Game information
PR Machine: Zombie Limit, Upgrades and Newspapers
full game 1.009.1 · Site updated
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Does the PR Machine reject newspapers, or does the penalty remain after it starts? These need different checks: Machine I takes charged hypnosis devices, while newspapers require Machine II. If the machine runs but the penalty remains, compare zombie population with effective capacity. Use the recipes, upgrades and upkeep checks below to choose your next action.
FIND YOUR NEXT CHECK
Check capacity before preparing another PR run.
Separate an active capacity increase, a missing machine upgrade and preparation for the next run.
YOUR NEXT STEP
What do you need to check?
Use the machine’s displayed state; this planner does not simulate the remaining time.
ContinueFollow what you observe
Changing an earlier answer clears the later branch. Your observations guide the next check; they do not prove a single cause.
What do you need to check?
Use the machine’s displayed state; this planner does not simulate the remaining time.
Read all possible checks
- It will not take newspapers: Check the machine level and the selected recipe. Machine I uses charged devices; newspaper recipes need an eligible upgraded machine.
- The penalty remains: Check whether the PR recipe is active. Next check
- Prepare the next run: Use the recipe and newspaper-quality table below. Prepare the next inputs and check the supply day; do not restart a still-active multi-week run just because a week passed.
- A stale penalty after updating: An old negative PR counter is reset to zero; this does not start a free PR run. Check the tutorial prerequisite and actual capacity. Next check
Have you completed Gunter’s Hypno-device sermon quest?
The pre-1.008 save refresh of the excessive-zombie penalty requires this completed quest. It then compares current population with the resurrection area’s total capacity.
Read all possible checks
- Yes: Check whether a PR recipe is active before comparing population and capacity. Next check
- No: Follow the Gunter unlock steps below. This particular old-save penalty refresh does not run before the prerequisite is complete. Do not treat it as proof of a crafting fault.
- Not checked: Check the completed quest and the machine’s current state before restarting a run.
Is the PR run currently active?
Materials on hand do not mean the capacity effect has started.
Read all possible checks
- Yes: Compare population with the displayed effective capacity. Next check
- No / the run ended: Check the eligible recipe and its inputs before starting a new run. An ended run removes its capacity addition.
- Not checked: Read the machine’s active state before adding more supplies.
Does zombie population exceed effective capacity?
Use the current total shown in your game, not only the addition listed for one recipe.
Read all possible checks
- Yes: The active addition may be insufficient. Compare eligible higher-capacity recipes and their inputs before expanding.
- No: Check the displayed effect and other sermon conditions; this path does not prove why a penalty appears stale.
- Not checked: Record current population and effective capacity, then compare them.
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Start with your situation
Newspapers are rejected · Penalty remains after starting · Maintain capacity
What the machine changes
The inspected rules compare your current zombie count with the resurrection area's total capacity. A PR recipe adds capacity when it starts and removes that addition when it ends. This is a temporary increase to the population supported without the excessive-zombie penalty.
To look for the limit, check the resurrection area of the morgue. A player report places it in the upper-right display, but does not specify platform or build. The exact display position has not been verified in the current Steam Windows build.
Unlock the machine through Gunter
- Follow Gunter's Astrologer quest line until he asks you to test a Hypno-device. The configured prerequisite is the earlier quest to bring the Astrologer's zombie home.
- Buy an uncharged Hypno-device from him in his Tower. The quest text tells you to charge it at the Formulation Bench.
- At the Formulation Bench , use the charging recipe : one Hypno-device plus one Faith. Starting the quest unlocks that recipe. Return one charged device to Gunter.
- Hold the requested sermon. The completion of the ceremony quest spawns PR Machine I and starts the PR tutorial. Gunter's follow-up dialogue places the newspaper/device board near his house at the port.
This route is reconstructed from the quest conditions, expressions and English quest/dialogue text. Its requirements have been rechecked against the installed game files, but the route has not been replayed in a live save. For the ceremony's separate attendance requirements, see sermons and Faith .
Gunter's · uncharged Hypno-device · Formulation Bench · the charging recipe · sermons and Faith · charged devices
Why Machine I does not accept newspapers
Newspapers are not ingredients in the first recipe. Its two-device recipe remains available on higher machine levels, but the newspaper recipes unlock through the machine levels below. Adding a larger pile of paper cannot substitute for upgrading.
Open the machine's crafting selection and look for its upgrade recipe. Each upgrade is configured at the current machine and replaces it with the next level on completion. Check the upgrade before starting a PR run: a player report says the running machine prevented access to that menu, and running upgrades are not verified here.
| Upgrade | Materials |
|---|---|
| I → II | 10 × Oiled Plank + 8 × Iron Detail |
| II → III | 6 × Wooden beam + 8 × Advanced Detail |
| III → IV | 6 × Wooden Joint + 8 × Steel Detail |
| IV → V | 10 × Carved Wood + 8 × Engineering Details |
Five PR recipes and newspaper quality
On a narrow screen, scroll the table sideways to see capacity and duration.
| Recipe | Minimum machine | Inputs | Capacity addition | Displayed duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 zombie capacity for 1 week | PR Machine I | 2 charged hypno-devices | +10 zombies | 1 week |
| 20 zombie capacity for 2 weeks | PR Machine II | 10 newspapers (bronze, silver or gold) + 3 charged hypno-devices | +20 zombies | 2 weeks |
| 30 zombie capacity for 3 weeks | PR Machine III | 20 newspapers (silver or gold) + 5 charged hypno-devices | +30 zombies | 3 weeks |
| 50 zombie capacity for 4 weeks | PR Machine IV | 100 newspapers (silver or gold) | +50 zombies | 4 weeks |
| 80 zombie capacity for 5 weeks | PR Machine V | 100 newspapers (gold quality) | +80 zombies | 5 weeks |
Newspaper groups
The ordinary newspaper group accepts quality tiers 1, 2 and 3 (bronze, silver and gold). The good-newspaper group accepts only tiers 2 and 3 (silver and gold). These are allowed ingredient groups, not an instruction to bring every quality. The final recipe requires 100 individual gold-quality newspapers; its tier suffix means quality, not three newspapers.
These additions are recipe effects, not the final limit of every save with its perks and other capacity changes. The displayed weeks come from localization. Raw recipe duration and station tick-period fields are different values; they are not converted here into real minutes or independently verified week lengths.
Separate the capacity check
Enter the zombie count and the effective capacity you have already confirmed. An ended run, a shortfall, and an unknown penalty are different results. Loading an older save may clear a stuck machine state by itself; that is not a step to perform on a current save.
Enter the count and the capacity you have confirmed.
Faith and the next PR reserve
One shared record in this browser: PR Machine guide Sermons and Faith Edit it on either page; reopening the other page loads the same balance. Do not enter it twice.
Recipe labels: minimum machine level · added capacity · weeks. Added capacity is not your current effective total.
Preparation result
One basic charging batch uses one uncharged device and one Faith. Conditional extra output is not reserved in advance. A running multi-week PR recipe does not need an automatic weekly restart.
Record a sermon result (optional)
Keep a personal note if useful. Leave the version blank if unknown. These entries do not change the calculation or add Faith to your balance.
Confirm your balance again after spending or receiving resources. A note is not an income formula.
Capacity and penalties after updating
For saves from before 1.008, the update resets a negative PR duration counter to zero. It does not grant a new active run or increase every recipe’s capacity or duration. The input and duration table above still describes the individual recipes. Check the machine’s actual active state before preparing another run.
The old-save refresh of the excessive-zombie penalty requires completion of Gunter’s Hypno-device sermon quest. It then compares the current zombie count with the resurrection area’s total capacity, adding or removing the penalty as appropriate. Before that quest is completed, this particular refresh does not run. If the count still exceeds capacity, retaining the penalty is expected; a refreshed penalty is not evidence that every idle worker has the same cause.
Why the penalty may remain after starting
- Check that a PR recipe actually started and is still active, rather than just checking materials on hand.
- Compare the current zombie count with the effective capacity. For example, if the effective limit is 10 and the count is 12, the inspected comparison still applies the penalty. A +10 recipe does not guarantee that every save has a total limit of 10.
- Check whether the run ended and its capacity addition was withdrawn. Choose an eligible higher-capacity recipe when the current one is insufficient.
- If the issue is low sermon attendance or church quality, diagnose it in the sermon guide ; those are separate checks. If a worker is idle, use zombie troubleshooting .
Supply day and maintaining capacity
The tutorial and availability message identify Gluttony Day as the PR supply day. Keep the inputs for your next chosen recipe ready, then check the machine and active capacity at renewal. Higher recipes display multiple weeks; do not infer that you must restart an active multi-week run every week.
Capacity is withdrawn by the recipe's end expression. The configuration also contains a weekly end-of-Wrath-Day check for the PR duration counter. With timing not verified during play, use the displayed machine state and calendar rather than a real-time countdown from raw tick values.
Stacking, ending a run early and upgrading during an active run have not been verified. Plan upgrades before the next run and retain the next batch of charged devices and the required newspaper quality.
Continue the right stage
PR manages the capacity of existing zombies. It does not replace the corpse, organ, liquid, collar or device requirements of resurrection.
Zombie resurrection: prepare the corpse, then use the device
Manage the team and its work
Keep three questions separate: does the current population fit confirmed capacity, is a PR run active, and can the assigned zombie perform its next job? An idle worker needs its own tool, mastery, ingredient and pickup checks. Starting another PR run is not a universal production fix.
Check current Faith and planned spending separately from population capacity and an expected sermon reward. For a working setup, follow the existing renewal checks; this guide does not promise cancellation refunds or a lossless upgrade during a run.
Sources
Current rules
The current rules on this page were checked against the Steam Windows game files and behavior rules for the version shown in the page header. This is file-based verification, not a live-save playthrough; save progress can affect the result.
How we check our guides