Apr 13, 2023

Foxes join the game in the new Sentinels of the Forest Update!

Against the Storm - Leisurely Luke

Ahoj, Viceroys!

Against the Storm grows with the biggest content update ever.

Sentinels of the Forest Update introduces:

New playable species: Foxes
5 new buildings: Fox House, Tea Doctor, Tea House, Distillery, and Beanery
Starting Abilities (unique for every species)
11 new orders
3 new perks
7 new Citadel Upgrades
Increased level cap: 18
New food: Porridge
2 new Deeds
2 new decorations
New glade event
New attribute: Hunger Tolerance
5 new languages: Czech, Hungarian, Italian, Turkish, and Ukrainian
And more!

Check out the new trailer:

ALL-TIME HIGH DISCOUNT AND UPCOMING PRICE INCREASE

We are thrilled to announce that Against the Storm will be featured on the Steam homepage for a Weekend Sale discount starting today, where you’ll be able to pick up the game for 25% off. If you (or your friends) have been on the fence about jumping into Against the Storm, now’s a great time to check it out!

In addition to being the best discount on the game to date, this will also be the last chance to get Against the Storm at the current price. We mentioned in the Early Access notes that the price would likely increase, and with this new species update, we feel enough content has been added for this. In two weeks we will raise the price -- for USD, the price will increase from $19.99 to $29.99, while other currencies will have similar proportional increases. This will be the ONLY time we raise the price of Against the Storm, and the price will remain at that level for the future v1.0 release and after.

But before we do that, we wanted to give everyone advance notice and a good discounted opportunity to buy the game at the lowest price. So if you'd like to get the game, please do so before April 27th, and we'll look forward to having you as part of the player community!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1336490/Against_the_Storm/

DEVELOPER NOTES

Viceroys, rejoice! Foxes have finally entered the game in the biggest update in the history of Against the Storm. And they didn’t arrive empty-handed, because this release also adds a lot of new content - buildings, orders, perks, decorations, deeds, upgrades, new mechanics, new languages, new music track, UI improvements, and much, much more. So without further ado, let's jump right into it.

First off, let’s talk about the new species - the mysterious and majestic Foxes. Back in January, we hosted a community vote, and you helped us decide which new species would end up in the game. Since then, we’ve been working hard on adding them to the game in parallel with delivering regular, bi-weekly updates. And today, Foxes are finally here!

Foxes are one of the more unique species in the world of Against the Storm. They are deeply tied to the forest and have evolved to live in symbiosis with the Blight. One of their most unique traits is their complete resistance to Hostility (they don’t get any Resolve penalty for it). They are skilled scouts (they are faster at solving glade events), and they enjoy working with rainwater (they get a Resolve bonus when working in buildings using it as an ingredient). Unfortunately, due to their relation with the Blight, they need constant Treatment (a new need in place of Cleanliness). Their other needs are: Any Housing, Fox Housing, Porridge (a new food type added with this update), Skewers, Pickled Goods, Brawling, and Luxury. Additionally, Fox firekeepers have the ability to lower the Hostility gained from every discovered glade.

When designing Foxes, our goal was to fill a few balance niches (like the two service needs that were only tied to one species up to this point) and introduce more variation in gameplay. That’s why we gave them a unique attribute (Hostility resistance) and tied them to glade events (via their specialization). We also wanted to round out the metal branch a bit more by requiring metal for Fox Houses and the production of Tea (a new good used to fulfill the need for Treatment). With that change, and numerous previous improvements to the metal branch (mine upgrades, tool rebalance, event revamp, pipes, etc.), we feel that this part of the game should now fall into a nice spot. Although there were numerous cool ideas for a complete metal revamp floating around in the community, we wanted to take a more evolutionary approach with this feature (rather than a revolutionary one).

Another big change coming with this update is the Hunger Tolerance system. Reading the previous paragraph, one might think that Foxes are straight up better than any other species - and to an extent, that would be true. But we also introduce a new global attribute for every species - Hunger Tolerance, which simply put, is the maximum number of hunger stacks a species can take before dying. Until now, hunger was stacking indefinitely, constantly increasing a Resolve penalty. From now on, in addition to the Resolve penalty, villagers will only be able to tank a certain number of stacks before dying (the values are as follows: Foxes 3, Harpies 4, Humans & Beavers 6, Lizards 12). That, combined with the reliance on metal for housing and Tea, as well as a low Base Resolve value, should make Foxes a bit less powerful and in line with other species.

This update also brings with it a brand new mechanic tied to species in the form of Starting Abilities. Each species now has a unique skill that is triggered once they join a given run for the first time - either at the beginning of the game (for species coming with the initial caravan) or when the first member of a new species joins the town. For example, Humans will reveal one patch of fertile soil on the map, while Foxes will show you the location of the nearest rainwater geyser. Starting Abilities are unlocked by buying upgrades in the Citadel.

Human and Fox starting abilities

With the addition of Foxes, there are also numerous areas where new content was added to support the new species. There are 5 new buildings (Fox House, Tea Doctor, Tea House, Distillery, Beanery), a new food item (Porridge, made from rainwater and simple food), 11 new Orders, 3 new perks, one new glade event, 2 new Deeds, 2 new decorations, and 7 new Citadel Upgrades. We also tweaked a lot of existing content to take Foxes into account and seamlessly incorporate them into the game. All the nitty-gritty details are described in the changelog below.

Lastly, this update brings with it a lot of smaller changes as well. We added support for 5 new languages to the game (Italian, Czech, Ukrainian, Hungarian, and Turkish), introduced a new music track to the Coral Forest (Drizzle season), and replaced 41 old icons with new custom assets (a few resources, order objectives, biome effects, and needs). We also (as always) fixed a lot of bugs, and tried to improve the game’s performance and stability.

With all that said, let’s take a look at the Early Access roadmap and see what’s left. Over the past 5 months, we’ve been gradually adding new content, revamping old systems, and polishing the game in general. During that time, some items on the roadmap were pretty easy to mark as done after one or two updates (like Twitch Integration, the new species, the Blightrot revamp, or the Scarlet Orchard’s unique mechanic), whereas others were more complicated to check off, as they could theoretically go on indefinitely (like new perks, new orders, new decorations). But there comes a time when we need to look back at the sum of all the small steps taken (like all the individual small perk batches added in the last 12 updates) and decide to mark their respective roadmap items as delivered. And with this update, we feel that most of the ongoing content expansion topics (buildings, perks, orders, etc.) are done.

Early Access Roadmap (updated April 2023)

One of the more elusive ongoing items on the roadmap you are probably all wondering about is the metal branch evolution - and why it’s now marked as completed. This was never really intended to be a big revamp or a brand-new system, but rather a gradual evolution. While we never really named any update after it, we introduced small changes here and there (mine upgrades, pipes, needs based on metal, fox housing, event revamps, biome balancing) that slowly nudged the metal branch into a new direction. After the introduction of Foxes, that long marathon is at its end.

But don’t worry, the completion of the roadmap doesn’t mean we will stop adding new content to the game! When we first put together the roadmap, it was only meant to outline the first 6 months of Early Access. We wanted to be extra careful and not overpromise on anything, only adding to it once it was completed. And now, after half a year of suspiciously smooth development, it’s almost done, and we are looking at our backlog of ideas once again! We decided to continue the Early Access program for a couple more months and add more content that we feel would benefit the game greatly. We will share an updated roadmap in the near future.

Phew, that was a long dev note… and it probably didn’t even cover everything, because there is just soo much new stuff (but fortunately the changelog has everything listed). We hope you enjoy this massive new update, and thank you for all the feedback and suggestions you provided. If you’d like to share your ideas for upcoming updates, here are some useful links:

Steam Discussions, Discord, Reddit - discuss the game with the community and share your impressions
Feature Request Tool - suggest specific new features

May the storm be gentle on you,
Eremite Games

P.S. If you've picked up Against the Storm and have been playing it, make sure to leave a Steam review! They help us a lot!

CHANGELOG

Number of changes: 120+
Inspired by community: 55%

Changes marked with ⚡ were inspired by the community.

New content and features

⚡ Added a new playable species - Foxes.
- Majestic and mysterious creatures deeply bonded with the forest. They evolved a symbiosis with Blightrot through long exposure to Rainwater, which caused some visible side effects. Foxes are skilled scouts and feel comfortable working with Rainwater. They are highly susceptible to starvation.
- Fox attributes:
  - Base Resolve: 5
  - Break Interval 2:00
  - Resilient: low
  - Demanding: low
  - Decadent: medium
- Foxes have the following needs:
  - Any Housing
  - Fox Housing
  - Porridge
  - Skewers
  - Pickled Goods
  - Brawling
  - Luxury
  - Treatment
- Foxes are completely resistant to Hostility of the Forest. They don’t suffer Resolve penalties from it (but they still are susceptible to the Storm Resolve penalty).
- Fox firekeeper ability:
  - Forest Affinity - Fox Firekeepers have an unusual ability to calm the forest. Hostility from opened glades is lowered by 2 each.
- Fox specializations:
  - Forest - a Fox scout assigned to a Glade Event reduces its working time by 5%.
  - Rainwater - a Fox assigned to a building tagged as “Rainwater” gets a +5 Resolve bonus.
⚡ Added 5 new buildings.
- Fox House - Building specifically made for Foxes. Has to be built near a Hearth. Can house 2 residents.
- Tea Doctor - A place where villagers can fulfill their need for: Treatment, Brawling. Passive effects: Vitality.
  - Vitality - A rich diet is beneficial for villagers' health. Gain a stack of the Vitality Effect (+1 to Global Resolve) for every 150 units of any Complex Food consumed. (the bonus is added retroactively)
- Tea House - Can produce: Tea (T3), Porridge (T2), Waterskins (T1). Can use: Drizzle Water.
- Distillery - Can produce: Wine (T2), Porridge (T2), Barrels (T2). Can use: Drizzle Water.
- Beanery - Can produce: Porridge (T3), Pickled Goods (T2), Crystalized Dew (T1). Can use: Drizzle Water.
⚡ Added a new food item - Porridge.
- Porridge is a low-tier complex food made from Rainwater (Drizzle, Clearance, or Storm Water) and Grain/Vegetables/Mushrooms/Herbs.
- Porridge can be produced in the Field Kitchen, Tea House, Distillery, and Beanery.
- Foxes and Humans have the need to consume Porridge.
⚡ Added 11 new Orders.
- The Pack - reach a Resolve level with Foxes.
- Joyful Foxes (timed) - reach a Resolve level with Foxes.
- People of the Forest - reach a population threshold with Foxes.
- Aid for the Fox Pack - deliver Storm Water and Packs of Provisions.
- Fox Influx - deliver Herbs.
- Fox Population - reach a population and Resolve threshold with Foxes.
- Happy Foxes - reach a Resolve level with Foxes, solve glade events.
- Homes For Foxes (timed) - have Fox Houses.
- Fox Relatives - satisfy the need for Porridge and have Fox Houses.
- Fox Resolve - reach a Resolve level with Foxes.
- Fox Majority - reach a population threshold with Foxes, deliver Porridge.
⚡ Added 3 new perks.
- Fox Pack Support - Ever since the Great Civil War, all species have been locked in a constant struggle to gain the Queen's favor. The Fox tribe remembers your help. (+3 to Foxes Resolve)
- Puffed Grain - +1 to Porridge production. Gain additional Porridge every yield (from gathering, farming, or production).
- Filling Dish - Porridge production increases by +1 for every 150 units of Drizzle Water produced.
⚡ Added one new glade event.
- Fallen Fox Scouts - A group of fallen Fox scouts. They must have been sent to search the area to make sure it was safe... Apparently, something stood in their way. This find is causing grief among the Fox population.
⚡ Added 7 new Citadel Upgrades.
- A new Brass Forge Upgrade on level 9 - unlocking the Beaver Starting Ability.
- A new Pioneers’ Gate Upgrade on level 12 - unlocking the Fox Starting Ability.
- A new Monastery of the Vigilant Flame Upgrade on level 8 - unlocking the Lizard Starting Ability.
- A new First Dawn Headquarters Upgrade on level 10 - unlocking the Human Starting Ability.
- A new Vanguard Spire Upgrade on level 8 - unlocking the Essential Fox House.
- A new Vanguard Spire Upgrade on level 11 - unlocking the Harpy Starting Ability.
- A new Obsidian Archive Upgrade on level 18 - taking on one of the earlier upgrades to the Grace Period (to allow for reshuffling in some earlier upgrades).
- As the new upgrades were added in the middle of the upgrade tree, some old ones were pushed further up (more details on that in the balance section of this changelog).
⚡ Increased the level cap to 18.
⚡ Added 2 new Deeds.
- Fox Settlement - Win a game with at least 25 Foxes.
- Fox Utopia - Win a game with 30 Foxes, 15 x Fox House, 1 x Tea Doctor
⚡ Added 2 new decorations.
- Overgrown Fence (Aesthetics) - unlocked by completing the Fox Settlement Deed.
- Overgrown Fence Corner (Aesthetics) - unlocked by completing the Fox Utopia Deed.
Added a new mechanic - Starting Abilities.
- Each species now has a unique special ability (unlockable via Upgrades in the Smoldering City).
- Starting abilities are triggered once for every available species in a given run - either at the beginning of the game (for species coming with the initial caravan) or when the first member of a new species joins the town.
- Humans - reveal the location of 1 of the nearest patches of fertile soil.
- Beavers - extend available trade offers by 1 in each neighboring town.
- Lizards - start with 10 Tools.
- Harpies - start with 50 Coats.
- Foxes - reveal the location of 1 of the nearest geysers.
- Added a new species attribute - Hunger Tolerance.
- Each species now has a new attribute: Hunger Tolerance. The exact value of this new stat can be found in the Encyclopedia in the “species” tab.
- Hunger Tolerance is the maximum number of hunger stacks a species can take before dying (Foxes: 3, Harpies: 4, Humans & Beavers: 6, Lizards: 12).
- A villager dies as soon as the number of hunger stacks exceeds the tolerance.
- If a villager is at risk of dying during the next break they take (meaning - they will find no food and have the maximum amount of hunger stacks), a notification will appear on the left side of the screen.

Balance

⚡ Removed the Stormforged version of Mist Piercers to avoid overlap with the already existing Ancient Pact perk.
Added the Rainwater specialization tag to multiple buildings.
- Brickyard
- Finesmith
- Advanced Rain Collector
- Cooperage
- Rain Collector
- Greenhouse
- Geyser Pump
- Clay Pit
- Apothecary
- Rainpunk Foundry
- Alchemist Hut
Added the Forest specialization tag to all Glade Events.
Reshuffled some needs for Humans and Harpies.
- Humans no longer require Jerky, and want Porridge instead.
- Harpies no longer require Brawling, and want Clothing instead.
- Harpies no longer require Skewers, and want Biscuits instead.
Changed the Cleanliness need to Treatment (renamed it and changed the icon).
Changed the Cosmetics resource to Tea (both the name and icon)..
Added the Porridge recipe to the Field Kitchen.
The Tavern can now fulfill the need for Luxury instead of Brawling.
Changed the names of several perks.
- Cosmetic Delivery Line was renamed to Tea Delivery Line.
- Mortar and Pestle was renamed to Tea Infuser.
- Cosmetic Specialization was renamed to Tea Specialization.
- High Hygiene was renamed to Health Infusion.
Rebalanced the biome effect in the Coral Forest. Inspiring Pressure now gives a bonus of 3% instead of 5%.
Rebalanced the Archeologist’s Office upgrades in the Scarlet Orchard.
- Ancient Strength - changed the bonus capacity from 5 to 3
- Carved in Stone - changed the scout working speed increase from 10% to 5%.
- Decryption - changed the Hostility reduction from -15 to -10.
Removed two Orders.
- Tooled Up
- Outerwear
Changed the reward for completing the Harpy Resolve Order. It now gives +2 to Biscuit production (instead of Skewers).
Reshuffled multiple Citadel Upgrades. The individual changes are too numerous to describe, so we decided to quickly explain just the most crucial points.
- Due to the addition of Fox Houses and Starting Abilities in the middle of the tech tree (levels 8 to 12), all upgrades above their level range were moved up slightly.
- Some upgrades moved up by just one level, others were distributed a bit more freely in the higher parts of the tech tree.
- There are now 3 upgrades on the new max. Level (18) for three branches: Obsidian Archive, First Dawn Headquarters, and Vanguard Spire.
- Citadel Resource costs were adjusted to be in line with the level at which a given upgrade is located. A new higher price range was also added to upgrades on level 18 (variations of: 156 Food Stockpiles, 40 Artifacts, 40 Machinery).
- Some upgrades were moved down the tech tree. For example, the first upgrade of the Vanguard Spire (Essential Human Houses) is now purchasable on level 4 instead of 5.
- The Additional Caravan Slot reward was moved from the Vanguard Spire to the Obsidian Archive.
Reshuffled level-up rewards. The individual changes are too numerous to describe, so we decided to simply give you a full list of all rewards and levels.

Unlocked Buildings

Unlocked Cornerstones

Unlocked Species

Unlocked Traders

Rain Collector, Paved Road, Herbalists’ Camp

Flame Amulets, Crowded Houses

Cellar, Scribe, Mine

Over Diligent Woodworkers, Meat Specialization

Old Farluf

Guild House, Clan Hall, Distillery

Metal Delivery Line, Rebellious Spirit, Safe Haven

Smelter, Bath House, Cooperage

Generous Gifts, Tanning Racks

Harpies

Artisan, Press, Monastery

Exploring Expedition, Frequent Caravans

Sothur The Ancient

Explorer's Lodge, Druid's Hut, Ranch, Reinforced Road

Trade Hub, Sharp Sickles

Apothecary, Smithy, Grove, Market

Smuggler's Visit, Stormwalker Training

Toolshop, Brick Oven, Grill

Mist Pierces, Prayer Book

Vliss Greybone

Forum, Alchemist's Hut, Beanery

Leftover Crops, Cheap Construction

Foxes

Tinctury, Butcher, Tea House, Tea Doctor

Moldy Grain Seeds, Lost Supplies

Granary, Supplier

Back to Nature, Guild's Catalogue, Rich Glades

Sir Renwald Redmane

Furnace, Manufactory, Tinkerer

Ancient Stabilizer, Lumber Tax, Bed and Breakfast

Workshop, Stamping Mill

Survivor Bonding, Fedora Hat, Small Press, Royal Guard Training

Clay Pit, Greenhouse

Forge Trip Hammer, Tightened Belt, Trade Negotiations, Burnt to a Crisp

Advanced Rain Collector

Hidden from the Queen, Deep Pockets, Overexploltation, Queen's Gift

Xiadani Stormfeather

Stormwalker Tax, Free Samples, Improvised Tools, Calming Water, Frequent Patrols

Counterfeit Amber, Firelink Ritual, Prosperous Archaeology, Copper Extractor, Prosperous Settlement

UX/UI improvements

⚡ Added unique icons for every species in Orders that require achieving a certain resolve threshold with a given species. Previously it was just one icon (a human eye) for all of them.
⚡ Changed the objective name for all objectives based on delivering resources in the Orders UI to be clearer and easier to understand.
Changed the icons for multiple resources in the game.
- Wildfire Essence
- Pipes
- Drizzle Water
- Clearance Water
- Storm Water
Changed the icons for multiple order objectives and ghost requests.
- Solve Events with Empathy/Corruption/Loyalty.
- Burn Blightrot Cysts.
- Have Blightrot Cysts.
- Attack a trader.
- Starve villagers.
- Use rainwater.
- Forbid needs.
Changed the icons for upgrades in the Mine and Geyser Pump.
- Minecart
- Box Crib
- Pit Pony
- Tank Capacity
- Automaton
Changed the icons of the unique effects on all biomes.
Changed the icons of Rain Engine effects.
- Efficiency
- Reliability
- Low Strain
Changed the names of the favoring buff (Lighter Treatment) and debuff (Unfair Treatment) to Negligence and Favoring to avoid confusion with the new need - Treatment.
Updated the Encyclopedia entry about food and hunger to the new mechanic of hunger stacks into account.

Bug fixes

⚡ Fixed a bug with two orders (Pyromancer and Deeper Into the Wilds) having the same rewards.
⚡ Fixed a bug with some small glades having incorrectly generated resources and geysers (and breaking pump placement because of it).
⚡ Fixed a bug with some glades being incorrectly generated with the Untamed Wilds modifier.
⚡ Fixed numerous edge cases related to glade generation and event/resource placement on the map.
⚡ Fixed a bug with the Destroyed Caravan Glade Event having the same decision label twice.
⚡ Fixed the wording of the Monastery of the Holy Flame modifier description. It now correctly states that the effect applies to all needs, not just food.
⚡ Fixed an issue with Lizard scouts having no animation when working on the Altar of Decay Glade Event.
⚡ Fixed an issue with arrow keys being displayed as Num keys on the UI.
⚡ Fixed an issue with scouts working on Archaeological Discoveries not having any animations.
⚡ Fixed a bug that caused the Lightning Forest Mystery to appear in the Coral Forest.
⚡ Fixed a bug with the state previous of the Long Live the Queen perk not showing correct values.
⚡ Fixed a bug with amount indicators overlapping with checkmarks in the upgrade UI of geyser pumps.
⚡ Fixed a bug with the Resolve Preview breaking when hovering over the favoring button as the last villager of a given species leaves.
⚡ Fixed an issue with scaled-down ‘i’ letters looking jagged in some places in the UI.
⚡ Removed the state preview from the Improvised Tools Cornerstone.
⚡ Fixed an issue with numerous sounds not stopping when the game was paused.
⚡ Fixed a bug with the Twitch Integration occasionally breaking when a chat poll was created.
⚡ Fixed an issue with the Engine Corrosion effect having an incorrect border color.
⚡ Fixed some typos and grammatical errors in Russian (for example World Map tooltips) and Japanese (Hostility description).
Fixed an issue with the decision highlight in the event UI being cut-off.

Other

⚡ Improved the overall performance and stability of the game, and updated the game’s engine to a newer version. This should eliminate numerous crashes and freezes, as well as improve overall FPS.
⚡ Added official support for 5 new languages. The game is now fully translated into:
- Italian
- Czech
- Ukrainian
- Hungarian
- Turkish
⚡ Added a new music track to the Coral Forest (during Drizzle).
Improved and tweaked a lot of ambient sounds in the game. Cleaned up some tracks to avoid mismatched background sounds.
The Apothecary was changed visually from a Harpy building into a Fox building.
The Clothier was changed visually from a universal building into a Harpy building.
The Herb Garden was changed visually from a Beaver building into a Fox building.