
Changes to Citadel upgrades,
Copy building feature,
Rotate and move buildings without opening their UI,
Ore displayed in the resource overlay,
Hotkeys for inverting tree marking modes,
More info in the in-game encyclopedia,
And more (full changelog below).
Last but not least - bug fixes. Although our launch was a rather smooth one, there were bugs that inadvertently cropped up over the last week and a half. With your help, we managed to track a lot of them down and fix them. We also improved how the game catches and communicates different error messages - for example when a file is corrupted after installation, the game will catch that and prompt the player to verify game file integrity on their platform of choice.
We hope you’ll enjoy all the new changes!
Have fun and may the storm be gentle on you, Eremite Games
CHANGELOG
Changes marked with ⚡ were inspired by the community.
New content and features
Revamped the entire Scarlet Orchard biome.
The biome is themed around archaeology and exploration. Every Scarlet Orchard map has archaeological discoveries hidden in its glades.
Archaeological discoveries are unique, multi-stage events that require a big investment to solve. They are not dangerous and will offer a very generous reward if fully reconstructed.
Added a new essential building - the Archaeologist’s Office. It can be upgraded to unlock special new effects (like showing the location of an archaeological discovery or boosting the settlement’s exploration capabilities).
There are three levels of upgrades in the Archaeologist’s Office, each with 2 different effects. Only one effect can be chosen per level.
Revamped the visuals of the Scarlet Orchard biome, as previously it was very similar to the Royal Woodlands. There are new trees, improved shrub models, refreshed ground textures, etc.
Added 3 completely new music tracks that play only in the Scarlet Orchard.
Added a new Citadel upgrade - More Farm Range. This upgrade can be unlocked by buying the First Dawn Company Level 6 upgrade.
Balance
⚡ Merged the Embarkation Range and Citadel Vision upgrades into one.
Embarkation Range now allows players to move one field further, as well as see more of the map at the beginning of the cycle.
⚡ Rebalanced the cost of some upgrades in the Citadel.
Removed Artifacts and Machinery requirements from the earliest upgrades (Brass Forge Level 1, Pioneers’ Gate Level 2, Dim Square Level 2)).
Lowered the price of the Vanguard Spire Level 1 upgrade from 6 Machinery to 3.
Moved the cost (6 Artifacts) of the Pioneers’ Gate Level 3 upgrade to Level 4.
Removed Artifacts and Machinery from the Obsidian Archive Level 7 Upgrade, to make it easier to reach some of the most essential unlocks (like the Daily Expedition).
Increased the Food Stockpile cost of the Pioneers’ Gate Level 2 from 12 to 24.
Changed the cost of the First Dawn Company Headquarters Level 7 upgrade from 18 Artifacts and Machinery to only 24 Artifacts.
⚡ Slightly increased the rewards for some World Map modifiers.
Ancient Battleground - added 4 Machinery to rewards.
Corrosive Torrent - increased the number of Machinery from 3 to 4.
⚡ Added Infused Tools as possible payment for upgrading the Mine.
⚡ Increased the Hostility requirement for the Greater Threat Forest Mystery (-2 Resolve for Dangerous Glades during the storm) from Hostility level 1 to Hostility level 2.
⚡ The Levitating Monument modifier now makes moving builds free.
Coppervein trees in the Scarlet Orchard now drop pigment instead of resin (as an additional resource).
The Workshop is no longer moveable.
Removed Simple Tools from the first upgrade level in the Mine.
⚡ Added an option to copy existing buildings. Simply press Shift when hovering over a building.
⚡ Added an option to rotate buildings on the spot (for free). Simply press the rotation hotkey (R by default) when hovering over a building. The building must be moveable to perform this action.
⚡ Added an option to move buildings without needing to select them. Simply hover over a building and press the move hotkey (M by default).
⚡ Added a hotkey to change the tree marking mode. Simply hold Alt when marking trees, and you will start removing the markings (and vice versa).
⚡ Ore deposits are now shown in the resource overlay. They are also highlighted when building a mine.
⚡ Added an option to change the volume of the intro voiceover in the settings menu.
⚡ Added a warning pop-up when a player decides to continue playing after a game has already been won. This warning occurs only once and informs the player that they won’t get additional experience points, citadel resources, or deeds.
⚡ Changed the wording in effects that stack Resolve modifiers (like Melancholy). It now states that “a stack of this effect is added every 60 seconds”, instead of “the Resolve bonus multiplies every 60 seconds”.
⚡ Changed the wording in notifications that appear when woodcutters can’t cut trees (to make it clearer that this can also be the result of settings in the woodcutters’ camp).
⚡ Changed the warning tooltip displayed when a blueprint is already a reward in an Order the player has (it previously only read “orders” without much explanation).
⚡ Changed the objective text in orders that require fulfilling needs to avoid confusion. Instead of just showing the resource name, they now say “need for X fulfilled”.
⚡ Added information about building size to the in-game encyclopedia.
⚡ Added information about whether a building is movable or not to the in-game encyclopedia.
⚡ Enabled the “right-click to look up in encyclopedia” function for all buildings in the construction menu.
⚡ Disabled the warning pop-up about leftover Embarkation Points if the player has picked all Embarkation Bonuses available.
⚡ Added an option to the settings menu to turn off screen fog.
⚡ Added a biome preview button in the cornerstone selection pop-up.
⚡ Added a warning pop-up when starting the demo after playing the full version.
Locked difficulty levels are now displayed in the difficulty dropdown menu.
⚡ Disabled the “upgrade” section in the UI panel for buildings under construction.
⚡ Recipe panel search filters are now cleared after closing the recipe panel. This can be changed in the options menu.
⚡ Increased the limit for the manual FPS slider in the options menu to 144.
⚡ Alert options were moved to a separate tab in the options menu.
⚡ Added new tooltips to the move button in building panels. These show up when a building can’t be moved due to any reason.
⚡ Added a menu button to the World Map HUD.
⚡ Added the option to search for deeds by description.
⚡ Changed the warning that appears when trying to remove resource nodes and construction sites (when no resources are refunded).
⚡ Added a notification informing the player when they have a high Hostility level during the storm (and what they can do about it). It's only displayed in the first few games after the tutorial.
⚡ Added a new entry about the Blightstorm Cycle to the in-game encyclopedia.
⚡ Added a confirmation pop-up that appears after selecting the “move on'' option in the ESC menu (after winning a settlement and staying on the map).
Changed the default hotkey for excluding glade edges when marking trees. It’s now Ctrl instead of Alt.
Locked difficulty levels are now displayed in the difficulty dropdown menu.
Bug fixes
⚡ Improved how the game communicates in error situations.
Added a system that catches missing files when trying to play the game, and shows the player a message about the need to verify file integrity.
Added contact info to all other error pop-ups.
⚡ Fixed a bug that made it possible to open reward chests hidden in the fog on the World Map.
⚡ Fixed an issue with the farm UI counting fertile soil patches hidden in undiscovered glades.
⚡ Fixed a bug with multiple UI windows appearing on top of each other when switching between trade routes, the trader panel, the recipes panel, etc.
⚡ Fixed a bug that caused species-specific house ruins to spawn on maps when a given species was not present or unlocked.
⚡ Fixed a bug that caused the Forest Offerings effect to trigger even after solving a non-dangerous event (giving the player random food items).
⚡ Fixed a bug with the Clay Pit blueprint being offered in maps without Fertile Soil.
⚡ Fixed a bug that caused the S key to not work properly when holding down Shift.
⚡ Fixed a bug with resource numbers on tooltips not matching the actual amount stored in a settlement’s warehouse.
⚡ Fixed an issue with haunted ruins not counting as ruins in orders and perks.
⚡ Fixed an issue with the preview button in the recipe panel being inactive for some rebuilt ruins.
⚡ Fixed a bug with the game automatically unpausing after closing the feedback window.
⚡ Fixed a bug that caused mystery box pop-ups to appear behind the trading window.
⚡ Fixed a bug that caused some glade events to display an incorrect prompt when applying their Impatience penalty.
⚡ Fixed a bug with the minecart not disappearing when destroying a mine.
⚡ Fixed a bug with the Flawless Rain Mill not having copper ore as an option in the Pack of Building Materials recipe.
⚡ Fixed an issue with text in the score summary being slightly cropped.
⚡ Changed the “WSAD” text to “WASD” in the tutorial.
⚡ Fixed a bug with the Wine Shortage daily modifier being drawn even if there are no Beavers in the game.
⚡ Fixed a bug with some species having incorrect attributes in the in-game encyclopedia.
⚡ Fixed a bug with the camera losing focus when zoomed out.
⚡ Fixed a missing “no worker” alert above the Small Hearth.
⚡ Fixed a bug that caused farmers to restart their work after loading the game.
Fixed an issue with mouse button prompts in building tooltips not being localized.
Fixed a rare crash that occurred when quitting the game.
Fixed the title displayed next to the trader Dullahan Warlander. It’s supposed to be Hooded Trickster and not Wandering Merchant.
Fixed an issue with the Converted Harmony Spirit Altar and rebuilt haunted ruins not being present in the in-game encyclopedia.
Reimplemented some missing UI sounds when changing building tabs.
Fixed incorrect UI sounds in the encyclopedia.
Fixed a rare bug that caused sound effects to play on repeat when they triggered at the very moment a game was won.
Other
⚡ Improved the overall quality of text in English.
Fixed a lot of typos and errors.
Changed word capitalization for more consistency.
Changed “storage” to “warehouse” to avoid confusion between the structure and the internal storage in all production buildings.
Changed “embark points” to “embarkation points” (same with bonuses and range).
Changed “atlas” to “encyclopedia”.
Changed “invert mouse x-axis” to “invert mouse rotation”.
⚡ Changed multiple lines of text, fixed typos, and improved localization quality in languages other than English (mostly based on player reports).
⚡ The game is now available on GeForce NOW.
Rebalanced default volume levels in multiple places in the game.
Changed the color of the Scarlet Orchard on the World Map.
Community Corner
Let’s end with some of the latest community memes:
One of a kind by Jhazrun.
Absolute win by Flixor.
My Beloved by sebseb.
That's it for today, have a great weekend everyone!
