Why Early Access?

“CENTAVO is an economy simulation where every cent is in someone's pocket, and the player's behaviour is part of the experiment. So far the city has been tested with a scripted player that always zones the same way. Real people zone differently, tax differently, and let the city die in ways I didn't foresee. That is what Early Access buys: cities I wouldn't know how to build, and the problems only they reveal. The game is made by one person, and I would rather tune the balance together with the people playing it than alone.”

Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?

“The estimate is between one year and a year and a half. Leaving Early Access is not tied to a date but to a criterion: the city sustaining itself in the hands of real players, not only the scripted one, and a saved city surviving any update. If that takes longer, the game stays in Early Access longer.”

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

“We plan, without promising order or dates:

A real tutorial. Today the progression ladder plays that role: each step unlocks the next brushes, which prevents the fatal early mistakes, but it doesn't yet teach the why behind each thing.

A fuller government panel. Today there are two levers, income tax and government aid. We plan a progressive tax table, social programmes beyond the floor, adjustable service contracts and the arbitration of bids for the large businesses, which today is automatic.

School, police and crime already exist in the engine and arrive at the high steps of the ladder. We plan to adjust when and how they come in based on what the community reports.

Credit. Today the amount of money in the world is fixed. We plan to study loans, which bring back the tension between holding and issuing.

Ambient sound and effects, on top of the soundtrack that already plays. More languages on the page and in the interface as the community asks. Linux and macOS versions once the Windows version is stable.

And the exit commitment: in the full version, a saved city survives any update.”

What is the current state of the Early Access version?

“Playable from start to finish: the city starts empty, climbs the seven steps and can end by exodus, starvation or dry coffers. What the page description says is what exists: zoning and laying streets, residents who found and close businesses, walk, eat, fall ill, marry, inherit and leave, prices that react to stock and queues, every resident's statement with the counterparty of every payment, the heat maps, the statistics screen and the floor plan layer. Interface in Brazilian Portuguese and English. Windows only.

What to expect from Early Access: the balance still changes from version to version, because that is exactly what we are tuning with the people playing. The game saves your city's recipe (the seed and every click) and was designed to survive updates, but during Early Access some rule changes may alter a saved city. When that happens, the game warns you on load: the city is still valid, it just isn't exactly the one you left.”

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

“We plan to raise the price gradually as the game gains content, up to the full version. Every increase will be announced in advance in the update notes. Whoever joins in Early Access pays less for having joined earlier, and gets the whole game all the way through.”

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

“Through the Steam community hub: discussions, update notes with every version and a monthly state-of-the-game post, with the numbers behind each balance change. When a price, a wage or a rule changes, the note says what was measured and why.

One detail that changes the conversation: a CENTAVO save is a recipe, the seed and every click. Send me your city's file and I reproduce exactly the city you saw, at the point where it broke. Every bug reported with a save is a reproducible bug.

We plan to keep a public beta branch to test large updates before they reach everyone, and a Discord server for those who want to follow closely.”