Hi all,
I'm Tom, a solo developer, and for the last nine months I've been making Broadband Architect, a management game where you run a small UK altnet. Sebastien kindly said I could offer regulars here an early look at the demo before it goes public at Steam Next Fest (19–26 October).
What it is: you start in 2012 with a van, a little money and a licence to dig. You trench real streets (built from OpenStreetMap data; the demo covers Cheltenham, Bishops Cleeve and the area around them), place cabinets, agree wayleaves with landowners, get landlords to let you into blocks of flats, and size your network for demand. The core pressure is the evening peak: at 8pm the town logs on at once, and a link that looked comfortable all afternoon goes red. Congestion drives churn, and churn kills small ISPs. The incumbent is a satirical one called BritTeleco.
Why I made it: FTTP went in across my village but not my road. Three years later I was finally offered it, and it then took nine months of back-and-forth to get it installed. Some of my neighbours still can't order it, despite fibre on both poles on the road. Plenty of you will recognise that story.
What I'd love from you: tell me where it gets the telecoms wrong. The peak and capacity model, the costs, how builds and wayleaves play out, what a real altnet would do that the game doesn't let you. You know this far better than most players will. Transit and peering have already been suggested, and they're now on the plan for the full release.
The honest bits: it's a demo beta, so expect rough edges. It runs on Windows via Steam, and Steam Deck support is in progress. It's a one-person project; the in-game graphics and some of the writing were made with AI help, and professional in-game art is planned if the demo does well.
Keys: I have a handful of Steam keys for regulars. If you'd like one, send me a private message. Please don't ask in the thread, and I won't post keys publicly. First come, first served while they last.
Trailer (57 s):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l40V4k_JyqU
Steam page:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/5171170
I'll be around to answer questions in the thread. This is just a small fun project for me so any feedback on how to make it better is greatly appreciated
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