[p]Hey![/p][p]Its been another month and time for an update from the developer - aka me 🤓[/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/36145520/f32abfa2fba65caa8aa69a42164468e11fb170cd.png"][/p][p][/p]
Thank you
[p]For starters I want to say a big thank you to all of you who supported my silly little game here. Both to players that just got the game and to veterans that have been part of the journey for years. [/p][p]As you might know, I originally started making Fireworks Mania as a little game for my kids. They really enjoyed it (at least in the beginning, not so much anymore, as I have asked them to test stuff too many times 🤓) and that made me think others might enjoy it too.[/p][p]Luckily, I put out the game and it turns out even kids at the way up to 65+ years enjoys it 🥳🎇[/p][p][/p][p]Adding multiplayer last year, gave the game a whole new dimension, as it was now possible to enjoy either beautiful fireworks or chaos together with other people. [/p][p]This have also given me, personally, the possibility to join you guys and see how you are playing, either via chaos or roleplaying. This have been fantastic to see and experience 🥳. The last few days I have been joining random public hosts and it have been amazing![/p][p][/p][p]Without a community like you guys and girls, the game would not exists - Thank you 🙏![/p][p][/p]
Breaking records and reaching milestones
[p]In the last days of 2025 we reached a crazy milestone of mod downloads on mod.io (mod.io is the platform that hosts all the mods in the Workshop in the game).[/p][p][/p][p]30 MILLION MOD DOWNLOADS![/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/36145520/242bb1d1046a8ee714a3bc5fb814d10ebd50270a.png"][/p][p]Since mod support were added (after huge requests from the community) in late 2023, we have now past 30 MILLION mod downloads! Its crazy! 🕺🥳[/p][p] We have 476 mods and today, which is the 31st of December aka New Years eve, we have had 696.000 mod downloads TODAY and its only 14:41 (02:41 PM) CET as of writing this.
This means as of writing, Fireworks Mania is the second most popular game on mod.io.[/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/36145520/6a0115f9748e454d57f20a439fafec038decdb7b.png"][/p][p]So in terms of mods, its crazier than I ever dared to hope for 🎆🕺🎇 so lets also appreciate all the creative mod creators in the community 🙏[/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/36145520/11941b56747cbe95638593a322835b40347a1bc5.png"][/p][p][/p][p]To make things even crazier, we also broke our concurrent players record from last year. Last year, in 2024, we peaked at 1085 concurrent players on the 31st.
This year, 2025, we broke that record, already yesterday on the 30th, by a lot, with 1717 concurrent players![/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/36145520/e90a4d8616c5d64af89c726402ca3e63c539a5e2.png"][/p][p]I'm pretty sure we will break that already today as New Years eve is always the day with most players. As mentioned, it's only afternoon right now as I'm writing this and we are already very close to break the record from yesterday. The typical peaks hours for the game in many hours away, so we might even reach 2000 concurrent players! Lets see 🎆🎇🥳🕺[/p][p]I think I will update this post in a few days, so I can put in here how it ended.[/p][p][/p][p]Enough with numbers and records, lets do a brief recap of 2025.[/p][p][/p]
Status on 2025
[p]In 2025 I got a lot of "under the hood" stuff done, mainly related to performance and stability. [/p][p]As the game keeps evolving, these are recurring tasks really and therefore something I will keep working on, while also adding new features.[/p][p][/p][p]Talking about features, here is a short list of some of the things that got added in 2025:[/p]
[p]Rebindable keys[/p]
[p]Dynamic Depth of field[/p]
[p]Inventory Search[/p]
[p]Flashlight intensity[/p]
[p]Start on controller support[/p]
[p]City has become destructible[/p]
[p]You can see the post about this update going live here if you want more details:[/p][p][dynamiclink href="https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1079260/view/613182487250600434"]The biggest new feature, the Firing System, ended up actually not being ready for New Years as I was hoping. First off, I got started late in the year, as I was fairly burned out after the two massive years prior to get multiplayer version ready. Furthermore, it turns out it was much harder to figure out how to make this work in a simple, yet flexible way. Still haven't solved it, why its not out yet, but I will continue on it in 2026.[/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/36145520/3a82b48a374d593352a0c70ee8baea94a5f22901.png"][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/36145520/c1ed9fecf99d5317623a6c259ba81c6f7a81ab78.png"][TAG-130][/p]
Happy New Year
[p]Lastly I just wanna wish you all a HAPPY NEW YEAR and hope to see you in 2026 - I will at least do what I can to make the game even better in 2026.[/p][p] A quick safety reminder for tonight: While I want you to have a "blast," please remember that fireworks are not toys. I always say it, but it bears repeating: Don't try anything you see in-game in real life. Stay safe, follow your local laws, and look out for one another. Whether you are lighting up the real sky or the virtual one in-game, I hope you have an amazing night. Here’s to an even bigger and better 2026! Stay safe and have fun.[/p][p] That's all for now 🤓[/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/36145520/dfc819298511af61328ccac0c861193b41c3ce93.jpg"][/p][p][/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/36145520/28612cbace23f6293f3948ac57cb1eecd15cfe30.jpg"][/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/36145520/f09864f948ab3afacfa9ece1c12331aa7a27824b.jpg"][/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/36145520/86bdc1cf3f6859aefb70b16fa05f0ef2720d1760.jpg"][/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/36145520/c8777f92f73b104412dc1a412d4236f019f987e5.jpg"][TAG-160][/p]
Change log
[p]I have pushed the following updates since last Developer News.[/p][p][dynamiclink href="https://steamcommunity.com/games/1079260/announcements/detail/506222544634776439"][dynamiclink href="https://steamcommunity.com/games/1079260/announcements/detail/506222544634776319"][TAG-170][dynamiclink href="https://steamcommunity.com/games/1079260/announcements/detail/613182487250601606"][dynamiclink href="https://steamcommunity.com/games/1079260/announcements/detail/613182487250600435"][dynamiclink href="https://steamcommunity.com/games/1079260/announcements/detail/613182487250600308"][dynamiclink href="https://steamcommunity.com/games/1079260/announcements/detail/506221276630616240"][dynamiclink href="https://steamcommunity.com/games/1079260/announcements/detail/506221276630615892"][TAG-180][dynamiclink href="https://steamcommunity.com/games/1079260/announcements/detail/506221276630615693"][dynamiclink href="https://steamcommunity.com/games/1079260/announcements/detail/506221276630615238"][/p][p] YouTube | Twitch | Twitter | Discord [/p][p][/p][p]- Enjoy![/p][p][dynamiclink href="https://store.steampowered.com/app/1079260/Fireworks_Mania__An_Explosive_Simulator/"][TAG-202][/p][p][/p]
v2025.12.8
[p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/36145520/6908be18995f2e95a874c81b63d6fef1db5eecac.png"][/p][p]### Changed[/p][p]- Changed the MainMenu video background[/p][p]- Minor improvements and changes to the Cake 2026[/p][p][/p][p]### Fixed[/p][p]- Fixed bug where you couldn't throw items if you where too long away from the host[/p][p]- Fixed issue where you couldn't switch to "Empty Hand" after you threw an item[/p][p]- Attempt to fix the UI issue with the Better Graphics Mod[/p][p][/p][p] YouTube | Twitch | Twitter | Discord [/p][p]- Enjoy![/p][p][dynamiclink href="https://store.steampowered.com/app/1079260/Fireworks_Mania__An_Explosive_Simulator/"][TAG-40][/p]
v2025.12.7
[p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/36145520/38be0141f57cf72d5795a1e3e961917a3d908a50.png"][/p][p]### Added[/p][p]- Added Cake 2026[/p][p]- Added new "Storm" (thunder) weather type[/p][p][/p][p]### Changed[/p][p]- Changed the "Slow down, wait 0 seconds before spawning again" message. This now only shows if the seconds is actually more than 0 whole second, as it's stupid to keep showing you need to wait 0 seconds[/p][p][/p][p]### Fixed[/p][p]- Fixed issue where pressing ENTER to do new line in the Create Host "Description" field was not working[/p][p]- Attempt to fix issue where you could get stuck in the ingame menu and still moving around in game[/p][p]- Attempt to fix the issue where players wouldn't auto respawn if falling off the world. However, it can still happen, due to how the physics works in the game. You can always manually respawn via the ingame menu though[/p][p][/p][p] YouTube | Twitch | Twitter | Discord [/p][p]- Enjoy![/p][p][dynamiclink href="https://store.steampowered.com/app/1079260/Fireworks_Mania__An_Explosive_Simulator/"][/p]
Fireworks Mania - Winter Sale
[p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/36145520/08d2977118f621b2e47dd489537de90765eb2895.png"][/p][p]This means STEAM WINTER SALE, which FIREWORKS MANIA is joining again this year![/p][p][/p][p]🔥Ignite some virtual fireworks by yourself, with friends, with family or others from the community (minus the trolls) and turn this season up to 11! 🤘[/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/36145520/e2c2e08018b13e0aa5688e6ee08340ad053c9b9e.jpg"][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/36145520/90f60d45822b9fcf034b1d01674cc023dfb6cd86.jpg"][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/36145520/36bfaed230c2938b37b0dc97fc3f41762e10b5df.jpg"][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/36145520/d010118af32ec28077a1583a062d330a542d8bf6.jpg"][/p][p]YouTube | Twitch | Twitter | Discord[/p][p]- Enjoy![/p][p][/p][p][dynamiclink href="https://store.steampowered.com/app/1079260/Fireworks_Mania__An_Explosive_Simulator/"][/p]
v2025.12.6
[p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/36145520/13e72fa4805d9b6ca85f1830ac717d33630df6cc.png"][/p][p]### Added[/p][p]- Added key rebindings for Teleport and Tools Menu[/p][p][/p][p]### Changed[/p][p]- Updated some of the destroyed buildings in City to not be see through from the bottom[/p][p]- Increased the duration of the fire and smoke on some destroyed buildings in City[/p][p][/p][p]### Fixed[/p][p]- Fixed bug where unlockable items was not unlocked when you walked into the blue question mark[/p][p]- Fixed bug where 1-5 number keys was not always working[/p][p][/p][p] YouTube | Twitch | Twitter | Discord [/p][p]- Enjoy![/p][p][dynamiclink href="https://store.steampowered.com/app/1079260/Fireworks_Mania__An_Explosive_Simulator/"][/p]
v2025.12.5
[p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/36145520/13e72fa4805d9b6ca85f1830ac717d33630df6cc.png"][/p][p]Its December, which means three things: Christmas, New Years and an update for Fireworks Mania.[/p][p][/p][p]Last year around this time we got the huge update that added multiplayer to the game: [dynamiclink href="https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1079260/view/499435617083457893"][TAG-10][/p][p]It took me two years to get that ready. This year I sadly cannot present such a huge update. This year's December update contains a lot of smaller "quality of life" features and performance improvements. [/p][p]I plan to update the game multiple times throughout December with various minor things, for instance a 2026 Cake among other things.[/p][p][/p][p]Lets start with something that is NOT included, even though I have been taking about it all year more or less 😮[/p][p][/p]
Firing System NOT INCLUDED (for now)
[p]Let me first get this out of the way, as it actually annoys me that I have to do this. [/p][p]Even though the Firing System have been the main focus for a long time, I still have not gotten it to work good enough so I want to release it. Its more complicated than I thought, to make it good, simple and flexible and my plan was to release it here leading up to New Years. [/p][p]However, I'm not going to make it for New Years with this one 🙄 [/p][p]But...fear not, its not like we will not get a Firing System, I just cannot get it ready for New Years. Work on the system will continue next year, no worries. [/p][p]For now, all Firing System related is disabled in the game so you won't see any of it, for now.[/p][p][/p]
Rebindable keys
[p]Even though the Firing System have been the main focus, I have also managed to add some other features to the game. Most of them because it made sense to create together with the Firing System, but some were also to just get something to work, instead of keep banging my head against the Firing System wall. So, in this version I bring you the first version of rebindable keys. [img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/36145520/d3ce43a694e2d2a2f2d4758aac83c197c6045ea5.png"][/p]
Dynamic Depth of field
[p]An effect I wanted to add for a long time and I think it adds a lot of "feel" and "depth" (pun intended) to the game. If you don't like the effect you can disable it in Settings.[/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/36145520/399e1ddbc993e320a2b4ed7c8876f972e3eabb86.png"][TAG-50][/p]
Inventory Search
[p]Its a very requested feature that have been possible via mods so far. Now I have added a first draft of an Inventory Search to make it a bit easier to find things.[/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/36145520/e8c2d7f36eee519e6e6611a0eca966ced09e2c47.png"][/p]
Flashlight intensity
[p]In some cases the flashlight can be a bit too bright or too vague. Therefore I have added an setting so you can control the brightness of the flashlight. Its a local setting, so how you set it does not affect how other sees the flashlight in multiplayer.[/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/36145520/d79d55ba964ee4f49138a0934a057955fb626856.png"][/p][p][/p]
Start on controller support
[p]I have started a on controller support. As you can see, if you have a controller connected, its not working that well so far. Only a few parts of the UI are navigable with controller, it can loose focus etc. In general early on. Its mainly focused on playing the game once you are in a map. That's currently where it works best, but still long way to go. However, wanted to include it now, so people who want to try it out can. The tools menu for instance works with a controller as a radial menu. [img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/36145520/ea69e23a001772cbff27bd9565d6bf6555adb1a4.png"][/p]
City has become destructible
[p]Town and Ranch have been destructible for some years now. City have not. [/p][p]That is changed now as its now possible to put the entire City (more or less) to ground level. [/p][p]These are big buildings, so they can handle more than a few firecrackers.[/p][p]But hey, why am I telling you this, you are a responsible pyro, so mistakes like this would never happen for you, right?[/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/36145520/ee8d1b88f116084ba41fe69781a0e7eeef471caf.jpg"][/p][p]YouTube | Twitch | Twitter | Discord[/p][p]- Enjoy! 🤓🕺[/p][p][/p][p][dynamiclink href="https://store.steampowered.com/app/1079260/Fireworks_Mania__An_Explosive_Simulator/"][TAG-106][/p]
Developer News - July 2025
[p]Hey!
Its been another month and time for an update from the developer - aka me 🤓 [/p][p]Good progress this month! Not on what I was originally planning, but good progress anyway 😂 [/p]
4th of July & Summer Sale
[p]July was, surprisingly 😅, the month of 4th of July, which is a big deal for Fireworks Mania.[/p][p]It is the second biggest time of year for the game, only topped by New Years.
This year Fireworks Mania was part of the Summer Sale on Steam, which runs over 4th of July. I was lucky enough to also get a Daily Deal spot right after the Summer Sale followed by yet another 2 weeks sale. So more or less 4 weeks on sale - so if you didn't get a copy on sale it's your own fault 🤓 (No worries, there will be sale again at some point).
This was a big success and a lot of new people have bought the game, resulting in a lot of positive reviews - which means a lot to me! The game is now "Overwhelmingly Positive" in both RECENT and ALL reviews 🕺
Thanks again to all who bought the game, either recently or years ago 🙏🎇🎆[/p][p][/p]
Firing system
[p]This month I have actually worked on the upcoming firing system.
However, much of the time has actually been spend on talking with people in the community about ideas how this could work from a players point of view, combined with my own vision for how I want it to end up in its final state.
To give an example of what I mean, I have been back and forth on if the interaction with the Firing Controller, should be like an "in game" interface or it should be regular UI.
So what do I mean by that.
In general, I'm really a fan of having things be "physical" things in the game world. So like, if you need to press a button, there is a "physical" button in the game world you have to press, instead of a UI with a button you press with the mouse. [/p][p] The reason is that I think it feels better somehow and it translate better to be played with a controller too or in VR if you have things physically in the game world. However, there are drawbacks to this approach too, which I will get back to in a bit.
As an example, my first attempt here, I created a "Firing Controller" that had buttons you needed to look at and press to for instance fire of "cue 1". [/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/36145520/51a95967bc3010e23226b65bcb4abe59f0ea5023.png"][/p][p]This have that ingame feeling (right now it doesn't, as the button don't move, make sound or any feedback, but lets imaging that there for now). One of the problems though, is that you are looking down while pressing, meaning you are not looking at what's shooting off. Another issue might be that it might not be easy to make an "interface" this way, when things get a little more complex, where you maybe have a waveform from a song and you wanna place markers at a specific time.
Another approach is to have regular UI as we know it from like the Inventory, menu's etc. This could work in a way where you walk up to the firing controller and press E to use it and a UI shows, where you can do stuff.[/p][p]A simple simple mockup could be something like this: [img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/36145520/4a58b59f45f45fefd8660095a88c73ab07518477.png"][TAG-30][/p][p]Making it like this, I think it will be easier to have a more advanced interface, as the firing controller system evolves with more features, like a waveform, markers etc.
However, this have the same challenges as the other, by having a huge dark UI blocking your view when you press the "Cue 1" button to fire it off.
To solve that problem, I could make it so the buttons Cue 1, 2, 3 etc. was bound to NUM1, NUM2, NUM3 etc. on the keyboard, so you had physical keys to press. That would solve the problem for both approaches... but what if you have more than one Firing Controller spawned then? What if there are multiple players in the game, what happens when one player press NUM1?
Anyway, this was a very very very short and simplified version of the thoughts I'm thinking these days.[/p][p]The goal is to find a solution to this that makes you guys say "Yes, of cause it should be made like that" - however that's typically also the hardest solution to come up with.
Please share your thoughts and ideas of how this would work in the perfect world - I'm listening 👂[/p][p][/p][p]That's all for now 🤓[/p][p][/p]
Change log
[p]I have pushed the following updates since last Developer News.[/p][p][dynamiclink href="https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1079260/view/508460644573380670"][dynamiclink href="https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1079260/view/508460478830215302"][TAG-50][dynamiclink href="https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1079260/view/840600496339157100"][dynamiclink href="https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1079260/view/508458485971685660"] [/p][p] YouTube | Twitch | Twitter | Discord [/p][p][/p][p]- Enjoy![/p][p][dynamiclink href="https://store.steampowered.com/app/1079260/Fireworks_Mania__An_Explosive_Simulator/"][/p][p][/p]
[p]If you have been following along in the Update History, specifically what I have been pushing to the EXPERIMENTAL beta, you will know that I got a little sidetracked while working on the firing system. [/p][p]That resulted in me spending some time updating and optimizing the code around mortars, which is a good thing in a long run - even though I should have been further with the firing system by now - but hey, that's how it is 🤓
[img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/36145520/1f59ae7d3a473e30e6e55f32772ed07c62e23d01.gif"][/p][p][/p][p]### Changed[/p][p]- Improved performance of playing sounds on impact as it in some cases had a huge performance downside[/p][p]- Improved performance of "other objects" shooting out of mortars[/p][p]- Refactored various scripts and logic in relation to Mortars. In general a big performance boost, but logic around how "other items" is put into a mortar have been changed. Once you loaded in a shell that fits the mortar, so it's loaded properly, you can put more items/objects into the mortar. However, it have to be something you spawn and the size of the object that to roughly fit the size of the mortar. In general it should work pretty much as before, just perform better and mortars being easier to work with in relation to physics. NOTE TO MOD CREATORS THAT HAVE CREATED MORTARS: I will post a video shortly, showing what you need to do to your mortars to optimize them. Your mortars should work fine in this version, but to really get the performance boost, you need to remove some colliders, which I will show in that video. Keep an eye on my YT channel :)[/p][p]- Shells now dynamically follow the mortar during the "load into mortar" animation[/p][p]- Changed the UI text showing info about the object you look at, so the font does not auto size anymore. It looked weird in some cases of mortars and shells as they can have long names. Now it does not jump up and down in font size[/p][p]- Optimized the "PickUp" logic to work more stable[/p][p]- Updated translations from https://crowdin.com/project/fireworks-mania[/p][p][/p][p]### Fixed[/p][p]- Fixed bug where mortars loaded with shell and other objects would not fire after ignition, if it was loaded from a blueprint[/p][p]- Fixed background videos not playing on SteamDeck[/p][p] [/p][p] YouTube | Twitch | Twitter | Discord [/p][p][/p][p]- Enjoy![/p][p][dynamiclink href="https://store.steampowered.com/app/1079260/Fireworks_Mania__An_Explosive_Simulator/"][/p]
[EXPERIMENTAL] v2025.7.2
[p]NOTE: This version is only available on the EXPERIMENTAL beta. You need to manually switch to it in Steam. Right Click on Fireworks Mania -> Properties -> Betas -> "Experimental" in dropdown. To go back to the normal version, change it to "None".[/p][p][/p][p]I think the new mortar implementation is now ready, let me know if you find any issues. Please test loading and saving with blueprints, test that your old blueprints that include mortars still work.[/p][p] ### Changed[/p][p]- Improved performance of playing sounds on impact as it in some cases had a huge performance downside[/p][p]- Improved performance of "other objects" shooting out of mortars[/p][p][/p][p]### Fixed[/p][p]- Fixed bug where mortars loaded with shell and other objects would not fire after ignition, if it was loaded from a blueprint[/p][p] [/p][p]YouTube | Twitch | Twitter | Discord[/p][p]- Happy testing, enjoy! 🤓🕺[/p][p][/p][p][dynamiclink href="https://store.steampowered.com/app/1079260/Fireworks_Mania__An_Explosive_Simulator/"][/p]
