[b]TIME UPDATE[/b] The game will release during regular working hours in EST (Eastern Standard Time), likely around 2 PM. Knowing me, it's possible there might be a few delays but that's the time we're aiming for. Hey everyone, I'd like to thank you all for being very patient. The DLC and major game update are finally complete and will be released on January 7, 2025 (tomorrow). I have decided on a price for the DLC of [b]5 USD[/b] (subject to regional pricing) based on tester feedback and market research. The base game will of course remain free. [h2]What to expect on January 7[/h2] January 7th will be by far the biggest release I have ever personally undertaken. This project took over 3000 hours of work and I anticipate will have at least a few hundred downloads on the first day of release. I don't really know what to expect. I've done all I can as a single developer to test the game to make sure it performs well and is fun to play. However, my sample size of a few hundred tester computers will not find everything. Issues will inevitably arise on release day when an order of magnitude more users try the update for the first time. If you experience issues and want to help out, please consider joining the [url=https://discord.com/invite/engine-sim-official]Engine Simulator Official Discord server[/url]. I have set up dedicated channels for Steam Engine Simulator to anticipate the influx of complaints, suggestions and bug reports. All help would be greatly appreciated. [h2]Should the 10 liter boiling achievement be removed?[/h2] When I added achievements to this game, my understanding of how players interacted with Steam achievements was not accurate. I did not anticipate anyone seriously wanting to AFK achievements in general, let alone in Steam Engine Simulator. But, clearly I was wrong. This achievement has resulted in many of this game's negative reviews (and criticism in the discussion board) and it's very frustrating to put this much effort into a game only to have it negatively reviewed because of a simple Steam achievement. I would have removed this achievement long ago and avoided this headache completely, but I know that many players have already put in the time to get it and might not appreciate the achievement being removed. If you have ideas on how to fix this while causing minimal upset in the community, please let me know in the comments. [b]No achievements are being added in this update and no achievements require the DLC to function. I've noticed that this is a common complaint from players of other games and since Steam offers no way of adding DLC-specific achievements, I'd rather not deal with this hassle.[/b] [h2]I'm Looking Forward to Your Feedback[/h2] This release does not mark the end of development, but rather, the beginning of a new phase of the game's life and I will most likely be actively releasing patches and updates for at least a month after initial release. I try to read pretty much everything that is posted to the Steam community hub, my YouTube channel and my Discord server. Please do not hesitate to share your feedback and I will do my best to accommodate suggestions that I believe will improve the game. Thanks everyone! - Ange