20 July 2023 - Major Update 0.55.1 - Payment Planner Update

CHANGELOG (continued from above):

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).

22 July 2023
Offline installers updated to 0.55.2R
Hotfix - No Changelog

3 August 2023
Upgraded Living Update available!

Greetings, Viceroys!

Homeowners, rejoice! Old Farluf's Fixer Uppers are now open for business. In return for a little investment, you can improve your villagers' living standards and get useful effects that will improve their resourcefulness.

But that's not all! Here's what's new:

Species-specific House Upgrades
New Cornerstones
New Citadel Upgrades
Rebalanced World Events
House slot lock
UX features

DEVELOPER NOTES

In today’s update, we bring you a lot of new content, balance changes, and UI improvements. We’re talking house upgrades, new Cornerstones, new Smoldering City upgrades, specialization icons, better overlays, and much, much more.

The biggest addition is the ability to upgrade species-specific housing. Very early on in the project, we played around with the idea of a fully-fledged upgrade system for most buildings in the game, but eventually decided against it. At the time, it didn’t make much sense and added some unnecessary complexity. We implemented upgrades only in a few select places in the game. But recently, motivated by some interesting suggestions from the community, we looked back at our early plans and decided to introduce an upgrade system to one more type of building - species-specific houses. Our main goal is to introduce more depth and interactivity to an aspect of the game that until now has felt pretty static.

So how does it work? Just like you would upgrade a Mine or the Archaeologist’s Office, you can invest extra resources into houses and unlock unique effects for your villagers (using a dedicated tab in the UI). There are two levels of upgrades for every species house, each with two possible improvements to choose from. While the first level has some common bonuses (like more room or increased movement speed), the second one contains one generic effect and one species-specific perk (depending on the type of house). Buying an upgrade will also slightly change the look of the building itself.

But housing upgrades are not the only new piece of content coming in this update. We’re also introducing 7 new Cornerstones, most of which are focused on two very specific branches of the game - rainpunk and exploration. We tried to create new effects that would boost these playstyles and create some additional synergies. There are already numerous perks in the game supporting a whole array of different strategies (resolve, trade, farming), but not quite enough Cornerstones rewarding wider exploration or the extensive usage of rain engines.

Aside from all of this, there are also 5 new Smoldering City upgrades to unlock, giving you access to the new housing features and increasing the usual stats a little. This time we didn’t reshuffle the existing upgrades too much (just one of them had its rewards changed), and all the new ones are added on top of the tech tree in the Citadel.

In terms of UI and UX, we added quite a lot of exciting new quality-of-life features, as well as some much-needed improvements here and there. Most notably, we added the option to lock housing slots and introduced specialization icons to worker portraits. We changed how big nodes are displayed when using the resource overlay, and expanded the Hostility tooltip to include values broken down by their source. We also changed how clicking on a notification on the HUD works (it now opens the corresponding UI panel instead of just highlighting it), and we took the time to standardize some problematic tooltip descriptions (for world events, a few Deeds, and effects increasing double production chance).

Lastly, this update also brings numerous bug fixes, and some minor balance changes - mostly to do with the rewards and objectives in World Events, the reappearance of a Forest Mystery removed a long time ago (Vassal Tax), and a slightly increased spawn rate for Rainwater Geysers in the Cursed Royal Woodlands.

(Changelog posted below ...)

3 August 2023
Upgraded Living Update ... Continued from above.

CHANGELOG

Number of changes: 68
Inspired by community: 88%

Changes marked with ⚡ were inspired by the community.

New content and features
⚡ Species-specific houses can now be upgraded.
There are two levels of upgrades for every species house, each with 2 possible improvements to choose from.
Players can choose one upgrade per level. Upgrades cost Packs of Building Materials and may also require a secondary resource.
The first row of upgrades contains general improvements (more room, movement speed). The second row has one general improvement (Resolve) and one unique effect (different for each species).
To upgrade a house, you have to select it and navigate to the upgrade tab in the building’s UI.
Once purchased, upgrades are not refunded when a building is destroyed.
Upgrading a house also slightly changes its look.
⚡ Added 5 new Citadel Upgrades.
Dim Square Level 10 - more caravan goods (moved from another upgrade) and trader arrival time reduction.
Brass Forge Level 11 - upgrades for Beaver Houses, global production speed increase.
Pioneers’ Gate Level 12 - upgrades for Fox Houses, villager speed increase.
Monastery of the Vigilant Flame Level 12 - upgrades for Lizard Houses, Hearth burning duration increase.
Vanguard Spire Level 11 - upgrades for Harpy Houses, additional node charges.
⚡ Added 7 new Cornerstones.
Secure Perimeter - Securing the deadliest corners of the forest will make it a lot less terrifying. Every discovered Forbidden Glade lowers the Hostility gained from Dangerous Glades by 2 and from small glades by 1. (the bonus is added retroactively) [scales with the difficulty]
Farsight - Scouting ahead makes it easier to prepare for the worst. Discovering a small glade increases the working speed of scouts investigating Dangerous or Forbidden Glade Events by 50% for 120 seconds.
Blight Filter - A crystalline filter designed to mitigate the negative environmental impact of infused rainwater. Blightrot Cysts appear 50% slower when using Rain Engines, but Reputation from Resolve is generated 90% slower for the next 2 Reputation Points.
Market Shift Plan - Big strategic changes always come with an adjustment period. Every neighboring town offers +2 more trade routes, but no trader will arrive in your settlement until you complete at least 8 trade routes.
Master Blueprint - A collection of architectural drafts from a very early period in the Citadel's history. Unlocks all camp blueprints and upgrades all small camps to their advanced version, but gathering speed is decreased by 50% until you deplete at least 10 resource nodes.
Obsidian Runestone - A complicated runic structure, designed to shield the hearth from corruption. The Ancient Hearth's resistance to corruption is increased by 500, but Blightrot Cysts will take 5 more seconds to burn until you destroy at least 12 of them.
The Sparkcaster - A more compact version of the famous Blight Fighter flamethrower. Blight Fighters move 30% quicker.

Balance
⚡ Rebalanced multiple World Events.
Cloaked Wanderer - choosing to assault the wanderer will now grant 10 Seal Fragments instead of 8. The Cloaked Wanderer's Vengeance effect will now kill 8 villagers instead of 10.
Forsaken Gods Followers - choosing to join the ritual will now require you to win a game before year 8 (instead of 7). Winning the challenge will give you Mushrooms and Reserve Embarkation Points instead of Sea Marrow.
Crashed Airship - choosing to provide fuel will now require you to win before year 8 (instead of 7). Winning the challenge will give you Pipes and Sea Marrow (instead of just Sea Marrow).
Gambler - lowered the Food Stockpile bet from 30 to 20.
Commenda Contract - lowered the required value of completed trade routes from 200 to 150 Amber.
Fire Moths - choosing to destroy the Hearth will now give you 3 Wildfire Essences instead of 2. The Desecrator penalty will now trigger every time you sacrifice for 90 seconds (instead of 50 seconds).
Mosquito Nest - choosing to hunt down the swarm mother will now reward Reserve Embarkation Points in addition to Insects.
Somber Procession - choosing to give provisions will now remove 3 Reserve Embarkation Points instead of 4.
Stormbird Egg - choosing to steal the egg will now apply the Stormbird's Anger debuff for the next 2 games instead of 3.
⚡ Lowered the requirements for all Rushed Delivery Deeds. They now require fewer completed timed orders.
⚡ Slightly increased the spawn rates of Rainwater Geysers in the Cursed Royal Woodlands.
Reshuffled a few upgrades in the Smoldering City.
First Dawn Headquarters Level 8 - removed additional caravan goods, added the Plantation Embark Bonus.
First Dawn Headquarters Level 9 - removed the Plantation Embark Bonus, added the Herb Garden Embark Bonus.
First Dawn Headquarters Level 10 - removed the Herb Garden Embark Bonus, added Human House upgrades.
Reintroduced a previously disabled Forest Mystery - the Vassal Tax. It requires players to pay Amber each year under penalty of gaining Impatience. We decided to reinstate this effect due to the recent introduction of the payment panel.
Rebalanced the Scientific Agreement perk. It now requires 12 dead villagers for a wildcard blueprint and has a lower drop rate from Mystery Boxes sold by Dullahan.

UX/UI improvements
⚡ Added an option to lock villager slots in houses. You can now click on a slot to prevent a villager from moving in. This change is meant as a way of helping players manage villager distribution across multiple hubs.
⚡ Added specialization icons to villager portraits when selecting workers in buildings.
⚡ Big resource nodes are now marked with star icons when using the resource overlay (B by default).
⚡ Clicking on notifications for things like newcomers or orders now opens the corresponding UI panel instead of just highlighting the button on the HUD (outside of the tutorial).
⚡ Ingredients can now be changed in disabled recipes in the Recipe Panel.
⚡ The Hostility tooltip now shows a breakdown of Hostility values per source. For example: Regular Glades (2 x 15).
⚡ Cost indicators for Embarkation Bonuses now change color to red when the player can’t afford them.
⚡ All descriptions for timed effects (like Resolve bonuses for discovering glades with the Exploration Expedition Cornerstone) have been rewritten. They now clearly state what they do and where they came from. They also have a neutral frame and new names, although the icon is still the same as their source effect.
⚡ Unified the wording for all effects increasing the chance of producing double yields and gathering additional secondary resources from nodes or trees. It should now be much easier to understand what these perks do.
⚡ Added information about cloned events to all perks scaling based on solved Dangerous Events. These perks will now clearly state that duplicated Fishmen Totems and Blood Flowers do not count.
⚡ Clarified the decision descriptions in the Somber Procession World Event. It now clearly states that Reserve Embarkation Points are taken away.
⚡ Unified the objective descriptions of all Deeds and World Event challenges based on winning a game in X years. It should now always say “win before year X”.
⚡ Changed the wording in the description for the Cheap Construction Cornerstone to make it clearer when node charges are being removed.
Added information about effects being retroactive to the reconstructed Sealed Scorpion and Sealed Spider skeletons in the Scarlet Orchard.

(Changelog continued below ...)

3 August 2023
Upgraded Living Update

CHANGELOG ... Continued from above.

Bug fixes
⚡ Fixed a bug with the Blood Sorcery working effect (Fishman Soothsayer) not showing the number of villagers killed.
⚡ Fixed a bug that prevented players from settling on tiles between Forbidden Lands and Barren Lands modifiers.
⚡ Fixed a bug that caused the Twitch polls feature to break in non-latin versions of the game.
⚡ Fixed a bug with farm ruins occasionally spawning too few fertile soil patches.
⚡ Fixed a bug with the Wandering Eremite missing a decision description in its tooltip in the French version of the game.
⚡ Fixed a bug with the Force of Nature Cornerstone showing a duplicated sentence at the end of its description.
⚡ Fixed an issue with the extended view distance incorrectly carrying over from one cycle to the next one (causing the last ring of fields to be unclickable).
⚡ Fixed a missing parameter in the starvation warning notification.
⚡ Fixed a bug with wildcard perks not allowing players to pick just one blueprint if the maximum is 2 or higher.
⚡ Fixed a bug that caused the number of failed towns to be negative in the cycle summary after the tutorial.
⚡ Fixed an issue with the Flooded Mines modifier missing information about Hostility scaling.
⚡ Fixed a bug with the Forbidden Glade Event missing in the unique insect glade.
⚡ Fixed an issue with the Rebellious Spirit Cornerstone being available from Treasure Stags.
⚡ Fixed a bug with the Twitch overlay being displayed on top of the Order tracker on the HUD.
⚡ Fixed an issue with some UI panels not closing when clicking outside of their area.
⚡ Fixed a bug that caused the destruction popup to not appear when trying to destroy species houses.
⚡ Fixed an issue with some Forbidden Glades not being uncovered correctly.
⚡ Fixed an issue with the Economic Migration Cornerstone having an incorrect state preview in its footer.
⚡ Fixed a typo in the description of the Monolith glade event in Japanese.
⚡ Fixed a typo in the Simplified Chinese description of the challenge offered by the Somber Procession World Event.
Fixed a bug with the Royal Tax modifier missing resource names and amounts in its description.
Fixed a bug with the negative consequence of Cloudburst not being displayed on the HUD.
Fixed an issue with neighboring towns in the trading route panel having a click sound even though they are not clickable.

Other
Improved the overall performance of the game, especially when it comes to post processes and weather effects.

The current game version is 0.56.2.

4 August 2023 - Hotfix 0.56.5 (Farsight, Rebellious Spirit)

Changelog: (from SteamDB)

Greetings, Viceroys!
We just released a hotfix that addresses the remaining issues from yesterday's Upgraded Living Update:

Fixed a bug with events taking a very long time to investigate if the Farsight Cornerstone was triggered multiple times.
Fixed an issue with Rebellious Spirit and Fiery Wrath not granting Resolve for Impatience.
Fixed a bug with the Secure Perimeter Cornerstone not working retroactively.
Fixed an issue with Blightrot Cysts being misplaced on some buildings.
Temporarily disabled the Gentle Dawn Forest Mystery and two Cornerstones: Thrill of Exploration and Exploration Expedition. Due to a bigger issue with effects granting timed Resolve bonuses, we need to redesign and rebalance them.
In yesterday's Hotfix 0.56.4, we also resolved the non-responsive Cornerstone panel issue.

We are grateful for all your help with resolving those issues and we once again apologize for all the inconveniences they caused.

Important: if you encountered issues with the Farsight Cornerstone (events taking a very long time to complete) in your current game, the hotfix won't fix them right away. In order for it to work, you will need to start a new settlement.

We are terribly sorry for the trouble. If this bug caused you to lose an important game, feel free to contact us via support@eremitegames.freshdesk.com with your save file (the zipped contents of this entire folder: %userprofile%\appdata\locallow\Eremite Games\Against the Storm), and we will manually win this game for you or reimburse you the lost citadel resources. The reply time may vary depending on the number of requests we receive. Thank you for your understanding.

May the storm be gentle on you,
Eremite Games

Unflagged - seems the Update/Blue Dot is broken again.

Against the Storm
Offline installers updated to 0.57.1R

Seal Contracts Update (From SteamDB)

Greetings, Viceroys!

At the time of writing this article, it's so hot out here people have started calling it the Smoldering City. Take our advice: grab a glass of cold water, turn up those soothing rain sounds, and enjoy the new Against the Storm Update.

Here's what's new:

Seal Contracts - pick the Seals for the next Cycle
3 new World Events
Custom resource category
New Prestige 15 modifier (Longer Storm was moved to Viceroy difficulty)
Rebalanced Timed Orders
and more!

DEVELOPER NOTES

Today’s update is the last one… before we finally give you the revamped Sealed Forest biome in two weeks (you can already test the new mechanics with some placeholder art on the Experimental Branch)! So to make this wait that much sweeter, we bring you some new content, balance changes, and UI improvements. We’re talking Seal Contracts, new World Events, difficulty changes, timed order balance, and much, much more. Let’s dive into it!

First off, the namesake of this update - the Seal Contracts. Since releasing the overhauled World Map a few updates ago, we’ve gotten quite a lot of feedback about players wanting to reset their Seal progress or being able to play a closer Seal in case they can’t make it to a distant one. To address this, we came up with the Seal Contracts feature. This new system allows players to choose the Seals they want to see on the World Map each time they finish a Cycle (up to 3 types at once, so 6 Seals in total per Cycle). For example, you might want to have your most recently reforged Seal on the map, as well as the next one in line, but also the one you completed a long time ago just in case you decide to have a more relaxed session.

This system also works the other way around - you might want to attempt the Cobalt Seal very early on in your playthrough, even though your most recently reforged Seal is the Lead one. This would of course be a very difficult endeavor, as Cycle length is still determined by the highest reforged Seal, but no one’s going to stop you from trying.

But Seal Contracts aren’t the only big thing coming in this update. We also bring you 3 brand-new World Events. They are mostly centered around exchanging Citadel Resources (as a way of helping players in their Smoldering City progression) and spawning selected modifiers (as a way of combating some bad RNG when hunting for Deeds). Additionally, we also changed how the World Map is generated. From now on, after reforging the Gold Seal (Viceroy difficulty), there will be more modifiers and events in general and spawn rates will be shifted more in favor of negative modifiers rather than positive ones.

Balance-wise, this update brings a whole host of community-inspired tweaks. Most importantly, we decided to change the Prestige 15 difficulty modifier. Instead of prolonging the Storm, it now increases the threshold of Resolve required to generate Reputation after each earned point. However, this doesn’t mean the Storm will become shorter in Prestige games. We simply moved the Storm duration effect to the Viceroy difficulty, making it no longer a Prestige modifier, but a regular stat increase.

Now, why did we do this? Mainly because Storm duration effects are a double-edged sword. On one hand, they make the game harder, as players need to withstand hostile conditions for a longer period. On the other hand, at a certain point, a longer Storm is more of a bonus than a penalty (for example, by prolonging each year and making it easier to achieve certain objectives or postponing Hostility increases). That’s why we decided it would make for a good challenge on earlier difficulty levels, especially considering that a lot of recent updates have introduced various buffs and additional ways of dealing with setbacks, and there was always an effect missing between Veteran and Prestige 1 (both Veteran and Viceroy had the “Blight & Corruption” tag in the Embarkation Panel).

But that’s not all. In this update, we also took a closer look at timed orders (nerfing the hardest ones and trying to make them more attractive in general), rebalanced the Fuming Machinery glade event (it now has a smaller explosion before the main one, and has a longer timer), excluded roads from construction-cost-increasing effects, and revamped a few Cornerstones.

Lastly, as with every update, we took the time to improve the user experience and fix some bugs. Most notably, we added an option to track resources on the HUD. You can now simply click on a resource in the Warehouse panel to add it to a custom category of goods. It will then appear on the top of the screen, right next to all the other categories.

CHANGELOG posted below ...

Seal Contract Update (continued from above)

CHANGELOG

Number of changes: 76
Inspired by community: 88%

Changes marked with ⚡ were inspired by the community.
New content and features

⚡ Added 3 new World Events.
Sadrath The Wise
Brass Order Engineers
Roaming Fishmen Tribe
Although we don’t want to spoil too much about these new events in this changelog, they revolve mostly around two design ideas: exchanging one Citadel Resource for another, and spawning selected World Map modifiers.
⚡ Added a new system - Seal Contracts.
Seal Contracts allow you to select which Ancient Seals you will be able to see on your World Map during a Cycle.
Seals can be chosen in the Cycle Summary View, after clicking the button in the lower right corner of the screen.
You can select between 1 and 3 Seal types at a time. The Seals will be visible on the World Map after the Cycle reset. Each Seal type will spawn 2 Seals (so up to 6 Seals in total in a Cycle).
Seal Contracts become available once you beat the Gold Seal for the first time.
You can choose any Seal you want. Even if you have beaten the Adamantine Seal, you can select the Bronze Seal to spawn.
To get more information about a Seal, simply hover your cursor above it in the Seal Contract UI. The tooltip will show the distance, the number of required fragments, and the minimum difficulty level.
Seal progression works the same way as it did until now - when starting from Bronze, you will naturally climb up to Gold. Once you beat Gold, you will select your own Seals every Cycle.
Cycle duration is still determined by the highest reforged Seal.

Balance

⚡ Changed how the World Map is generated once the player beats the Gold Seal (Viceroy difficulty).
Increased the number of modifiers on the map.
Increased the number of events on the map.
Decreased the probability of positive modifiers spawning, in favor of more negative ones.

⚡ Changed the Prestige 15 modifier. Instead of prolonging the Storm, it now increases the threshold of Resolve required to generate Reputation after each gained point.
Malcontents - You took a very peculiar group of settlers with you. They seem perpetually dissatisfied. Each species' Resolve to Reputation threshold increases by 1 more point after every Reputation Point they generate.
This change was made because the storm duration increase wasn’t really a significant difficulty increase on such a high Prestige level. In some cases, it was even a bonus - as it increased the duration of the entire year, making some objectives easier to achieve.

Moved the increased Storm duration effect from Prestige 15 to Viceroy difficulty.
The Storm now lasts 4 minutes instead of 2 starting from the Viceroy difficulty.
We decided to move the effect to Viceroy because of a few reasons.
Viceroy was the only difficulty level missing a significant change (like the ones described below the difficulty selector in the Embark Panel).
A lot of recent updates have introduced various buffs and new ways of dealing with setbacks, so we wanted to gently nudge the game in a direction that is a bit more challenging again.
Storm duration effects simultaneously make the game more difficult and easier in some aspects. On one hand, players have to withstand hostile conditions for a longer period, but on the other hand, a longer Storm can also be a buff by prolonging each year and making it easier to achieve certain objectives, or by postponing Hostility increases.

⚡ Rebalanced the Fuming Machinery glade event.
Increased the time limit before the consequence triggers.
The first explosion is a smaller one - destroying only resource nodes and trees, and killing villagers in a radius of 5 fields (the second explosion is the normal one, and it removed the event with it).

⚡ Rebalanced numerous timed orders.
Reckless Viceroy - renamed to "The Source", moved to tier 3 from 4, requires players to use rainwater (all 3 types), time limit changed to 10 minutes.
Urgent Shipment - renamed to "Technological Progress", requires players to have 10 Rain Engines installed, time limit changed to 10 minutes.
Beaver Colony - time limit increased to 8 minutes (from 5 minutes 30 seconds).
Human Colony - time limit increased to 8 minutes (from 5 minutes 30 seconds).
Lizard Colony - time limit increased to 8 minutes (from 5 minutes 30 seconds).
Harpy Colony - time limit increased to 8 minutes (from 5 minutes 30 seconds).
Homes for Foxes - time limit increased to 8 minutes (from 5 minutes 30 seconds).
Large Parcel - objective to deliver Packs of Crops replaced by Oil (30), time limit changed to 10 minutes.
Construction Work - time limit increased to 8 minutes, changed rewards to Oil Delivery Line, Advanced Smithing, and 30 Planks.
Coal Fever - now requires players to deliver 100 Coal.
Copper Fever - now requires players to deliver 100 Copper Ore.
Trading Master - now requires players to finish 3 trade routes with a minimum value of 25 Amber, time limit changed to 15 minutes and 30 seconds.
Herbalist's Trial - objective changed from “produce in camp” to “deliver goods”, added second objective to deliver Herbs, reward change from Big Phials to Tea Infuser.
Scavenger's Trial - objective changed from “produce in camp” to “deliver goods”, added second objective to deliver Insects.
Trapper's Trial - objective changed from “produce in camp” to “deliver goods”, added second objective to deliver Insects.
Mushrooming - objective changed from “produce in camp” to “deliver goods”, added second objective to deliver Herbs
Stonecutter's Trial - objective changed from “produce in camp” to “deliver goods”, added second objective to deliver Roots, reward changed from Plantation Blueprint to Clay Pit.
Forager's Trial - objective changed from “produce in camp” to “deliver goods”, added a second objective to deliver Grain, changed rewards from Grill Blueprint to Plantation Blueprint, and from Bigger Ovens to Puffed Grain.
Fearless - time limit increased to 15 minutes.
Venturesome Leader - reduced the number of glades players have to discover by 1.
Lumber Mill Efficiency Test - now requires players to deliver Planks and Barrels (60), time limit increased to 8 minutes, reward changed to Reinforced Axes (30% woodcutting speed) and Grove Blueprint.
Greedy Merchant - now requires players to sell goods worth at least 80 Amber.
Time of Courage - reduced the number of glades players have to discover by 2, time limit changed from 20 minutes 30 seconds to 15 minutes.
Zealous Scouts - time limit increased from 11 minutes to 15 minutes
Beer Snacks - renamed to “Let it Rain”, now requires players to have 8 Rain Engines installed and to deliver Drizzle and Clearance Water (150), moved to tier 3.
Thirsty Trader - changed the objective from delivering Waterskins to delivering Wine (40).
Into the Ruins - reduced the number of ruins players have to rebuild or salvage 1, added the objective to complete a glade event by making a corruption decision, increased the number of Tools given as a reward from 20 to 24.
Great Expansion - changed the objective from having two Hearths at level 3 to having one Hearth at level 3 and another at level 2, changed rewards from the Smithy Blueprint to Temple Blueprint, time limit changed to 10 minutes.
Advanced Cuisine - changed objective from producing goods in the Cookhouse to delivering Skewers, Jerky, and Porridge, changed rewards from the Rain Mill Blueprint to the Tavern Blueprint.

⚡ Slightly lowered the spawn rate of the Merchant Shipwreck glade event.

⚡ Construction cost for roads no longer scales with effects, modifiers, and perks (so a Stone Road will always cost 1 Stone, even on Prestige levels).

⚡ Shuffled a few Citadel Upgrades around.
Training Expeditions are now unlocked with the Obsidian Archive Level 8 Upgrade, and the Daily Expedition unlock was moved up to Obsidian Archive Level 10.
The Stocked Caravans Upgrade was moved down to Dim Square Level 6, and the Extra Merchandise Upgrade was moved up to Dim Square Level 10.

Villagers will now move slower when going through buildings.

Re-enabled and rebalanced a few previously disabled Cornerstones and Forest Mysteries.
Exploration Expedition - You took some of the best explorers from the Smoldering City with you. Gain +5 to Global Resolve for 180 seconds every time a new glade is discovered, but woodcutting is 33% slower until you open at least 2 glades.
Woodcutter’s Song (previously Thrill of Exploration) - "It's off to work we go". Every 20 felled trees, Global Resolve is increased by +3 for 120 seconds.
Frequent Caravans - The Crown is very forgiving, as long as the goods keep flowing. Impatience grows 30% slower for 180 seconds every time you finish a trade route.
Gentle Dawn - New year, new challenges. Every small glade discovered grants +10% to planting speed during Drizzle (this effect is added retroactively).
Previously, Cornerstones such as Exploration Expedition, Thrill of Exploration, and Frequent Caravans gave timed bonuses that didn’t stack (only their timer extended as the perk kept triggering). From now on, time will not be added, but the effects will stack (no now you can get a powerful, but short +20 bonus to Resolve for opening 4 glades, instead of getting an almost 10-minute long +5 bonus).

Removed the Food Stockpiles reward from the Untamed Wilds World Map Modifier.

(Changelog continued below ...)

(Seal Contract Update Changelog ... continued from above)

UX/UI improvements

⚡ Goods can now be tracked using a custom resource category on the top HUD.
There is now a new resource category on the top HUD, called “Tracked Goods”.
To track a resource, simply click on its icon in the Warehouse building panel.
You can untrack a resource by clicking on it again.
Tracked goods are marked with a small checkmark in the corner of their icon.
⚡ Stormforged Cornerstones are now displayed in the Game History tab.
⚡ Changed the wording used in the description of the Hidden from the Queen Cornerstone to make it clearer that the Impatience penalty starts at the beginning of year 8.
⚡ The Decadent attribute in the species tab in the in-game Encyclopedia now shows a numerical value instead of a tag.
Changed the wording used in House Upgrades to make it clearer where bonuses on the perk HUD came from.
Improved the wording in the Followers of the Forsaken Gods World Event description.

Bug fixes

⚡ Fixed a bug with the Blight Filter Cornerstone increasing Cyst generation rate instead of lowering it.
⚡ Fixed a bug with some workers getting stuck on trees when trying to reach Abandoned Caches.
⚡ Fixed a bug that caused perks tied to trade routes to be drafted for players who haven’t unlocked this feature yet.
⚡ Fixed a bug that caused some areas to become blocked when moving a building.
⚡ Fixed a bug with the newcomer timer showing time offset by 30 seconds.
⚡ Fixed a bug with the Makeshift Extractor water tank expansion bonus not stacking.
⚡ Fixed a bug with trade routes not being sorted correctly based on distance.
⚡ Fixed a bug that caused the Purified Human House to have Beaver-specific upgrades.
⚡ Fixed an issue with the Obsidian Runestone effect listed in the Hearth UI not having an icon and name.
⚡ Fixed an issue with the Blight Filter effect being incorrectly listed in building UIs (under a wrong name).
⚡ Fixed a bug that caused won games to be marked as a loss if players decided to continue a settlement and lost all their villagers.
⚡ Fixed a bug with the Twitch integration blocking choices when one is set to “automatic”, and the other to “opt-in”.
⚡ Fixed an issue with the iCUE Lightning integration sometimes not working correctly.
⚡ Fixed an issue with some starting glades having trees on top of fertile soil.
⚡ Fixed a bug with the Flawless Rain Mill using Drizzle Water instead of Clearance Water.
⚡ Fixed an issue with the Cycle summary listing failed towns even if there were none.
⚡ Fixed an issue with wrong profession names being assigned to workers.
⚡ Fixed an incorrect description in the Encyclopedia entry about sacrificing goods during the Storm.
⚡ Fixed an issue with Training Expedition settlements having an incorrect name in the Game History tab.
⚡ Fixed an issue with some descriptions using regular hyphens instead of non-breaking ones.
⚡ Fixed a typo in the Japanese description of the Forbidden Seal Shard Cornerstone.
⚡ Fixed a typo in the German description of the Roaming Swarm World Event effect.

Other

⚡ Starting with the next update, Cycle blessings and bonuses will no longer be removed after a force-finished settlement.
Why doesn’t this work with today’s patch? That’s because we first needed to prepare the backend for this change and alter the save structure.
To make up for this, you will be given a free Royal Resupply for the settlement force-finished by today’s update.

31 August 2023 - Major Update - Sealed Forest Update - New biome available!

Offline installers updated to 0.58.2R

Greetings, Viceroys!

It’s time to venture into the Sealed Forest - a mysterious and hostile biome with unique mechanics and a completely new victory condition.

Withstand terrible plagues and use the new Beacon Tower to summon aid directly from the Citadel. Find and collect the lost parts of the Ancient Guardian to summon it and close the broken Seal.

What's new:

Sealed Forest biome
Seal reforging mechanic
Plagues
Beacon Tower building
12 new music tracks

DEVELOPER NOTES:

The day has finally come, the revamped Sealed Forest is here! As this massive update is solely focused on the new biome, we have decided to forgo the usual developer note structure and instead jump right into a detailed summary of all the new features, and a recap of how this new addition ties into the World Map.
What are Ancient Seals?

Ancient Seals are old, intricate structures built to hold a primeval, malevolent force at bay. As time passed, they became weaker, causing the mysterious Sealed Ones to slowly reclaim dominion over our world.

Your task as the Queen’s Viceroy is to settle the lands and journey to the heart of the Sealed Forest where you must reforge the Seal to imprison the evil gods.

There are 8 different Seals. The farther away they are, the higher their difficulty and the more Seal Fragments are required to repair the shattered Seal. You can acquire Seal Fragments by establishing settlements, overcoming negative Modifiers, and solving World Events encountered on your caravan's journey.

Your Caravan

At the start of every Cycle, your caravan departs from the Smoldering City. You can upgrade your Caravan permanently with Smoldering City Upgrades that add new Embarkation Bonuses, increase the Embarkation Range, and much more. You can also modify the Caravan temporarily with Royal Resupplies and World Events.

Royal Resupplies are special rewards awarded for settling near negative Modifiers. You can choose from three different one-time bonuses: increased Vision and Embarkation Range, Reserve Embarkation Points, or additional Seal Fragments.

Reserve Embarkation Points are a separate pool of non-rechargeable Embarkation Points that can only be used during a single Cycle. You may want to save them for the most challenging endeavors. You can also improve your Caravan by solving World Events. But tread with caution, your decisions often come with a trade-off or can present a unique challenge.

The Sealed Forest

Once you gather enough Seal Fragments, you can travel to the Sealed Forest - a grim, uninhabitable biome, where the Ancient Seals lie and where your governing skills will be put to the test. A game in the Sealed Biome can only be attempted once per Cycle.

Ancient Seals spread corruption around them making the Sealed Forest an extremely hostile environment. The flora in this region is bizarrely mutated, with overgrown trees containing extra resource charges.

A broken Ancient Seal is hidden within the depths of the Sealed Forest. You must search for clues in surrounding glades to locate it. Every glade contains a Guidance Stone that points to the location of the Ancient Seal.

The sooner you reach the Seal, the better. Viceroys don't embark to the Sealed Forest to establish settlements or gain Reputation. The Queen expects them to reforge the Seal… or die trying.
Reforging a Seal

To reforge the Seal you must reconstruct the Ancient Guardian by obtaining its heart, blood, feathers, and life essence. There are three different variants of each part. Acquiring one of them will require a display of remarkable finesse in a certain aspect of managing a settlement.

Once you obtain a part, you will be rewarded with an Epic Cornerstone and a new array of objectives will be revealed. After assembling all four parts, the Scorched Queen will breathe life into the Ancient Guardian - the only entity capable of closing the Seal.

But beware! The mere presence of the Ancient Seal summons foul plagues on your settlement. Every Storm, a new plague will be unleashed, hindering your efforts to resurrect the Guardian.

To oppose the tormenting force of the plagues, you can construct a Beacon Tower - an ancient structure that allows you to summon aid directly from the Smoldering City and choose from 9 temporary support abilities (with a limited number of charges).

Reforging each Seal will not only grant you the Queen's appreciation and extra resources. It will also push back the Blightstorm and prolong the Cycle permanently.
The future

The Sealed Forest was one of the largest items on our Early Access roadmap. Now that it’s finally out, the only things left on there are the tutorial improvements, Steam Deck verification, and (as always) community-inspired changes. But fear not! We also have plans for yet another big feature, although we are not ready to reveal anything substantial about it just now.

In the very near future, we will most likely focus on a few smaller size updates again, with more UX and UI changes, bug fixes, and smaller gameplay improvements. And once we’re ready, we will show you the next big and exciting thing coming to Against the Storm.

May the storm be gentle on you,
Eremite Games

(Changelog posted below ...)

(Sealed Forest Update ... continued from above)

CHANGELOG (from SteamDB)

Number of changes: 56
Inspired by community: 91%

Changes marked with ⚡ were inspired by the community.
New content and features

⚡ Revamped the Sealed Forest biome. It now has a unique mechanic, new visuals, and a new win condition - a hidden Seal that needs to be found and reforged in order to win the game.
The Sealed Forest is a special biome only present around Seals on the World Map. It’s accessible only once during each Cycle, as a “final boss encounter”.
Deep inside the Sealed Forest, an ancient, broken Seal is hidden. To find it, players have to look for Guidance Stones in surrounding glades and triangulate the Seal’s location.
To win a game in the Sealed Forest, players need to successfully reforge the Seal. This can only be done with the help of an Ancient Guardian.
Ancient Guardians are old, magical constructs created by an old civilization. However, thousands of years of being exposed to the Storm and the influence of the Seal have taken a toll on them. To make use of them again, players have to reconstruct them.
To reconstruct a guardian, four parts are needed - the heart, the blood, the feathers, and the life essence. To acquire a part, players need to complete special, challenging objectives.
All objectives can be seen in the Seal panel. Each guardian part has 3 objectives assigned to it, testing the settlement’s performance in different aspects (industry, well-being, exploration). To acquire a part, only one of these objectives must be completed. After collecting a guardian part, the next set of tasks for the next item will be shown.
Completing a Seal objective not only awards a guardian part but also gives players a free Epic Cornerstone choice.
Seal objectives have two difficulty settings - for games at the Settler/Pioneer difficulty levels, and for games at Veteran and above.
The mere presence of the Seal causes terrible plagues to appear in the settlement. Plagues are randomly generated every year and are only active during the Storm. They can be anything from a simple production speed decrease to a powerful curse that spawns a dangerous or forbidden glade event near the Hearth.
To help players survive in this harsh environment, a new building is at their disposal - the Beacon Tower.
The Beacon Tower is a powerful ancient structure that allows players to summon aid directly from the Citadel. It gives access to three types of temporary support abilities: supplies, bells, and miracles.
Support abilities are active only for one season and have a limited number of uses per category.
Hostility works differently in the Sealed Forest. It doesn’t increase with assigned Woodcutters. Instead, it grows by 2 points for every 10 felled trees.
There are two types of trees in the Sealed Forest - small and big ones. Small ones have only 2 resource charges (like normal trees in all other biomes), and big ones have 20 charges.
Trees in the Sealed Forest give wood, meat, sea marrow, and leather. Wood is guaranteed, the other resources have a 10% chance of dropping.
The Sealed Forest has the following resources:
Berries
Mushrooms
Roots
Meat
Insects
Reeds
Clay
Sea Marrow
Copper Ore
Although the Sealed Forest has a different win condition than all other biomes (reforging the Seal instead of collecting all Reputation points), Reputation points can still be collected as usual and will unlock blueprints and lower Impatience.
The Sealed Forest has new unique visuals - terrain, trees, seasonal effects, fog, camera effects, etc.
There are 12 new unique music tracks available only in the Sealed Forest. There are also numerous new sounds and ambient effects.
The Seal is tended by a Seal Keeper, Rahatiel, who guides Viceroys through the process of reforging it. Every time a new guardian part is acquired, he will offer a bit of additional context. Every guardian part also has a lore description when hovering over it.

Balance

⚡ Changed the objective of the Great Expansion Timed Order from having one level 3 and one level 2 Hearth to having two level 2 Hearths.

UX/UI improvements

Changed the wording in the French version of the Decadence stat tooltip in the in-game Encyclopedia to make it clearer.
Improved the wording in multiple places in the French version of the game (decadence stat tooltip, all mentions of ancient seals).

Bug fixes

⚡ Fixed a bug that caused some buildings to break if a worker got killed the moment they got assigned.
⚡ Fixed a bug with the Game History tab sometimes closing on its own.
⚡ Fixed an issue with the Seal Contract UI sometimes incorrectly labeling the Bronze Seal as “Gold”.
⚡ Fixed a bug that caused stacked bonuses from Cornerstones like Exploration Expedition to disappear after the first timer ran out.
⚡ Fixed a bug with tracked goods not immediately appearing on the HUD after being added to the storage for the first time.
⚡ Fixed a bug with a missing tooltip in the Into the Ruins order.
⚡ Fixed a bug with the Unbearable Smell effect from the Blight Filter Cornerstone now displaying its tooltip correctly.
⚡ Fixed an incorrect description in the tooltip of the Inspiring Work effect.
⚡ Fixed an issue with a duplicated reward in the ruined Provisioner building.
⚡ Fixed a bug with the Worker’s Rations Cornerstone being given to the player after catching a Treasure Stag.
⚡ Fixed an issue with some forbidden glades not uncovering correctly.
⚡ Fixed an issue with resources being incorrectly ordered in the Crystalized Dew recipe.
⚡ Fixed an issue with resources being incorrectly ordered in the Purging Fire recipe.
⚡ Fixed a few typos in the Polish translation of the game (Beanery Worker profession name, glade event tooltips).
⚡ Fixed multiple typos in the Traditional Chinese version of the game (profession names, mining tooltips, upgrades, alerts, dialogue, intro).
⚡ Fixed a typo in the Thai version of the Royal Resupply reward.
⚡ Fixed a typo in the German translation of the Roaming Swarm World Event curse.
⚡ Fixed a few typos in the Korean translation of order objectives tied to rainwater usage.
Fixed a visual glitch on some brick wall textures.

Other

⚡ Added 12 new music tracks to the game, exclusive to the Sealed Forest biome.
Improved the sound performance of the game and changed how effects are loaded into memory.
Changed the main menu background.

The current game version is 0.58.2.

1 September 2023 - Hotfix 0.58.3 (Seal generation, Into the Ruins)

Offline installers updated to 0.58.3R

Greetings, Viceroys!

One day, we'll release an update that doesn't require a hotfix. But it's not today!

Despite our great efforts, some bugs slipped our attention, but they should now be corrected when you download the latest hotfix:

Fixed a bug that caused the Seal to sometimes not appear in the correct glade. Unfortunately, this won't fix the current Sealed Forest game.
Fixed a bug with a missing objective description in the Into the Ruins timed order.
Fixed an issue with the working effect of the Drainage Mole glade event not applying to the Harvesters' Camp.
Fixed a small typo in the in-game update news section.

If you were affected by the Seal generation error, you can message us at support@eremitegames.freshdesk.com and we'll try to manually finish the game for you and recreate the conditions for the Sealed Forest run in the next Cycle. The reply time may vary depending on the number of messages we receive. We're sorry for the trouble!

Thank you for your swift reports and support. We wish you a great time with the new update and a relaxing weekend.

May the storm be gentle on you,
Eremite Games

Major Update - Logistics and Balance Update

Offline installers updated to 0.60.1R.

(from SteamDB)
Greetings, Viceroys!

We’re back with yet another portion of features, UX improvements, and balance changes to keep you on your toes.

What’s new:

Haulers revamp
New perks
New Forest Mysteries
Storage reserve (lower limit)
Cornerstones rebalance
Recipe distribution rebalance
And more!

Continue reading for our design notes and a full changelog.

DEVELOPER NOTES

In today’s update, we bring you a revamp of the hauler system (boy that was quick), a little bit of new content in the form of new perks and Forest Mysteries, some much-needed balance for Cornerstones, building, and Citadel Upgrades, and of course the cherry on top - community inspired UI improvements. So without further ado, let's jump right into the nitty gritty details!

First off, the hauling revamp. In the last update, we introduced dedicated haulers together with two new buildings - the big and the small hauler stations. While this was a community-requested feature, we didn’t really manage to deliver it up to a satisfactory quality level. The main problems with this feature were the added blueprint bloat and the lack of a substantial boost or gameplay change offered by this new building type. In plain English - it was weak and unfun.

Now you might be wondering - why did we try this in the first place? Our initial goal with the hauler stations was to introduce a new type of choice in the game, a gameplay style less focused on a wide array of production buildings and oriented more in the direction of logistical optimization. But it quickly turned out that this wasn’t really feasible, and the original design goal felt forced in the end. That’s why we decided to revert this change and find a new place for haulers in the game.

After a few experiments, we arrived at a solution we think is both fun and rewarding, namely haulers being assigned to warehouses. This way we don’t add to the blueprint pool, and we introduce a system that is always accessible and easily balanced because of the worker investment (plus it’s just logical for haulers to be working in warehouses). We also considered some other solutions, like free workers carrying goods automatically, but that caused a lot more problems than it solved, both technically and in terms of user experience (as most of the game is built around the workplace system and dual/floating professions wouldn’t really work with existing mechanics). Additionally, to make things a bit more interesting, we introduced some new dedicated hauler perks into the mix.

Speaking of perks - let’s move on to the new content. We added 4 new Cornerstones and 2 new trader/order perks to the game. Most of these are focused on haulers, like the Dual Carriage System Cornerstone, which adds 2 mechanized, autonomous hauling carts to the Main Warehouse. Additionally, we introduced 3 new Forest Mysteries (two negative ones and one positive) and 2 new Citadel Upgrades.

In this update, we also took some time to rebalance a few aspects of the game. Most importantly, we took a closer look at Cornerstones, trying to make some underwhelming ones a bit more attractive, while also nerfing two or three very powerful ones to make them less oppressive. Additionally, we decided to switch up some rarities and drop rates. After this patch, you might notice some “early game” effects having a slightly higher chance of appearing in the first few years of a run (and a slightly lower chance in late game). We also removed certain weak perks (such as Force of Nature or Blight Filter) to make the Cornerstone pools more balanced in general.

But that’s not all in terms of balance. There are also some changes to production buildings (recipe swaps and a shorter production time in the Clay Pit), as well as a cost rebalance in the upgrade tree in the Smoldering City. This last change is mainly aimed at new players, making some lower unlocks a bit cheaper to buy and speeding up early progression. This is just the first step, as we plan on doing a more extensive balance pass on upgrades once we’re closer to the 1.0 launch.

Let’s now move on to UI improvements. Probably the most exciting one is the ability to set a lower limit for a resource in the warehouse. This was requested multiple times by the community, and we finally came up with a way of allowing players to “reserve” a good. From now on, you can set a minimum amount for an item in the warehouse, and crafters won’t touch it unless there is an excess of it. However, scouts, hungry villagers, and builders will still take the item even if there is a limit set (but these interactions can be controlled through other means, like consumption control or selecting resources in the event UI).

There are also multiple smaller UI changes in this update, like a recipe/ingredient toggle in the recipe panel, a new tier 0 recipe icon, a checkbox for needs in service buildings (so workers don’t stockpile goods unnecessarily), or the option to unassign just one woodcutter using the “unassign woodcutters” button on the HUD. And, as is tradition with every patch, we fixed a lot of bugs, typos, and inconsistencies.

May the storm be gentle on you,
Eremite Games

CHANGELOG posted below ...

Logistics and Balance Update ... continued from above

CHANGELOG (from Steam DB)

Number of changes: 98
Inspired by community: 83%

Changes marked with ⚡ were inspired by the community.
New content and features
⚡ Haulers are now assigned to Warehouses instead of Hauling Stations.
The Main Warehouse has 3 workplaces for haulers, and the Small Warehouse has 2.
Haulers work the same way as they did before - they transport production yields and ingredients between buildings.
Haulers (in both Warehouse versions) now have a much larger range - 25 tiles instead of 12.
Both small and big Hauler Stations have been removed from the game. They will no longer be offered as blueprints or appear in glades.
Haulers are now unlocked via the upgrade tree in the Smoldering City. They are divided into two separate unlocks - for the Main Warehouse and for Small Warehouses.
Both unlocks are new and can be found in the First Dawn Company branch of the upgrade tree.
⚡ Added 4 new Cornerstones.
Hauling Cart (Legendary) - An automated rainpunk cart will be assigned to every warehouse in the settlement to help transport resources between buildings.
Dual Carriage System (Legendary) - Two rainpunk hauling carts will be assigned to the Main Warehouse to help transport resources between buildings.
Reckless Plunder (Legendary) - Scouts are so focused on looting that they unintentionally damage the environment. Increases the chance of bringing back twice as many resources from Abandoned Caches by 100%, but newly discovered resource nodes have fewer charges (-5 charges to small deposits, -15 charges to large deposits).
Travel Rations (Epic) - There is no need to return to the Hearth when you have provisions with you. Time between breaks for Haulers is increased by 50%.
Added 2 new perks that can be acquired from traders, orders, or glade events.
Specialized Workwear (Rare) - Specialized equipment enhanced with rainpunk technology. Haulers move 25% faster.
Safety Ropes (Rare) - A set of strong ropes to secure any shipment. Haulers and mechanized carts can carry 5 more goods at once.
Added 3 new Forest Mysteries.
Unnatural Erosion (Storm) - The wind and rain in this region seem more destructive than usual. Pay 5 Oil with each storm (multiplied by the number of years played). If you don't, 2 random resource nodes will be destroyed.
Shifting Paths (Storm) - The road to the village is long and winding, so some newcomers need a bit of extra motivation. Pay 2 Packs of Luxury Goods with each storm (multiplied by the number of years played). If you don't, the next newcomer group will arrive 50% slower.
Inspiring View (Drizzle) - The astonishingly beautiful view motivates villagers to work. The time interval between breaks is increased by 25%.
Added 2 new Smoldering City Upgrades.
First Dawn Company Headquarters Level 10 - unlocking Haulers for Small Warehouses and giving a passive double yield chance increase.
Vanguard Spire Level 5 - giving Bricks as a guaranteed starting bonus and increasing the total amount of node charges.
The hauler unlock for the Main Warehouse was squeezed in into an existing upgrade (and other upgrade rewards were reshuffled - you can find out more about that in the balance section of this changelog).
Due to this change, some players might be missing an upgrade or two after installing this update. This is because we inserted new unlocks in the middle of the upgrade tree, thereby bumping some existing upgrades higher up.

Balance
⚡ The Rotten Rain Forest Mystery no longer spawns Blood Flowers on farm fields. It now simply spawns them in a random place in the settlement (close to the Main Hearth if possible).
⚡ The Waterskin recipe now requires one less Oil on every tier.
⚡ Rebalanced multiple Cornerstones.
Local Taxes (Epic) - now gives 12 Amber every 50 Ale produced instead of 20 Amber every 100 Ale produced.
Force of Nature (Epic) - this perk was removed from the game.
Well-Rested Workers (Epic) - increased the chance for double yields from 20% to 25%.
Value Added Tax (Epic) - instead of giving 2 Amber for every 6 Packs of Trade Goods produced, this perk now increases the sell price of Packs of Trade Goods by 25%.
The Sparkcaster (Epic) - changed the rarity of this perk from Epic to Rare and removed it from the Cornerstone pool. It can now be acquired from traders, orders, or events.
From the Ashes (Legendary) - increased the number of Wildfire Essences given for solving dangerous events from 1 to 2.
Market Shift Plan (Legendary) - decreased the number of trade routes needed to remove the trade block drawback from 8 to 5.
Rich Glades (Legendary) - lowered the number of extra big node charges from 20 to 15.
Hidden from the Queen (Legendary) - moved the Impatience penalty from year 8 to year 9.
Blight Filter (Legendary) - this perk was removed from the game.
Counterfeit Amber (Legendary) - lowered the amount of rainwater required to generate Amber from 75 to 50. Changed the Blightrot Cysts growth increase from 20% to 25%.
Firelink Ritual (Legendary) - changed how this perk’s bonus is calculated. Instead of removing 25 Hostility for every 5 villagers with a need fulfilled, it now decreases Hostility by 5 for every 1 villager.
Work Safety Guide (Legendary) - changed how this perk’s bonus is calculated. Instead of increasing global production speed by 25% for every 5 villagers with a need fulfilled, it now increases the production speed by 5% for every 1 villager.
Obsidian Runestone (Legendary) - removed the drawback from this perk, changed its rarity to Epic, and decreased the HEarth Resistance bonus from 500 to 400.
Queen's Gift (Legendary) - changed how this perk works. Instead of giving Hearth Resistance for Impatience points, it now increases the Hearth Resistance by 250 for every 2 woodcutters in the settlement.
Alarm Bells (Legendary) - increased the double production bonus chance from 20% to 25%.
Trade Hub (Legendary) - changed the Resolve to Reputation growth speed reduction from a 50% to 75%.
Prosperous Settlement (Legendary) - increased the amount of Amber required to trigger the Resolve bonus from 45 to 50.
Protected Trade (Legendary) - changed the Hostility reduction from -15 to -10 for every 30 Amber traded.
Farsight (Legendary) increased the time limit of the working speed bonus for discovering small glades from 120 seconds to 180 seconds.
⚡ Tweaked the drop rates of multiple Cornerstones in the game.
Some Cornerstones are more beneficial when offered early during a game (like bonuses for opening glades or non-retroactive trade route effects), while others might be more attractive later on.
That’s why we decided to slightly increase the drop rates of “early” Cornerstones in the first few years of a game, and slightly reduce their drop rates during late game.
The Cornerstone pool is still the same, so it will still be possible to get an early Cornerstone near the end of the game (but it should happen less frequently).

Logistics and Balance Update, Changelog ... continued from above

Balance, continued ...
As with every balance change, we will monitor its effects. If at any point the drop rates become too skewed in any direction, we will adjust.
⚡ Rebalanced the recipe distribution in a few buildings.
Artisan - removed the Pigment recipe and added the Packs of Luxury Goods recipe.
Cooperage - removed the Training Gear recipe and added the Coats recipe. The Flawless version of this building was also changed accordingly.
Leatherworker - removed the Pack of Luxury Goods recipe and added the Pigment recipe. The Flawless version of this building was also changed accordingly.
Smithy - removed the Coats recipe and added the Training Gear recipe.
Clay Pit - decreased the production time of Clay and Reeds from 84 seconds to 60 seconds.
⚡ Rebalanced Citadel Upgrade prices. Some early unlocks were not aligned with the pricing pattern from other branches. At the same time, we wanted to slightly speed up the first 2-3 levels and make it easier for new players to get early upgrades.
Obsidian Archive Level 3 - lowered the cost from 24 to 12 Food Stockpiles.
Obsidian Archive Level 4 - lowered the cost from 24 to 18 Food Stockpiles.
Obsidian Archive Level 5 - lowered the cost from 30 to 24 Food Stockpiles.
Obsidian Archive Level 6 - lowered the cost from 36 to 30 Food Stockpiles.
Pioneers’ Gate Level 3 - lowered the cost from 36 to 30 Food Stockpiles.
Brass Forge Level 1 - lowered the cost from 24 to 18 Food Stockpiles.
Brass Forge Level 2 - lowered the cost from 30 Food Stockpiles and 6 Artifacts to 24 Food Stockpiles and 3 Artifacts.
Brass Forge Level 3 - lowered the cost from 48 Food Stockpiles and 6 Artifacts to 36 Food Stockpiles and 6 Artifacts.
Brass Forge Level 10 - increased the cost from 132 Food Stockpiles and 40 Artifacts to 144 Food Stockpiles and 40 Artifacts.
Dim Square Level 1 - lowered the cost from 24 to 18 Food Stockpiles.
Dim Square Level 2 - lowered the cost from 30 to 24 Food Stockpiles.
Dim Square Level 3 - lowered the cost from 36 to 30 Food Stockpiles.
First Dawn Headquarters Level 2 - lowered the cost from 24 to 18 Food Stockpiles.
First Dawn Headquarters Level 3 - lowered the cost from 36 to 30 Food Stockpiles.
Vanguard Spire Level 1 - lowered the cost from 24 to 18 Food Stockpiles.
Vanguard Spire Level 2 - lowered the cost from 36 Food Stockpiles and 6 Machinery to 24 Food Stockpiles and 3 Machinery.
Vanguard Spire Level 3 - lowered the cost from 36 Food Stockpiles and 6 Machinery to 30 Food Stockpiles and 6 Machinery.
Vanguard Spire Level 4 - lowered the cost from 48 Food Stockpiles and 6 Machinery to 36 Food Stockpiles and 6 Machinery.
Reshuffled a few Citadel Upgrades.
First Dawn Headquarters Level 3 - removed starting Bricks (moved to the new upgrade in the Vanguard Spire branch), added the Herbalists’ Camp Embarkation Bonus.
First Dawn Headquarters Level 5 - removed the Herbalists’ Camp Embarkation Bonus, added the Main Warehouse hauler unlock.
Reshuffled a few level up rewards.
Level 12 - removed the Hauling Station blueprint, added the new Hauling Cart Cornerstone instead.
Level 17 - added a new unlock, the Reckless Plunder Cornerstone.
Level 18 - added a new unlock, the Dual Carriage System Cornerstone.

UX/UI improvements
⚡ Added the option to set a lower limit for resources in Warehouses.
To set a lower limit, simply select a Warehouse, find the resource you need, and type in a value. The lock icon next to the text box will change automatically.
Once a limit is set, a lock icon will also appear on the HUD, on top of the resource icon.
The limit is a lower limit, meaning that workers will only use the surplus for production. Everything below the limit will not be touched by them.
The limit only applies to production. Scouts will still be able to take a limited resource, villagers will still eat it (unless told otherwise in the consumption control panel), and finishing orders will still take a limited good from the warehouse. Same goes for Firekeepers and builders.
You can quickly turn a limit on and off by clicking the lock icon next to the resource in the Warehouse panel (without needing to manually remove the value from the text box).
Just like tracked goods, lower limits in the Warehouse are automatically saved and loaded between subsequent runs.
Due to this change, the Warehouse panel had to change from a collection of resource icons to a scrollable table. This also means that the way you track resources now is not by clicking on the icon, but by using the “track” checkbox in the same row as the resource.
There is also a search box in the Warehouse panel to make it easier to find certain goods.
⚡ Changed the recipe/ingredient dropdown in the recipe panel to a toggle button.
⚡ Changed the tier 0 icon to a star outline (instead of a vague gauge/meter symbol) to bring it closer to the other tier symbols.
⚡ Added a checkbox to needs in service buildings. Unchecking it will prevent workers from stockpiling resources in these buildings.
⚡ Added a new option to the woodcutter button on the top HUD. Now using the middle mouse button, you can unassign a single woodcutter.
⚡ Improved the wording in the description of the No Strangers Deed.
⚡ Improved the wording of some effects blocking trader arrival. They now also state that traders currently residing in the settlement will leave.
Changed the wording in the description of the Prestige 1 difficulty modifier to make it shorter and clearer.
Added a custom label to archaeology events in the Scarlet Orchard.
Added a unique thumbnail illustration for Sealed Forest settlements in the trade route and game history panels.
Added a cart UI panel. You can now click on hauling carts or mine carts to see a short description and the goods that are being carried.

Bug fixes
⚡ Fixed a bug with Blight Fighters destroying ingredients when they are unassigned from their workplace in the middle of transporting them.
⚡ Fixed an issue with Inscribed Monoliths not giving resources when removed.
⚡ Fixed a few inconsistencies with the Training Expedition panel (wrong UI header, incorrect text formatting).
⚡ Added two missing town labels for trade route tooltips (for Cursed Royal Woodlands and Sealed Forest towns).
⚡ Fixed an issue with some buildings being incorrectly listed as “unlocked by deed” in the in-game encyclopedia.
⚡ Fixed a bug with Daily Expedition town names not being displayed correctly in the Game History panel.
⚡ Fixed a missing tooltip when hovering over the Orders button.
⚡ Fixed an issue with background blends having different alpha levels in different UI panels.
⚡ Fixed a bug that caused the Ominous Presence and Flooded Mines modifiers to be generated next to each other during some Cycles.
⚡ Fixed a bug with the Beacon Tower being shown as locked in the in-game encyclopedia.
⚡ Fixed an animation glitch in the Seal closing animation.
⚡ Fixed an issue with redundant minus signs in negative cycle effects that remove embarkation goods.
⚡ Fixed a bug with the sacrifice alert in the top HUD being covered up by the year counter.
⚡ Fixed an issue with the Cycle warning text having an incorrect font.
⚡ Fixed a typo in the Russian description of the Exploring Expedition Cornerstone.
⚡ Fixed an issue with the Kiln and the Furnace being translated to the same name in Italian.
⚡ Fixed an incorrect translation for Porridge in the Ukrainian version of the game.
⚡ Fixed a typo in the Korean description of the Guild of Traders, or Thieves? modifier.

Other
⚡ Added a new music track to the Marshlands (Drizzle).

The current game version is 0.60.1.