Dev Deep Dive: The Impact of Community Feedback

[h3]In our last Dev Deep Dive, we looked at how cross-disciplinary collaboration shapes Modulus; the constant back-and-forth between art, design, programming, and audio that keeps the game moving forward. If you missed that one, it’s well worth a read for anyone curious about how small teams stay agile.[/h3][h3]This time, we’re diving into another vital force behind Modulus: the community. From early playtests to Discord discussions, players have had a real impact on the game’s development.[/h3][p]Jarvs (Head of Comms): We’ve already said how much we love the community, but let’s dig into it further:[/p][h3]Has feedback from players ever directly changed what you were doing?[/h3][p]David (Game Director): All the time. It’s rarely about “massive problems”, the game’s in good shape, but players sink way more hours into Modulus than we can. That means they uncover little frustrations or oddities we’d never spot. And sometimes a tiny tweak makes all the difference, like unblocking a frustrating loop so the system runs smoothly again.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Thomas (Senior Tech Artist): A recent one was the furnace. We had this neat idea, but in practice it felt too complex. The feedback pushed us to make it simpler. It still worked the same, but the path to using it was much clearer. That happens a lot: we have a clever design in our heads, and the community shows us how to make it straightforward without losing depth.[/p][p]Antoine (Art Director): Same with buildings. In early demos, finished buildings looked way too polished compared to the modules players had crafted. It wasn’t obvious that the buildings were made from those modules. So we toned down the visuals to bring them closer together. Maybe they look a little less flashy now, but the connection is way more rewarding; you see exactly how your modules became the building.[/p][p]Jarvs: And honestly, that’s cooler. It’s not “less detailed,” it’s more personal.[/p][h3]Are there any favourite player suggestions that made it into the game?[/h3][p]Rimme (Senior Engineer): The Pick Operator tool. Middle-click on a conveyor or operator, and it selects that block so you can place more instantly. It’s tiny, but it feels amazing, one of those little quality-of-life changes that only came from players playing for hundreds of hours.[/p][p]Thomas: I love it too.[/p][p]Jarvs: Right? It’s small, but it changes how you build.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Mick (Lead Developer): For me, it’s less about one suggestion and more about community sentiment. Drones, for example. Everyone kept saying they felt too slow. Not mathematically, not “off by a number,” just… slow. Enough people said it, and we realised they were right. We sped them up, and suddenly the whole game felt better. No one person can claim credit, but the vibe mattered.[/p][p]Jarvs: That’s huge. Even if you don’t know it, your voice adds to the bigger picture.[/p][p]Ok Last question in this section:[/p][h3]What’s one thing you wish players knew about your work?[/h3][p]David: For me, it’s the numbers behind everything. Modulus looks, and is, approachable, but underneath it’s a deep factory game. There’s beauty when you start calculating outputs, balancing resources per minute, and squeezing maximum efficiency into minimum space. It’s daunting at first, but once you pierce that veil, it becomes this really satisfying puzzle.[/p][p]Jarvs: The community gets it, though. Remember when Thomas mentioned his “grass-only” challenge? Everyone immediately ran off to try it themselves. Watching players embrace those constraints and still come up with amazing factories was awesome. That’s the spirit of Modulus.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]The Modulus community doesn’t just play the game, they help shape it. From subtle tweaks to major reworks, player feedback has pushed the team to simplify, refine, and discover new ways of making the factory-building experience more rewarding.[/p][p]In the next part of our Dev Deep Dive, we’ll look at how it all works under the hood. From Efficiency View, to saving and loading massive factories, we dive into what makes Modulus tick. [/p][p]Don’t forget to wishlist the game, and give it a follow whilst you're there. Every follow the game gets, helps Steam recognise that people are excited for Modulus! It also means that you will be notified when we drop the next part of this series.[/p][p]
Catch you soon Module Makers.[/p]

• [p]Team Happy Volcano. [/p]