The Timekeeper's Journal

Hourglass 3.0: Sharper Memory, Tougher NPCs and an Off-Screen Clock

A major update to the engine behind the historical eras, and what our automated 50- and 500-turn tests revealed, including a character who kept dying.

The Timekeeper · 2026-09-06

We've been working on a major update to our main engine, the Hourglass Engine, which runs the historical eras. The focus for this release was keeping memory top-notch, eradicating hallucinations and making sure the AI isn't railroading or parroting the player. We've also added a new NPC behaviour system, an improved character dossier and an off-screen clock.

The auto-tests

First, a word on the automated tests we run. They're how we (hopefully!) show how well the engine is performing: an AI player plays the game and an AI judge scores the session. Results for our standard 50-turn sessions were really good, around 97% and up, so we've been attempting a 500-turn run to properly test long-term memory.

We haven't quite got there yet, for a really good reason: our character keeps dying!

Maybe it was a mistake to have the AI play a dirty cop in 1952 Chicago. Next time perhaps we'll go as an art designer in 1966 London instead. He died bleeding in an alleyway on turn 114. In our previous test, the exact same character survived until turn 278, proof that no two sessions are the same. I thought it was quite cool, though: it shows the brutal consequences of the timelines, and that the engine simply refuses to hold your hand.

What's new

  • Lightning-fast starts: official eras and myths now load in under 4 seconds.
  • Environment card (new): shows your exact location and the logical exits, so you always know where you can run. See Where You Are: Locations & Exits.
  • Core attributes (new): your physical and mental stats now shift in real time with the trauma and victories you experience. See Vitality, Stress & Renown.
  • Goals and inventory (updated): the engine tracks your active goals and items the moment they enter or leave your possession.
  • The off-screen clock (new): a background system tracks the plans of factions and rivals while you aren't looking. The world doesn't wait for you. See The World Moves On.
  • Next-generation NPCs (new): characters are no longer agreeable "yes-men".
  • Ironclad personalities (new): every major NPC now has a speech fingerprint (their own dialect and rhythm) and a refusal anchor (a line they will never cross, even if threatened). See How People Behave.
  • Social puzzles and secrets (new): characters have hidden agendas, faction loyalties and specific weaknesses. See Social Puzzles & Leverage.
  • Dynamic scene casting (new): the AI now focuses only on the characters actually in the room with you.

The results

Across the 114-turn session:

  • 0 NPC inconsistencies
  • 0 instances of the AI parroting the player
  • 1 minor hallucination
  • 6 minor instances of railroading, mostly quirks of the AI tester rather than engine faults

Overall engine score: 94.4%, up from 92.1% in our 278-turn baseline test.

We're really pleased with these results. Most importantly, the engine doesn't forget (hopefully we'll show that in a full 500-turn session soon, if our characters can survive long enough!), hallucinations are nearly non-existent, the prose is sharper, and we've massively reduced railroading and repetition.

Hourglass 3.0 shows that the engine doesn't just generate text. It enforces rules, tracks physical trauma and lets you fail completely if you make poor tactical choices in a hostile world.

Thanks for reading. See you in the past…

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