Opinion of Recent Update

[jfoytek]

The changes you have made to make the game easier are just far too much....

In my opinion, your tutorial was constantly a day late and a dollar short...
Douglass was constantly telling me to do stuff a week after I had already done it....

The Fire Changes are about the only changes I agree with but all of the things you have done to make the game financially easier has made it WAY TOO EASY....

The Problem with this game was never difficulty... The Problem with this game for new players was the fact they were new players.... This is a game you learn the hard way...

You need to start producing and have the tanks ready for when the contract comes in...
But new players think they have all the time in the world to make the tanks AFTER they get the contract...

And thus new players struggle because it takes them a few failures to understand that they need to make the Tanks first... Once they figure that out the game difficulty vanishes....

Your changes really only make the game stupidly simple for anyone who knows what he is doing in the game....

thus you really should improve on the tutorial and revert most of your balancing as it wasn't really needed....

Anyway that's my humble 2 cents on the matter....

[MaxMcMetal]

Hey there,

I completely understand where you're coming from with your thoughts on the game's recent changes. It's interesting to see how different players react to adjustments aimed at making the game more accessible. I, too, have had my fair share of restarts—4 to 5 times, to be exact. Each bankruptcy was a learning curve, pushing me to adapt and strategize differently. Now, I'm sitting in the year 1920 with a cool 20 million in my account, a testament to the trial and error that this game beautifully encapsulates.

Your point about the game being learned "the hard way" really resonates with me. It's that challenge and the satisfaction of overcoming it that add depth to our gaming experience. However, I also believe there's room for improvement beyond just balancing the difficulty. For instance, introducing more variety in politics, dealing with delivery issues, and implementing a real tank testing simulation could significantly enhance the gameplay. Adding basic managerial game functions like tracking income over the years and analyzing the sales performance of tanks could offer players more strategic depth and a richer simulation experience.

Furthermore, I couldn't agree more about the need for UI improvements. The current state of loading screens and the cumbersome process of adding tanks one by one in the delivery screen definitely detract from the gameplay experience. These are areas where thoughtful design changes could make the game not just harder or easier, but more immersive and enjoyable.

In essence, while I appreciate the efforts to make the game more accessible, I believe focusing on enriching the game's complexity and addressing UI issues could provide a more rewarding experience for both new and veteran players alike.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts, and here's to hoping the developers take note and continue to evolve the game in ways that challenge and engage us.

[TKessel]

I like to add that the game can only finally be balanced when we have more time periods in it. Current periode is the beginning and the beginning of economic simulations are always easier then the late game.

So to say now it is too hard or it is too easy...not really possible because the game as a whole is not here yet.

[Ziggurt]

Originally posted by jfoytek:

The changes you have made to make the game easier are just far too much....

In my opinion, your tutorial was constantly a day late and a dollar short...
Douglass was constantly telling me to do stuff a week after I had already done it....

The Fire Changes are about the only changes I agree with but all of the things you have done to make the game financially easier has made it WAY TOO EASY....

I agree with your take and will add my two cents too:

While I do think that 30% difficulty reduction (roughly, don't fact check that one) is due to negative reviews and complaints that speak on failing constantly (although making a guide for this game before, I run the numbers and you really had to work for it to fail on easiest difficulty), I think also big part of the reason behind the reduction of difficulty was the people asking when they can open second line of production - getting the answer that it is not there but will come with tier 2 tech.

Lot of players AND streamers have difficulty accepting that choosing which contract to take or downsizing the order you take is/was part of the game loop.

[Dirges]

I wouldn't stress over the game's difficulty... expect large overhauls to change a lot of the game as the devs add more to it.

[zweckon]

I think you guys are spot on, the difficulty is only an issue for brand new players.
This game falls into a niche where most players tend to be grognardish anyway and will stick with the game for more than one attempt.

I am certain that the reviews will sooner or later hit the "mostly positive" mark, so no need to overly stress them for now. Optimize the game for the future, not for reviews.

[Brother Skolas]

yall know how many tank designs are left for WW1?
update wise starting up on normal diff was way to hard the AI somehow having tank designs that are way better then you wich ends up with you having to sell for way less money and end up making a netloss of income

[GGLoner]

Originally posted by MaxMcMetal:

the cumbersome process of adding tanks one by one in the delivery screen definitely detract from the gameplay experience.

Aren't you able to type in the numbers for delivery like the other inputs? o.O

Regarding the difficulty, I too agree it's mainly on the initial steps (both in terms of the timeline available and that new players are still learning everything) but I think it could be more flexible. e.g. Allowing contracts to go overdue but with penalized returns. That way the risk of a delivery delay or a fire isn't an all or nothing break point. Otherwise it kinda promotes either save scumming or to assume worst case delays.

[ATTT]

Originally posted by jfoytek:

The changes you have made to make the game easier are just far too much....

In my opinion, your tutorial was constantly a day late and a dollar short...
Douglass was constantly telling me to do stuff a week after I had already done it....

The Fire Changes are about the only changes I agree with but all of the things you have done to make the game financially easier has made it WAY TOO EASY....

The Problem with this game was never difficulty... The Problem with this game for new players was the fact they were new players.... This is a game you learn the hard way...

You need to start producing and have the tanks ready for when the contract comes in...
But new players think they have all the time in the world to make the tanks AFTER they get the contract...

And thus new players struggle because it takes them a few failures to understand that they need to make the Tanks first... Once they figure that out the game difficulty vanishes....

Your changes really only make the game stupidly simple for anyone who knows what he is doing in the game....

thus you really should improve on the tutorial and revert most of your balancing as it wasn't really needed....

Anyway that's my humble 2 cents on the matter....

Hi jfoytek

Thank you for taking the time and sharing!
We will most likely be revisiting the balance (and maybe not once) as we tune the contracts (let's face it they are way linear and easy now after you know what to do) and introduce next Era.
So this is not the "final" values

[Ziggurt]

Originally posted by Skolas Wolf Kell:

update wise starting up on normal diff was way to hard the AI somehow having tank designs that are way better then you wich ends up with you having to sell for way less money and end up making a netloss of income

Not harder than your if you are used to playing tycoon game like say GearCity. And "way better" is hyperbole - rival company starts with 80 extra score than you which you can easily offset.

Either way you choose to do that will not lose money since you also start with free resources for the first run of the tanks since in normal mode half your storage is full making it so you only pay salary for their production.

Now the game is trivial, except if you play hardest difficulty (perhaps).

[rossi191]

Originally posted by ATTT:

Originally posted by jfoytek:

The changes you have made to make the game easier are just far too much....

In my opinion, your tutorial was constantly a day late and a dollar short...
Douglass was constantly telling me to do stuff a week after I had already done it....

The Fire Changes are about the only changes I agree with but all of the things you have done to make the game financially easier has made it WAY TOO EASY....

The Problem with this game was never difficulty... The Problem with this game for new players was the fact they were new players.... This is a game you learn the hard way...

You need to start producing and have the tanks ready for when the contract comes in...
But new players think they have all the time in the world to make the tanks AFTER they get the contract...

And thus new players struggle because it takes them a few failures to understand that they need to make the Tanks first... Once they figure that out the game difficulty vanishes....

Your changes really only make the game stupidly simple for anyone who knows what he is doing in the game....

thus you really should improve on the tutorial and revert most of your balancing as it wasn't really needed....

Anyway that's my humble 2 cents on the matter....

Hi jfoytek

Thank you for taking the time and sharing!
We will most likely be revisiting the balance (and maybe not once) as we tune the contracts (let's face it they are way linear and easy now after you know what to do) and introduce next Era.
So this is not the "final" values

i dont know if you've thought about splitting contracts in to two parts first part will be a nation making a request for tank designs of the tank they will like guns weight speed ect when that time is elapsed then the second part will be giving them a working prototype to see if it will be accepted this may force the player to build custom designs for each contract instead of being able to have designs and tanks pre made ready to be sold maybe some modernisation contracts to would be a good challenge having to fit newer equipment into a pre built tank