Best strategy for playing founder only?

[EssBee]

As per the title, what would you suggest is the best way to play alone and still have some sort of management factor and still find the game enjoyable?
I used to love this game throughout Alpha 9 and Alpha 10, but with Alpha 11 it seems to have lost a lot of it's fun.

I got tired of employees 'cos all they do is moan and ask for payrises constantly. They're just a PITA to be honest.
I tried doing 2D editors and anitvirus releases on my own but they take so long to make and never really sell.
I've now kinda stuck to just doing contracts as trying to take on profitable subsidiaries has gone massively downhill since A10 too, with none of them ever able to turn a profit for very long and constantly need bailing out.
I also tried just doing production lines, but that gets kinda boring really. Once it's set up there's nothing left to do. Besides, all I get is basic print jobs from customers which never turn a decent profit, and nothing interesting like OS or hardware production.

I dunno, I just kinda want to find something with some sort of management aspect to it and have some of the fun from A9 and A 10 back, but it doesn't seem to be possible with A11. It's just not enjoyable to spend 50yrs doing contracts, and you have to have an entire whining team behind you to really turn a profit and release anything in under 3 years or more. Even if you do, the reviews are ****.

I dunno what to try now. I desperately want to get back in to this game but it just doesn't really entertain me anymore with A11 which is sad because this is still probably the best game of it's type out there.
So, if anyone has any ideas on something interesting to try where I can roleplay as an actual manager beyond just setting something up and leaving it to run, then it'd be great to hear from you.

[Project Thylacine]

If you pay attention to team compatability, you can work your employees 10 hour shifts with no paid vacations or food, benefits, etc. and they won't complain.

Good leaders also reduce stress and improve productivity, via socializing and meetings

It's really not hard.

[EssBee]

Even with good compatibility I've never even come close to being able to do 10 hr days or no hols. They kick off bigtime!
8 hours is about the most I seem to manage before they all just fall asleep at their desks or leave early.

That kinda thing might work with mods, but I've never seen it in vanilla.

[EssBee]

I tell a lie. I have managed 10 hour days.. kinda. Well, they're supposed to do 10 hours but usually nod off by about 8 or 9 hours, or they just get up and leave early.
(I'd be fired on the spot of I attempted to do that!) ;D
However, they still constantly ask for payrises which annoys the hell out of me after a few in-game years. They get free meals, training, holidays, Christmas bonuses etc etc... stop asking for payrises we can't afford!

Funny enough, having started yet another new game I also now seem to be able to get manufacturing contracts and/or manufacturing as part of the development process.
Strange thing is, I've had three other new game starts all on A11 and none of the others offer any sort of manufacturing. It's purely print jobs only.
Dunno, something kinda odd going on here.
Running no mods, purely on vanilla game only, and all game files verify ok too. So dunno what's going on there.
Ah well, I'll plod on with this new save and see what happens.

[Project Thylacine]

Do you have an espresso machine available for everyone?
Meetings regularly? Are you hiring low-stress employees?
Are you giving teams more than 1 project at a time? The 'effective' load they have counts as triple each additional project. So someone at max stress will be totally in meltdown even with 4-hour days a 2 projects. While a minimum-stress will be able to work 9 to 10 hours (12 with meetings) with a single project, or 8 hours with 3 or sometimes 4.
Also if they have to walk far to get to stuff, IE their computer, meeting rooms, lounge, breakroom, bathroom, etc. this will eat into productivity.

IMHO you are probably doing what I always do wrong when I get excited or greedy and start taking mass contracts or making too many softwares at once, and/or expanding rapidly and hiring a lot of high-stress or incompatible workers.

Also, improving the 3 environment variables is VERY important! Skill, Effectiveness, and Mood. THey should max at 10%, 25%, and 25%. However sometimes I get a 30% on effectiveness and don't know why- possibly the leader/manager?
Better mood = longer hours, less stress/complaints

Also, benefits reduce stress and complaints, as well as reduce/stop salary raises. The best investments are severence pay, health, and life insurance as they don't cost you anything upfront and rarely ever get triggered.

Night shift are ALWAYS grumpy, but you can reduce 90% of this by giving them a +50% pay bonus for night shifts. This is expensive, tho, and likely not worth it.



As for the manu/print/etc jobs, that's not a bug, that's definitely just not having played enough. The deals and contracts are both totally RNG, so if you haven't seen something, it's merely due to lack of experience. The bigger, better ones mostly show up once you have 4+ stars in your reputation.


Also, are you on A11 or an earlier version?
Training doesn't count as a vacation or even reduce stress: If they go into vaycay with high stress, it counts as stuck that way the whole time, contributing to their complaints. Then once they get back, they politely come back to their desk and go postal over their traumatic school experience.


AND good that you're not using mods. They can make the game far more interesting and complex, but almost ALWAYS make the game harder, and frequently break the balance outright. Many, such as any that let you begin before 1980, are unplayably breaking- There's NO software demand before 1980 so that's a suicide game.

[Project Thylacine]

One thing I will say that IS totally broken tho:

Research

The AI will completely buttcram you. They can be 2 years behind and suddenly right before you patent, bam. They instantly have 4 new years of tech, completed in under a second. WTF
It shows they have, say, a year left, right? THen instantly they have it, and possibly multiple later years.

[EssBee]

Heya. Well, lots to try and address there.

I'm currently running A11, but still have some old saves from A10 in case I ever want to roll back and play those again.
All A9 stuff is now gone.

I did have one mod from back in the A9/A10 days which I tried but never really used much, Expedia mod I think it was called. I haven't used it on A11 at all though.

I think the biggest team I've had recently is 3 designers, 5 programmers, and 3/5 artists. Maybe 2 or 3 marketers/service with that too. Can't really remember now as I've deleted that game and started a new one since.
Like I say, I don't like big teams. I don't trust the AI to do HR, so I tend to keep things small and easy to work with.
I always make sure the employees have nice rooms with plants etc beside their desks, and always make sure they're away from noise wherever possible. I tend build offices side by side along a long thin corridor so as it cuts out noise but they're still as close as possible to canteens, toilets, meeting rooms etc, just across the corridor from them. Its acts as a sound barrier but still enables them to walk a few paces to get to where they need to be.
I always put the founder right next to all the noisy stuff as it doesn't phase them in the slightest.
I always have cleaners and IT people on hire every night too so as everything is top notch for the employees when they come in to work in the morning.

I tend to try and keep them to one project only whenever possible to avoid overworking them.
I'm also careful with compatibility, never going any lower than 'good' but generally always trying to get 'excellent', or 'great' at the very least.
I also don't mix teams as I know that's another thing that stresses them out.

In the game I've just started I have all stars completed bar one, just by doing contracts for the first two years all alone in a garage.
I've maxed out the stars in other playthough's on A11 and still never seen the hardware manufacturing pop up, so that RND thing is serious RND... like almost non existent. This is the first time I've seen it in all the time A11 has been out.
I first spotted it tonight when I was thinking about making a really basic console OS (I always start in 1980). I did it just to try it but that OS only had about 40 active users at max. Once I found out how much it cost to set up the production chain I soon deleted that trial run and went back to where I was with my 200k from 2 yrs of doing contracts all alone.

As for the research, yeah I figured that was broken after my last playthough where I ended up ditching all of my subsidiaries as they all kept losing money hand over fist shortly after I took them over, and then hired a 3star law guy to help me with patents and research. I got a few patents (not that they're really worth much 'cos you lose them again after a few years or something), but every time we tried to do research we'd almost get there and then the AI would come from nowhere and beat us to it. I even hired a mass of employees as a test on that one with something like 8 designers, 15-20 programmers, and 8 artists. The AI just blitzed us from nowhere. Another game I rolled back to a save I made before trying stuff out.
Never needed to keep rolling back so much with A10. It all just seemed to work better... apart from the AI messing up marketing costs or something similar with regard to stocks and shares and subsidiaries. I popped a save over to Kenneth to look at and he then rectified that issue in an update soon after.

But I dunno. A11 has a lot more features but it just doesn't seem quite as much fun somehow.
I think one of my biggest issues is the employees and all their gripes. They've always been kinda moany, but I dunno, it seems to be worse somehow now. Either that or maybe I'm just getting tired of it after so long. :D
People asking for stupid sized payrises two months after hiring them. Like, seriously?! I'll fire your *** for being so damn cheeky! Damn, imagine doing that in rl and the **** you'd get for it! :D
When we make a tidy profit then everyone will get bonuses and rises etc.. but until then just get on with your work and stop complaining!
If you don't like it there's the door! Good riddance. :D

[Project Thylacine]

So it sounds like your room management is good. Remember that heaters and ACs make noise too! I kept screwing up by sticking ACs behind people's desks because I prefer minimally-sized, but maximum-packed offices.

I stick to strictly 'Amazing' or 'Great' compatability. Anyone with less than 200% compatability on a team gets moved or fired. No exceptions. 300% is my goal if possible.

Also, ALWAYS give team leaders their own private office. They get a ridiculous productivity and mood boost, and if they can do meetings, they will sort of 'gift' some of this to their underlings giving them a productivity boost for the rest of the day (or until next meeting). The meeting also restores mood, social, reduces stress, and increases energy slightly. Don't underestimate good leaders!

Also, the deals are dependant on your team and company sizes. So if you're solo after 2 years, that's why. XD

As for asking for a raise in the first two weeks... me and my roomy both did that last year. I got mine, he got a 5% share in the company. XD If you can't negotiate your benefits with your boss, then you aren't an employee. You're a peon! Welcome to the hell of capitalist bureaucratic employment. This simulator is pretty realistic about that. XD


Also, if you just don't want to deal with pay raises, set an automatic yearly one in the benefits menu. I usually set it to $48 and they rarely ask for a raise unless i've been cranking out the jobs or using crunch.

[LatN's Strategy]

LatN's ♞Strategy;
Contracts to increase business reputation so you get better deals, the higher the better.
Four iterations on your own design and two more in dev. You need a 9.8% or better for outstanding. Try these simple plays and see how your world changes for the better!

[LatN's Strategy]

LatN's ♞Strategy;
Have your leader hire the teams, always making sure you selected what you want in team management and set a budget that is reasonable. When I do this I get 300% or more incompatibility and that is better than when I select the teams. Need a new team move him over as the model in your new team setup and let him select the team then all you need to do is hire a leader that is great/amazing Compatability.

[EssBee]

Sorry for the delay in replying. Been offline for a couple of days.
Thanks for the replies though.

Most of the suggestions are things I do anyway, but I've never really trusted the AI to run my company and I've seen how utterly useless they can be when I've had subsidiaries.
They can be successful before I take them over then soon after I do they seem to forget how to manage their cashflow and I end up throwing money at them constantly to bail them out or just winding them up completely.

But, If you guys both agree that the AI CAN look after your company and not send you crashing though the floor financially or due to dire worker morale, then I may have to give it a go.

All we gotta do then is fix the AI issues regarding Research, them stealing all of your shares in a company right at the death and leaving you out in the cold when that company should in fairness have been yours, and the AI forgetting how to operate once they become a subsidiary, then we should be good. :D

[EssBee]

Well, I tried hiring a top leader and letting them do HR, but I'm not convinced.
I still don't like the AI.
I also followed Latn's guide, and while the pennies were pouring in doing a couple of dev deals side by side, the HR side of things annoyed me instantly.

The first leader I hired started work in June of 1980, three months or so after I set up business.
By the time the year had ended he had asked me for a payrise three times!
Seriously?! Three times in six months?!
That's including following the advice you guys gave me.
He also kept complaining about noise. He had his own office with nothing but his own computer in it. Seriously dude, get a ******* grip!
I fired his ass and got someone else in.
This second guy too, although only a couple of months in hasn't yet asked for a rise, neither of the leaders are doing team talks. That's despite using the massive office mod that Latn suggested using in their guide which has meeting rooms available by default.

Oh, and the HR guys have left me with a team compatibility of only 140(ish) %.
So, so much for letting the AI do the dirty work for me. It's still as broken as ever it seems.

So, how can I now go about removing HR from that team. (I made another team purely for my founder as the last leader got stroppy about having two deals to do, so the founder was on both and put the core team on just one.)

If removing HR from a team isn't possible then I think I'll just ditch this save and carry on solo (or very small team only maybe) as the AI just can't be trusted to do anything right it seems.

[Project Thylacine]

If he's complaining, he's unhappy. Noise makes them unhappy. Any unhappy makes eventual raise requests. You MUST manage noise: Your source of problem is likely any kind of AC, vents, fans, etc: Contain those in cubicle walls to reduce noise. Max the room out completely! If there's no complaints, they won't ask for raises.

That compatability is WAAAAY too low for a stable team like that. You really need to only hire great or amazing compats.

Leaders only do meetings if they have 3 stars in socializing. They also need a meeting room equipped and designated meeting room, with enough seating. A nice room helps here, too- both mood and meeting quality (for a double mood bonus) and the skill/effectiveness mods do apply here to the leader giving the meeting.

To disable HR, just uncheck the options in the menu. Set education to 0, and disable wages and complaints. HR is now off. Not the clearest indicator, something the dev could improve with a clear toggle.


Really tho, it sounds like your rooms are very un-optimized and you're hiring good or normal compatability. My dudes have 300%+ except for my reject pile team. I'll link a pic

[Project Thylacine]

https://imgur.com/J0D1Fbm

Hope this link works

[Project Thylacine]

Le petit offic`e

https://imgur.com/GSlsNz1

If they complain about noise, just stick a wall between the desk and vents

[Project Thylacine]

And for the love of GOD do not put an AC in their office or anywhere near anyone, or behind less than 3 layers of friggin' walls. I'm serious. They scream like banshees.

Also don't put the offices next to a server room or a room with a boiler or especially roof AC in it. Elevators are also very loud.