Am I doing something wrong here? [Pointers Appreciated]

[Pezz]

Hi there folks~ Figured I'd make a post here as I think I'm in need of some revelations regarding this game :U

I am of the opinion that I must be missing something vital here, as I feel I'm not meaningfully progressing with the game.Even after substantial forum and guide browsing, I'm pretty much getting by on Contract Work alone (this is on Normal), with the last game I made being over 6 game-years ago. Everything I make seems to just fail horrifically, and as a result, I'm essentially dead in the water compared to other developers, unable to do much in the way of research or build decent game engines.

So therein is my dilemma. Any insight or beginner tips would be greatly appreciated. Admittedly, I'm still occupied with the game, but I'm worried that it's very quickly becoming "Mad Contracting Firm Tycoon" = 3=

[Shiro]

Research is your most important goal at the start. You have to take loans from bank to realize fast research and that you are able to build engines which then give you an income and you can build by means of your engines games which are, in general, so good that you can make a profit. But I think you have to take loans to execute research fast in order to be ahead of your competitors, I've only played on normal difficulty but it works there (with the loan).

I read that on legendary or difficult difficulty you shouldn take loans because the interest are really high, i.e. I don't know how to play correctly in those difficulties but you needed help for normal:)

Maybe you should start with easy to get a grasp of the game? Don't know.

[therulez]

The best way to make money is creating - and updating - your game engine, be sure to include ALL features, even the old ones.
Then make sure to use that engine to make your games, too!
Reduce bugs with the QA office, later on.
And create game reports from the QA office too to make better games :)

[Kempo2001]

Do you sell your engines? This is a must to make profit especially in the beginning. I personally sell mine for 10000 and 15% profit but others may do higher. Once you get to producing your game this is also a must as you can make a ton more money then someone else doing it for you!

I would probably recommend starting on easy and playing through to get a grip of the game and then move onto harder levels.

[SHR]

I am a fellow normal difficulty player, and here how to be the greatest game developer ever :)

1-abuse the bank loaning system but beware there is always a limit.

2-start in a company building not the garage...this will make things way easier.

3-reasearch is your friend. The moment you start build a research department even if it's a one guy department.

4-make engines as soon as you can and make them available for sale with a low price but a 50% profit sharing.

5-this point is needless to say but I will say it any way, Contracts are great so do them. Do them...do them hard!

6-as soon as you hit a million in your balance...build a production room and buy 3 or 4 machines, buy the best machines so that they will be fast and start doing production contracts.

7-for some reason the first game you should do is arcade and would be helpful to sales if it is a pet game.

Here you go kid. the secret to (the beginning of) my success, if you want more advice just ask.

[GrenadesAndHamm]

I don't know if it's been mentioned but here is what I do on hard, in garage not small building:

1. First make two small PRODUCTION rooms,3x3
   
2. Do any contracts, always do this first
   
3. Switch back and forth between making a game and doing contracts which unlocks RESEARCH
   
4. Research the sprites (or whatever the third on happens to be)
   
5. Make engine for PUZZLE because there wont be competition for the engine, I price mine under 50K and at 12 percent and get many uses and profit from it
   
6. Never take a loan unless you're at the end stage of production for a game you know will be good, or else you will always be in the hole
   
7. Do not hire until you have at least 500k in bank with current engines which should come pretty fast with engine sales

This should give you a pretty good head start. After this, hire people and keep up on research and engines. Make games that involve only your engines. Research other genres for games that you can make an engine for that doesn't currently have an engine.

[Obiwan]

Did you mean 2 small development rooms?

[GrenadesAndHamm]

Originally posted by Obiwan:

Did you mean 2 small development rooms?

Lol. Yes. Not production.

[Obiwan]

Originally posted by Inpredictable:

Originally posted by Obiwan:

Did you mean 2 small development rooms?

Lol. Yes. Not production.

Just checking because i thought the rest was extremely good advice.

It is fascinating how those of us that are a bit more at ease with the game all have our differing starting methods for hard/leg etc. I really liked yours.

[GrenadesAndHamm]

Originally posted by Obiwan:

Originally posted by Inpredictable:

Lol. Yes. Not production.

Just checking because i thought the rest was extremely good advice.

It is fascinating how those of us that are a bit more at ease with the game all have our differing starting methods for hard/leg etc. I really liked yours.

Thanks. Obviously production is when you physically produce the games. I was so wrong. Lol. Thanks for correcting. :)

[bigcat]

The game rewards aggression. On hard, I had 4 million dollars and was releasing B level games that sold 3/4 of a million each. A bunch of new tech popped up while making my last game. I researched it all and A level games. Made the new A level game for 3 platforms and advertised like crazy including on TV. Took every penny I had. Sold 8 million copies, now have 35 million in the bank. First with tech, first with ground breaking games and you can make enough cash to found Steam.

[NeonHaggis]

At this point the 'engine' dynamic is way over-powered in that in the first few years I can't make a game that sells many copies but somehow an 'engine' I make can create multi best seller titles for others.

There really needs to be some limit or stat that impacts the quality of an engine, or perhaps the need for a seperate dev area just for engines. It's a great mechanic but is pretty much a win button at present.

[bigcat]

Now granted on Easy, I did a first test with no tech research and no engine of my own, but by 1983 I had the top 3 games with the top two still selling well and a bit over and a bit under 2.5 million respectively. The next highest that wasn't mine was about 400,000. So on easy you can dominate early with no engine and only releasing game.