About the Game
IDLE_DIRECTIVE is a grid-based inventory and resource management idle game. Idly gather and manage resources to repair what's left of a decaying world. Scavenge forgotten ruins, meet scattered survivors, and push back against the inevitable collapse.
Balance limited inventory space by being strategic with your items and equipment! Available items include:
Utility items that aid you in your mission
Automation items that automate gameplay
Storage containers to expand your limited inventory
Resource producers
Manually, or idly gather various resource types to upgrade and improve yourself!
Explore a dying world filled with hidden points of interest (POIs). While many locations offer loot and resources, critical infrastructure that require repair is your prime directive and should be sought out.
The world is not lifeless, pockets of life still exist. Trade resources or aid survivors to build up your reputation, unlocking unique and powerful items or equipment in return.
RESET SYSTEM and gain powerful augment points that you can use to unlock powerful permanent upgrades to aid you in your directive. IDLE_DIRECTIVE features crafting, trade, and NPC tasks that are unlocked later on through Augmentation!
Screenshots
6 images
Version Information
Steam Patch Notes
Official update history
Hello everyone, This is a small patch to address some bugs as well as adding 2 QoL features!
FIX: Plural form of Nexus being wrong in text.
FIX: NPC Item and resource stocks not being reflected properly on relevant augment purchase.
FIX: Decomposer I and Decomposer II underperforming during Offline Calculation.
FIX: World gen improved to avoid Traders spawning on-top of or too close to Terminals, Spires, and Reactors.
ADD: Lab Access Tokens are now used during auto-explore when applicable, Labs are now also skipped when they can not be unlocked automatically.
ADD: "Cancel after current" button option for Replicator jobs to cancel without losing any resources.
HOT-FIX UPDATE
a hot-fix patch was appended to v.1.1.2 (Roughly 4 hours after the initial patch went live):
FIX: String for upgrade-effects now has consistent capitalization, revising the text for upgrade-effect text for Spatial Containers (no longer "carcass_storage", but instead "Storage Capacity").
FIX: "Cancel after Current" not working for continuous mode in the Replicator.
Thanks for reading, and thanks for playing!
-Kevin
The following are the change logs:
ADD: "Mute on Unfocused" setting (defaults to off), that mutes all game audio when window focus is lost.
ADD: Varying audio pitches to make Spinners, Pulsers and Biocores sound less annoying.
ADD: Middle Mouse button shortcut to use Blueprints and Consumables.
FIX: Non-storage items showing the "recycling storage container" warning.
FIX: Databank item-name search box not being flagged as typing, causing WASD to cause map movement and hotkeys.
FIX: Flawed check handling for item-wiring, this only affected the Cultivator.
FIX: Disconnected Grabbers still counted as "Functional" by Auto Explore; causing it to wait indefinitely.
FIX: Mouse held-down behaviour for Metal and Biomass buttons (for POIs). The buttons now correctly register mouse up and down events (no more weird moments where holding down the button does nothing until you click once first, as well as no more Biomass storage warning spams when the panel switches thanks to Auto Explore).
FIX: Text typo in Emergency Stop warning ("Trigerred" instead of "Triggered")
FIX: Fog of War generation and rendering, causing the POIs to be revealed while still hidden behind the black fog on the MAP. This hopefully also fixes the fog-drift too? but still unproven.
CHANGE: Audio for Biocore altered to have less bass and volume.
CHANGE: Increased "Repair Speed" level cap from 6 to 8, now repair speed can be further reduced to just 20% of base repair time.
And that's all the changes in this patch; thanks for reading, and thanks for playing!
-Kevin
Hello everyone! This is a small patch to fix the following, as well as to optimize a huge cause of lag for some players:
\ All text-fields now properly block map-movement input, previously only the feedback window's textbox have this effect.
\ Possible crash source in energy-floaters/indicators.
\ Task Items not being "delivered" properly if you happen to look at the Augment or Offline screen when it was being submitted.
\ Animated portraits of Traders not resetting properly if you view the Augment screen and come back to it.
\[FIX?] I changed how the map fog-rendering works in the backend in an attempt to fix the "drift" that some players are seeing. I couldn't replicate the issue on my end, and I hope that this solves it.
\ Changed out the GPU-intensive rendering for buttons in the Actions panel with something way cheaper. This probably effects players who play on large resolutions or players without a dedicated GPU. This change might even improve slowdowns/lag that some players are reporting, but I am not sure about this.
All the development focus is now on the QoL patch; although this upcoming patch may include bug fixes/optimizations too
Finally, thanks for reading, and thanks for playing!
-Kevin
Hey everyone! the following are fixed/changed in this patch:
FIX: Game crash when opening the Augment window while the map is rendering (thread related).
FIX: Random game crashes due to the game-engine trying to access invalid objects (Crashes might still happen, this fix solves only possible crash sources that I could find).
FIX: Floating-point errors causing players to stop gaining energy (energy capacity capped at 9.9999999999998)
FIX: Using up upgrade materials from Materials Cases not notifying the Replicator or newly emptied space.
OPTIMIZE: Salvager and Harvester backend has been slightly optimized (10% faster), but it will still cause stutters at late-game stages (200k power or more). Further optimization will take time.
For players who were regularly experiencing crashes, do let me know if it is still happening or not in the Steam Forums/below this announcement!
Thanks for reading, and thank you for playing!
- Kevin
Hello everyone! this patch has the following changes:
FIX: Buying and Selling from traders using the percentages buttons can cause a floating-point error, corrupting your save file unknowingly until you next load up the game.
ADD: Related to the above, I've added backup-system for save files, if the game detects that the current save state is somehow unusable, it will revert to a valid backup. Now, Players who have a corrupt save file will now lose partial progress instead of everything.
ADD: Steam Achievements are now checked on game-load. If the game somehow didn't manage to connect and update Steam achievements as it occurs it will now update when the game loads.
FIX: Smart grabber now correctly grabs WIRE from POIs correctly (and stores them in Wire Boxes).
FIX: Databank showing the wrong maximum item count, leading players to think there were 5 more items to discover.
FIX: Z-index issue for item tooltips when you have the MAP options panel open.
FIX: Auto Explore is now properly turned off when stuck in a wake-up loop.
CHANGE: "Travel" achievements now require way less kilometers logged to achieve:
TRAVEL II now requires 500 instead of 1,000 kilometers
TRAVEL III now requires 1,500 instead of 5,000 kilometers
TRAVEL IV now requires 3,000 instead of 25,000 kilometers
TRAVEL V now requires 5,000 instead of 50,000 kilometers
EDIT:
Additional quick fixes:
FIX: Z-index issue for item tooltips patch from earlier causing the energy icons and floaters to cover up the MAP options panel when it is open.
FIX: Biocell being listed as craftable when it isn't.
ADD: Indicator icons for Blueprints found in POIs so players can easily see which one is new.
That is all that is included in this patch, I am truly sorry for anyone who have lost their save-files due to the first bug mentioned above
Thanks for reading, and thanks for playing!
-Kevin
Hi everyone, this patch fixes an Auto Explore bug that is impacting a decent chunk of the player base, so I'm pushing it out along with some other minor fixes:
Auto Explore now works along the edges of the world map properly, it should no longer jitter in place.
Biocore when turned off now actually turns off, instead of being its animation only that is off.
Harvesters and Salvagers now properly pause themselves when you're at a POI with locked resources
Changed Auto Repair's algorithm to wait until a Reactor finishes its repairs before checking for energy/biomass, preventing unexpected leaving if for some reason your energy or biomass drops down momentarily mid repair.
And that's all! compared to v1.0.4 it's a short list, but again; Bug #1 listed above has been a thorn on my side for the past 2 days; glad to see it gone.
The other major bug I haven't been able to track down is "Fog reveal drifting away from the player", any clues or further information helps! (I've heard that turning on/off your sensor fixes this drift/offset)
Thanks for reading, and thanks for playing!
-Kevin
Hi Everyone, I'm here with a new patch (v1.0.4)!
Changes
BUFF: Spatial Carcass Container and Spatial Scrap Box have their base storage and upgrade increments increased from 50 to 100.
CHANGE: pfp icon for Scrap Box (I) to show it empty, to fit better with other storage container pfps.
CHANGE: Item name for \[Fuser (I) -> Fuser] and \[Scrap Box II -> Scrap Box (II)].
CHANGE: increased sleep grace-period from 6 to 8 seconds to prevent narcolepsy (players getting stuck in a wake-up loop).
CHANGE: Replicator now prioritizes filling up Storage Containers if you use the 1x, 2x, 5x or 10x option instead of "continuous"
Additions
ADD: Softlock prevention during "Repair Terminal".
ADD: Time check to prevent SYSTEM RESET action when Terminal is about to be repaired (less than 10 seconds), this also helps to prevent bugs from a Terminal being fixed mid-transition.
ADD: "Discard Excess Biomass" setting to ignore Biomass storage when harvesting from POIs.
Bug fixes
FIX: Travel II achievement icon being missing on Computers with case-sensitive file systems.
FIX: Game crash when just loading in and press 'scavenge' immediately after.
FIX: Terminal count showing wrong numbers in Prestige window.
FIX: Manually placing connected Wires into a Wire Box now updates the status of the grid as well as sprites correctly.
FIX: Softlock when players click on "GO TO" on completed Trader Tasks while having the Scavenge grid open.
FIX: Trader "Item Request" tasks not deleting all of the submitted items on task completion.
FIX: Situation where you can get softlocked when reaching the ending.
FIX: MAP is no longer affected by typing from the feedback window.
FIX: Movement energy consumption is now rounded to 2 nearest decimal points to prevent UI glitch.
FIX: Auto Explore continuing forward if you have Auto Repair enabled.
FIX: Grabbers and Smart Grabbers being treated as "working" if they are turned off, affecting Auto Explore setting.
FIX: False advertising in the text description for Task Master (as well as its augment node).
FIX: Smart Grabber now accepts input correctly from players.
FIX: Smart Grabber now smarter, prioritizes Storage Containers first.
FIX: Crater POI description typo "befound" instead of "be found".
FIX: Wire Box not having confirmation window if you destroy it with wires inside.
FIX: Upgrading the Recycler not using up energy.
FIX: Items being deemed as "No space available" even when there is (pictured below, image provided by a player)
[img src="{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/46091786/0c8c44ef4a7db3dc613ee04b333b925e77f10787.png"]
There are still some major bugs reported by players that are left unfixed in this patch:
Auto-explore jittering, Fog of war drifting away from player position and Task Items not being deleted upon delivery to Traders.
But I couldn't recreate the issues, and the bugs above are being reported by tens of players; so I am forced to upload this patch as soon as I can!
As always thanks for reading, and playing!
-Kevin
Hello everyone! and again, thank you for your patience! This patch addresses some of the major on-going issues reported by players either from the in-game form, or Steam Community posts!
Visual Bugs/Changes
FIX: excessive decimal points from Concentrator/Battery amplifier use.
FIX: Lore-text for "INITIAL BODY SIZE" and "INITIAL INVENTORY SIZE" augments being swapped.
FIX: "repair recyler" typo in ACTIONS tab, can't believe I missed it for so long...
CHANGE: Color of \ POIs from dark purple to dark green, to make it easier to spot.
Bug Fixes
FIX: Fog not revealing properly if players view the Augment screen.
FIX: Tier-3 tasks being available on-game-start, also improved Trader Task box listing responsiveness.
FIX: Trader Task rewards didn't scale properly according to newly acquired Augments.
FIX: Game crash whenever you view the Augment screen while at a Trader POI.
FIX: Game crash whenever players quickly view the Augment screen.
FIX: Decomposer (II) now has the correct cooldown duration (10 seconds, instead of 30).
FIX: POIs now update their colors correctly when their status changes, instead of having to change/toggle Map Options to update.
FIX: World gen spawning Traders near player spawn in edge cases.
FIX: \[NaN Item] being picked for Enclave and Outpost Trader tasks.
Balance Changes
BUFF: Augment point pricing for "OFFLINE PROGRESS" augment reduced from 4, 8, 32, 64, 120, 240, 500 to 2, 4, 16, 32, 60, 120, 288.
NERF: Concentrator amplify property reduced from 25% per level, to 20%.
BUFF: Harvester and Salvager power tripled from 1 per level to 3 per level (considering they use Processors as upgrade material, this is only fair).
CHANGE: Terminals now keep their repair progress in-between prestige/SYSTEM RESET. They do not however keep submitted items, only when the repair progress has been started will the repair-time persist (additional text added to the prestige window for clarification).
CHANGE: Terminal Repair times are now dynamic, and is no longer a constant 6 hours (so the first Terminal is significantly faster to repair now). Save files from previous versions with repairing Terminals WILL still keep their old repair times and only reset properly on the next Terminal.
Visual bugs
FIX: Visual bug where Furnace (II) not glowing properly, this also causes log files to get excruciatingly long.
FIX: Text bug where Irrelevant amplifier effects are stated in text-tooltips.
FIX: Recycler Upgrade window displaying the wrong "max level" text.
Major bugs
FIX: Fusers, Salvagers, Harvesters, Furnace, and Decomposers not using up energy if they are disconnected mid-processing.
FIX: Auto-explore's "METAL AND BIOMASS EXHAUSTED" trigger not working correctly, continuing only after one of the categories is exhausted, and not when both.
FIX: World-gen being stuck in an infinite loop, causing players to be unable to progress; or save their game**
** For players who were unlucky enough to encounter this issue, you should be able to launch the game, and try again; does not require you to reset your save! let me know if the map is stuck at "Render 0/0" for more than 30 seconds! (as it will probably take some time for the game to re-generate your world map after a failed generation)
Again, thank you all for the bug reports and being so patient with me! I'll squash the bugs as soon as they're reported to me! thanks for reading, as well as playing!
- Kevin
FIX: Augment node text being wrong for "Initial Body Size" and "Initial Inventory Size" augments.
FIX: Players are no longer hard-locked from progressing the game if Traders spawn too close at the start, disabling the action.
FIX: Game having uncapped FPS causing various issues with gameplay, as well as performance.
Current Release
Build 24546359
Uploaded Aug 05, 2026
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System Requirements
How to Install
IDLE_DIRECTIVE.exe to play
Troubleshooting tips
• Run Redist/_CommonRedist installers if game won't start
• Add folder to Windows Defender exclusions
• Run as administrator
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Needed when extracting (WinRAR / 7-Zip) — not a site login.
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