Hello again! It has been a few weeks since we last posted an update, as we have been super busy with some marketing tasks. You'll find out more about it very soon! But we have also been making good progress to make the game even better! Read on in order to find out what we've been working on:
Glowing power lines
Sometimes the simplest modifications to the game can result in a drastic improvement of the user experience. We've made a few changes to the shader we're using for the power lines and now they glow once their maximum power rating is exceeded. In this way, players can find out which parts of their infrastructure are the most stressed and act accordingly. Also, it looks very, very cool (if we may say so ourselves).
Refunds when bulldozing
Yet another small improvement that makes the game a lot more balanced and more aligned to players' expectations. Now you'll get a 50% refund when bulldozing your power buildings. That means you'll be able to reinvest those funds on new infrastructure... Or maybe on desperately trying to repair your exploding substations and overheated power lines!
Usability improvements
Tons of other usability improvements have made it to the latest version of the game! Some of them are:
- Tooltips in the climate charts screen to help players understand what they are looking at.
- Allow players to keep the information lenses (power lines load factor and customer satisfaction) active while they are using other game tools, such as placing power lines.
- All animations now get paused when the game is paused, in order to convey the message more easily.
- Pausing the game when entering any of the "buy new building" screens.
- A better system for camera rotation.
Redesigned tutorials
We've basically rewritten all texts in the tutorials to make them both more entertaining and more informative. There is also a brand new tutorial character, Hertha, who is going to help you understand how to effectively use energy storage solutions and how to fix broken power lines.
Updated sound effects
We are still hard at work in order to improve the soundscape of the game even further. We've added a few new UI sounds and we've also created a brand new soundscape for cities. Now you'll be able to hear the sounds of traffic, and notice how everything becomes chaotic as your infrastructure fails and customer satisfaction decreases!