So, it’s been a while since I put together a dev diary/post here. My apologies for the tardiness, but it has admittedly been a rather tough time, so it was difficult to find the motivation for a proper write-up.
Now, I’m not saying the hard times or stress are gone — far from it — but we’ve hit the first three months of our Early Access. We managed to deliver regular monthly updates, each bringing significant and much-needed upgrades to the game. And we’re getting close to unveiling the co-op mode, which I believe will bring a much-needed new dynamic to the gameplay as well.
At the beginning of this journey, some questions from players really stuck with us and honestly got us a bit worried:
What does population even mean?
Why should we care about it?
And why bother increasing the Core’s Tech Levels?
These aspects are, in fact, crucial and central elements of both the story and gameplay. The sole surviving city of sentient kind, surrounded by chaotic and violent Wastelands, exists in constant peril. It will only stabilise if you, the Alloy, manage to upgrade the failing energy Core and allow the city to truly rebuild.
But clearly, our gameplay was not fully supporting that story. And perhaps the story wasn’t supporting itself either, something that we’ll also aim to improve before full release.
In any case, many of our changes over the last few months aimed at addressing those concerns (among other feedback, of course). We still have a few big hurdles ahead, but with our latest update, City Renovations, we finally feel like the survival tone is shaping up the way we originally intended — with the emphasis firmly on the survival of the sole city, against the odds and against constant pressure.
For those of you who do not follow the Steam updates, here’s a very brief summary of the key changes.
Update 1 – Meta Progression
This was the structural backbone update.
We introduced Destiny Points, meaning each run now feeds into the next. Even if you fail, you unlock bonuses for future attempts. That shifted the experience from “all or nothing” to “survival with long-term consequences.”
Some concrete changes included:
- Meta Progression & Destiny Points Introduced
- Every run now earns Destiny Points that permanently strengthen future attempts. Even failed expeditions move you forward.
- Expanded Main Story & Character Depth New main quest events, Mercy storyline expansion, additional city events, and new flirt interactions to deepen narrative replayability.
- Late-Game Content Added New high-level POI for advanced challenges and Shard farming, expanding endgame pressure.
- Core Systems Rebalanced for Smoother Progression Research costs reduced, crafting values adjusted, recruits linger longer, equipment slots expanded for Minions and Experts, and free rewards tied to research milestones.
- Major Performance & UI Improvements Database optimisation drastically reduced load times, improved equip screen usability, ability targeting refinements, and multiple quality-of-life fixes across combat and events.
The goal here was simple: make every run matter.
Update 2 – Expanded Wastelands
This was about breadth and pacing.
We expanded the overworld experience and tightened the expedition loop. The Wastelands became less predictable and more reactive.
Examples:
- Expanded Map & More POIs The Wastelands grew in size, with additional Points of Interest and new event variants to increase exploration variety and unpredictability.
- Outposts & Fast Travel Introduced Players can now establish Outposts that generate local resources and act as fast travel hubs, changing how expeditions are planned and sustained.
- Shard & Tech Progression Rebalanced Shard rewards and tech level requirements were adjusted to smooth pacing and better align risk with reward.
- Research & Card Booster Adjustments Tweaks to Research gain and card booster availability to reduce grind and improve long-term progression balance.
- Expedition Difficulty Curve Improved Early refinements to expedition scaling to create a more consistent challenge across early, mid, and late-game encounters.
We wanted exploration to feel less like a corridor and more like a dangerous ecosystem.
For full details visit Steam https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/3360890/view/505099815104810161?l=english
Update 3 – City Renovations
This is where things became personal.
Players kept asking:
“What does population even do?”
“Why should we care about the Core level?”
So we rebuilt that layer.
Concrete changes:
- Population Now Directly Affects Survival Systems
Population determines garrison slots, influences supply costs, and impacts expedition morale, making it a central survival metric rather than a background number.
- Seasonal Council Reelections Introduced
Each season, one council member can be replaced, adding strategic political decisions to city management.
- Recruitment Scaling Improved
All new recruits now match your MAIN’s level on arrival, keeping late-game recruitment viable and meaningful.
- New Buildings Expanded Building Abilities & Clearer Tech Progression
New buildings and building abilities and improved tech unlock clarity strengthen the connection between Core upgrades, city development and the Domains.
The city is no longer just a backdrop. It is the thing you are trying to save.
For full details visit Steam https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/3360890/view/514110185434776023?l=english
And Beyond the Headline Changes…
On top of the key gameplay overhauls, there were dozens of smaller improvements that quietly shape the experience.
To name just a few:
- Reroll cost for Skill Challenges was lowered
- Edge scrolling was added
- Rename your characters
- New ambient and combat sound effects to make the world feel more alive
- Additional difficulty options to allow for more customised runs
- Various UI refinements and quality-of-life tweaks across systems
Many of these changes may not look dramatic on paper, but together they make the moment-to-moment experience smoother and more responsive.
What’s Next?
For the next three months, our focus will be on:
- Improving and clarifying combat tutorials
- Expanding story events and narrative branches
- Reworking garrison and city defence mechanics
- Continued balancing and quality-of-life improvements
- And, of course… co-op mode.
We’re getting very close to showing more of that.
That’s all for now.
If you’re interested in the full detailed breakdown of each update, head over to Steam and have a look through the patch notes.