Even though we haven't posted a development update in a couple of months, we can assure you that we have been very busy people! We have been working hard to get Power to the People ready for its launch in February. We are now feature-complete and mostly taking care of polishing the small details and tweaking the game's balance before it's ready for its launch! Without further ado, here are the latest news:
New levels
We have added two new levels to the game, bringing the total up to 14. These are Maracaibo in Venezuela and Muharraq in Bahrain. They are both intended to be high difficulty and for experienced players only. Which reminds us... did you know that there is an "everlasting storm" just around Maracaibo, where lightning bolts strike roughly every two seconds for hours on end?
Weekly challenges
We are happy to announce we have added a brand new way to play Power to the People. Every week there will be a new randomly generated challenge for you to try! Can you make it to the top of the weekly leaderboard? Or will you struggle to provide power to a hypothetical snowy version of Rio de Janeiro using only solar plants while disasters happen all the time?
Steam achievements
20 Steam achievements are implemented and almost ready to go! The only thing we are missing at the moment are the icons for them, but they will come soon enough. Just as a sneak peek, these are the names of some of them: "A green world", "Leave me a loan" and "Going nuclear".
Power building charts
Who doesn't like charts? Now you can see the detailed performance of each one of your power buildings for the past 24 hours. This brand new feature will help you diagnose problems and make your power grid even more efficient and reliable!
New high voltage towers
This one was a long time coming. We completely redesigned the 3D model for the high voltage transmission lines and now they look better than ever. Just take a look:
New car 3D models
This game isn't about keeping traffic running smoothly. But that doesn't mean that we can't have some pretty 3D cars driving around cities to make things visually more appealing. So we added a whole bunch of new 3D models, including some that are specific only to certain regions... Keep an eye out for those Tuk-Tuks in Cambodia, for example!
DualSense controller support
Power to the People now officially supports the Sony DualSense controller, for those of you who enjoy playing with a gamepad instead of keyboard + mouse. You can now play the game with Xbox One, PS4 and PS5 controllers. Other controllers will also probably work but they haven't been tested.
Performance optimization
In terms of performance optimization, we have been focusing on two areas in particular: sound effects and the power grid simulation. Doing a bit of work in the first area helped us solve a few issues we were experiencing with sound effects getting choppy or cutting off under some very specific circumstances. Now everything is running smoothly! We have also been working hard at making the power grid simulation algorithm run faster and use less memory. Now the game runs smoothly even if you have lots of big cities and dozens of power plants spread all over the map. Success!
Closing remarks
We are now entering the final stretch of these two and a half years of development in which we have done everything in our power to create the best game we possibly can. With the release date quickly approaching and some final tasks to take care of, this might be the last development update until February 8th comes along and you are able to finally give Power to the People. For now, thank you for keeping us company during this journey. Happy holidays to you all!
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Don't forget to wishlist and follow the game here:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1413370/Power_to_the_People/
