Scrapping Simulator News

[h3]G'day Scrappers![/h3]
It’s been quite a while since the last update, and I want to start by thanking you for your patience and continued support and hope you are all well.

As some of you may remember, I stepped away from development to focus on my mental health and personal life. It wasn’t an easy decision, but it was a necessary one — and throughout that time, the community’s understanding has meant more than I can put into words and I cannot thank you all enough.

Today, I’m proud (and honestly a little nervous!) to share Update v0.38 — a massive overhaul packed with performance boosts, new features, polish, and quality-of-life improvements. This update marks a major milestone in getting Scrapping Simulator closer to the vision I’ve always had for it.

Whether you’re just getting into the game or have been with me since the early builds, I hope this update shows just how much I still care about this project — and about you, the players who've stuck by it.

You may have noticed things like the DefectGaming Website going Down, GitHub and Wiki reliance throughout the game being removed etc, this is for a multitude of reasons, though the main ones being to Centralise communications, reports and suggestions to Steam and Discord which are more widely used by most Players and to revert from more a Business stance to return more to a Hobby.

Thanks again for being here. I hope you enjoy everything that’s new in v0.38, and as always, your feedback is more than welcome.

💚 Stay awesome,
– FuryFight3r

[h2]🧾 New Features & Content[/h2]
[h3]🤝 New NPC: Scrapper Joe (Task Giver)[/h3]

• Introduced Scrapper Joe, a fellow scrapper who now resides in one of the town’s houses.
  
• Offers 3 daily randomized optional quests (materials, E-Waste items, or sub-parts).
  
• Rewards: +20% cash value (based on raw materials) for turned-in items.
  
• Trade-Off: Tasks give no XP but allow players to earn extra cash while skipping disassembly.
  
• Includes 1 daily quest re-roll option.
  
• Designed to balance time, XP, and earnings for more strategic gameplay.
  

[h3]🗺️ Basic Map System[/h3]

• Press [M] to open a basic map of the town and Points of Interest (POIs), primarily to assist new players with navigation.
  

[h2]🛠️ Gameplay Fixes & Improvements[/h2]
[h3]⚙️ Tool Handling & Bugs[/h3]

• Tools now properly return to their holders, allowing them to be picked up again.
  
• Reworked tool interaction and queuing systems to improve consistency and eliminate frame-specific bugs.
  
• Tools now follow smoother motion cues, making disassembly and switching tools more responsive.
  

[h3]🔄 Cash Display & Rolling Animation[/h3]

• Added a "rolling" animation to the Player Cash UI to visually show cash increasing or decreasing during purchases and sales.
  

[h3]🔧 Physics & Carrying Fixes[/h3]

• Small Crate temporarily (or permanently) removed due to unreliable physics behaviour with nested objects.
  
• Large objects like solar panel boxes now have designated carry hotspots for improved visibility while transporting.
  

[h3]🛒 Shops & Inventory[/h3]

• Completely reworked shop time handling for better performance and fixed midnight-related errors.
  

[h3]🔨 Hardware Store[/h3]

• Updated pickup instructions for clarity.
  
• First-time purchases now display a popup tip.
  
• Trolley now spawns near purchase boxes for consistency.
  
• Fixed bug where closing the inventory via the bag icon left the game in a "busy" state.
  

[h3]📦 Weight & Trolley Handling[/h3]

• Item mass now calculated dynamically based on actual contents, affecting trolley weight and handling.
  

[h3]🔍 Mouse Hover System Improvements[/h3]

• Reworked [V] hover tip system to be more compact, dynamic, and accessible across multiple systems.
  
• Background visuals added for better readability.
  

[h2]🔊 Audio & Visual Adjustments[/h2]
[h3]🎧 Sound Tweaks[/h3]

• Reduced overall volume for:
  
• Air vehicles (lower sound + higher altitude).
  
• Large ships (moved further offshore + quieter horns).
  
• NPC footsteps, rivers, and ocean.
  
• Enables playing with full SFX volume without harsh audio spikes.
  

[h2]🎨 Performance & Graphics[/h2]

• Disabled reflections on most materials (except glass) to reduce FPS drops—particularly with large numbers of E-Waste or ingots.
  
• Extended the ocean floor to avoid abrupt visual drop-offs.
  
• Reduced fish populations to further improve performance across all quality settings.
  

[h2]🧠 Perk System Overhaul[/h2]
[h3]🌟 New Perks[/h3]

• Trading Tree: Evaluator – shows current raw material value of hovered objects.
  
• Disassembly Tree: Insight – reveals material contents of hovered E-Waste parts (late-game perk).
  
• Both perks are toggleable with [V] and are designed to reduce UI clutter when not needed.
  

[h3]🔁 Perk Reset & Balancing[/h3]

• Perk costs repositioned and rebalanced to accommodate new perks.
  
• All players loading from a previous version will have perks reset and refunded appropriately.
  
• Max perk points remain at 150.
  
• Buffed Disassembly Time perks:
  
• Tier 1: 10% (up from 5%)
  
• Tier 2: 25% (up from 10%)
  

[h2]🛒 Pricing & Disassembly Updates[/h2]
[h3]💰 New Pricing System[/h3]

• Completely reworked material value calculations.
  
• Prices update only:
  
• After spawning
  
• When picked up and dropped
  
• Or via a manual command (update_prices)
  
• Helps prevent stutters from bulk updates.
  
• Scrap Yard prices are now saved between sessions, only changing with a new in-game day.
  

[h3]🖥️ Dummy E-Waste Items[/h3]

• Introduced performance-optimized "Dummy" E-Waste objects:
  
• Appear identical to real ones but contain no internal components until placed on the disassembly bench.
  
• Old E-Waste from previous saves automatically converted (excluding RNG-generated PCs, laptops, and servers).
  

[h3]📦 Pawn Shop Sales[/h3]

• Improved system for avoiding accidental sales of non-E-Waste items.
  
• Dummy items can now be sold based on stored average prices.
  

[h2]👥 NPC & Environmental Enhancements[/h2]
[h3]🧍 NPC Scrappers (Soft Clean-up System)[/h3]

• Street E-Waste items left unattended will now be collected by NPC scrappers over time.
  
• Items on your property or currently carried/trolley-attached are protected.
  
• Scrapper aggression scales based on how much E-Waste you own:
  
• ~150 items: NPCs will aggressively collect unclaimed E-Waste.
  
• Adds lore-friendly clean-up and boosts performance by reducing map clutter.
  

[h3]📅 Sunday E-Waste Boost[/h3]

• Weekly event every Sunday increases E-Waste spawns to help players prepare for Monday's bills.
  

[h2]🐞 Bug Fixes[/h2]

• Fixed event system not setting world time for special events (e.g. Halloween, Christmas).
  
• Resolved NPCs getting stuck on paths or appearing to float.
  
• Fixed 4GB DDR4 RAM stick not playing its removal animation.
  
• Fixed Solar Inverter UI display issue.
  
• Fixed DVD/CD drive logic allowing motherboard removal before laser.
  
• Fixed lost items falling under the map being unrecoverable (now sent to Lost & Found box).
  
• Corrected a typo in the Scavenging Skill description.
  
• Fixed object rotation and interactions while in "busy" UI states (inventory, pause, etc).
  

[h2]🔁 Deprecated Systems[/h2]

• Removed the [F8] Bug Report tool.
  
• GitHub integration (bug reports, wiki, suggestions) will be phased out over future updates in favour of Steam and Discord.
  
• Removed the orange 3rd-Party EULA disclaimer on Steam and at start-up. Risks will now be communicated more naturally during gameplay and tutorials.
  
• Removed the "Help_Me" PC app to continue phasing out external links.
  

[h2]📊 Backend & Performance Optimizations[/h2]

• Improved perk system to make it more efficient and accessible across various game scripts.
  
• Major rework of the price-lookup and item content systems for better accuracy and smoother gameplay.
  
• Optimized how disassembly queues operate (removed buggy UI, improved logic).
  
• Overall systems now require fewer frame-perfect moments and handle queued operations more smoothly.
  

Thank you all for playing Scrapping Simulator and supporting its development! Your feedback helps shape every update as we get closer to v1.0.

G'day Scrappers! I hope you are all doing well

As announced on the DefectGaming Discord Server - I am making a News Post here to announce the future of Scrapping Simulator

Scrapping Simulator started it's Steam Journey in late 2020 and has been a non-stop grind of development, research, support etc, to get it to where it is today, prior to this grind it was just a hobby that I really enjoyed doing in my spare time.

Without getting too much into the meat and bones of it and trying to stay on topic of Scrapping Simulator - Toward the start of this year, I'd made an announcement that I needed to get Scrapping Simulator done and move on asap, as I could sense my mental state declining and things were looking pretty bleak, not so much for Scrapping Simulator, but more so for me personally.

After facing the inevitable mental breakdown a few weeks ago, shutting everything and everyone out and giving myself some time to reflect on my many bad decisions in life, I've come to the realisation that working on Scrapping Simulator day in, day out, while life around me is just falling apart and crumbling is not sustainable. The plans for Scrapping Simulator are going to be changing in order for me to have a sustainable life and even be able to create Games in the first place, because there is certainly no future for Scrapping Simulator if I become homeless or worse dead trying to chase this dream.

Announcing personal things, or even just being present for that matter in any online setting is a means to open up for scrutiny, despite a handful jumping ship moments after the Discord Announcement and some egotistical remarks and assumptions made to belittle me during my worse was a bit of a kick while I'm down, but I mean it's the internet after all what more can we expect, regardless I thank anyone that showed support in this incredibly tough time.

---

At this stage my idea toward the games development is to get it to a more sustainable state that has minimal bugs and all working current features rather than constantly trying to add more and more, such as fixing the Chem Station and other Main Game features, all to an acceptable working standard. As well as fixing the Comma Bug for Euro Players if possible (If not, Euro Regions will no longer be able to purchase Scrapping Simulator, as it's unplayable in most cases, until further diagnosing can be done).

By a 'Sustainable State' I mean that the game can stay in this state, where I can be less active for a bit and get my life in order and things will be okay enough for the game that I don't need to dedicate 12 hours a day toward it.

With the next Update of v0.38, I had already crammed a bunch of new Features and Bug Fixes into it before my breakdown and it has just been sitting in limbo since, but as for the planned Updates/Patches for v0.38 most are checked off and are ready for public release, however a few Bugs and Issues are still present that are delaying the release and I haven't yet had the motivation to open Unity since.

As for myself my plan is to spend Weekdays seeking Full-Time employment, going to the Gym, Getting out more, spending time with Friends and Family, working on improving my Mental State and enjoying life.

As for Scrapping Simulator my plan moving forward is to have Saturday as a 'Support Day' answering questions, giving support, responding to Bug Reports/Suggestions etc and having Sunday as a 'Dev Day' that will involve actual progression on Scrapping Simulators development until it reaches that 'Sustainable State'.

Once Scrapping Simulator reaches the 'Sustainable State', a Duplicate Build of it will be made, one being the 'Sustainable State' that will be available to the public which may receive the occasional bug fix if needed - And a Private Build that I will chip away at to reach v1.0 Full Release in a private manner, without the added need and stress of trying to maintain the integrity of Save Files each and every update, chasing Log Files when things go wrong, creating monthly Patch updates/Announcements and so on.

This is certainly not the end for Scrapping Simulator, either way I am going to finish it and get it to the goal I want it to be at regardless of what happens, just that the path to get there is a little scattered at the moment, nevertheless I've got to focus a bit more on myself and stop letting this whole Game Dev thing consume my life.

Updates and News Posts will be pretty sparse once the v0.38 Update and subsequent 'Sustainable State' Updates that follow come out, however if the Care and Want is there for it I may create some Sneak Peeks into the progress of the private v1.0 workings of development progression, to allow for some feedback and suggestions on the progress, though if there's no demand for it, then there is no need for me to waste time doing so.

I thank you all for your support and sticking around for Scrapping Simulator's development and hope to see as many possible on v1.0 Release Day

- Happy Scrapping!

In a special tribute to the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZACs), DefectGaming's Scrapping Simulator is hosting a commemorative Sale Event to honour their bravery and service.

Join us as we pay homage to the courageous men and women who have served their countries with distinction. Let's come together to remember and honour the ANZACs' contributions to our shared history.



For Each and Every sold copy of Scrapping Simulator between the 25th and 30th of April, 50% (~$4 each copy) of all profits will be Donated to the [ANZAC Appeal] to help the lives of our Australian Veterans and their Families.

To learn more about our Australian ANZACs visit the [Aus Gov ANZAC Portal]

Already own Scrapping Simulator but would like to Donate to show your support anyway?
Visit the [ANZAC Appeal] Website for more info on how you can contribute.

[h2]Updates to v0.37.1[/h2]

• Reduced the effects of Bloom to be a bit less intrusive on Gameplay.
  
  
• Fixed the Light Null Reference on the main menu.
  
  
• Added a Patch for Players not having their Ingot Storage Racks appear after loading in on certain occasions.
  
  
• Added a slight Red/Green tinge to the 'Press [V] to Show/Hide Tips' and other Important info Text to be more noticeable.
  
  
• Added the Gas Bottle to new Interaction Text - Current Gas Flow and Remaining Gas will be displayed on the Cursor Info Text rather than the Controls Text - The [E] & [F] Keys (Default) are now shown separately rather than being combined onto one line.
  
  
• Implemented a more realistic Gas Bottle exchange with the Hardware Store, players will now need to Disconnect their Gas Bottle from Home, bring it to the Hardware Store to have it Exchanged for a New Full one.
  
  
• Adjusted and repositioned the Main Interaction Text to be a little smaller and more compact across both Interaction Text Elements
  
  
• Added an Animation & SFX to show the player visibly throwing rubbish when disposing of Waste in the Bin at the front of the House.
  
  
• Incorporated real-time Cloud Based Error Exception logging which will help fix certain bugs that produce Error Exceptions during runtime.
  
  
• Added some Popup Hints to the tutorial that point out some not so obvious features, also even some obvious ones, more so just to break things down a bit more within the tutorial.
  
  
• Added a "Progress for the Day' Page which is presented when sleeping, this will give the player some insight to the Progress that was made during the day, from Profit/Loss, Materials Gained, Items Scrapped, etc, also made it somewhat dynamic by only showing Stats that were changed to avoid showing irrelevant Stats - Which over time, given player feedback can be used to create a more balanced experience.
  
  
• Reworked the Time Handler, rather than trying to calculate a day length on start-up it is now a Static number that will represent a 30 minute Day Length, which should stop the Random outcomes for some players.
  
  
• Heavily cut back on a lot of the Environmental Visual Effects, The overall Atmosphere, Clouds/Sky, Lighting, Ambient V/SFX Effects etc, won't look as good now or are completely gone all together, however performance should be back to where it was before this new Framework Replacement to remain more a simplistic look that isn't resource intensive.
  
  
• Added the 'Small Crate' Item to the Hardware Store - Which can be used to transport multiple Small Objects at a time, this will still work with larger items, though the Bounds will not be visible for Large Items.
  
  

[h2]Updates to v0.37[/h2]

• Fixed Rain not properly colliding with the Hardware Store roof and making its way inside.
  
  
• Changed the Colouring of the Player house to more match the other buildings in the game and the general style of the game.
  
  
• Fixed the Sleepy Effect not fully stretching across wider Aspect Ratio Screens.
  
  
• Fixed the Bug where players returning from a version less than v0.33 would be missing their Ingot Carry Box.
  
  
• Added the ability to change the UI to 24-Hour Time within the Gameplay Settings.
  
  
• Reduced the amount of aerial vehicles that fly over to be a bit less intrusive on gameplay.
  
  
• Removed the old [L] Flashlight but also added a permanent less intense Light to the Character to have more seamless lighting toward Objects the player is close to.
  
  
• Fixed the Loading Percentage starting at 100% and some random spots where the Percentage would not accurately represent the current progress.
  
  
• Briefly reworked the Chem Station, primarily simplifying the timers and how they Initiate and finalise which should help stop the Beaker Script getting stuck in an endless Loop - Rest assured it's still heading for a full overhaul in the very near future.
  
  
• Added some small tips to the Tutorial briefly explaining that a Disassembly Queuing system exists and to point out the 'Press [V] for tips' text certain on Items/Objects/Mechanics.
  
  
• Created a more streamlined Bug Report feature within the game (Accessed by Pressing [F8]) which should make the Process of Creating bug reports easier and a bit less of a hassle for players.
  
  
• Removed the Crypto feature from the PC as it was a bit nonsensical in the sense of Scrapping, as well as the Browser App temporarily until it can contain new webpages - Anyone with owned Scrapper Coin will be refunded the Mid Value as compensation - This is in hopes to return to a more Simple Game Style and help limit the Randomization of Economy outcomes where some players may struggle each day to earn $$ and others make bank on day 1.
  
  
• Reduced the size of some of the River Fish to be a bit more realistic and not look so out of place.
  
  
• Reworked the Info Panel displayed in the Upper Right (Cash, Energy, Date/Time etc) to be a bit less intruding and more clean, also a Small Weather Icon has been added to show the current Weather - The Day of Month, Month & Year text has also been removed as Seasons and Month Progression have become redundant and are no longer used.
  
  
• Along with the Visual Change to the Info Panel the way Energy is determined has been completely reworked, it is no longer a value that gets deducted as time passes, it is now a direct representation of the percentage left in the playable time (7am-11:30pm) and the Current Time passed, so Energy is not longer a value that needs to be Saved/Loaded as it references the Current Time to determine it's value.
  
  
• Removed the Cozy 2 Weather Framework due to being the cause of the un-fixable Thunderstorm Bug and implemented the new and improved Cozy 3 Weather Framework, which has far better functionality and customization when it comes to the Weather, Atmosphere, Sky, Colours etc.
  
  
• Reworked the way a Day Length is handled, this value can now be changed at will without breaking time related systems - Along with this the day length has been shortened from 2400 Seconds (40 minutes) to 30 Minutes to achieve at least 2-4 day cycles for the average play length of 1-2 hrs, which the cost of Power per kw has been reduced to compensate for this.
  
  
• Removed Cozy's Built-In Seasonal Weather Cycle and created a Rarity Based system to Randomly Determine the Weather as to be a bit more consistent throughout the game and being more in my control rather than being at the mercy of the EcoSystem, the game will remain in a more permanent 'Spring' state being mostly Clear Days - This will avoid the Solar Panels becoming near useless in the later game when entering Winter - Weather has potential to change while sleeping and is also Saved/Loaded again.
  
  
• Along with the new Weather Selection System there has also been some new Weather Profiles introduced, All Weather rarities and Solar Reductions are listed below;
  - Clear | 90% Chance | 1x Solar Capabilities (No Reduction)
  - Mostly Clear | 70% Chance | 0.9x Solar Capabilities
  - Partly Cloudy | 50% Chance | 0.7x Solar Capabilities
  - Mostly Cloudy | 40% Chance | 0.5x Solar Capabilities
  - Dense Clouds | 20% Chance | 0.4x Solar Capabilities
  - Overcast | 15% Chance | 0.3x Solar Capabilities
  - Light Rain | 10% Chance | 0.25x Solar Capabilities
  - Heavy Rain | 5% Chance | 0.15x Solar Capabilities
  - Thunder Storm | 3% Chance | 0.05x Solar Capabilities
  (No Reduction means @ 100% Sun Intensity the Weather will have no Impact on the Solar Generated, thus it will generate at 100% Capabilities | 0.05x Solar Capabilities @ 100% Sun Intensity the weather will severely be restricting the Solar Capabilities and will result in a Max of 5% output despite the 100% Sun Intensity)
  
  
• To go with the Weather Update the Ambient Lighting has been reduced to give more Depth to Objects and making Shaded areas Darker which will bring more use to Building Lights - Also the Sun Light Intensity will be adjusted according to the current Weather Profile so the lighting can coincide with the appropriate weather (IE Clear = Nice and Bright lighting | Thunder Storm = Dull and Dreary lighting).
  
  
• With the above Ambient Lighting Change, Street Lamps will now remain active during the day if the Weather is Overcast, Light Rain, Heavy Rain or Thunder Storm to aid in vision on these darker, less bright days.
  
  
• Added an NPC Dog to the Scrap Yard which will wonder around the Scrap Yard and protect the area during the night while the Scrap Yard is Closed - Upon the first initialisation (first time loading into v0.37 or starting a new game) 1 of 5 Random Skins/Colours for the Dog will be selected and is carried out permanently over your Gameplay.
  
  
• Added the ability for [ESC] to close NPC Dialog immediately without having to go back to the First Interaction Page to Close the UI.
  
  
• Removed a lot of redundant Debug Logs however also added some new ones where it may come in handy in the future when tracking down issues/bugs.
  
  
• Added a patch for those that may have lost a Bucket or more with the new box system update, when loading in the patch will determine the amount of missing Buckets from your Save Data and return them into the Lost & Found Box.
  
  
• Fixed the Vault Door from warping when being opened.
  
  
• Removed the repeating Idle Furnace notification and replaced it with just a Single popup when the Furnace initially becomes Idle, to avoid getting stuck in a loop of notifications.
  
  
• Fixed some E-Waste Items having certain Child Error FX show when initially Spawning the Item.
  
  
• Added LODs to the Furnace Kit and Chem Station Objects to improve performance while away from home.
  
  
• Halved the max number of Fish that spawn in the Shore and Mid sections of the Ocean to help improve overall performance.
  
  
• Moved the Precious Metal Vault Box Drop Location outward to make it easier to trigger the collision when returning the Cardboard Box Home.
  
  
• Reworked Time related mechanics Such as Furnace Smelting and Chemical Refining, Current tasks will now immediately be completed when Sleeping (Metal becomes molten in Crucible, Ingot in Mould becomes Cooled, Chemical Reaction Finalised etc) - Along with the realistic benefits to this addition there has also been realistic drawbacks implemented, where Gas Consumed will now be calculated during the time skipped while sleeping, which could leave you with an empty gas bottle in the morning if left running overnight - Which should now fully integrate all Time Related mechanics into the Time Skipped while Sleeping.