Alchemy Factory 1.0 Changes: Workbench & Old Saves

The headline list

From the 1.0 patch notes published on 8 September 2026:

New content

• Brew Barrel and a new goods category, Beverages, made by blending liquids and sold to customers.
• Arcane Fountain, a throwing device that finds its own targets.
• Wagon System: rail logistics with more capacity than belts but more building. You can also transform into a wagon and ride the rails around the factory. This is the “rail system” promised in the November 2025 pre-launch Q&A.
• Grand Portal: customers from distant cities arrive through it. The in-game tooltip adds that building more than one does not increase traffic.
• Customer navigation rework: customers can reach upper floors, the original entrance can be removed, and you can build several shop gates.
• Shop Recognition replaces Reputation. Customer feedback no longer moves a meter; you buy recognitions to raise reputation and profits. Full guide.
• Two building sets, Brick and Marble, plus miniature decorations for transformed players.

System changes

• Research Tree: all non-production devices removed; they now unlock at the Workbench.
• Shop sales upgrades reworked and purchase-contract upgrades removed, both folded into Shop Recognition.
• Linseed Oil production and consumption scaled down together; the Obsidian byproduct is now Marble instead of Volcanic Ash (grind obsidian for ash).
• Base heat cost removed from all heating devices. See fuel and heat.
• The Knowledge Altar can break down any item for experience, with a bonus for relics.
• Items sell at the price they have when the customer picks them up.
• Cannons and catapults can no longer target things too high or too low; range indicators appear when placing throwers.
• Clockwork Birds are no longer salable and are removed from quest requirements.
• Blueprints get folder navigation.

Multiplayer (experimental): a lobby in the main menu for public servers, a join code generated when you host so non-friends can connect, and a dedicated server with its own guide. Multiplayer guide.

Where did the catapult, bridges and Workbench go?

Within hours of launch the Steam board filled with the same question in four forms: “where is the workbench?”, “Catapult?!”, “bridges and other things are away now?”, and “The workbench in the old games”.

The answer is the Research Tree line above. A new 1.0 save starts with a Workbench beside the bed, placeable for 50 planks with nothing to research. Catapults sit under the logistics category and may need to be rebuilt from the Workbench. The complication is old saves: a player who reached tier 8 in Early Access without ever unlocking the Workbench found the tutorial telling them to “check out the workbench for upgrades” with no Workbench anywhere. Another player’s advice in that thread was blunt: “this is 1.0 if you haven’t made a new save, then you should. as with most 1.0 games you should expect big changes that won’t cross over well.”

If you want to keep an Early Access save, look in the Workbench’s unlock list first, and expect at least one rebuild.

What the launch-day hotfix fixed

Hotfix 1.0.4917 shipped the same day:

• a crash when producing drinks;
• old save files refunding skill points multiple times after updating;
• customers blocked by the flip sign on the shop entrance;
• the chat window opening repeatedly;
• the Knowledge Altar UI showing the wrong working time;
• the building panel staying visible while building;
• an improved Join Game UI.

What players hit that is not fixed yet

• Load times. Several large-save owners reported five to twelve minutes to load where twenty seconds was normal, and ten-second freezes on save. A developer replied on 8 September: “We will fix this in the next update.”
• Only one hotbar. The eight quick-access hotbars added in December 2025 (F1 to F8 or mouse wheel) showed as a single bar for at least one player after the update.
• Currency balancers hoarding coins and customers despawning with unpaid goods at day end were both reported on day one; no reply yet. The known issues page tracks these.
• Store rating stuck at zero is not a bug; it is the licence system. See the Shop Recognition guide.

Is 1.0 a big update?

The honest read from the launch-day “How’s 1.0?” thread is split. One reply: “it was already a fairly good game before 1.0, the update added a little more and tweaked some stuff… Genuinely, it’s good enough.” Another wished for a story and a real shop feel and did not find them. The review page keeps the Steam numbers with dates rather than picking a side.

Sources: 1.0 Patch Notes and Hotfix 1.0.4917 (Steam announcements, 8 September 2026); Steam Discussions threads of 8 September 2026 including the developer replies; Timm Plays Games, “Alchemy Factory 1.0 Is Here” (8 September 2026, transcript) for the in-game Grand Portal tooltip.