Why Early Access?

“FlipSwitch Games is a start up indie-development company. At the moment we have no sources of external funding and all of the funding up to now has been from our supporters who have purchased early access or donated to the project. We have come to Steam to publish our early access as we believe that it is the best move on our part and the best next step to get our project out there.

Information about purchasing early access passes:

Early access is much more than purchasing the final game or ‘preordering’. With early access you are purchasing the right to use EmergeNYC before its final release date (which can be found here). Early access pass holders are automatically granted full access to the final EmergeNYC game upon its release. Full access is given to you, the customer as a gift from Flipswitch Games in order to show our gratitude for supporting us during our development. It is important to note that when purchasing early access you are not purchasing the game, rather you are purchasing an early access pass. The game is in its earliest stages of early access meaning many key features and aspects of the game are missing or incomplete so please keep this in mind before purchasing.

Again, you are not purchasing or ‘preordering’ the EmergeNYC game. You are solely purchasing the right to access the latest development build (and additional features based on your level). All other ‘features’ are guaranteed gifts to you, from FlipSwitch games as a token of our gratitude for your support during our development. These “gifts” will be furnished as soon as they become available.

Please note: We are consistently and constantly updating our development build. We fix bugs in every patch. There is no guarantee that every single patch will work on your computer every single time. Support is offered in a very limited capacity, and the software is provided as-is with no warranty or guarantee. Bugs may present themselves at any point during the development process and unfortunately will be passed onto end users. However, we will always go out of our way to satisfy all of our customers whether this means refunds, individual product support, etc.”

Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?

“Our plan is to be in Early Access for another 2 years or so until we have a solid game that is worth calling finished. This may change in case there are major features that we want to add, or funding that we may come across that will boost EmergeNYC's development. We believe that a game should always be updated with new and additional features and that is our plan.”

How is the full version planned to differ from the Early Access version?

“The future updates to the game and early access will feature many additional aspects to game play and simulation:

Respond to and handle dozens of different crimes and emergencies ranging from injured pedestrians, to a building on fire. You will never be too sure whats going on until you arrive.

Switch out of the standard 3rd Person camera into a Real Time Strategy game play, take direct control and drive your units around traffic and through red lights carefully while avoiding cars and pedestrians.

Take control of the nozzle and spray the fire down.

Watch from afar as the streets of Manhattan come to life or dive in and get close and personal with the people walking on them.

Play online and cooperate with up to 12-32 players in an open world where each player has a specific duty, whether it be a high ranking officer handing out commands, or a firefighter stretching hose line at a fire.

Create your avatar and rank up to unlock new weapons, equipment, drive able vehicles, and clothes.

Search through buildings with multiple floors, break down doors and walls to reach people who are trapped.

Chase down suspects through the streets, behind buildings and through alleyways. Request backup but don’t let him get away.

Treat your patients, check his vitals, beat the clock in time to save them. Are they not breathing? Perform rescue breathing to save them. Is their heart stopped? Bring out the defibrillators. Experience the most realistic paramedic/EMT gameplay in any game to date.

Become a master dispatcher.

Its up to you to save the people of New York City when they need it. Will you succeed or will you fail.”

What is the current state of the Early Access version?

“The projects current state in Early Access is a Pre-Alpha.

Our biggest update to date is now live on all branches! Please read all of this while downloading.

Welcome to Brooklyn, the Borough of Fire. Brownstones, Tenements, Taxpayers, Projects, Private Dwellings, Warehouses. Brooklyn is the opposite of Manhattan’s bustling streets, avenues, and highrises. The Bedford Stuyvesant/Crown Heights areas of Brooklyn are notorious for their volume of working fires each year.

What's New and What's Fixed?

Our main goal this update was to address the two main issues. Bad Performance, and Multiplayer. This update does just that. I was able to find the main components attributing to the lag and redesigned them to work more efficiently. The performance is day and night now for MUCH smoother gameplay. This is the optimization update everyone has been waiting for.

Second, we all know firefighting is not a one man job. It’s a team effort. The ways that we can simulate that in our game is via AI firefighters, or having your friends (or strangers) join you in a Multiplayer lobby to team up and work together. Multiplayer is a completely new and finally enjoyable experience. The lag, unsynchronized mechanics, and game breaking bugs are no more. The game runs as smooth as a single player game and 95% of all mechanics are synced and work as they should. Below you can find a full changelog of Update 0.8.3















But first, a Note from Raf:

Firstly I want to thank everyone who plays or has played this game. You guys have given me the opportunity to do what I am passionate about and what I am good at and I live a happy life to be able to wake up excited everyday to bring this vision to life. This is my life’s work and I am extremely proud of it. From the start, the game has received mixed reputations of being a laggy buggy mess, and that's fair. It was. This project has been a learning process for me and I can say confidently that I am much better at my job than I was in the past. Over the last 2 months I have learned so much when it comes to game development. Something in me just took over and my brain turned into a sponge. I learned how to code, I dug into the core of the game to find the main issues that would break the player’s experience. We all know what that is; game breaking bugs, unbearable lag, and a horrible multiplayer experience. But through these years of learning as I go, throwing a hail mary, and hoping for the best, literally dedicating my life to this. So many of you have seen the same vision that I have. Thank you, and I hope that this is the update that can really get the game to where it should be. At this point, I can confidently say that EmergeNYC is, without a doubt, the best Emergency/firefighting game/sim out. There have been many respectable attempts like Notruf 112, “Firefighting Simulator” which hasn’t posted a word since 2017, Into the flames, which is promising but still is years behind. I feel proud and honored to be the individual leading this genre right now.

New Map
A new Brooklyn Based Map
100 New Emergencies
Over a dozen new building interiors
4 Furnished Firehouses based off real life companies
Accurate street signs and one way signs on poles indicate your location
Minimap with one way directions, street names, and box numbers
New Map has functional traffic, and pedestrian traffic
Dynamic ambient noise depending on what area of the map you are in
Added button to spawn all units at once
Ex FDNY Brooklyn Dispatcher voice acting for a lot of emergencies

New Firehouse Interactions
New animations such as sitting at the table, smoking, talking on the phone etc.
Watch youtube videos on the TVs in the firehouses
Firehouses now have ambient zones meaning it will be quiet in the kitchen and apparatus floor
Firehouse alert screens show the active emergency information
Working Exhaust Hoses on Apparatus floor that automatically connect and disconnect

Optimizations
Biggest optimization update to date
Huge increase in performance in Singleplayer AND Multiplayer
Redesigned many game systems from the ground up to perform more efficiently and optimally
Eliminated Lag Spikes
Increased frame rate across all systems

Multiplayer
Biggest Multiplayer update
Added VOIP with Global, fireground, and dispatch channels complete with radio sound effects and mic clicks
Readded in game chat
Improved stability
All mechanics are now synced in Multiplayer
Huge Performance improvement
Added ability to help up a downed player firefighter (Will expire after 60 seconds)
Added Mayday Alert Button that will play the Mayday tones to all players
Synced 95% of all mechanics

Graphics & Lighting
New Graphics, Lighting, and Post Processing Effects
Emergency lights now reflect off all surroundings
Added option to have puddles on ground
Added option to have snow on ground

AI
Improved AI Response Times
Increased AI Speed Limit
AI will now wait 15 seconds before turning out of the firehouses or returning to quarters giving the player the chance to hop on the rig in any seat
Improved AI Traffic
Traffic now recognizes and stops for all Player Vehicles
Traffic now pulls to the side when approaching vehicles from the front or rear with horns
Traffic at intersections will stop when sirens and horns are activated
AI Cars will be deleted if hit by a vehicle controlled by another player or by AI or if hitting your truck while you are not in it

New Additions/Mechanics
Added trapped victims that you can rescue to most fires
Fires now play a fire sound effect
Fires now leave burnt decals on burnt surfaces when extinguished
Added new Gas Odor call mechanics
Added new Water Leak call mechanics
Added Fall Damage
Working Exhaust hoses that attach to the trucks and automatically disconnect and reconnect
Class 3 Alarms have a chance of having a fire

Tweaks / Changes
Redesigned UI to be able to spawn and call new units while still in character mode
Increased the character’s running speed
Improved Vehicle Handling
Tweaked Character Health & Fire Damage
MDT Screen has been improved to look more realistic and operates differently
Hit Right Shift to go 10-84 (Onscene)
Emergencies no longer force the MDT to pop up (Listen for tones or MDT Ringing message)
Increased speed of Marauder II front rotator lights
Added Black Hood to Squad 252 Driver
Made some roll down doors take longer to cut
Improved overall stability of hoses

Bug Fixes
Fixed all Siren and horn issues in Multiplayer
Fixed issues connecting to hydrants
Fixed Issues with trying to equip and return multiple items
Fixed issue where multiplayer lobbies would not start sometimes
Fixed issue with horns blaring randomly in Multiplayer
Fixed issue where engines would stop instantly whenever someone enter/exits another vehicle in Multiplayer
Removed glow from Forest fire in Academy always being on
Fixed all issues with Compartments opening on their own or by other players remotely
Fixed AI Siren and Horn Issues
Fixed Missing Light Bars on vehicles
Removed Powercall from FDNY Trucks
Fixed issues with PD Car customizer
Fixed PD Car front right and driver rear wheels being too inward
Fixed an issue where if you are spraying and the hose disconnects you cannot stop spraying
Fixed issues with Engine Deck guns in SP and MP
Fixed not being able to turn off auto siren on Battalions in MP
Removed ability to double jump
Fixed issues in multiplayer where climbing someone else's aerial ladder would cause the truck to fly in the air
Synced Tower Ladder Nozzle Spray
Synced Deck guns”

Will the game be priced differently during and after Early Access?

“The game's price will no longer change unless a Steam sale does so.”

How are you planning on involving the Community in your development process?

“EmergeNYC, prior to its arrival on Steam, has always had a huge community involvement. We have an active forum where people can leave feedback, bug reports, and suggestions that we constantly reply to and look at and always look to improve the game. The entire game has been build off of feedback and suggestions of what people have wanted when it comes to Emergency Services games. You can also join us on weekly development live streams where we spend up to 15 hours a week developing live with our community.”