Endless Mode

Breaking up the Phases of the Game
That Which Sleeps was designed with two conceptual phases, an open-ended beginning where the Old One, spread its minions forth into the world to sow chaos and begins to set its plots in motion, and a second phase where the world begins to realize that the Old One has returned and their attempt to respond to that danger while being plagued by all the scheming and evils that you set loose in the first phase. King Dinosaur Games wanted the game to have a narrative, strategic drift that the player struggles against, either by trying to keep awareness down or by crushing the most threatening elements of the world. However, no matter what the player does the Chosen One will emerge, the Alliance will form, and the world moves towards a climactic final struggle - though if you've done a good job the form these elements take will be greatly crippled.

These dependencies will be removed in the logic of the engine and gameplay balance, essentially reducing the imperatives of the second stage of the game and making the entire process conditional on other elements of the world. The Chosen One is no longer a foregone conclusion, instead Prophecies can be randomized and based on their completion the fates will spawn events and champions accordingly - and instead of his death leading to a new Chosen One the world will mourn, and seek another prophecy to save them from your grasp. The Alliance AI will become much more versatile - instead of being a group of Nations that are pulled to a final confrontation with you there may be several competing Alliance AIs, some of which will pursue the traditional path of alliances and conquest to seal you away while others will look towards survival or apocalyptic divine intervention. Crushing an Alliance does not spell the end of the world, much like the modified defeat of the Chosen One it is just another significant event.

Increasing Variability for Heroes, Clues, and Lore
The way Sages research and discover the Old One will also be changed, removing the "bonus over time" that comes from the amount of your Ancient Power and increasing the bonuses and penalties that can be gained by actions throughout the world. Additional methods of controlling the Old One's rise are also added, adding or removing Ancient Power based on what the player has done and also pivoting around controlling certain areas. Together with these and other changes the player is better able to manage the level of impact he has on the world, and the world will react accordingly - maintaining its more open-ended simulation status instead of moving into a more aggressive period.

The way Heroes spawn is also modified, allowing the player to customize the rate at which they are created and to set it over time as opposed to being stacked in the beginning, modify Champions so they can also rise over time, and set it so that Heroes and leaders can age, have children, and die. Clues become more discrete, and can lead to duplicitous outcomes for the investigator who draws a conclusion too soon.

Allowing for the Rise of an Evil Occupation
Governments are being modified to respond to situations with Old One influence, it's no longer the end of the world it's just another Dark Period - they will be able to struggle against the dark with partisans in occupied POIs, form new radical government types, and even descend into the darkness themselves to try and stem the tide of your evil. Populations and resources have greater variability, mines can run dry, new mines can be found, and the AI has an additional quality to try and last out the long dark.

Expect more emergent elements on the POIs themselves, both in the player's favour and against. As the occupation settles Shadowy Allies may begin to demand more and more - strike them down and risk an opening in your defences, appease them and risk seeming weak. Frustrated? Don't worry, a whole new array of rituals and unique buildings will make depopulating the world a more creative feat.

Cyclical Gameplay Within and Without
King Dinosaur Games is going for a "The World Hasn't Ended It's Just Ending" feel, where you can draw out the game and experience it more fully at any of the phases. To support this the changes above will be made and the Final Conflict will instead be recurring conflicts as the world and its prophecies struggle to deal with your influence. The way this extends to the modding community is far more significant, taking all these dependencies and making them configurable allows players to even further craft the behaviour of the world and its AI, which is itself further augmented to be able to deal with these situations instead of simply pushing for the Final Conflict.

In addition to allowing each play of the game to have a cyclical narrative cyclical elements of continuity will be added outside of each game. Players will be able to take an Old One, in victory or in defeat, and battle again with a memory of the world or pursue their agenda into another Scenario. Reset the counter of fate and strike through another prophecy or be pursued by Champions of Fate and struggle to make do with an already depleted Agent Pool. Not a fan of playing as the same Old One? Choose a new game and enable elements from your past game to creep in and haunt you yet again.