Hi everyone,
I am so excited to announce that I have now locked in a release date for the Empire Water Works Demo!
Drum roll........JUNE 19th 2026 😎
The Demo build will be just a limited vertical slice of gameplay to show-off what will be in the Early Access coming later and eventual v1.0 release which will follow that!
Here's a taste of things you'll be able to do in the Demo build very soon!:
Full access to the pumping station; as a new employee, walk in and take a look around! All going well, you'll be spending a lot of time here in future!
Start and operate the massive double-expansion steam engine; this can be from a 'cold and dark' state as well as from normal operating temperature - the process varies depending on its temperature! You don't want to get it wrong and cause undue cylinder wear...
Control the two water pumps to pump water to the city's three (3) reservoirs: Residential, Municipal and Industrial - you'll be able to control the volume of water pumped with each stroke of the pumps and you'll be in charge of keeping the pumps operating optimally with minimal leaks - you don't want to flood the basement!
Follow detailed processes for determining reservoir water pressure - you can keep this simple and just refer to the default UI on-screen for a quick and accurate reading, or dive-deeper and turn off the aids and assists and start wrenching downstairs and tapping gauge glasses to try get your own (possibly incorrect) readings for the Ledger!
Work actual shifts during the day (or night, or a bit of both!) - a shift alarm will signal the start and end of your shifts and a 24 hour clock will show you the current time, so plan your day and make sure you keep those reservoirs within their pressure thresholds...over-pressure can be just as bad as under-pressure! Also make sure you get those deliveries setup for the next day before you leave, otherwise there might be issues...
Get access to a diesel generator set to optionally power the pumping station with your own electricity - this is especially handy when the power grid suffers outages! Keep that lantern close in any case...you never know when you might find yourself in the dark if you choose to work nights...
Receive up to 4 unique contracts to supply the city's reservoirs with a contracted gallon amount of water over a variable day deadline and receive funds, reputation and merit points if you succeed!
Operate the maintain No. 1 boiler including periodically cleaning the fire tubes to ensure that the firebox performance is kept at its best - and remember to keep water in it...
Keep an eye on everything from valve gear oiler levels, to main bearing temperatures and ensure the steam engine is running tip-top...if you cause real damage to the steam engine, you won't be able to repair it in the Demo! If you let certain things slide, you'll notice the steam engine running very erracticly or worse, not at all, even if you're seemingly doing everything right...
Deal with critical events such as extreme basement flooding, cylinder wear and boiler explosions. All of the events have a significant effect on gameplay (the boiler explosion event is a game-ending event) - cylinder wear, main bearing overheat and basement flooding can cause power loss for the steam engine, too!
Monitor supply levels of coal and steam oil, and order these as needed for delivery to the pumping station the next in-game day
With your merit points that you earn, unlock up to two (2) unique upgrades for the pumping station to make your life easier
Have full access to the Ledger to keep detailed logs and records about the pumping station - but be careful, you can totally make inaccurate entries in the Ledger and lead yourself down the garden path...
Get full access to the Operations Manual - this is a treasure trove of information on how to run the pumping station, things to check, tips and hints as well as detailed steps for and quick start instructions on all manner of things inside the pumping station
Have access to a detailed and generous 'Game Options' screen which will let you control demand on the reservoirs so you can have a more relaxed experience, or turn it up to 11 and try and feverishly pump that water and avoid shame and disrepute! You'll also be able to adjust things like camera sensitivity and other quality of life options
And more! (I don't want to make this list too unwieldy and I fear it may already be!)
Internal play testing and Demo game play balance tweaks are currently still ongoing and I will probably keep this going right up until release, knowing how much of a perfectionist I can be with these things...😅
Note that as polished as I intend the public Demo to be, there may still be optimization deficiencies and potential bugs that escape my grasp even on release day, so please go into the Demo with the expectation that Empire Water Works is a LIVING THING and will evolve incrementally to become better and better as time goes on.
As always, I invite you to play the Demo when it does land soon, and provide as much constructive feedback as you can as this will no doubt feed into the Early Access development (as well as hopefully improve the Demo's future updates, too).
NOTE: currently, the best place to feedback will be on the Steam discussion boards, so look out for some relevant threads I will post there once the Demo goes live.
With that, I have included a 'teaser' YouTube video below which shows off the main aspects of the Demo as it stands...check it out below! And I hope you're as excited as I am, to bring this Demo to the world on June 19th!!!
P.S. If you're a streamer or content creator and would like 'early access' to the public Demo prior to the 19th June, please reach out to me! (support email on the Steam Store page)