- v0.2.64 - Minor Update - 31 March 2025
This update corrects some minor issues: Change List (Base Game) Alt+F4 now closes the application. Change List (Power Generation DLC) Fixed a very rare issue when the final game mission can be activated twice. Greg can no longer lower unlock levels (only happens if the game is active for multiple decades and the letter cap is reached) Part manager now remembers which page the user was previously on since some players complained that returning to the installed part page caused input mistakes If you notice any issues, please let me know in the comments section of this post, thank you!
- v0.2.62 - Minor Update - 22 January 2025
This update adjusts the difficulty of the end-game and fixes some minor camera movement issues. Change List (Base Game) Fixed an issue where there would be a delay before being able to pan on some mice. Change List (Urban Power Generation) End-game challenges and final stage have been made significantly harder. Quite a few players have commented that the end-game seems a bit too easy in comparison to the rest of the game, especially the challenges which seem to actually be easier than day-to-day energy demands. There were reasons for this but regardless, I've made some adjustments to the final stages of the game. It is now much more difficult but should still be pretty relaxed on Normal/Easy difficulty. Expert, on the other hand, is now borderline impossible (unless you really know what you're doing). I assure you, it IS beatable but you will need to extract everything you can from the…
- v0.2.60 - Minor Update - 20 January 2025
This update adds some quality-of-life features and fixes a few minor bugs. Change List (Base Game) Added trackpad mode (can be enabled in the settings menu). This mode is meant to make the game easier to use on laptops where to pan is not convenient. Now, ALT + can be used. Added zoom to cursor setting (can be enabled in the settings menu). The game currently uses zoom to view center, while some people prefer zooming to cursor. Added scroll when hover setting (can be enabled in the settings menu). This setting allows the player to use the scroll wheel while hovering over a control, without having to use that control's keybind. Piston friction is now modeled slightly more accurately and large friction coefficients no longer cause numerical instability at low speeds. Fixed an issue where pause menu was still interactable for a short time after being closed, preventing other controls from…
- v0.2.59 - Minor Update - 16 January 2025
This update makes many adjustments to the game's tutorial based on community feedback. It also adds some minor features and bugfixes. Change List (Base Game) Controls with non-default input modes now reset properly on game start Fixed a shader issue where alpha might exceed 0-1 range Added CPU brand information to AVX warning dialog Change List (Urban Power Generation) Tutorial is now separated from the rest of the game and the main sequence of the game does not progress until the tutorial is complete Population no longer changes during the tutorial (during the engine management portion) Sediment no longer accumulates during the tutorial Mr. Savery now corrects the player if the water level drifts off-target Added a very clear, prominent warning when an outage is occurring Fixed a minor performance issue related to the MARKETPLACE and MAILBOX buttons (it's minor in 99% of cases but in c…
- v0.2.57 Minor Update - 11 January 2025
This update fixes a few minor issues. Change List CPU check for AVX no longer terminates the program but allows it to continue running after showing a warning. This is mainly for people running the game on unsupported platforms where AVX support is not reported but may be supported in other ways. Fixed an issue where the base game damage toggle was appearing in the DLC modes. Renamed "STORAGE" to "INERTIA" Adjusted generator voltage curve Fixed an issue where magical energy multiplier readout was not showing the correct value Fixed a formatting issue where "MWH" was instead rendered as "GWH" Added short description to frequency changer part in marketplace Made some weather changes transition more smoothly
- v0.2.56 Update - 10 January 2025
This update adds a few minor improvements to the game and tutorial. Change List CPU check is completed at the beginning of the program so players know if their CPU is compatible or not. This is really just a check for AVX support which is supported on most CPUs made after 2011. Added more decimal places to transmission readout. Adjusted tutorial letter to specifically say "BOILER STRUCTURE" repair so that it correlates directly with a heading in the marketplace. Player now gets a notification if they try to click on a control that they currently don't have access to. Mailbox and marketplace are highlighted with arrows during the tutorial so players can find them more easily. Arrows were added to help players find where to click when repairing the powerlines for the first time.
- Temporary DLC Video Tutorial - 9 January 2025
Hey everyone, I'm working on some tutorial improvements right now but it will take some time to get it right. Until then, I've recorded a short tutorial video which should help players in the meantime. I've closely observed the playerbase over the past few days and I've noticed some people having difficulties, especially with the early phases of the game. I've also seen some negative reviews criticizing the game for not providing enough information in the tutorial. I'm not entirely sure how I want to address this just yet. Not all players are struggling to the same extent and some ramp up on the game quickly and others don't. I could expand the tutorial, but it's already pretty information-heavy at this point. In fact, it may even be completely counterproductive since I find that it seeds particular ideas and strategies that are meant to be generic and won't be applicable in all situati…
- v2.53 Released - Difficulty Adjustments - 8 January 2025
This patch addresses some common complaints I've seen, mainly regarding difficulty level. I did release a few other patches before this which mainly focused on minor UI changes like starting the game in the main menu to avoid confusion for people who just purchased the DLC. Difficulty Adjustments I first want to address a common misconception about the career mode that fuel is "too expensive". It isn't and this is quantifiable and provable mathematically. Furthermore, there are no "dumb tricks" or hacks needed in order to win. That being said, I do understand that for someone who hasn't spent a lot of time in the simulation, it can seem mysterious or counterintuitive. I assure you, the simulation is not broken and it's not scamming you. Physics just doesn't care about gameplay and these are the harsh realities of physically based simulation. To ease the pain for players, I've lessened t…
- Major Update and DLC Release: January 7 - 6 January 2025
TIME UPDATE The game will release during regular working hours in EST (Eastern Standard Time), likely around 2 PM. Knowing me, it's possible there might be a few delays but that's the time we're aiming for. Hey everyone, I'd like to thank you all for being very patient. The DLC and major game update are finally complete and will be released on January 7, 2025 (tomorrow). I have decided on a price for the DLC of 5 USD (subject to regional pricing) based on tester feedback and market research. The base game will of course remain free. What to expect on January 7 January 7th will be by far the biggest release I have ever personally undertaken. This project took over 3000 hours of work and I anticipate will have at least a few hundred downloads on the first day of release. I don't really know what to expect. I've done all I can as a single developer to test the game to make sure it performs…
- Development Update - 31 October 2024
Hello steam engine operators! It's been a while since the last update but since then, we've had a successful alpha release of the power generation DLC to game testers and it was met with a positive response. I recently uploaded a video to my YouTube channel discussing some of these changes and the current state of the DLC if you'd prefer to watch on YouTube. NOTE: at this time, development is funded by Patreon supporters and YouTube sponsors and this video contains a sponsored segment between 00:31 and 01:30. You can skip this ad using the timestamps in the video or moving the play cursor to 01:30. Steam Engine Updates New Pressure Relief Valve The old pressure relief valve has been replaced with a more realistic version with adjustable set-point so that you can more precisely regulate the pressure in the boiler. New Brake Mechanism The brake has been completely reworked with completely…
- DLC Progress Update - 15 April 2024
Hey guys! I really appreciate everyone's patience. It's been a busy few months and my time has been split across multiple projects, like Engine Simulator and others which I don't want to reveal publicly yet. Nonetheless, work on the DLC continues and the project has definitely not been abandoned. A mostly complete version has already been released to testers and I'm working that initial feedback into the final version I'm working on now. Some new features that you may be interested in are: Boiler damage and explosions This feature will also be coming to the base game and you won't need the DLC to unlock it. It's a fairly simple damage model but you can now boom-boom the boiler which has been heavily requested. Damage is also toggleable in the main game mode. NPCs Steamtown now has NPCs with simple AIs and can communicate with the player through text-based communication. Some testers fou…
- New AngeTheGreat Steam Engine Simulator Video! - 29 February 2024
Hello engineers! A new video was just released on my main YouTube channel discussing the history and current state of the power generation DLC! NOTE: this video does contain a sponsored segment and is not a normal development update. For those who don't know, I was a YouTuber before Steam Engine Simulator was released and at this point I still rely on sponsor support and Patreon to sustain myself. You can skip to 01:04 to skip this segment or use the timestamp included in the video. Video Summary History Work officially started on this DLC in July of 2023. A new developer, Hjorgun, put together the initial prototype which was completed in October and by December the DLC had most of the elements that were originally envisioned. To me though, the final result was just not good enough to release and considering the greater than expected number of wishlists, I decided against releasing it.…
- Power Generation DLC Progress Update - 13 February 2024
Greetings steamers! The revised core mechanics of the new Power Generation DLC are now complete and I feel ready to reveal some in-development footage. Check out the video on my second channel and let me know what you guys think. - Ange
- Major Improvements Coming to Steam Engine Simulator! - 31 January 2024
Hey guys, if you want to learn about what's happening in the Engine Simulator universe, please check out the latest update on my YouTube channel!
- Power Generation DLC Update - 2 January 2024
Hey guys! Judging by the "RIP dev" and "where DLC?" comments on both Steam and Discord, I can tell that a lot of you are upset, and I completely understand why. I originally intended for December to be a tentative release date (ie plus/minus a few weeks) but in retrospect, this was definitely a mistake on my part. So where is the DLC? The DLC is in a complete and playable state right now, undergoing testing with a small group of 30 play-testers. Honestly, I'm just not 100% happy with it as it is now and I had to make the difficult decision to not release in December. With such an unexpectedly high number of people wishlisting/waiting for this DLC and many having very high expectations, I can't in good conscience release something which I'm not 100% comfortable with releasing. I hope you guys can understand. So when is the DLC actually releasing? I'm going to learn from my mistakes on th…
- v0.2.1 - Public Beta Now Open - 23 December 2023
Greetings steam engine operators! To prepare for the release of the Power Generation DLC, a public beta-testing branch (called beta) has been created for the base Steam Engine Simulator game. The game has received many performance and interface improvements as well as improvements to the physics engine which were needed for the upcoming content. You may find that it plays slightly differently compared to the previously released version of the game. I'd love to hear your feedback and straighten out as many bugs as possible before the release of the DLC. Feel free to join the Engine Simulator Discord Server to report issues and get development updates. Thanks everyone! The "Spinny Valve" Controversy I know that the new control style has not been popular with everyone. My rationale for this change was: With radial adjustment, adjusting the sensitivity is as easy moving the mouse further aw…
- Minor Update - v0.1.22a - 13 July 2023
Change List Generally improved and more consistent performance Water pump pressure changed from 50 psi to 100 psi Water valve now controls water flow rate instead of water pressure Holding shift now allows the mouse to finely control valves and other components Pressure relief valve is now controlled with an adjustable stop Visual indicator added to show when tank is overflowing Quality calibration no longer adjusts the quality down if the user manually sets the quality Reduced instability noise when tank is fully filled Demon mode heat transfer coefficient increased As always, please let me know if you encounter any issues as your feedback is critical to improving the game. Thanks everyone!
- Minor Update - v0.1.21a - 6 July 2023
Change List Game no longer crashes after 20 hours of play-time Fixed tick count on pressure gauge (it had 6 segments instead of 5) The engine and controls would sometimes freeze after a lag spike; this has been fixed Hints no longer display when hints are disabled Controllable elements are highlighted when controls are displayed Starter motor pitch adjusted down slightly Steam particle system looks more consistent at different framerates
- Major Update - v0.1.20a - 1 July 2023
New Content Added starter motor Added drain valve Added water pump (at 50 psi) Better animations when interacting with gate valves Improved gauge appearance Vacuum reading added to pressure gauge New vacuum achievements Performance Improvements Better multicore performance (audio and physics are now multithreaded) Audio synchronizes more quickly after a desync/lag event Reduced audio latency Reduced game folder size by 60% Improved game startup time Optimized game geometry for faster rendering Improved steam particle performance on laptops Bugfixes Window clears with the correct color when resizing Better error handling when encountering audio driver issues Game no longer crashes when alt-tabbing to desktop Hidden Features F3 debug screen n + scroll will manually adjust audio/physics quality
- Minor Update - v0.1.19a - 17 June 2023
Change List New achievements Fixed a bug where display is jittery when zooming and panning at the same time Physics engine robustness improvements Removed unnecessary files from game folder "When engine builder?" This game will not be expanded much from where it is now, however, I am working on an engine building game that will have many of the features you guys want. That is an entirely different project called "Engine Simulator 3D". You can also download the prototype of this project (not currently available on Steam) called "Engine Simulator" which does allow you to build and test gas-powered engines. Please check out my YouTube channel (all links in the game) to learn more. Note about freezing after long play-time In order to get some of the more insane achievements, some people have attempted running their games for many hours consecutively. A few have experienced the application f…
