- Patch - Alpha 0.2.1 / Itch.io - 22 May 2026
Update - Alpha 0.2.1 - STABLEAlso: Itch.io is being updated this morningThere is always one thing that is missed after marking a build as stable ːsteamsadːBUG FIXESFixed invalid error message when placing utility pole (mouse hover, before click). Placement looked like it would cause an error/be invalid, when it's not.
- Patch - Alpha v0.2 - STABLE - 21 May 2026
Update - Alpha 0.2 - STABLE - Will be live soonOnly critical updates will be applied to the game going forward. Time for me to return to making progress towards the early access release build!QOLUpdated zone flood fill depth control (SHIFT) to use an anchor point so it overrides splitting the area in half within an enclosed blockBUG FIXESFixed camera tracking disabling itselfFixed wall lights not lighting the room if a floor object is placed on the same tileFixed blueprint business overlay / road paint sometimes leaving road painted after moving blueprint preview away from roadFixed utility pole selection tile not turning red when illegal placement on mouse hover
- Patch - Alpha 0.1.7d - 19 May 2026
Update - Alpha 0.1.7dThis will hopefully be one of the last few updates before marking the build as "stable". Once stable, I will update the itch.io build, and only critical fixes will be appliedNEW FEATURESAdded game speed options (1,2,3,4 on keyboard, or icon bottom right (next to pause icon))Some key bindings have changed. Press F1 (after loading a city) to see the updated listQOLAdded supply info to blueprint text for businessesZone mouse hover highlight tile now turns red when placement is invalidImproved the 'edit object menu' iconWhen placing blueprint, holding SHIFT will disable the additional rotation checksUpdated some warning icons. Added some new onesFixed warning icons not immediately updating position on camera rotation when game is pausedExpanded tutorial to cover creating the first 10 housesBUG FIXESFixed zones going off/on market when using road expansion toolFixed colo…
- Patch - v0.1.7c - 16 May 2026
Build Update- Alpha 0.1.7cMAJOR BUG FIXESFixed abandoned building logic bug that prevented units from moving into homes, causing population stagnation for some playersFixed ghost apartments. This happened when entirely replacing a room with another room (note: they go away when copying or placing a blueprint of affected building). These was causing save files to fail to load. Units would move into the property without a room for themselvesQOLAdded Apartment number to zone-building-room output (e.g. when placing room)And changed "building" to "business" in this tooltipAdding / deleting subdivisions outputs this tooltip nowIncrease default tooltip text sizeSubdivision hover highlight tile now turn red when there's an errorZone alpha tiles/boarders now output when adding/removing subdivisionsImproved the vehicle deceleration code when stopping for a red light Output "family deleted" messag…
- Alpha v0.1.7b (again) - 14 May 2026
Update - Alpha 0.1.7bBUG FIXES- Fixed rare road deletion and expansion crash- Added missing UI sounds to auto zone menu icons- Disabled traffic sound when game is paused- Fixed building density being removed when building is under construction- Fixed custom roofs outputting bad rotations in blueprint preview when camera is rotated- Fixed parking not outputting correctly in blueprint preview when camera is rotated- Fixed businesses not creating jobs when the road they're on is extended (using expand/contrast tool). (they are readded to market using this tool)- Resolved the "strange error" blueprint placement error that demolished the building after placement- Fixed top down office chairs sprite position/rotation- Fixed the top down room selection tile not outputting when camera is rotated- Fixed terrain brush not outputting terrain when mouse is first pressed- Fixed camera tracking jumpi…
- Patch - Alpha v0.1.7 - 11 May 2026
Update - Alpha v0.1.7NEW FEATURESReorganized the Building Menu. Also added place window, delete zone, delete room.Reorganized the Auto Zone Menu. Created / added icons for both placement options, and added demolish zone iconsQOLFixed not being able extend road if selection did not start at the edge of the roadPrevent delete sound from playing when deleting room but no room is deletedImproved the tutorialUtility pole and water pipe placement can now start on source connection point on federal propertyRoad nodes highlight in red when placing zone now
- Patch - Alpha v0.1.6d - 10 May 2026
Update Alpha v0.1.6dNOTE: This update will overwrite the config file (graphic options, etc). This is required for the new text scaling feature.NEW FEATURESAdded text scaling to option menuArrow keys move cameraQOLImproved mouse-edge camera panning (added corners detection, improved QOL)Clicking gear icon to open option menu clears action state and closes all GUIsPressing R to rotate blueprint when mouse in GUI no longer erases the previewBuilding UI "Level" will output "Off Market" for buildings off marketBuilding UI "Density" will output "N/A" for buildings being designed by the player. Building density is now set when building is placed on marketVisual Building Level Edit Tool: mouse tooltip now outputs visual lock value, not the actual building levelDisabled icon interaction when option menu is openOTHERFixed breeze pixel movement not working on HUGE trees and all tree shadowsFixed 1…
- Patch - Alpha v0.1.6c - 10 May 2026
Fixed bug that prevented placing building on market when loaded from a save and the game is not unpausedFixed UIs not properly positioning text immediately on first loadAdded create blueprint icon to building UIChanged delete blueprint sound to delete sound (instead of error sound)More icons updatedALL Blueprint placement default to original design by default nowAdded check to prevent multiple uploads of the same blueprint (i.e. "create blueprint")TAB now randomizes blueprint (removed "next blueprint"). (Was '3' key)Fixed not being able to delete single stairs (was deleting all stairs in vertical column)
- Patch Alpha v0.1.6b - 6 May 2026
Should be live soon!- Fixed rare crash when placing water pipe- Fixed rare pathing crash- Fixed Mixed Use zones not calculating jobs properly. It was counting objects in the entire building instead of within the business area- Fixed unit, building, vehicle UIs icon overlapping which caused two icons to be clicked on the edges- Fixed rotating object GUI item icons being slow- Removed rock windows from being randomly chosen in output- Updated demand box. Now it shows supply that is N/A (e.g. missing utility). Also updated colors- Updated zone/building/room mouse over tooltip (when placing room) - Text size scaling/adjustment is in progress and almost done
- Patch Alpha v0.1.6 - 2 May 2026
### Update Alpha 0.1.6 - Should be live soon- Demolish zones in selection box- Game starts paused when loading from save file- Tutorial, goals, and warning icons update when game is paused- Buildings demolished or taken off market will teleport unit home if its pathing to it- Added missing tooltip text for "!" warning icon- Business Supply is now counted even if building does not have all utilities. This fixes the demand going out of whack when a utility is missing (or a new one is unlocked)- Updated electricity/water overlay modes to paint the roads when active- Stopped drawing power/water alpha tiles when placing a road- Overlay GUI: can now unclick icon to disable view mode- Demolish zone state now highlights the zone in red on mouse hover- Both Blueprint GUIs now hide properly when clicking another menu- Fixed a save failing to load issue. When loading a save, zones that are imprope…
- Update v0.1.5c - 1 May 2026
This update should fix the road/terrain draw order when zoomed out for AMD users.
- Patch Alpha v0.1.5b - 1 May 2026
Update Alpha v0.1.5b has been pushed to Steam. Should be live soon- Fixed save not loading when reason it failed is actually safe- Finished enhancing code safety of road placement/deletion code.- Fixed vehicles popping off screen too early (when zoomed in, edge of screen)- Fixed dirt terrain popping out of the ground for non AMD users- Made blueprints rotate to closest road even if there's an error (before it stopped rotating)- Fixed supply overlay (when placing business blueprint) sometimes not clearing after moving the building away from road or through an intersection- Fixed some blueprint info containers not being updated when blueprint is created/deleted
- Patch Alpha v.0.1.5 - 30 April 2026
Update Alpha v0.1.5 has been pushed to Steam. Should be live soon- Fixed zones with corner driveways sometimes connecting to wrong edge- Fixed crash caused by buildings under construction (uncommon)- Going through all the road placement/deletion code, making it safer to prevent possible crashes (unspecified). \]- Units on roads that are deleted are now sent home instead of being deleted. - Stopped playing midnight and 5 AM chime, lowered volume of other chimes- More progress on icon overhaul \]- Fixed grass drawing on roads when zoomed out for AMD users (NEEDS TO BE VERIFIED)
- Patch - vAlpha 0.1.4 - 28 April 2026
Hey everyone, pushed out a patch. Improved the tutorial a bit!Should be live soon- Added checks to prevent zone/road placement on the utility pole connection tile- Updated office auto zone validation now that low density has 4 tile depth minimum- Fixed building demand UI outputting red for locked building subtypes- Fixed power poles not turning blue when in a zone (when placing)- No connection warning icons output over external utility hookups when not connected- Added more error message / placement logic for road expansion tool- Fixed driveway selection tiles not always outputting/updating when placing water/power lines (and when deleting)- Fixed overlay mode not being set when deleting water pipes- Improved the tutorial- Fixed warning icons not updating immediately when camera is rotated- Fixed copying building orientation issue- Updated supply/demand box text- Updated road paint pixe…
- Patch - Alpha v0.1.3 (again) - 25 April 2026
Forgot to change the version in the game opening screen, so this is still v0.1.3. - Prevented objects from being delete when expanding a road, or when creating/editing intersection- Fixed bug that allowed buildings to be copied that were not complete, but when pasted, were put on the market- Fixed parking position issues- Fixed copy exterior building design tool not working in some cases (may not work with buildings in existing save)- Added room by room exterior wall matching when copying exterior building design if blueprint IDs are the same- Fixed building color blending adjustments not updating after placing exterior wall- Fixed copied buildings not updating the buildings color blending- Fixed vehicles immediately teleporting for save files that were created before the teleport slider was addedFixed rare crash when deleting road
- Patch - Alpha v0.1.3 - 24 April 2026
Should be live soon.- Fixed duplicate errors outputting- Added (i.e. finished) the missing teleport slider. This controls how long a unit will wait when stuck/immobile before teleporting- Made the WARNING and ERROR boxes more prominent- Fixed vehicle-pedestrian collision check. Vehicles were stopping when units were on sidewalks and not in the way- Fixed CPU intensive zone construction. Expensive function was being called with every room update when it only needed to be called once per building- Fixed water fountains sometimes not animating when placed from blueprint. - Also fixed animations halting when outputting terrain- Fixed terrain GUI not returning first tile when first loaded- Fixed not being able to wall object when an object exists on the floor tile- Fixed water pipe/power line alpha tiles not rotating when graph is rotated- Fixed bug when clicking in building GUI (and not cli…
- Metropolis 1998 is now in Alpha - Demo Updated - 22 April 2026
Metropolis 1998 is now in alphaThe demo has been updated!I'm excited!Hello Builders,Over the last year, I've added dozens of new features to Metropolis 1998. The updated build (demo) is now live, ready for you to try out!Alpha means the game is >80% of the way there. Nearly all the major features are added, and many are feature complete. Parts of the game might be unbalanced. Existing features might be significantly tweaked. Please take a minute to share your thoughts if you play the new build? ːsteamthumbsupː MAJOR UPDATESMAJOR UPDATES - DescriptionGame LoopSupply and demand play a major role in growing your cityHomes wont upgrade until their inhabitant's needs are fulfilled. Businesses, offices, and industry also rely on this system.Features unlock as your city grows.Creative mode still exists. :)UtilitiesElectricity, telecom, cable, water, sewage, garbage, recycling, postal services,…
- Developer Update -- Nov'25- Feb'26 - 27 February 2026
Hello everyone!It's been awhile since my last update (insert sweaty smiley face hard at work). I'm happy to share there's been a lot of new updates since my last post (which also contains a lot of new content, in case you missed it!)Also check out the new screenshots on the main page :)Im working towards the big demo update. Initially I was planning on waiting until the game was in alpha, but it's almost been a year since the last update (wow!). So this next update will be the last pre-alpha update. I dont have a date yet though, sorry! To the point: New Features!Business now have multiple shifts24 hour businessesLots of new job titlesDemand/supply info UI outputs when placing a businessesStarted added economy to the game (with pie charts!)GUI Icon overhaul (in progress)Both adults in a family will now own a car. This is required since there are not other transportation options, and sid…
- Developer Update - A Real Game Soon - 1 November 2025
Howdy Everyone. (I'm in Texas now y'all). It's been awhile! About time I post an update. First off, there's two major bugs in the demo for some people:Textures are black when starting or loading a mapWhat happened: shaders are not compiling for AMD hardware. Solution: The next build will fix this issueThe game wont stop zooming inWhat happened: I forgot to comment out controller/joystick code (for media creation)Solution: Unplug all joysticks/controllers. I'll comment out the code in the next buildThe next demo update will be awhileI've reached the point in development where I'm adding simulation gameplayThese features are strongly interconnectedThus: Pushing out an update is not feasible until all the parts are working togetherThis might be the final push to alphaːsteamhappyːWhat have you been working on? \ -- Gifs are below!Terrain height, generation, and manipulation. Note: Roads and…
- Roadmap to Launch (And New Features!) - 22 June 2025
Hey everyone, I've updated and revamped the roadmap Metropolis 1998Link: https://www.yesboxstudios.com/roadmap/Launching is now on the horizon which is really exciting! There's no set date yet, but the earliest possible launch is Q4, 2025. The main reasons why I can't give an exact date yet is because:I'm not sure how long it will take to balance the core game loop.I'm not sure which marketing events I want to participate in. Most have set dates and require planning for in advance. I haven't launched the Steam demo page. I want to let some time pass to gather reviews (feedback is critical). The game needs to be further developed before I do this. I need to create a trailer and proper feature-teaser videos. Creating a great trailer can take a long time. (Fun fact: David Wehle said he took 3-4 months to create the trailer for "We Harvest Shadows". It clearly paid off for him too! David We…
