This is a small update but with HUGE impact on mod loading times! In short, mod loading times is roughly cut in half - you are welcome 🤓
Here is an example on my machine, 312 mods loaded: Old version: New version:
2 min. vs 48 sec. in the new one - times of cause varies from machine to machine and depending on what mods you have, however, should still be an improvement you can feel.
Talking about mods, just a reminder, it's NOT recommended to have all mods activated. The modding community is simply too productive, so there are way to many mods now to have all activated at once. So activate the mods you want for a certain game and have fun :)
Changed
- Mod loading times roughly cut in half - Removed Christmas decorations - Changed the "multiplayer-beta" button to a little video to spice things up a bit
Keep in mind there is a multiplayer-beta you can switch to and test out if you want. You can switch back and forth the between the normal and multiplayer-beta versions as much as you want: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1079260/view/6242613536165636826
Its been another month and time for an update from the developer - aka me :)
Public Multiplayer Beta is open! If you didn't read about it before, read this and see what its all about and how to try it out: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1079260/view/6242613536165636826
The focus on multiplayer continues and already I have added a bunch of new things.
Just for the fun of it I have added some Christmas props and some Santa characters, because it's Christmas time.
Pretty quickly after the public multiplayer beta opened, it was clear that spamming on public servers was an issue. Overtime I need to figure out a way to prevent it, while still not be too limiting. For now, I implemented a solution where the host can set a limit of how much each player can spawn. I tested that together with the community in a live stream a few days ago, was pretty fun :) Thanks for the ones you joined and the ones that tried, but ran into some issues.
Talking about issues. As you already know if you have tried the multiplayer beta, there are still a lot of issues, bugs, things to improve etc. That's why the beta will continue in all of 2024, for hopefully a full release in December 2024 - fingers crossed :)
New Years is approaching, so its also time for me to do a new 2024 cake as I use to. It should really have been out now, both in the normal version of the game and in multiplayer - however - I have been feeling kind of under the weather the last days, so the energy haven't been there for game dev after my day job :(
I'm still feeling kind of low on energy, but I try to make it and get it out as soon as I can.
It's soon fireworks seasons for much people with New Years around the corner, so you hope are enjoying some virtual fireworks in Fireworks Mania these days, either in the normal version or in the multiplayer beta version.
Some of you have been waiting for this since the release in 2020, some since January 2023 where I started on multiplayer and some of you have no idea what I'm talking about :)
Anyway, today is the day you can JOIN THE MULTIPLAYER BETA and play with your friends in Fireworks Mania!
As mentioned in a previous post the plan is to have the multiplayer beta running from now until release, which I currently plan to be in dec. 2024. So we will be in this beta stage for a year - assuming all goes well.
Keep in mind - It's a beta
When joining a beta you need to keep in mind that its an unfinished product.
Therefore, it is important that you join and play the game in this stage, with the right mindset.
You need to be ready to adapt to changes, because this version of the game change a lot and much more frequently than the regular version of the game. You also need to be ready to live with missing features and many more bugs than you would in the regular version of the game.
However, if you can live with the above you also get at chance to be a much more active part of the development of this game and be at the forefront of the development of the game.
Its due to early adapter like you that this game is what it is today and in the future. Thank you for that.
Remember to keep an eye on the News page
As I'm updating this version of the game a lot, I will not be posting patch notes here on Steam for each version. Instead, I have created a "News" page in the Main Menu in the game, where you can see changelog and other relevant information that you need to know.
Therefore, keep an eye on this page each time you start the game as it will change over time as there might be some really useful information there.
Known issues and bugs
First off, there are many bugs, don't worry, that's why its a beta, but as of writing, 1st of December 2023, there are two very important known bugs that I need you to know about.
First of all, for many people when they Quit the game, it crashes. I'm looking into it.
Secondly, and this is the big one, there currently is a bug in Unity, where the more audio files you have in the game the lower the FPS. The FPS will even go down overtime due to this bug. It's a REALLY annoying bug, as it's something internally in Unity that I can't do anything about. I'm in dialog with Unity about it and hope they fix it soon.
One way to minimize this bug, is to lower the amount of mods you enabled in your games at the time, especially fireworks mods. More fireworks means more sounds and the sooner you loose FPS.
Loosing FPS in a game, is almost the worst...so I'm really not satisfied with this! I'm doing what I can in dialog with Unity to get them to fix it, but I don't know when that will be. Again, keep an eye on the News page in game, because that's where news about this will be posted.
Not included in public beta
Mod Tools
There is a new Mod Tools in the works to support more multiplayer features and in general more features. However, its still to early to make public, so therefore, no multiplayer Mod Tools yet. I'll post in the Workshop part of the Discord once its ready to try out. However, right now I don't expect that to be before summer 2024.
Dedicated server
Once you start playing the multiplayer beta you might see a few "dedicated" servers in the server list. This is obvious because I'm also working on adding dedicated server support, however, that too is still to early to open up to too many people. So that will stay in closed beta for a while. However, you can still enjoy joining these servers, you just cannot host them yourself yet.
Submit mod to multiplayer beta workshop
Another thing you will notice when you start playing multiplayer beta is that the content of the workshop in the game isn't the same as in the regular version of the game. This is because I'm using the Test Environment on mod.io for multiplayer beta, as I need to separate the content in the workshop from the regular game to not confuse players.
Due to the above its not possible to create an account and submit mods on your own during the beta. It works a little different than normal, but this is only while its in beta, once this multiplayer is released the workshop/mod.io will work normally again. Keltusar have created a guide how to submit your mods (basically he have to do it for you) https://mod.io/g/fireworksmania/r/how-to-submit-a-mod-pack-to-the-multiplayer-beta
How to join multiplayer beta
To join the multiplayer beta you need to switch to the "multiplayer-beta" branch here on Steam.
Right click on Fireworks Mania --> Properties:
Click Betas and select "multiplayer-beta" from the dropdown:
Once you close the window, Steam will update your game to the right version and will look like this in the menu:
If you wanna go back to play the regular version, you just set the beta dropdown back to None and you are back.
Its been another month and time for an update from the developer - aka me :)
Public Multiplayer Beta is getting closer! If you didn't read about it before, see this: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1079260/view/3779143176140155324
Anyhow, nothing much to say this time, other than I'm super busy working on multiplayer.
Therefore I'm spending all my game-dev-time on making multiplayer as good as possible for the start of the beta.
If you want some more randomly shared details on the progress you can look at my YouTube channel where I share videos and live streams.
Keep in mind, the 2nd of December is only the beginning :)
I'll keep the post short, as I need to move on with the game.
As some of you know we had a Public Multiplayer Alpha Test back in July 2023. That went really well! You guys had a lot of fun and I learned a lot to help improve the game.
Ever since I often see people asking on YouTube, Twitter, Discord and Steam about when they can play again - which is totally understandable and makes me happy that so many people still want to play my silly little game :)
Around 50% done
I started working on the multiplayer version of Fireworks Mania in January 2023. Back then, I estimated that it would take around 2 years to fully implement multiplayer in Fireworks Mania. I think that estimate holds up, meaning I expect there is around 1 year left for full release. Multiplayer is a huge task, just saying. :)
Now you might be thinking, "Ohh no Laumania, I can't wait another year for multiplayer!"
I know and I have it the same way. I'm also SUPER excited to see a lot more people play multiplayer! At the same time, I also want to provide you with a good and solid game that is entertaining to play.
As I'm only around 50% done, the game is obviously not completed and therefore not ready for official release. On the other hand, a lot of you have been patiently waiting for almost a year now...so what can we do?
Public Multiplayer Beta - No End Date
I have been doing some thinking and had some good discussions with the people in the private multiplayer testing group and I think we have a solution.
The official release of the multiplayer version of Fireworks Mania I still expect to be ready around Dec. 2024 if all goes as planned, lets see.
However, the current version of multiplayer is actually playable and good enough to have some fun in. Therefore I have decided to change things up a bit.
From December 2nd 2023 all players will be able to switch to a "public multiplayer beta" branch in Steam.
This means that you can play the multiplayer version, help test it, provide feedback or just have fun. Unless something goes completely wrong there are no plans to close this branch - it will stay open for all players to play until the official release.
DISCLAIMER: Keep in mind this is a beta. There are bugs, lack of UI feedback, missing error messages and a lot of stuff missing from the normal version. However, the beta will be updated over time as I continue the development to reach a state that can be released as the official version.
I hope you guys are as excited about this as I am!
I'm really looking forward to play with you guys, see videos and hear about you guys playing together.
I will make a post on the day about how to switch, what to expect etc.
See how excited these guys are to soon be playing with YOU :)
To all who celebrates - 🎃🎃Happy Halloween 🎃🎃- to all others - Hello! 🤓
Again this year the community tips in with event specific stuff. I would loved to have done some Halloween content for the game, but I simply haven't had the time as all my game dev time goes into making multiplayer happen. https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1079260/view/3732980645401630422
So once again guanaco0403 saves the day with an updated version of his Halloween mod! Combine that with firework mods from Amnestey and you are in for a good time!
Release notes
--> BIG UPDATE <-- - Changed 90% of the models to low poly to match to the game style - Added A LOT of details (easter eggs, haunted things,...) - Added Scary Events (just move around the map and you will see, they are totaly random ) - Added interactions (can see some npc speak, player can trigger some little events,...) - Added animated NPC's (they are funny) - Added brand new smoke (A looot less laggy and better than before) - Fixed a lot of things **NOTE: this update only applies to the Town map, ranch isnt updated yet !!!**
You simply find the mod in the in-game workshop. To make it easier to find you can filter mods to only see Halloween mods or search for "Halloween".
With the mod installed you will now have some detailed spooky decorations when you go into the Town or Ranch map.
You can always disable the mod or unsubscribe if you want the scary decorations to go away again.
If you run into trouble with this mod or the game in general, remember you can always ask for help in the Community section here on Steam or in my Discord. Either I or someone else from the community (most likely Keltusar :P) will help you out.
Its been another month and time for an update from the developer - aka me :)
As mentioned previously in Developer News I'm working on changing some fundamental things in the game, related directly or indirectly to multiplayer. https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1079260/view/3660917344836649708
Disclaimer: Keep in mind that I am here talking about things I am working on at the moment. You won't have access to these until the next open beta + they might have changed before we get to that. Just want to make that clear, so you do not expect to see this in the game right now.
Server list
Originally it was my idea that Fireworks Mania in multiplayer would be a game you played only with friends and people you knew, why I started out with just having a JoinCode as you might remember from the public alpha. However, I got a lot of feedback from the community on this topic. Many players wanted to play with friends of cause, but also play with other random people from the community.
Therefore I have this month started adding a "Server list" into the game.
It's still very work-in-progress but it works and I must admit it adds a lot more to the game than I was expecting as it feels more "alive" now that you can see and join others (if they decided to play public of cause. Making private games will be possible too, just haven't implemented that as of writing).
Continue on UI overhaul
Not a lot to say other than the work continues on improving the UI. UI isn't what I'm best at, so its trial and error to find what feels right. I'll let the gifs below show the current state.
Alternative tool selection
Not all I'm doing is directly related to multiplayer, like the new "Toolbar/Tool selection" feature I implemented during a live stream previously this week. At the end of this live stream I show off some multiplayer gameplay too if you are interested.
Over the years I have gotten feedback that some would like to have a more "standard" way to switch the tools. With the number 1-5 on the keyboard, as it's done in many other games. While developing this on the live stream there were already feedback that people liked the possibility to use the numbers to switch, however, not all wanted more UI on the screen. It is not implemented yet, but later on I plan to make some more settings so you have more control over what UI elements you actually want on the screen. Like permanently hiding Toolstips, the new toolbar in the bottom etc. However, it will be a bit later.
Faster mod loading
A very common feedback I'm getting is that the game loads too slow. In general that's not really the case as if you play the standard game with no mods, the game loads very fast. However, players do have a point when it comes to having 200+ mods installed because that can be pretty slow with loading time of many minutes.
I think part of the reason players are "complaining" about the load times is because community mods is a official support and build-in feature that is super easy to use in Fireworks Mania - which is kind of a new'ish thing.
Not too many years back modding a game was something the community did without any help or support from the developers. The community thereby needed to "hack" their way to modding a game. This also mend that using mods in game were something that only more advanced players were doing and it was hard to get working, so when the game loaded slower due to the fact that it needed to load in a lot more stuff that is was part of the game, players understood why and were just happy when it finally worked.
In Fireworks Mania this is much simpler and easier to do. You go to the Workshop, subscribe to some stuff you find interesting and start a game. In general it just works, of cause as always with community generated stuff, not all works and I can't fix everything, but in general mods are of a very high quality in Fireworks Mania - because the mod creators are awesome :D
As a little example of their awesomeness, I can inform that the base game have around 70 pieces of fireworks. The modding community have added around 2000'ish! That's a ton of work from the modding community that the entire Fireworks Mania community benefits from - which is also why I'm trying all I can to make it as easy for both mod creators and players to create and use mods in the game.
The downside of this being so easy in Fireworks Mania is that players might forgot, or for good reason don't know, that they are adding extra external stuff to the game that needs to be downloaded, loaded into memory and progress by the game when it loads a map.
I'll see what I can do in the future to make this a bit more obvious.
Oh, and by the way, I cut the mod loading time in half in this new version of the game :)
Next public multiplayer beta announcement soon!
I hear you. Almost daily I see on the Discord, YouTube, DMs etc. you guys asking for when you can try out multiplayer. I'll be posting an announcement about that sometimes over the next weeks - so keep an eye here on Steam!
And by the way, please appreciate the screenshot at the top - it was almost impossible to get people to lineup for a photoshoot!
