Dear pump house brothers and sisters! 😀 I have released update demo build 20260620B to the main branch. You can confirm the version from the main menu of the game.
Full notes
Full Empire Water Works update
Read the full published notes in a cleaner layout. The original post stays linked below.
What changed
0 fixes1 addition0 changes0 removals
UI and audio
addedThe big focus of this update is addressing some recent player frustrations with the sudden water pump head bolt 'failures' that occur within the game (the loud metal 'clang!' sounds of which you may be quite familiar with! 😅) and the frequency at which they occurred. Whilst a ton of development effort has gone into tuning these 'sudden failures' so far (and there is a lot of complexity and random chance behind when they occur), I admit that more tuning may be required. This was also admittedly a fairly late development addition to the demo prior to release, and in hindsight, I should have placed it behind a toggle-able Game Option. I'm glad to say, this has now been done :) I have taken this interim action to reduce frustration amongst the player base and I will re-visit tuning this bolt failure game mechanic further over the coming week/s (more news on it soon!). In the meantime. per below, you can see that the new option 'Water Pump Bolt Sudden Loosening' is now a toggle option and it's OFF by default, so for existing players, you will need to turn it back on if you want the feature. For all other players (and new players), they will have a 'calmer' experience by default - this option is also exposed on the starting game screen when players start a new game. If your River Inlet Valves are cranked open to higher levels, you will still hear some rather unsettling moaning and groaning noises from the pumps with the loosening setting turned off, but no actual sudden bolt failures will occur! Note that you will still experience gradual loosening of the water pump head bolts over time, and this loosening rate is currently scaled based on the current opening amounts of the River Inlet Valves affecting a given pump. However, this gradual loosening is a lot less 'jarring' and contributes to a less-hectic gaming experience overall!
Empire Water Works changes
addedThe big focus of this update is addressing some recent player frustrations with the sudden water pump head bolt 'failures' that occur within the game (the loud metal 'clang!' sounds of which you may be quite familiar with! 😅) and the frequency at which they occurred. Whilst a ton of development effort has gone into tuning these 'sudden failures' so far (and there is a lot of complexity and random chance behind when they occur), I admit that more tuning may be required. This was also admittedly a fairly late development addition to the demo prior to release, and in hindsight, I should have placed it behind a toggle-able Game Option. I'm glad to say, this has now been done :) I have taken this interim action to reduce frustration amongst the player base and I will re-visit tuning this bolt failure game mechanic further over the coming week/s (more news on it soon!). In the meantime. per below, you can see that the new option 'Water Pump Bolt Sudden Loosening' is now a toggle option and it's OFF by default, so for existing players, you will need to turn it back on if you want the feature. For all other players (and new players), they will have a 'calmer' experience by default - this option is also exposed on the starting game screen when players start a new game. If your River Inlet Valves are cranked open to higher levels, you will still hear some rather unsettling moaning and groaning noises from the pumps with the loosening setting turned off, but no actual sudden bolt failures will occur! Note that you will still experience gradual loosening of the water pump head bolts over time, and this loosening rate is currently scaled based on the current opening amounts of the River Inlet Valves affecting a given pump. However, this gradual loosening is a lot less 'jarring' and contributes to a less-hectic gaming experience overall!
Dear pump house brothers and sisters! 😀
I have released update demo build 20260620B to the main branch. You can confirm the version from the main menu of the game.
The details of the update are below:
The big focus of this update is addressing some recent player frustrations with the sudden water pump head bolt 'failures' that occur within the game (the loud metal 'clang!' sounds of which you may be quite familiar with! 😅) and the frequency at which they occurred.
Whilst a ton of development effort has gone into tuning these 'sudden failures' so far (and there is a lot of complexity and random chance behind when they occur), I admit that more tuning may be required.
This was also admittedly a fairly late development addition to the demo prior to release, and in hindsight, I should have placed it behind a toggle-able Game Option. I'm glad to say, this has now been done :)
I have taken this interim action to reduce frustration amongst the player base and I will re-visit tuning this bolt failure game mechanic further over the coming week/s (more news on it soon!).
In the meantime. per below, you can see that the new option 'Water Pump Bolt Sudden Loosening' is now a toggle option and it's OFF by default, so for existing players, you will need to turn it back on if you want the feature. For all other players (and new players), they will have a 'calmer' experience by default - this option is also exposed on the starting game screen when players start a new game.
If your River Inlet Valves are cranked open to higher levels, you will still hear some rather unsettling moaning and groaning noises from the pumps with the loosening setting turned off, but no actual sudden bolt failures will occur!
Note that you will still experience gradual loosening of the water pump head bolts over time, and this loosening rate is currently scaled based on the current opening amounts of the River Inlet Valves affecting a given pump. However, this gradual loosening is a lot less 'jarring' and contributes to a less-hectic gaming experience overall!
I have also HALVED the default loosening rate of the water pressure gauge bolt downstairs, so that you won't have to tighten it so often any more. Simply make your reservoir selection, give the bolt a nip, and you should be right to go for a longer time. I will keep monitoring this and perhaps decrease the rate further in future, too.
Once again, thank you all for your feedback and support (and your patience!), as we navigate tuning and balancing the Empire Water Works experience for current pump house employees and future ones!
As always, please keep the demo build feedback coming as I have more QoL updates planned for release soon! This thread is the best place to leave your feedback regarding the demo.
