Power to the People News

Hi everyone!



We’re excited to announce that the playtest for Power to the People is now live! The playtest will be available starting today through Wednesday, December 1st @ 10am PST.

You can leave your feedback for the game here.

We hope you have an enjoyable experience and, as always, we ask for your honest feedback. Any suggestions or improvements to the game will be greatly appreciated! After all, we want to make the best games possible and, with your help, we can do just that.



If you enjoyed playing the game, make sure to add the game to your wishlists.

Sincerely,
Hermes Interactive & Crytivo

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1413370/Power_to_the_People/

During the past weeks we have been working so hard on making Power to the People better and with a deeper gameplay that it's almost a brand new game! We are very excited to introduce a whole array of new features that we are sure you all are going to love! Without further ado:

[h2]Sandbox Mode[/h2]

One of the big new features we have added to Power to the People has been a long time coming. Now you will be able to find a Sandbox Mode, where you can set up a custom game exactly the way you want it. You can choose which map to play, which buildings will be available, how often disasters will happen, what the weather is going to be like... And more! Perfect for those of you who like to experiment and find cool solutions to complicated problems.



[h2]Influence Points[/h2]

A brand new game mechanic that will ease you into the game so you don't feel overwhelmed, and will also provide a very satisfying sense of progression! As you prove your abilities in larger and larger cities you will gain access to new technologies, features, maps and buildings! Every victory will provide you with some Influence Points that will unlock items and new levels.



[h2]Company Customization[/h2]

Do you want to make your power company your own? Look no further, then! You now can choose a name, color scheme and logo! Even better, your beautiful new logo will be displayed outside the buildings in your infrastructure and the color scheme you choose will alter the appearance of your power lines. Neat!



[h2]Larger Research Tree[/h2]

Five new technologies have made their way into the research tree. And these pair beautifully with the new "research boost" bonus that you can unlock with your Influence Points. These ones will make your life substantially easier in the more advanced levels, for sure!



[h2]Planned Power Cuts[/h2]

We all need a small break from public scrutiny every now and then... Now Power to the People also allows you to announce planned power cuts. This new tool will freeze customer satisfaction during a period of 6 hours so you can repair and expand your infrastructure without worrying too much about the consequences. Sounds great, doesn't it?



[h2]New Buildings[/h2]

There's also a whole bunch of new buildings in the game! Cities will now construct higher (and more power hungry) buildings than ever before. But you will also have new facilities at your disposal, including the Power-to-Gas Storage Facility and Thermal Storage solutions.



[h2]Ice Formation[/h2]

The last thing we have added to the game (we finished implementation today, as a matter of fact) is ice formation on power lines. During very cold days, power lines that have low loads will slowly get covered in ice... If left unchecked for very long, they have a small probability of failing!

[h3]Click here to join our Discord channel[/h3]



Don't forget to wishlist and follow the game here:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1413370/Power_to_the_People/


✉️ 👉 Sign Up for closed tests here

It's been a month since we last posted a development update, we know... But that doesn't mean we have been sitting here doing nothing, we promise. As a matter of fact there's a whole lot of new and exciting stuff we want to share with you:

[h2]Build it on water![/h2]

We've added a couple of new power plant types that can be built on water! Say hi to the new hydroelectric dams and offshore wind turbines. They're here to offer your power grid lots of new possibilities!



[h2]Build it on a slope![/h2]

You can now also place power buildings such as energy storage facilities and substations on sloped terrain... But it comes with a hefty price tag, so be careful!



[h2]New power buildings[/h2]

We keep adding new ways to generate and distribute electricity to the game. There are several news on this front, including the tiny local substation (perfect for small towns when your budget is low) and the efficient and expensive combined-cycle gas-fired plant.



[h2]More diverse architecture[/h2]

We have already lost track of all the new buildings we've added to the game in order to better reflect how architecture changes from one part of the world to another... And we intend to add a dozen more in the upcoming weeks!



[h2]Performance optimization[/h2]

There were a couple of small issues with the game's performance that made the FPS number drop, particularly as your power lines start failing and your substations burst into flames. We've spent some time heavily optimizing both the gameplay code and the graphics in order to make the game run quicker and smoother than ever before.

[h3]Click here to join our Discord channel[/h3]



Don't forget to wishlist and follow the game here:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1413370/Power_to_the_People/


✉️ 👉 Sign Up for closed tests here

Finally, the release date announcement trailer is here! Power to the People is coming to Steam on February 8, 2022! Don't forget to watch the trailer here:

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]


[h3]Click here to join our Discord channel[/h3]



Don't forget to wishlist and follow the game here:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1413370/Power_to_the_People/


✉️ 👉 Sign Up for closed tests here

It's time to look back on the work we've been doing during the past few weeks! And we're really proud of all the progress we've made. Here are some of the highlights:

[h2]Power plant upgrades[/h2]

The star of the show is probably the fact that you can now upgrade your power plants! By investing a bit of money you can increase your power plants' output significantly... But be careful, doing so will also expand their NIMBY (not in my backyard) radius, making people unhappy if the plant is too close to their homes and shops.



[h2]New city buildings[/h2]

We've been spending lots of time in creating new 3D models for city buildings. We've added 21 new ones and we plan to keep adding more and more. Our main goal at the moment is to introduce more variations to cities and also to reflect different architectural styles around the world. After all, the houses in Finland look very different from the houses in Egypt!



[h2]UI and UX improvements[/h2]

Thanks to all the feedback we've gathered with our demo during the Steam Next Fest, we've also been hard at work by making the game's user experience better. Here are some of the improvements we've been working on:

• Players can now collapse the side bar, in order to display only the more important information and free up some screen real estate.
  
• Information overlays stay on when the "end of day" screen shows up.
  
• More readable icons for key binding tooltips on the UI.
  
• Players can now place buildings directly on top of power lines without having to bulldoze them first.
  
• A brand new background in the level selection screen.
  
• Customizable camera shake level.
  
• Warning if high voltage power lines are being replaced with low voltage power lines and vice-versa.
  

[h2]Soundtrack renewal[/h2]

Our composer has also been hard at work! At the moment, he's adding some unique elements to the soundtrack depending which level players are in. We're sure this will make the game much more exciting to play and will help convey an unique playing experience in each level. Also, if you haven't seen his video about his workflow, you can do that here. It's really interesting stuff!

[h3]Click here to join our Discord channel[/h3]



Don't forget to wishlist and follow the game here:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1413370/Power_to_the_People/


✉️ 👉 Sign Up for closed tests here