PowerWash Simulator News

Hey everyone – welcome to dev log 58!

Last week we spoke to Laura and Dave, who worked on the Art and Design of our popular mini-golf course level: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1290000/view/3305091754553822107

For this week’s dev log, we wanted to shed some light on how something as simple as naming conventions can impact the fun of PowerWash Simulator. No stone is left unturned (or unclean!) in chasing ultimate DING satisfaction!



An important step in the process of developing any PowerWash Simulator job is determining the subtasks of a job. This involves breaking down the job into all its components. Sometimes this is as simple as identifying the walls, floors and windows of a building but when the jobs get more elaborate and technical quite a bit of research is sometimes required from the designers to identify “What is that thing supposed to be called!?!”

An example of the investigative research process is the Steam Locomotive where we had to identify a myriad of specific terms for such a machine that we were unfamiliar with.



The Smokebox, Cowcatcher, SteamDome, Furnace and the parts surrounding these objects all must be identified and labelled in a way that makes them easy to identify without the terminology being too technical, but also accurate to historical references. Panels, pistons, rods, wheels, dials and skirtings - the list goes on and on until eventually we have a job which has been completely and accurately broken down.

As designers on PowerWash Simulator we often laugh about how we need to become overnight experts on the inner-workings and mechanics of our jobs so that we’re able to label them accurately. We hope that as players progress through the game they get some educational value out of learning the names of components as they clean them. Who knew that the bricks around the top of the castle walls in the Mini-Golf Course were called Crenulations or that the small bumps which appear under the wings of the Private Jet are called Vortex Generators. We certainly didn’t until we started working on these jobs!

 


Of course, accurate labelling of components for educational value isn’t the only reason we breakdown jobs into their subtasks – its all about the dings! We want to make sure that players have an enjoyable and satisfying experience making their way around a job so when we enact the breakdown, we try to ensure that subtasks are appropriately split up to provide maximum satisfaction as the job is cleaned.

The cab area of the Steam Locomotive was deliberately filled with many small objects to ding clean. We could have easily included the dials, pipes and boxes their connected to as singular objects but instead opted to label them as individual subtasks just so players can enjoy the satisfying combo of dings as they run their washer across this area. The cab area was designed this way to act as both a reward and change of pace from the larger subtasks to clean outside the locomotive.



Optimal ding satisfaction also leads us to split jobs further than initially conceived to create extra subtasks/dings. A perfect example of this is in the Ancient Statue job where the mighty height of the figure led us to split the torso, chest, neck and arm areas up into slabs rather than making them singular large subtasks to clean.


 


The final consideration that goes into how jobs are broken down is providing important information in the subtask names. This is to help players find the location of subtasks as they clean the job.

Good examples of this are in levels like the Stunt Plane where we have an Upper Wing, Lower Wings and objects like the Upper Wing Alerions and Lower Wing Ailerons which are linked to their respective wings by name to help players identify where exactly to find them.



We could have just as easily have labelled the wings as ‘Wings’ and their ailerons as ‘Ailerons’ but we believe that providing this positional information is beneficial to helping players hunt down those final pesky pieces of dirt hidden throughout the job.

So, there you have it. Next time you are at 99% clean and hunting down that last pesky speck of dirt, see if there are any contextual clues in the item name to narrow down your search.

We hope you’ve enjoyed this inside look at how and why our developers get into granular detail with naming every single item and surface in PowerWash Simulator – it’s all about the DINGs!




Each week we release a PowerWash version of a popular meme format. This week it is 'Two Buttons'. How would you caption it? If you have any recommendations, please also let us know below!





Thank you to everyone for reading. We hope everyone is enjoying the new content and these insights! :)

Keep up with everything PowerWash Simulator by following our channels:

Twitter: @PowerWashSim
Twitch: futurlab
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@powerwashsim?
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/powerwashsim/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/powerwashsim
PWS Wiki: https://powerwash-simulator.fandom.com/wiki/PowerWash_Simulator_Wiki

Hey everyone - welcome to dev log 57!

Last week we released Update 0.9, our birthday patch including 3 community jobs and a whole host of QOL changes: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1290000/view/3224025758063263090

Today Artist Laura and Designer Dave give a VIP backstage tour of the Mini Golf Course level's development.



Before we start on this dev log, we are aware of a few issues with 0.9 and are working on a hotfix and will let everyone know when it goes live. There are temporary workarounds to many of the issues including multiplayer desync here: https://steamcommunity.com/app/1290000/discussions/0/3389534247558075422/ We are also listening closely to all of the feedback, thanks everyone!




Laura is the artist who worked on making this job a visual fantasy. We asked some questions to show how they got a hole in one:

Where did you start with the level?

Originally posted by Laura

I had a pitch from the design team about a 'fairytale, knight, castle' theme for this minigolf, so I started by thinking about a story. Players will make a little trip, from the forest to a little village, and then they will enter the dragon cave until finally arriving at the big castle! I thought it was important and exciting to bring players into different areas and have this storytelling.

What is the favourite part of the job you worked on?

Originally posted by Laura

I think my favourite part of the job I worked on was all the little animals and particularly the dragon because it was a challenge for me as I'm not used to doing animals/characters in 3D. And I am pretty happy with the final result!

What was challenging working on this level?

Originally posted by Laura

As I said previously, the dragon was challenging, but there are almost 300 objects in this scene, and with Powerwash's workflow, everything needs to be as clean as possible! And it's not easy to find all the issues, but thankfully we have a QA team!

What changed the most during development with the level?

Originally posted by Laura

The composition changed a lot. I had a lot of feedback from the design team during all the development to change this - move this -remove this. And also the materials changed, at first, the castle and rocks were really dark and not very interesting and 'funny' so we needed to find something more colorfull to match the idea of this mini golf level!

Was there something you wanted to have in the level, but it just didn't work?

Originally posted by Laura

I think I have everything I wanted on this level and I'm pretty happy with the result, it was really nice to work on this one because I was free to do what I had in mind!

Any closing thoughts?

Originally posted by Laura

I just hope people enjoy the story, the colors and animals of the minigolf course, I put all my love on it ! haha

Dave is the designer who was in charge of making the level fun to play and clean! Here are their answers to the same questions! :)

Where did you start with the level?

Originally posted by Dave

We had some rough guidelines from the James (Creative Director):
1) We want a Castle on top of a hill that can be seen at all times.
2) We want the course to spiral around the hill to the Castle on top.
3) We want the theme to be Story Book Fantasy (less Dungeons and Dragons, more King Arthur, and Sword in the Stone).

We started with research: Looking at real-world minigolf courses to get an idea for hole and course layouts. While thinking about the layout of our course and where each hole would be positioned, we decided to try and tell a story from Hole 1 to Hole 9. The story is an adventure starting out in a forest, travelling through a village, navigating a dangerous cave, before arriving at the outer walls of a castle. The player goes through training in the courtyard, makes their way through the castle keep corridors, and eventually arrives at the castle itself.

What is the favourite part of the job you worked on?

Originally posted by Dave

My favourite part was trying to figure out the layout of the holes. They needed to fit the space, draw the player along the 'correct path' and I also wanted them to be somewhat viable as real minigolf holes.

What was challenging working on this level?

Originally posted by Dave

Trying to envision how everything would fit together. What was the scale of the objects? What sight lines did the player have? Could we hide and reveal areas to make it feel like the player is exploring and discovering the level as they progress? There were lots of elements I needed to consider as I was designing the level, but it was Laura that really helped pull them all together and make what I had in my head a reality.

What changed the most during development with the level?

Originally posted by Dave

The layout around the back side of the course, after the dragon. We needed to take the player up quite a steep incline, but we also wanted to squeeze in a few holes on the way. Eventually the castle courtyard-to-corridor idea formed and we used steps and stairways between the holes to push the player upwards.

Was there something you wanted to have in the level, but it just didn't work?

Originally posted by Dave

We wanted all the holes to be fully playable. For example, if the player hit the ball in the dragon's mouth, it'd pop out the hole on its back, roll down the tail and into the hole. Hit the ball through the final hole and it'd roll down the gutters in the bucket. The complexity and time needed to get everything working and bug free just made it unfeasible for us unfortunately.

Any closing thoughts?

Originally posted by Dave

I loved working on this level, it was fun to use some more traditional level design techniques to lead the player on the journey through the level and to give a sense of discovery and exploration. I hope players enjoy exploring the minigolf course and returning it to its former, vibrant glory.

We hope everyone has learned more about the level process and has enjoyed some of the in-progress images!



Each week we release a PowerWash version of a popular meme format. This week it is 'Take My Money'. How would you caption it? If you have any recommendations, please also let us know below!





Thank you to everyone for reading. We hope everyone is enjoying the new content and these insights! :)

Keep up with everything PowerWash Simulator by following our channels:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/PowerWashSim
Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/futurlab
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@powerwashsim?
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/powerwashsim/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/powerwashsim
PWS Wiki: https://powerwash-simulator.fandom.com/wiki/PowerWash_Simulator_Wiki

It's PowerWash Simulator's 1st birthday, and to celebrate, we've launched Update 0.9!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
Watch our new teaser to mark the occasion!



New Community Jobs: Explore 3 new special jobs suggested, selected, and voted on by the community! These are the Steam Locomotive.



Gnome Fountain



Mini Golf Course



Find all these in the specials section!



This update brings many game improvements that our incredible community has long requested. Here's the list:

Aim mode

Motion Sickness has been one of the biggest barriers to a minority but significant group of players. We've now added Aim Mode, a toggle to move your washer without moving your camera. We think most players will play with this mode to some degree, as many of us at FuturLab have opted to wash in this mode!

Revamped jobs

We've taken feedback on our current jobs, including a survey that over 3000 of you filled out to help us determine which levels and areas needed some more love. Several jobs have had a visual and design redux, including the Back Garden, Storybook Cottage, and Shoe House. Many jobs have had their details renamed to be more straightforward. Large areas like the Playground floor have been cut down into smaller chunks for more dings. Thresholds have been made tighter or slightly easier depending on feedback (the Skatepark floor no longer completes with a massive piece of dirt left).

Plus, many more small tweaks!



Earning beyond Career

We've listened to your requests to give incentives for multiplayer partners and replayability. Co-op partners and replaying levels will earn 25% of the total amount of the cleaning job. Player 1 in co-op will get the total amount if they are in career mode.

We hope this will help without ruining the economy!



With potentially infinite money, we have also added a soft gate on washers which should line up closely with how quickly you could unlock new washers in Update 0.8. For example, you will be able to unlock the Urban-X during the playground/bungalow depending on what you choose to do.

Tutorial Prompts

Tutorial pop-ups appear the first time you play in 0.9, and we hope it will help new players get the most out of the game the first time they play. Maybe some content creators won't be stuck realising they can rotate their nozzles over multiple episodes...

Controller Haptics

Did we hear a rumble? No, it's just your controller vibrating. Haptics are here for more controller-led washing immersion!

More:

• Multiplayer stability improvements
  
• Performance improvements
  
• Player-collision improvements
  
• Many bug fixes.
  
• Tree House has been moved further into Career Mode due to difficulty.
  

Any level with washing progress will be auto-completed when booting up the game for the first time after the update. The partially completed levels will auto-complete when you join the level. Though initially will appear at the percentage you left it at before the update. Also, the menu UI may not show fully complete, but you can ignore this and progress as normal.

We have tried to give an advanced warning to those affected, but we apologize to anyone who may be caught unaware.

The game has changed a lot under the hood (bonnet) since the first Early Access Launch and whilst this wasn't ideal we feel it was necessary to get on top of some issues that occurred with conflicting saves between the patches. This will bring everyone's save data up to date with the current version 0.9.

All money from the parts and job completion will be given to all players for any jobs that auto-complete. (The UI may show the incorrect amount like $114/$600 but the full amount + bonus will have been paid if you look in your shop.)



Special job soap:

If any player in a Specials job purchases soap, they will only be able to use that soap in that Specials session. When it is closed and the player moves to another mode, they will lose the soap and the money they spent on it.


Controller control scheme not updating to use aim mode (does not affect mouse and keyboard):

If loading with previous save data into Update 0.9 the game may not update to the new controller control scheme automatically. Go to options, controls and reset control defaults. This will return Aim Mode functionality. You can then also rebind to your preferences.

Audio doesn't sound loud/quiet enough

Just a heads up to everyone having audio issues. The last patch, 0.8, the master audio slider didn't work. This bug is now fixed. Though you may need to play with your audio settings to get them to your personal perfect spot again. Sorry for the inconvenience!

Level is super bright (Fariground Zone)

Some systems aren't processing HDR correctly, if you go into the graphics options and uncheck HDR this should fix the sun looking like it will cook the land. We are currently investigating.

Mouse/cursor acting oddly

Unplug every input device you have that isn't your mouse and keyboard which could include: a racing wheel, shifter, button box, etc. then restart your computer.

Have fun all! We hope you enjoy our Birthday Update!

If you want to vote on new game ideas, talk to the community, or help you with some tough dirt - then join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/powerwashsimulator

Keep up with everything PowerWash Simulator by following our channels:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/PowerWashSim
Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/futurlab
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@powerwashsim?
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/powerwashsim/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/powerwashsim
PWS Wiki: https://powerwash-simulator.fandom.com/wiki/PowerWash_Simulator_Wiki

Hey everyone - welcome to dev log 56!

PWS's birthday update is coming May 19th, and last week, we teased the Steam Locomotive as one of the jobs arriving in the 0.9 station; more on that here: https://steamcommunity.com/games/1290000/announcements/detail/3224024423344970180

You can join our discord and see the announcement if you want a localised time when Update 0.9 will arrive. Here: https://discord.com/invite/powerwashsimulator



Today, Artist Dennis and Designer Dave share their insights into how the magnificent Gnome Fountain job we're teasing today was made!



Magnificant gnome statues, pool-like flat surfaces, and heaps of dirt - what more could you want from a power washing job? Behold, the gnome fountain. This job beat the School Bus 2920 votes to 846 in our official Discord. We set about making a fountain worthy of PowerWash Simulator. Let us know your thoughts below!

Dave worked on designing the level and making it fun to play, here's their insights into the development process:

Originally posted by Dave

As it was a job voted to life by the community, we wanted to ensure the Fountain felt grand and celebrated the things that make Powerwash Simulator special. We opted for a huge fountain to ensure we could have large flat surfaces to clean, and players could have fun navigating the multiple layers.

Inevitably when we started to think about the centre statue a gnome was suggested and from there, they became prominent features all around the fountain. They offer a real contrast in complexity to the large flat surfaces and give the Fountain heaps of character too.

The nature of a Fountain allowed us to use some water-based dirt types (such as algae) alongside the moss and lichen that would have grown over much of the stone work. Players will also have to contend with the efforts of a few local graffiti artists while they bring the Fountain back to its former glory!

Dennis job was to make the fountain a visual feast and had this to say on how they approached making it:

Originally posted by Dennis

The fountain's been a long requested community job, and I could have gone with a more traditional looking design, but I wanted something fun for the community. That's where all the little gnome statues come into play! The middle row of gnomes are all the same for navigation reasons, but the bottom ones are where I had fun putting them in various different silly poses.

When designing the fountain, I wanted it all to be as accessible as possible without needing ladders (which are still there for convenience but you can totally skip them!). There's a tiny bit of narrative in there as well, with all the gnomes goofing up in some way in front of the gnome king, who sits atop the fountain.

I also wanted plenty of intricate shapes to wash to keep this job fun, hence all the flourishes and pillars! There's plenty of flat surfaces to wash too which are very satisfying.

The outside environment also got some love, with the recreation grounds getting changed to better fit the fountain. We figured this was okay to do as the job isn't directly related to the main campaign where the other recreation grounds jobs take place.

There are only 6 days until the update splash lands. The game is changing a lot under the hood, many earlier levels are entirely changed, dirt thresholds improved, and much more. These changes require us to bring everyone's saves up to date to avoid corrupted data. We didn't want to reset anyone's progress, but this has meant we needed another solution. Any in-progress jobs that could corrupt saves will be auto-completed when you first load into 0.9.

We recommend not entering your new levels if you cannot complete them in time or working fast to get them done before it drops. All correct money owed for jobs and unlocking new levels will still be given to you upon the auto-complete.

We're sorry for the inconvenience!



More info here: https://steamcommunity.com/games/1290000/announcements/detail/3224024423343901085



Each week we usually release a PowerWash version of a popular meme format. We don't have one again this week (sorry, we've been super busy). We are taking requests; Marketing Artist Cristina is currently working on posing the PowerWash Sim model into several meme formats. If you have any recommendations, please let us know below!

Also, in the meantime, enjoy this regular meme by Twitter user JoJoMcGiggity:





Thank you to everyone for reading, we hope everyone is looking forward to the Gnome Fountain, and we hope everyone is excited for the update which drops in 6 days! :)

Keep up with everything PowerWash Simulator by following our channels:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/PowerWashSim
Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/futurlab
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@powerwashsim?
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/powerwashsim/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/powerwashsim
PWS Wiki: https://powerwash-simulator.fandom.com/wiki/PowerWash_Simulator_Wiki

Hey everyone - welcome to dev log 55!

Last week we announced Update 0.9 would release on May 19th, PWS's birthday and what is coming; more on that here: https://steamcommunity.com/games/1290000/announcements/detail/3224024423343901085

If you want a localised time of the next release you can join our discord and see the announcement there or the event at the top of the server. Here: https://discord.com/invite/powerwashsimulator



Today, Artist Andrei walks gets us on track with insights into the smallest community level coming next patch, the Steam Locomotive!



Last year we opened a Steam thread to get community map requests, for which we received hundreds! We then shortlisted these ideas and put them to a public vote on our Discord server. With over 2500 votes and beating a submarine, we got our first of 3 Community Maps coming in 0.9. Thanks for voting and making that so fun!



Andrei's insights:

Originally posted by Andrei

The steam locomotive was one of the more popular community requests.
We spent a fair amount of time going through all sorts of references, from the streamlined art deco engines of the 1940s to the more, well, 'steamenginey' ones from the late 1800s, ultimately
settling on a combination of elements from various locomotives from the latter period.

Originally posted by Andrei

The initial plan was to plop the engine inside a hangar. However, we realized that it looked rather weird; we needed a plan B when we did that. Looking at the locomotive itself, I thought it looked like something out of one of those old Spaghetti Westerns. I asked design whether they would be OK with a Wild West theme, which would also be a bit of a departure from the more grounded(ish) environments we usually go for - thankfully, they liked the idea, and that's what we wound up going with!

Originally posted by Andrei

Due to the modern-day setting of PWS, the environment was set up as a sort of road-side Wild West Exhibit, with a not-so-subtle nod at mayor Jeff Jefferson's ancestor, who may or may not have been every bit as supposedly shady as his (in)famous great-grandson.

These new Community Levels will not be a part of the main career as they are outside its narrative arc. However, with the Free Play payout change, you will be able to earn Muckingham Dollars for washing these exhibits. Plus, they are still grounded in the PWS universe.



Each week we usually release a PowerWash version of a popular meme format. We haven't got one this week, sorry, but please enjoy this picture of May 4th Gnomey!



Have fun!



Thank you to everyone for reading, we'll be back with spoilers of the Steam Locomotive, and we hope you will tune in next week! :)

Keep up with everything PowerWash Simulator by following our channels:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/PowerWashSim
Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/futurlab
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@powerwashsim?
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/powerwashsim/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/powerwashsim
PWS Wiki: https://powerwash-simulator.fandom.com/wiki/PowerWash_Simulator_Wiki