🛠️ Scrapping Simulator — Road Map, Future Plans, Moving to v1.0 Release
Hi everyone, After over 6 years of development on Scrapping Simulator (with a handful of breaks while working outside of game dev), it's time to be fully open and clear about the project's direction, set some firm boundaries, and reset expectations to a realistic level for a solo
Hi everyone,
After over 6 years of development on Scrapping Simulator (with a handful of breaks while working outside of game dev), it's time to be fully open and clear about the project's direction, set some firm boundaries, and reset expectations to a realistic level for a solo indie title.
Since the removal of the old GitHub roadmap integration, many newer players (and even some veterans) haven't seen the full picture. I'm just one person working on a tiny budget with no prior game dev experience when I started this. This is my first proper game, and I want to finish it before it becomes an endless commitment I can't sustain and end's up getting abandoned.
The Reality of Solo Development
- At least 95% of the player base stays silent. I only see feedback from a small vocal group, roughly half seem very satisfied with any update and progress, while others often appear frustrated, question or debate every update, or try move the goalposts with new demands.
- I cannot continue adding content indefinitely to a niche title that isn't likely to gain major traction or sustained support from future sales or content creators. Most creators play on a Major Update for an episode or two, hit bugs or difficulties and move on to titles with better viewer potential, which is understandable from a business standpoint, it's not exactly the type of game that does well on Socials.
- Without any plans for DLC, supporter packs, in-game purchases, merch, or any other revenue streams, endlessly expanding the game is simply not sustainable for me financially or mentally.
- I'm not fond of talking about money, but it's being brought up more frequently by a few frustrated players. Some seem to think this game was thrown together in a few months as a quick cash grab and that I couldn't care less about players or their experience. That couldn't be further from the truth. The time, effort, and personal sacrifices for this project have been enormous, beyond what could be imagined, I'm sure any Solo Dev who remembers their first proper release understands. I too hope the next few major updates toward v0.50 help reset expectations and bring some all-round appreciation for how far the game has come on such a limited budget.
Game Direction & Scope
After years of careful consideration and player feedback, the final vision for Scrapping Simulator is:
- An Australian-themed, backyard, solo, self-employed E-Waste Scrapping Simulator.
- A strong focus on small-to-medium, fully deconstructable, and easily recognizable household items, material gathering for metal recycling, and home-style (not industrial) ingot production for profit and late-game milestones. RNG elements will keep every day and every playthrough unique.
- The core gameplay loop will continue to emphasize player-forged outcomes: your choices determine whether progression feels hard or easy. There is still no "fail screen", but reckless or uninformed decisions will make the game significantly harder. Ignoring key details or trying rush ahead comes with setbacks, this is intentional, not a bug. Players who take time to learn the systems and play thoughtfully will be rewarded with a much smoother mid-to-late game.
- This is a game for technically and mechanically minded players who enjoy hands-on problem solving & interconnected systems, who can also look past simple graphics and admire the complexity beneath. My strengths are in coding and systems design; not art, sound, storytelling, marketing, or PR. With no budget to hire help, this is what I can realistically deliver.
Major Additions Planned from now through to v0.50
- Vehicles & Vehicle Dealer
- Open World Map
- 50+ Total deconstructable E-Waste items (Includes Sub)
- Improved physical detail on deconstructable items
- Better item interactions
- Improved productivity measures
- UI & Sound polish (if budget permits)
- Being the more Major, notable ones.
What Will NOT Be Added
To keep the project manageable and finished in a reasonable timeframe:
- No further expansions to the disassembly system (e.g. fridges, freezers, dishwashers, tumble dryers, arcade machines, or other large devices). Also tiny-scale gadgets (mobile phones, smart watches, etc.).
- These would require massive reworks to the disassembly system that I'm not willing to undertake this late in development. The current system is already extremely complex and difficult to debug, relying on Bug Reports for edge case & specific detail is not logical, nor is the thousands of hours for me to debug alone, so it's not even going to be attempted.
- Note; this does not mean 'no more added items', it means 'no' to Items that specifically require major adjustments to the current Disassembly System to accommodate them, Items that fit nicely into the existing systems will be highly regarded.
Other frequently requested features such as NPC workers, multiplayer, life sim elements, creative/sandbox mode, community modding, house customization, industrial-scale scrapping, etc. Are not planned.
Path to 1.0
- v0.50 (Beta) will mark the start of the final phase. From v0.50 to v1.0 the focus will shift heavily to polish, bug fixing, balancing, and final tuning.
- Very few (if any) major additions or reworks will happen after v0.50 to protect game balance and progression.
- This ensures players can complete full playthroughs without future content making their progress obsolete, and it avoids complex save migration issues.
Important Note: Open World Map & Save Wipe
- When we transition to the new Open World Map (expected around v0.49–v0.50), all game data will be wiped.
- This is unfortunately necessary due to years of accumulated bugs, exploits, dupes, and save compatibility issues. Maintaining perfect compatibility with each update has become increasingly difficult and adds heavy technical debt. A clean start will give everyone the best possible experience with the final systems and balancing in place.
- A Pre-Open World build will remain available so players can finish any loose ends in the old version. Once the Open World version is released, development will continue only on the new build.
- Returning players loading into the Open World Build will also have a one-time option to reset their Steam achievements for a true fresh start (optional).
Suggestions & Feedback
- I cannot reasonably implement every suggestion, no matter how good some of them are. Continuing to add major systems would push the finish line even further away.
- From now, the only suggestions that will be seriously considered are unique E-Waste item ideas that fit the current scope and design (similar size to existing items, practical for the material system, and beneficial to the intended gameplay loop) or improvements to Prompts/Hover text for improved clarity.
- Vague demands or ideas that require major reworks will no longer be considered this late in development. I truly appreciate thoughtful suggestions that show understanding of the game's direction and how they could realistically be implemented.
Closing Thoughts
I'm incredibly proud of how far Scrapping Simulator has come, but after 6+ years I'm more than ready to finish it up and move on to new projects. Thank you to everyone who has supported the game, especially those who have provided constructive feedback and detailed bug reports.
The final updates will focus on delivering a complete, polished experience within the scope outlined. I hope you enjoy the journey as we head toward v0.50 and 1.0.
The following Major Update v0.42 is currently in the works, as such the v0.41.7 build will remain on the default build (with no further updates) until v0.42 takes it's place.
v0.42 will focus heavily on the New Player Experience, Adding more of a challenge for Week 1, More incentive to think about spending before blindly doing so, Reworking Item Spawns and New E-Waste Items.
I expect to have it released to the Opt-In Testing Build within the next Month or two give or take.
Thank you,
-Fury