Oct 23

The Promethean Project - Alastair Forsyth

Welcome to my facility.

This development update is long overdue, owed to fans of walking sims, horror films, or detective stories.

I apologize.

And thanks for giving this a look. I’ll be honest. This update is so late because I just want to spend all my time making this game! So, I've made myself a promise: keep Steam updated. Here's why I've been so excited as I'm working on this every night so you can play it, and why you should be too

It’s always been my dream to make games.

This journey started two years ago with two goals. Teach myself modern game design so that I can make more games as an solo dev, and make my dream horror game. However, the last time I actually made a game was in high school. A long, long time ago. It looked something like the image on the left. I called it Paintball. You shot at targets. It was written in something that looked like the image on the right.

And after 20 years, returning to work in Unreal has been a game changer. I’ve been developing this game every night, after my day job. Every line of code, every system, every shader, is being designed for a horror unique experience. Below is an overview of where the game’s visuals has been this year. It's still work in progress.

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The inspiration for this game comes from my love of cinema and narrative.

I wanted to make a game about surveillance that feels like you’re part of a movie, with a script that reacts to your choices.

I spent months figuring out the design and overall story structure. The result is a game with a narrator who can respond to everything important that you’ve done.

Your story unfolds beat by beat, in a semi-open world that changes based on your actions.

What clues did you find?

Are you focusing on investigating your brother’s fate, or are you digging into other areas of the story?

The narrator responds in context to your actions.

Your story is unique to you.

I created a movement system that uses character perspective, not player perspective.

A twist on the classic tank controller.

Forward is whatever direction the character is facing. This works in first or third person perspective.

Left or right, strafe.

Look input makes your character look around, rotating when you look too far.

Your flashlight shows you what you're looking at. Keep it charged.

When using your camera, you are focused on it.

The character is grounded and responsive to the game’s world.

You are actively investigating and the character is aware of things around him.

Is there an obvious clue in front of your character? He will look at it as long as it won’t break his neck.

If your flashlight is out, he will point it at anything important.

He is trying to tell you what he can.

Character actions are the main forms of UI and guiding hints.

The goal was to make it immersive.

There is no HUD or glowing objects. No quest makers. You have your flashlight and a camera you found to investigate your lost brother.

You're not a fighter or a reporter, but you may end up fighting for your life and looking for other stories.

The building is being designed to have a natural flow, with in-game maps of the facility to guide players. Like maps at malls and campuses.

The next facility is inspired by research into architectural blueprints and interior design.

This current level is my testing grounds for designing the systems. A majority of the current game assets are still placeholders. This is not the final facility. Far from it.

Getting the final art assets will come next year. I’m currently designing the story, the clues, and what I’ll need for those assets. Everything is being tested here.

And at any point during your investigation, you may find that the Promethean has snuck up on you.

There are currently 3 storylines in development, played in a parallel episodic format.

The first storyline will be finished for launch.

One storyline is the fate of your brother. Second is the history of your digital camera and its creator. Third deals with other survivors and another monster in development.

The way that the narrative works, you can bend the story, going from one storyline episode to another. The progression depends on what clues are stored on your camera as you end a level.

Investigate and photograph what you want. Until you get to the climatic episode.

However, your main antagonist, the Narrator, has control over the facility’s trans-dimensional research. He can use it against you. Between episodes, you are flown back through the level as furniture rearranges itself.

Between episodes, pathways that were blocked may be opened. Doors that were open may be barricaded.

Clues available are unique to each episode. And I'm currently working out how other survivors will play into the story.

As you explore, you may find someone still hiding out in their lab.

You get to play the detective in a horror movie that bends as you play.

You found a camera on entering the facility. It's history is tied closely to the facility's downfall and the fate of its past inhabitants.

The camera was an experimental device created by Dr. Chen, the head of the HLRG's trans-dimensional research. It was stashed when she realized it the camera was interacting with local matter in unforeseen ways.

Her camera revealed that reality wasn't entirely there. It interacts with the world in interesting ways.

Only when you're looking through it.

No quick time events or dialogue menus, no HUDs or quest markers in the way. The story plays out every step you take, every decision you make. Find the story before the Promethean finds you.

When you're running from the Promethean, either hide or find something to pick-up and toss. Anything that isn't nailed down.

I just finished refactoring the throwing system to allow picking up hierarchical instance meshes, along with a throwable object pool manager.

Everything realistically throwable littering the place will be throwable.

So, the game is currently slated for release around this time next year.

There’s a version of this game that is possible to complete by that point.

But there’s also a version of what this game could be, with a release one year further out.

I’ll know by January which version I’m aiming for.

And with that, we'll call it a log. I plan to get another update done before the end of the year. Thanks for reading and stay turned.

Oct 23

Major Update 41: VR Management And Modding

Heart of the Machine - x-4000 (Chris McElligott-Park)

This is another really big update in a relatively short succession. Major updates are normally supposed to have larger gaps between them, but this is just how it worked out.

This build includes a huge amount of new stuff related to the VR World and Torment Vessels, and how you can manage those. This is something that people have been waiting on since the start of Early Access, and it was one of the biggest "early things that are incomplete" that a lot of people would notice.

This build also has a bunch of updates to the modding framework to make it more powerful (and to make it fully function in general). There have been several folks who already were working on some mods, most notably Pingcode and Puffin. However, they very generously donated their work to be part of the actual main game, so there haven't been any actual example mods around for prospective modders to look at. I've therefore added two of those (one that is more xml-focused, the other of which includes code) that are now shipped with the game. As mods to play with, they're not terribly interesting, but they're kind of case studies.

There's other bits in this build as well, but those are the highlights. Big builds have been coming rapidly in the last week, which is just kind of a coincidence. There's going to be a bit of a quiet period while I get the next batch of big builds ready to go -- Civil Spycraft is up next, and then I'm on to the Tier 3 goals, etc. There are, overall, 5 big sprints left before this game is ready for 1.0.

If you’ve spent time with Heart of the Machine and want to leave a review, that’d be appreciated. No need to say more than you mean, but if you’ve been meaning to write one, I’d be grateful. Steam reviews carry weight. For a project like this — developed by a single person over many years, every review makes a difference.

Honest thoughts are what matter. Whatever your experience has been, sharing it helps. It’s a powerful way to have your voice heard and contributes to how future patches are prioritized and addressed.

Thanks for reading and for playing.

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Update 41 Changelog

VR World Adjustments

Overdrive Category Removed: The "Overdrive VR Patrons" patrons VR screen category has been removed, with its functionality actually taking place in the "Alter VR World" and "Manage Tormented Humans" categories, rather than being separate.
10 New Achievements: These new achievements are all related to the VR screen in some fashion, and the harder ones of them encourage you to mix and match "nice" VR with torment vessels in some interesting ways.
Crystallized Emotions: There are 3 new strategic resources, which are crystalized brain waves in various ranges that correspond to actual emotions or mental states in the real world. These are fear (5 hertz delta waves), calm (3 hertz delta waves), and exhilaration (20 hertz beta waves). Fear is related to the torment vessels, while the other two are related to the main VR world.

Alter VR World

Focal Overdrive: +1 mental energy, but costs a ton of Calm per turn.
Excitement Overdrive: +1 mental energy, but costs a ton of Exhilaration per turn
Client-Side Investment: Invest Calm, get Computing Client internal robotics.
Server-Side Expansion: Invest Calm, get Computing Host internal robotics.
Enthusiastic Cultivation: Invest Exhilaration, get Cultivator internal robotics.
Enthusiastic Networker: Invest Exhilaration, get Network Attendant internal robotics.
Aviation Enthusiast: Invest Exhilaration, get Avionics Core internal robotics.
Storage Expansion: Invest Exhilaration, get VR Pod Chamber internal robotics.
Stockpile Wisdom: Convert Calm into Wisdom, max 20.
Stockpile Apathy: Convert Exhilaration into Apathy, max 20.
Armor Study: Invest Calm, get Armor Plating upgrades for all your mechs (both captured and those that are part of your consciousness).
Smashing Printers: Invest Exhilaration, make your Officemancer printer summons beefier.
Bootstrapped Improvement: Invest Calm into upgrading Compute Time output from all your mainframes.
Vice Recording: Privacy? Who cares! Exhilaration is converted into Weaponized Vice over time. Harbingers can use this to temporarily stun any human target.
Neverending Party: Calm is eliminated, but half of it is converted into Exhilaration.
Quiet Hours: Exhilaration goes away, but half of it becomes Calm.
Improved Realism: Increases both Calm and Exhilaration, but costs more Compute Time the more patrons you have.
Dragon Adventures: People embark on detailed fantasy adventures. Costs a ton of Compute Time for you to be their DM, but generates a ton of Exhilaration.
Petting Zoo: Compute Time in, Calm out. Also dragons.
Meditative Zones: Very low amount of Compute Time in, moderate Calm out.
Tower Of Otherworldly Vices: Humans are icky. Somehow you're not surprised that this is the first thing half of them want to get up to in a virtual world. Way to farm Exhilaration.
Emergency Overdrive: Restore all your Mental Energy at once (!), but at a massive calm/exhilaration cost and with income for those halting for 20 turns.

Manage Tormented Humans

Rooms Of Reprieve: Fear production drops by half, but neural expansion gradually improves, per torment vessel, until it has doubled.
Torment Overdrive: +1 Mental Energy in exchange for a huge Fear investment per turn.
Emergency Harvest: Restore all your mental energy (!), but at the cost of a huge amount of Fear, plus the deaths of a ton of your tormented humans.
Virtual Tormentors: AI agents harass the occupants. Get more Fear, but it costs Compute Time and some of the humans die from the added stress.
Military Simulation: Watching former soldiers in simulated military engagements is very helpful. Fear is gradually converted into attack power improvements for all your robotic units (regular, bulk, captured, worker, vehicular, and mech).
Network Simulation: Simulating a network between your organic processing units, and then dissecting that network, is great practice at hacking. Fear is gradually converted into hacking improvements for all your Souldroids.
Expanding For War: Invest Fear over time into getting War Captain internal robotics. These are rare and powerful!
Storage Expansion: Invest Fear over time into getting VR Pod internal robotics.
Toxic Mind: Fear is converted into Corrosive Network Packets over time. These can be used by Mindrunners to destabilize the smart-nanotech components in human mechs' armor. This is a permanent debuff to targeted enemies.
Cultivate Insanity: Fear is converted into Weaponized Panic over time. That can be used by Harbingers to do massive morale attacks even on Fearless enemies.
Stockpile Cruelty: Convert Fear into Cruelty, max 20.
Stockpile Apathy: Convert Fear into Apathy, max 20.
Low Visibility Mode: Suppress the amygdalas of the organic processing units, removing any sense of fear (but pain remains). Your torment vessels no longer require deterrence, but also stop generating Fear.
Liquefaction: Unlocks a structure that can turn canned protein straight into TPN. Liquefying the dead to feed to the living.

Mod Framework Updates

It Works, Yo: Various bits did not work, but now do. There weren't any active mods for me to notice the non-functional bits.
Architecture, Baby: Several pieces of code that will be popular with modders have been broken up into more effective parts. Having had to deal with constantly breaking mods from core game code updates to AI War 2 for half a decade, I'm inclined to minimize that here as much as possible.
Consolidated Metadata: The data for how mods describe themselves to the game (and thus to players who might want to turn them on) has been extended a lot. It's easier for modders to manage, and it includes new features like multiple language support, etc.
Mod Load Order: When mods depend on mods, that gets messy if there isn't something to control the load order. In AI War 2, that onus was left to the player for the most part, with a central file to edit if it became relevant. With this game, there are features that let the modders themselves adjust things so that it should "just work" for players, when that ever becomes relevant. In the case of no dependencies, the order doesn't matter in these two games, for now. If I someday need to make additional options here, it's not a big deal.
Localization For Mods: Mods now have the option of hooking into the localization framework, so that if they have visible text additions or changes, that can be translated into the languages of the game. Normally this work on the main game is done by a team of very skill translators, but mods are unofficial content. It has a spot to let people know if they are machine-translated, or if the modder had native speakers localize things properly. To me, the key thing is making the tool available.

New Mods (Mainly Examples)

Simple Economy: Created by me. Serves as an example mod, as well as making aspects of the economy much easier for any players who want to use it. It mostly deals with stuff your humans need. Really, don't get too excited -- unless you were wanting to see how an xml-only mod would work, in which case take a look and get very excited. It's all completely open for you to copy, edit, etc.
Nuclear Infantry: Also by me. Another example mod, this time with example code. This makes it so that every time you basic infantry (commonly found in military bases) lands a hit on a target, a small nuclear explosion happens where the target was. That's kind of funny, actually. But the main purpose here is to provide a template code project that modders can copy and then do their own thing with. It's a lot easier than you might expect, but without a template project like this in place, it was understandably intimidating to folks.

Bugfixes

Sleep Is No Longer Criminal: Corrected the icon for androids in torpor. It was showing a balaclava when it should have been showing an hourglass.
Properly Notate Android Suffering: Fixed an issue where the All Systems Red achievement was not properly set up to trigger.
Suppressed Emotions Of Robot Dogs: Corrected Spy Dogs to no longer be stubborn, as they are robots and are therefore not susceptible to morale attacks in the first place.
Properly Realize You've Been Tricked: Fixed an issue where the Tricked By Sedgesinax achievement was not registering properly.
Rare Background Sorting Error Fix: Fixed an exceedingly rare background-thread list sorting error that could throw a visible error when it should not have. In cases where this would have happened, it would have self-corrected either within 1 second or 0.25 seconds anyway, so it was harmless but seemed like an issue to players (understandably) when it popped up.
Rare Health Bar Self-Implosion Fix: Fixed another exceedingly rare exception that could happen when drawing health bars if certain math were just out of range. This would prevent play until the error was ignored, and would massively slow down the game while happening. It now avoids this error by clamping to ensure that it doesn't go out of bounds this way.
Roaches Return, To Much Rejoicing: Fixed an issue where Alumina Roaches were no longer available in new timelines in the game since the wallripper ability was converted into a StreetSense action. The alumina roach now unlocks at the same time it used to, and will automatically fix missing roaches on load of existing savegames.

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Full notes here.

Connect with the Machine

Want to stay in the loop or share your thoughts? Join the conversation across these platforms:

💬 Discord – Best place to share feedback, get direct responses, and to talk about Heart of the Machine.
📜 Reddit – Discuss strategies, share ideas, and exchange tips with the community.

Oct 23

Bearers Community Update

Bearers - admin

Welcome to the Bearers Community - now on Steam!

PAX Aus 2025

We've returned from PAX Aus, where we showcased a significantly expanded demo compared to last year's maiden voyage. This build is much closer to representing the core game loop and vision for the game!

The reception from players and onlookers alike has been incredibly positive. So many have been generous in offering thoughts and feedback, reflecting a genuine interest in both the concept and the development process. To everyone who took the time to play, watch, or share their input - thank you all very much. Your support and investment in this project means a great deal.

What’s coming next…

Hands are back on deck, and equipped with valuable feedback from the event, we're now focused on smoothing out and building out the demo further. It's designed to serve as the tutorial and onboarding experience for the full game.

Expected changes and additions include:

UI/UX fixes for optimal communication and flow
Doubling the number of abilities available
Added mob type
Arena battle
Boss battle

More excitingly, our next major milestone is getting the demo onto Steam and into as many hands as possible!

Playtesting

As we move towards the full demo release, we've transitioned our playtesting to Steam. We'll be conducting extensive playtesting sessions to identify bugs, test flow and communication, assess performance (both single-player and co-op), and refine balance.

If you'd like to join our playtesting group, use this link to join our Discord server, register your interest with the admin, and keep an eye on announcements for the next testing round!

Join Discord and socials

Want to follow along with our development journey and help shape the game? Join our Discord and socials through our Linktree to stay connected, share your input, and be part of charting the skies of the Celestial Isles.

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