Realindustry · published · build 25058995
Hello, Directors.
This is a regular Realindustry update, but it is an important one for the way the game feels moment to moment.
A lot of the work here came directly from player feedback: too much scrolling inside production, early automation feeling stricter than intended, and several interface details that were technically working but not pleasant enough. Realindustry is still a one-person project, so that feedback does not disappear into a pipeline. I read it, test against it, and try to make the colony a little better each time.
The update is available for both the full game build and the demo.
The production interface now has a new wide layout. Recipes, production controls, automation panels, and the current workbench are arranged across the screen instead of forcing you to move up and down constantly. The classic vertical layout is still available with a toggle, and the game remembers your preference.
Colonist automation has also been rebalanced in a serious way. Manual automation now understands sequential production chains better: production blocks on the same uninterrupted route can share colonists. Wait, Rest, and Reroute blocks keep the sequence together, while real control-flow structures such as Splitters, Joiners, Loops, Conditions, and Barriers still create separate groups.
In practice, this means colonist automation now behaves closer to how a real worker sequence should behave. A colonist can move through a chain of tasks instead of every step always requiring a completely separate worker group.
This setup, consisting of four sequential blocks, uses one colonist.
This also made room for three difficulty options:
Easy: starts with 20 bonus colonists, and Operations Board project plans develop instantly.
Normal: starts with 10 bonus colonists and is now the recommended balance.
Hard: keeps the previous balance, with no starting colonist bonus and the standard project-development timer.
Every new highest technology tier still adds 5 colonists on all difficulties.
The main balancing target for Normal was simple: from the early game to the late game, players should be able to automate key resources without the system fighting them too early. For example, on Normal, Iron Tools can now be automated at research level 2. Easy is there for players who want a smoother automation-first run. Hard remains for players who liked the older, tighter balance where key chains often require serious planning or manual production.
Existing saves created before this update will ask you to choose a difficulty when loaded.
One more thing: Realindustry has now passed 4,000 wishlists on Steam.
I know numbers like this can sound like marketing milestones, but for a solo developer they feel very real. It means thousands of people looked at this very specific, science-heavy industrial simulation and decided it was worth remembering.
Thank you. Sincerely.
Thank you for playing the demo, wishlisting, sending feedback, joining the Discord, pointing out rough edges, and helping Realindustry reach the people it was made for. I feel that responsibility more strongly now, and I am doing everything I can to make the September 22, 2026 launch worthy of your attention.
Added a new wide production interface layout.
Kept the classic vertical production layout as an optional toggle.
Added persistent layout preference for the production interface.
Reworked the production workspace so recipe selection, production controls, and automation panels fit together with less scrolling.
Added automation meter visibility modes: collapsed, automatic, and expanded.
Improved automation panels inside the production screen, including better collapsed/expanded behavior.
Improved output bonus tooltips so achievement bonus details appear more reliably and avoid clipping behind interface layers.
Fixed production recipe ordering so newly unlocked recipes stay easier to find.
Added stable unlock-order sorting for production recipes.
Added Easy, Normal, and Hard difficulty options.
Added difficulty selection to New Game.
Added a migration prompt for saves created before difficulties existed.
Added difficulty badges to save/load slot cards.
Added difficulty-based colonist capacity: Hard +0, Normal +10, Easy +20.
Kept the existing +5 colonists per new highest technology tier.
Added instant Operations Board project development on Easy.
Reworked colonist automation worker calculation for sequential chains.
Sequential production blocks can now share colonists when they are part of the same uninterrupted route.
Parallel branches and control-flow sections are still counted separately.
Updated Rest block validation to match the new colonist-group rules.
Added clearer automation editor hints for shared worker sequences.
Fixed a dangerous automation state issue where running schemes could reset incorrectly after edits.
Automation can now remain running when only production parameters, timer values, or layout positions change.
Automation still stops safely when the graph topology changes or validation fails.
Added mouse back-button support for navigation.
Added mouse-button capture to hotkey settings.
Improved browser/Electron back navigation handling so it maps more cleanly to in-game history.
Added an Inventory option to show or hide discovered resources with zero stock.
Added visual styling for zero-stock inventory items.
Added progress bars and current progress display for locked achievements.
Improved achievement progress calculations across production, inventory, research, construction, time, automation, and other condition types.
Improved achievement checking when inventory, automation state, and other relevant stats change.
Optimized Almanac rendering while hidden and reduced unnecessary recalculations.
Improved Almanac page preloading for smoother page flipping.
Improved ambient audio loop handling, including recovery if an ambient loop ends unexpectedly.
Improved menu audio fade/restore behavior.
Updated Guide and tutorial text to explain difficulty, colonist capacity, and the new automation rules.
Updated UI text across supported languages.
Added automated tests for hotkeys, achievement progress, Almanac memoization, inventory visibility, automation meter visibility, unlock markers, automation lifecycle, colonist accounting, and project planning behavior.
The Corporation has reviewed the update.
Interface friction: reduced.
Automation fairness: improved.
Wishlist trajectory: still being watched with suspicious interest.
Thank you for being here, Director.