[EXPERIMENTAL] v2026.8.3

*NOTE: This version is only available on the EXPERIMENTAL game version/beta. You manually need to switch to it in Steam. Right Click on Fireworks Mania -> Properties -> Game Versions & Betas -> "Experimental". To go back to the normal version, change it to "Default Public Version".*

*Please note that this is work-in-progress stuff. There might be bugs, features might never end up in the real version of the game and things might be a little odd.

However, I share this version as I need your feedback to help me shape the game - thanks for taking your time helping shape the game 🤓*

### Added

• Achievements! From lighting your first firework with the torch to blowing up 500 buildings - and a few hidden ones for you to find. Progress counts from this version on, so everyone starts from scratch together
• A new character, Guanaco
• Characters blink now, so they feel a lot less intense when you stand face to face with someone

### Changed

• The green ghosts showing where a shell will sit got a makeover. They are now a ring around the opening of each tube slot instead of a green copy of the shell and the one you are aiming at is drawn bigger. They also fade in and out instead of blinking, are fainter, and show up further out so you no longer catch them popping in at the edge of your screen
• The ghosts now also show up when you carry a shell with the Physics Tool, not just the Spawn Tool. Aim at a slot and it is pulled into place
• Stuff you throw now with the Physics Tool tumbles through the air instead of sailing off dead flat
• The firework limit in a hosted game now only counts fireworks that haven't gone off yet. With Auto Despawn turned off, everything you had ever lit still counted, so once you hit the limit you could never spawn again
• The year cakes now have their own "New Years Collection" with its own icon, instead of hiding in the "2020 Collection" where they never belonged
• The flashlight beam is wider now, with softer edges, to avoid the odd hard black line on the ground when looking down
• Turned down the glow on the Serious Sam fountain - it was way too shiny with the new look of the game
• The Messenger cake got a smoke trail on its shots, just because
• The list of games to join now scrolls with the right stick, and got the same slim scrollbar as the rest of the game

### Fixed

• Fixed text fields not bringing up the on-screen keyboard when you play without a keyboard, on a controller or a handheld. Searching the inventory, naming a blueprint, typing a join code and so on now all pop it up, like the Workshop already did
• Fixed the button prompts not following the controller you actually have in your hands. Swapping between an Xbox and a PlayStation controller, or picking up a controller after using the mouse, now switches them straight away instead of waiting for you to press a button
• Fixed popups like Save As or Ban Player letting you arrow off them with the keyboard onto things behind them. A controller kept you inside them, the keyboard didn't
• Fixed a popup waiting its turn stealing the selection from the one you are looking at, so pressing Enter could hit a button on a popup you couldn't even see
• Fixed the stuff you drop into a mortar tube alongside the shell being stuck in the world for good once you fire it. Clear All couldn't remove it, and it went missing from saved blueprints
• Fixed player names showing up as a row of question marks in the player list when they aren't spelled with plain English letters
• Fixed shells still turning over on their way down a mortar tube when you feed them in with the Physics Tool. Last time only covered dropping them in
• Fixed the left stick walking you around while you were using it to navigate the inventory. On keyboard you can still walk with WASD with the inventory open, same as before
• Fixed things jittering and sagging in mid-air when you carry them with the Physics Tool in someone else's game. They now sit as steady as they do for the host
• Fixed a join that gets turned away, say because of a version mismatch, still taking up a spot in the host's game for a minute afterwards, so games looked fuller than they were and could keep you from getting back in
• Fixed the main menu flashing the background picture and cutting to black before fading in, if you have the background video turned off
• Fixed a handful of places where a controller could get stuck or lose the selection in the menus - the list of games to join, the shell and mortar size filters in the inventory, the list of saved blueprints, the scrollbar inside a dropdown, and the inventory grid hopping out to the search field after you closed and reopened it
• Fixed the details of a game in the join list sometimes not opening when it got selected for you, leaving you with no Join button - and staying open after a refresh, still offering Join for a game that might not be there any more
• Fixed the "Looping" particle system warnings from base game fireworks

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• Happy testing, enjoy! 🤓🕺

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1079260/Fireworks_Mania__An_Explosive_Simulator/