PowerWash Simulator 2 News

[h2]Hello Washers![/h2]

Welcome in to a new PowerWash Simulator 2 DevLog! Today we're taking a little look into another level, the Teapot Tea Room 🫖

This time Senior 3D Artist, Dennis, is talking through some of his work on this new level. We took a little peek on our Livestream last week, and the dirt is looking grosser than ever!

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Dennis starts, well, at the start with concept art, "The Tea Room's been a really fun washable to work on. It's got everything that makes PowerWash Simulator great!

• Bright, saturated, relaxing colours
  
• Flowy shapes
  
• Somewhat eccentric subject matter (you're basically washing a giant kettle!)
  

The life of all washables starts in the concepting phase. Nick, our former concept artist, has done an amazing job in bringing the idea given to us by the designers into something tangible. There are many issues, however, that you can only spot when you convert the 2D concept into a block out 3D model and jump around it in-engine for a few hours, so a few changes had to be made!"



"Speaking of which, blockout’s the first step of creating our washables! This process involves modelling the washable as simply as possible, using mostly basic shapes, in order to get a good idea of the model's proportions and scale. Blockouts also help us identify issues early on, such as navigability, job complexity being too big, or geometry that's too hard to reach with your washer.

For example, we love when players parkour around jobs without using equipment. So, at this stage we decided to add flower planters around the entrance, for players to jump up onto the door frame and then up onto the roof of the tea room."



"However, ideas change all the time to provide a better washing experience. In this early block out picture, you can see the flower planters were shaped like tea cups. This was changed to the rectangular design you see in the end, to avoid the tricky wash angle that'd be created behind those planters!

After ironing out any major issues we spot in the block out stage, the washable gets refined into its final shape, textured and ready to get dirtied up!"



Dennis continues, "I think it's important to mention the thought process that goes into the dirt & texture choices. PowerWash is all about the satisfaction of revealing this happy, pristine clean surface hiding underneath all kinds of thick, gross dirt. The contrast between the two states is very important for the art team, as the better the contrast, the more satisfying the reveal is!

We generally choose happy, saturated colours for our washables when they're clean. Red & green is a great combo, so this is what we went with for the tea room. We also generally choose brighter shades of colours. This all contrasts really well with the darker, desaturated grime & dirt that's placed on top."



"There's lots of different contrast types we like to explore, other than the above-mentioned colour ones! Dirt's usually very chaotic, with zig-zagged lines, splats, smears and all sorts of random directionality to it. The revealed surface is calm and stable in comparison! The dirt's generally noisy and a bit unsettling in its surface texture (note the gross wet mud on the tea room's walls, its bumpy shape with lots of small lumps), whereas the tea room's walls are smooth and with little variation."





Dennis finishes his insight into this new level, "I hope players enjoy this job, it was super fun to work on, and I hope restoring it to its proper clean state brings you joy! Have a wonderful time at the Tea of Tranquility!"

The environment surrounding the Teapot Tea Room is a very relaxing place to be, capturing the soothing nature of PowerWash Simulator.



Next time we'll be taking a deeper look into some of the dirt types coming to PowerWash Simulator 2, more into the wetness effects & how we've made the water look even more waterier! 💦

[hr][/hr]
We'll be taking a closer look at the Teapot Tea Room this week on the FuturLab Twitch channel, Friday May 23rd at 4pm BST.



To keep up with all PowerWash Sim 2 news, you can wishlist it here ⬇️

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2968420/PowerWash_Simulator_2/

If you missed it, you can catch up with our last DevLog here:
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/2968420/view/502825275922317384

Stay clean, Washers 💦

Follow our Socials here: Discord: https://discord.com/invite/powerwashsimulator
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/powerwashsimulator.co.uk
Twitter/X: 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
PWS Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/PowerWashSimulator/

[h2]Hello again, Washers![/h2]

We're back with another DevLog, and this time we're looking at the player model design & talking to Senior Character Artist, Matt. From concept to in-game changes, we're going on a little adventure on the steps it takes.

We have some cool Washer concept art to show you today, as well as some early original PowerWash Simulator Washer model concepts at the end!

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Matt starts, "I was lucky enough to get the task of designing and modelling the player character for PowerWash Simulator 2."

"This sheet shows my first attempts at the new concept. Some of the direction I received was to try to make the character look a bit friendlier than the original, by imparting more child-like proportions to the hood and mask, and swapping the knee-high black boots for something less imposing. Otherwise, I was free to rework the design in ways I thought would improve it and make it fit in a sequel with plenty of visual upgrades but wanted to be careful to preserve the instantly recognisable look that has come to be strongly associated with the game.

Originally, we thought we might also want to nod to a certain new feature of PowerWash 2, as in the first image, but this was quickly dropped for various reasons." We'll be taking a look at this new feature in a future DevLog, so we'll leave that there for the moment 👀 We won't leave you waiting too long though.

"Another concept artist, Nick, provided some very good feedback about raising the belt, which really improves the balance of the design, and suggested we make the drop logo shiny. The unusual zip placement on the suit is meant to represent a wave, or perhaps a fin, as well as echo the slightly fantastical feel of the rest of the PowerWash world."



"Here is more development of the concept. We tried a few different colours for the boots, which we didn’t want to be too eye-catching, but eventually came back to the yellow I started with. I did experiment with adding a bit of grime to mute their colour, but anything not actually washable in the PowerWash world must be sparkly clean!

The hood and mask probably got the most iteration. By obscuring a character’s face, you run the risk of making them seem cold and inhuman and possibly even intimidating, so our lead artist (now Project Director) Torger provided me with constant feedback pushing friendly, child-like proportions and shapes. I also added a few other touches to give the mask the feeling of having a smiling face."



Matt continues, "This is the final concept, where I added a smartphone in a waterproof case, replacing the tablet worn at the belt of the original character and redesigned the washer backpack. The new backpack design is less square and blocky than the original, uses a simpler colour palette, and is made of more premium-feeling materials. This all serves to make it feel like an upgrade."



"Some progress shots, and a final turnaround of the ZBrush model. I focussed a lot on the stylization of the cloth—the detail is clustered up to leave plenty of empty space, matching the clean simplicity of PowerWash Simulator’s art. I also tried hard to preserve the androgyny of the character."



"Once the model was animated and in-game, we found that the gloves didn’t hold up to being very close to the camera—they were too low-poly and worked better seen as a small part of an entire character than close-up and in isolation. I remade the gloves with more detail and fabric texture, and with a design that hopefully looks good when viewed on its own as well as part of a greater whole."



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We hope you've enjoyed this look into the player model with Matt! As promised, we also have some early sketches and ideas for the player model for PowerWash Simulator.



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Next time we'll be taking a look at another level coming to PowerWash Simulator 2, the Teapot Tea Room! 🫖

We'll also be live on the FuturLab Twitch channel tomorrow, Friday 16th at 4pm BST to take a more in depth look at the Removal Van from last weeks DevLog.



To keep up with all PowerWash Sim 2 news, you can wishlist it here ⬇️

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2968420/PowerWash_Simulator_2/

If you missed it, you can catch up with our last DevLog here:
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/2968420/view/510705846181692695?l=english

Stay clean, Washers 💦

Follow our Socials here: Discord: https://discord.com/invite/powerwashsimulator
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/powerwashsimulator.co.uk
Twitter/X: 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
PWS Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/PowerWashSimulator/

[h2]Hello again, Washers![/h2]

Welcome to another PowerWash Simulator 2 DevLog. Last time we left you with a little teaser image to get you guessing, and here is the full picture! ⬇️



Introducing Wendy's Jessica's Antiques & Furniture!

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This time we have 3D artist, Rachel, talking about the first job you’ll get to play In PowerWash Simulator 2, the Removal Van, and some of the processes to get it to where it is now. From the early stages of concept art to deciding if it needs to have that little bit of added poo...

Rachel starts, “The removal van was one of the first jobs to be kicked off for PowerWash Simulator 2. There was still a lot of work going on for PowerWash Simulator, but even though it was on the quiet side at the PWS2 art-gnome HQ, it was exciting to finally start! I feel like this was the perfect job to get used to our new workflows and tools for the new game, not too big or small. It was also a lovely treat to work with our concept artist at the time, Nick, to bring the van to life.”



“You can see from the art that Jessica's Antiques hadn't even been created yet! Sorry, Wendy.
The first step was to model a block-out, which I took all the way until it was a finished model, then it was time for textures. During this time, we check in with design to make sure it’s still achieving everything we want, and I might make changes here and there based on feedback. One of my favourite parts of working on the van was creating the graphics for the decals.”



Rachel goes on to talk a bit more about the dirt, “I love that modern vintage style! Painting on the dirt was a blast too: there's not many jobs where you have to think "Would a bird poop here?" or "This looks disgusting. Perfect." Seriously. I think about dirt so much now. I found myself looking at a grimy bin in the park last week thinking "ah yes, I could make that worse..."”



“When it comes to deciding how to apply dirt, we consider the story of the washable (why on earth is it so dirty?), and also what would make an enjoyable washing experience. Usually this comes down to contrast! In the van's case, it had seen a lot of use and not much washing, so dirt and mud would be the stars of the show here. Since it's such a lovely orange-yellow with a lot of very even textures, we chose a dark mud which was slightly green toned for most of it. We also made sure there was a lot of visual noise in the dirt for extra contrast.”



“This means that there's not just variation in shape, colour, and transparency, but also in roughness! This is why we paired some drier dirt with bigger shiny splodges. Not only does it tell the story of it having been driven somewhere recently, but it also makes for a much more satisfying washing experience. It's all about the reveal!

In the end, it was hard not to form an emotional attachment to this van, but how can you not love such a square little orange cutie? Recently I got to place it in its job environment, I felt like a proud parent!”



There is a little more to the Removal Van that we aren't quite ready to reveal yet, but we'll cover this feature in a little while, and we think you'll really enjoy it!

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We hope you enjoyed taking a peek into some of the work Rachel does here at FuturLab, and we'll have more coming up soon!

Next time we'll be taking a deeper dive into the Washer! Are they ✨ magical ✨, or just really good at cleaning up water after themselves? How do they carry all their equipment in their pockets all the time? These are just a couple of questions we could answer... but we also might not, you'll have to come back and see!

Have an idea of something you'd like to see us cover in a future DevLog? Throw it in the comments to let us know!

To keep up with all PowerWash Sim 2 news, you can wishlist it here ⬇️

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2968420/PowerWash_Simulator_2/

If you missed it, you can catch up with our last DevLog here:
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/2968420/view/510704592041804306?l=english

Stay clean, Washers 💦

Follow our Socials here: Discord: https://discord.com/invite/powerwashsimulator
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/powerwashsimulator.co.uk
Twitter/X: 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
PWS Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/PowerWashSimulator/

[h2]Hello Washers![/h2]

Welcome to the first of our PowerWash Simulator 2 DevLogs! For this one we’ll be taking a look at the story. We spoke to FuturLab Writer, Mark, to give us a little insight into some of the lore and storytelling.

If you haven’t caught it already, you can see him featured in our video that was shown during the Galaxies Show case a couple of weeks ago here ⬇️

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hH6DJo5Ou3E

You can also see an outtakes video here

[hr][/hr]
When we asked Mark a little about the story, he was surprised, and delighted at how well received it was from PowerWash Simulator players.

If you're interested in the story of PowerWash Simulator but haven't played it yet, this may be spoiler territory, so be warned!

“Its biggest weakness – that it wasn’t needed at all, made no requirements of the player and made no difference to the core gaming experience whatsoever - turned out to be its biggest strength. It meant that we could go a bit wild with it. By the end of the career mode there was a synergy between the two, with the narrative helping to inform the latter levels. It’s unlikely the game would’ve finished with the cleaning of a UFO and Atlantis without a story to justify it, although the latter was always the intended endpoint.”



Mark goes on to explain, “For PowerWash Simulator 2, we’ve taken the same approach. The primary consideration when choosing jobs is always game mechanics – would these be interesting and satisfying washing experiences? Then we got started with a story and let it leak in and inform some of the levels.”



Mark continues, “PowerWash Simulator 2 is a sequel, set a few years down the line, so we tried to imagine what might have happened in the interim. One of the design team, Sam, had an amazing idea relating to the Ancient Statue from the first game which, once completely clean, fired a blue laser beam out of its forehead, across the desert and into the nearby volcano, Mount Rushless.

Whilst it served our story’s purposes by warding off an imminent eruption, Sam asked, what if this laser just kept firing, for some reason unknown to science, day and night, like there was no off switch? The locals living under the beam would be fuming at the constant light pollution, whilst the authorities would want to keep it running to draw in tourists from all over the globe. We loved the idea, and the Ancient Statue became the Muckingham Merman, Caldera County a hotspot for the paranormal, and we went from there.”



“We reasoned that even with such weirdness going down, everything would eventually go back to a new normal, with most people going about their lives as before, allowing us to keep it (mostly) grounded, just everyday people with questionable motivations getting into sticky situations.

The Powerwasher has been busy in the interim, too. Obviously it was great to be involved in preventing an apocalyptic volcanic eruption by washing down the Sea Temple of an ancient civilization, but saving the world doesn't always pay the bills. So they've continued to get their head down to save up for a swanky new Home Base, which they've just moved into as the new game commences. Despite Harper's best deal wrangling at the auctions, the Powerwasher was right on the limit of their budget and has had to sell most of their equipment to afford it. But with their reputation and powerwashing prowess, it's only going to be a matter of time before the purchasing of serious upgrades begins again."



“To help out with delivering the story this time around, the Home Base will feature a map and pinboard, which will collect newspaper snippets related to the lore as you progress through the Career. This will fill in some gaps and help players stay invested in the story in a frictionless way."

Check out the WIP Caldera County map, put together by Senior UI Artist, Paul ⬇️



"It’s been a real joy and privilege to write for PowerWash Simulator 2, and we hope the lore hungry among you enjoy where we’ve gone with it. Hopefully it answers some of your questions, springs a few surprises and entertains you along the wash.”

We hope you’ve enjoyed taking a little look into how the PowerWash Simulator story is shaped, and we can’t wait for you to see where we go from PowerWash Simulator to PowerWash Simulator 2

Is there something you’d like to see us take a deeper dive into in future, or something we’ve looked at that you’d like to know more about? Drop it in the comments to let us know!

[hr][/hr]
Next time we’ll be taking a sneak peek into one of the new PowerWash Simulator 2 levels, so keep an eye out for when that drops. Here is a little teaser for you! Any ideas what it could be? 👀



[hr][/hr]
If you didn't see on our socials, we also shared the new key art for PowerWash Simulator 2! We think FuturLab Concept Artist, Anthony & Marketing Artist, Cristina did an amazing job making it look super clean ✨



To keep up with all PowerWash Sim 2 news, you can wishlist it here ⬇️
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2968420/PowerWash_Simulator_2/

Stay clean, Washers 💦

Follow our Socials here: Discord: https://discord.com/invite/powerwashsimulator
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/powerwashsimulator.co.uk
Twitter/X: 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
PWS Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/PowerWashSimulator/

[h3]Hello Washers![/h3]

Some of you may have seen that we were featured in the first ever Twitch Galaxies Show. During this showcase we tasked some of our awesome FuturLab team, Eilidh (Junior 3D Artist), Mark (Writer) and Dan (Game Director) to explain PowerWash Simulator 2 in just 60 seconds! ⬇️

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

For those of you who didn’t get to catch it live, you can check out the whole showcase here.

https://www.twitch.tv/galaxiesshow


While we’re still in active development and working to add more of that shiny ✨ visual polish ✨, we’ll be exploring bigger breakdowns and deep dives of what is to come with PowerWash Simulator 2 for you all to enjoy.

If there is anything you’d like us to talk about in future devlogs, or go a little further into that we’ve shown already, drop your ideas/questions down in the comments! There may be some things we aren’t quite ready to talk about yet, but we’ll answer what we can.

You can wishlist PowerWash Simulator 2 here to keep up with all future news!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2968420/PowerWash_Simulator_2/

In case you missed it, we also released The Muckingham Files 5 for free for PowerWash Simulator, and now is the perfect time to take a trip to the Muckingham’s local Dessert Parlour!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3202500/PowerWash_Simulator__Muckingham_Files__Part_5/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1290000/PowerWash_Simulator/

Stay clean, Washers 💦

Follow our Socials here: Discord: https://discord.com/invite/powerwashsimulator
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/powerwashsimulator.co.uk
Twitter/X: 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
PWS Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/PowerWashSimulator/