We're excited to announce that our next game, Space Trash Scavenger, is available to wishlist now.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1759350/
Overcrowd: A Commute 'Em Up
Revealed🪐Space Trash Scavenger🪐Available to wishlist now!💥
We're excited to announce that our next game, Space Trash Scavenger, is available to wishlist now.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1759350/
Anniversary update! And what we're doing next...
One year ago today we released Overcrowd: A Commute 'Em Up on Steam, after nearly 1.5 years in early access.
Since then we've been blown away by the great feedback and support we have had from the community.
Overcrowd was an absolute passion project: when we started, Sarah and I had no experience in making games or pixel art, we just had an idea and a dream. We faced some big challenges along the way, but over five years later, we're proud that we managed to finish and publish our first game by ourselves.
Thanks to everyone who helped, especially all you beta testers, everyone who took the time to file a bug report, and everyone who left us a review - always a massive help, especially for a small micro studio like ours.
Hue knew?
To mark the day, I decided to add a free update that gives you the ability to select new train colours.
This has always been a popular request, so I'm happy to add it to the game. You can alter the colour of any train on any platform by using the platform menu.
What now...?
A few people have been asking us what we're working on now, and I'm happy to finally announce our next project ... cue drumroll:
Space Trash Scavenger
Grab your jetpack and explore procedural asteroid fields, ancient space-wrecks and abandoned outposts. Build your space rig to process scavenged trash. Craft, trade and fight your way to success in this interstellar, open-world sandbox.
We decided to take what we learnt, which is a heavy emphasis on interlocking systems-based mechanics, combined with fun and addictive gameplay, and apply it to something a little different.
It's going to be interesting to see what we can achieve in a 3D environment, so I hope you can join us on our next journey!
The Steam Coming Soon page for Space Trash Scavenger is now live - so head over there and sling us a wishlist if you have a moment.
Bugs fixes and tweaks: Build 1.1.0 is live
Build 1.1.0 is live.
I continue to check in and fix up any remaining issues I can that you have reported. I'm keen to have the game in as best a state as I can going forward.
So if you have an issue, please just use the bug form (also linked in game), leave a comment on the Steam bug forum, or drop me line at hello@squareplaygames.com and I will look into it.
So what we have got in build 1.1.0? Lets take a look.
Build 1.1.0
-Fixes rare issue causing some saves to crash on loading, due to rats being saved out of bounds. Previously damaged saves should now open.
-Prevent rare crash when selling multi-celled shops with a corrupted/missing cell that occured during save.
-Wall and floor tile depths correctly update after selling a shop. Removes slight graphical glitch with floors running over the base of walls, evident until you rotated or built more floor.
-Do not ever set track or entrance goals higher that what exist on the map. Very rarely, procedural gen was creating maps with impossible track or entrances goals. Fixed.
-Commute of the day entrance goals should now correctly save and load. Fix will be evident on your next freshly created commute of the day.
-Updated discord to point to the new server url name squareplaygames - drop by for a chat!
Thanks again for all your support! If you like what I did with the game, please do consider leaving a review. It makes a big difference for tiny devs like me and is much appreciated.
Best,
Al.
Build 1.0.42 live
Thanks to everyone for taking the time to file issues you have come across in Overcrowd in recent months.
This build fixes all known crashes and few remaining serious bugs I am aware of that have been filed for the game.
Regular readers will notice I have taken a bit of a step back from the frequent updates of the last 1-2 years during early access and post release. After over five years working solely on Overcrowd, I have needed a little time out from the project before returning to make these tweaks. This has meant a slightly longer wait for the fixes than the daily/weekly dev cycle of last year. I hope you can understand.
On the whole I'm super happy with the stability of the game, as there seem really very few issues and those I have encountered seem very rare edge cases. Those few that remain are not game breaking, so therefore I am happy with the state the game is in.
I'm putting today's fixes in the beta branch for a while before pushing that to the main branch for everyone. Right click on the game in your library select properties and then the beta tab to join.
I think the headline fix is that the End of Line achievement should now work for those that have earned that (you can open the tech tree of your relevant save to trigger that).
I will continue to fix issues you bring to me via the in game bug form. I'm also looking at the possibility of adding a few more tech items soon, so keep your eyes peeled for that!
Thanks for the reviews!
You might not know how important a good review score is for games on Steam, but it makes a massive difference to the long term prospects of a tiny, unfunded indie dev like me.
Lately we have been struggling to receive positive feedback, so if you like the game, or want to help me make more games, leaving a review is the best way to assist! If you were waiting for the right time, it's now, so please do leave a review now if you like the game :)
Build 1.0.42:
-End Of Line achievement correctly detected. The issue was that the calculation was not taking into account the free prestige items from the Christmas update, so didn't consider the tech tree complete. Load your save and open tech tree to gain the achievement.
-Fixed potential crash when ending a revisited station while some staff off shift.
-Fixed crash while checking power report while paused with no power generators built.
-Tweaked power outputs to match descriptions and make level 2 have a slightly more beneficial profile than two level 1 generators.
-Certain rat squeaks will no longer erroneously occur when sound fx muted.
-Commuters will only spill coffee/water on concourse so it can be mopped effectively.
Build 1.0.41
Build 1.0.41:
-Further fixes on track extension/reduction process.
-Level 2 maps do not erroneously prevent building on adjacent cells when facing SE.
-Fixed track extension dialogue freezing errors and track extension crashes.
-Do not add duplicate build goals if sequential scenarios required same item (should also prevent occasional -1 optional goals score)
-Can now abort previously finished stations on network, with confirmation dialogue warning of save loss. (prevent being trapped if level completed at 1% rep and you wish to return later and cannot max stars)
-Added confirmation dialogue to exit with no save actions on network and singles.
-Corrected draw errors on footbridge
-Corrected draw issues with spills and footprints sometimes not visible
-commuters do not glitch at double speed (vibrating people effect fixed)
-When returning to station having gained a higher tech level, level at which next bonds earned correctly set (do not get rare bug where many bonds are earned in a row)
-call train and alighting meter on train platform pop up aligned on vertical and horizontal
Beta 1.0.39
You can help beta test the latest updates to Overcrowd by opting into the open beta branch. Right click on the game in your library > Properties > Beta tab > select beta from the dropdown.
Beta 1.0.39:
-Do not add duplicate build goals if sequential scenarios required same item (should also prevent occasional -1 optional goals score)
-Can now abort previously finished stations on network, with confirmation dialogue warning of save loss. (prevent being trapped if level completed at 1% rep and you wish to return later and cannot max stars)
-Added confirmation dialogue to exit with no save actions on network and singles.
-Corrected draw errors on footbridge
-Corrected draw issues with spills and footprints sometimes not visible
-commuters do not glitch at double speed (vibrating people effect fixed)
-When returning to station having gained a higher tech level, level at which next bonds earned correctly set (do not get rare bug where many bonds are earned in a row)
-call train and alighting meter on train platform pop up aligned on vertical and horizontal
Competition winner + Build 1.0.38
Although COVID ruined 2020, professionally it has gone well for me and Sarah (aka SquarePlay Games). I'm really happy with what we achieved, launching Overcrowd, supporting it through early access, getting some juicy PR coverage and even some top award nominations along the way to full release.
Most importantly - I'm happy you guys seem to like what we did with the game :) Thanks so much for picking it up. Especially thanks if you liked it enough to leave a review! Steam reviews are vital to small devs like us, so if you get a moment - please do take a second to leave us a review if you would like to help us out.
(Oh, it also helps a tonne if you tag the game in simulation, management or whatever other tags you feel might work!)
Screenshot competition
Finally, I'm happy to announce the winner of the Overcrowd Winter 2020 Screenshot competition.... *drumroll* ... black_winter. Here it is:
I like this shot because it shows a smattering of Xmas decor, some snow and nice use of layering with circular commuter routing as well as a sneaky staff corridor. Also, sheer enthusiasm won you this as I counted something like 50 entries from you :)
Thanks to everyone who entered. black_winter, do check your DM's for your prize key.
Build 1.0.38
Finally, hotfix 1.0.38 fixes a few little issues you brought to me over the festive season:
Build 1.0.38:
-Xmas content off. I hate taking down decorations, but its time to say goodbye to the snow tiles, xmas trees and carol singers for now (existing saves will not be affected).
-Will now mostly rain and not snow.
-Fixed build buttons and HUD elements disappearing when windowed game minimised.
-Fixed small memory leak when windowed game was minimised.
-Fixed rare crash when toggled off goals window on other window.
-When alt-tabbed, cannot input to game accidentally when game is not in focus. Now implemented even if pause-in-alt-tab mode disabled.
-Game splash screen will now also start in windowed/full screen as saved from last session
-Alarm does not pathing for staff in corridors
-Shop condition is correctly saved and loaded
-attempts to reduce track below min length do not lock future track edits
-Day updates correctly if you skip to dawn between 11 pm and midnight (could stall scenario trigger or lock it if on day 0)
Best,
Hotfix 1.0.36
Hi all. Today's hotfix will resolve a few little issues you have let me know about. Do feel free to let me know about anything using the in-game bug form.
Also, a quick reminder about the screenshot competition! Just make your best looking station - be as inventive as you like! - and take a Steam screenshot by pressing f12. Use steam library to upload it to the community page. You can disable the GUI in screenshots in display options. Can't wait to see what you come up with!
Finally, thanks so much to those who have left a review! Steam reviews make a remarkable difference to small indie devs, so it is super appreciated. So please do consider leaving one if you have a spare moment and enjoy what we did with Overcrowd :)
Hotfix 1.0.36:
-Platform signage is visible above stairs and turnstiles. This was a regression that I accidentally introduced with the recent optimisation. The signage above the stairs, turnstiles and lifts shows where they are configured to point to. For new players this should make that process much easier! Many apologies for new players.
-Updated tool tip on bins to show correct capacity
-Thermal imaging disables when you rotate camera (prevent corrupted wall drawing)
-Updating tutorial that tells you how to build fuel barrels to give correct menu location.
-Update infinite money text in menu to give correct value
-Hide GUI for screenshot option with hide cursor too
Hotfix 1.0.35
Quick hotfix for you.
Build 1.0.35:
-K.O. commuters are no longer invisible (little error related to depth setting from the optimisations last week)
-HUD clock updates more frequently, so doesn't appear to only update every 2 minutes.
-Track editing costs are now rounded correctly.
Thanks for continuing to let me know of any issues you encounter via the in-game bug form.
Festive Pack: Winter Update
Season's Greetings!
Today's free Festive Pack brings a stocking-load of Christmas themed items to both entertain and delight your commuters with this winter.
Along with a snowy themed landscape, you can expect Christmas trees, Santa's Grotto's, presents, carol singers and giant Christmas puddings. Just start a new game and these cosmetic items will be there to buy in Facilities. Now is the perfect time to try Commute of the Day, the daily procedurally generated challenge mode, and spice it up with some snowy Xmas content.
Major optimisations
On top of that, I've been working hard to optimise the game further. This is to address feedback from some players on slower systems. There is now up to a 25% or so increase in performance that should be evident on lower specs. Just what Santa ordered!
Screen shot competition!
This winter I've decided to run a screenshot competition. Just make your best looking station - be as inventive as you like! - and take a Steam screenshot by pressing f12. Use steam library to upload it to the community page.
On the 12th day of Christmas (January 5th, 2021) myself and Sarah (she who drew the game and all the lovely assets you see!) will pick the winner, who will receive a free Steam key for Overcrowd! Yes, you already have it, but in the spirit of Christmas giving, you can send it to a loved as a bonus gift :) More importantly, you will also receive adulation and respect from the community! Can't wait to see what you come up with.
Thanks!
Once more I would like to thank you for your support this year. It's been epic. Thanks especially if you have left or are just about to leave a Steam review. These make a huge difference to a tiny dev like us, so if you have a spare minute please do so. Can't wait for next year, when you can expect more exciting updates, tweaks, fixes and optimisations.
Build 1.0.34:
-Major optimisation to the layering/tiling system. Up to 25% speed increases possible on slower systems.
-Added xmas specials, xmas tree, santa's grotto, presents, xmas pudding, carol singers
-Correct entrance door depth
-Correct escalator railing depths
-updated floor and wall re-tiling to function and remove walls after selling stairs, escalators, lifts
-Updated languages
-Check staff chair exists when standing to prevent rare crash
-cannot earn hidden rep above 100%