Future Update Suggestions: Multiplayer and Mobile Version

[jm764]

I think this game has the potential to be put in the top ten greatest tycoon games made so far, and I've already talked to much on this fourm so I'll keep this short and say thank you for making this game, it's hit my Tech history and Hardcore Tycoon desires dead on and with a few tweak and optimizations will be a game anyone will be able to enjoy one day. ^_^

So I suggest 2 things down the road should you ever consider it.

Multiplayer-
This type of game woukd benifit greatly from multiplayer as it takes place on a huge map and had plenty of features and time scale to match it.
I do think mutiplayer savegame will be needed if you plan to play more than 10 game years in one sitting, but I can easily imagine 4 - 8 people in a session trying to race and defend their spot at the top PC manufacturing company.

Mobile (Android/iOS) Version-
I honestly don't see why this game wouldn't work on a tablet atleast (phone screens are probably too small for all these menus) with a full 2d interface instead of the 2d/3d mix the pc version has.
Console would be do-able but I don't think a controller woukd suit this interface too well (though games like simcity, railroad tycoon 2, and even roller coaster tycoon 1 were on consoles back in the day and some even superior to the pc version).

I don't expect things like this for awhile (mid 2018 for multiplayer and late 2018 for mobile are my guesses if you started on it now) but should the game be as sucess full as I'm guessing then I say go for it.

But here's hoping for the next update and full release when they're done! ;P

[jm764]

Originally posted by Obiwan:

with respect when you say "top 10 tycoon games" then suggest it can be ported to mobile ... you defile the accolade you are crediting here.

I am on the fence big time and hyperbole like this ends up completely having the opposite effect because on one hand it sounds like my fellow entrepeneurs are REALLY enjoying the game and give it high praise.

BUT! On the other it raises a huge question mark as to just how much I can take you seriously as a lover of tycoon games when you suggest that ANY of the greatest tycoons could find itself on an android.

mid 2018 for multiplayer ... do you mind me questioning exactly how much development experience you have to be coming up with these numbers?

Edit; Despite the question it is not loaded and I am being 100% sincere ... I see you are a newbie dev but what have you actually brought to market that as a solo effort these are your projections?

Ok. Let me explain myself in detail then.

with respect when you say "top 10 tycoon games" then suggest it can be ported to mobile ... you defile the accolade you are crediting here.

I am on the fence big time and hyperbole like this ends up completely having the opposite effect because on one hand it sounds like my fellow entrepeneurs are REALLY enjoying the game and give it high praise.

BUT! On the other it raises a huge question mark as to just how much I can take you seriously as a lover of tycoon games when you suggest that ANY of the greatest tycoons could find itself on an android.

There's a reason I still said it "could" be ported to mobile instead of "should".
While many PC games of this "tycoon" genre are also great candidates for being ported to mobile as well and some even have, most of know what happens when they do.

I won't go into detail but for those who don't know why, just look at Transport Tycoon Deluxe (1994) and Roller Coaster Tycoon (1999) then compare their "mobile" counter parts. The same game in name. But diffrent playstyles and ui.
Most ports are handled by diffrent companies and dev teams even if the publisher is the same, also most of thede games gave been around for 10+ years so the mobile versions usually try to "steamline" things for new users or add features from other newier games which not only changes the original idea in most cases but the quality as well.

CT (I will address this game as such from now on) is a game still in development and since the developer is a single person, he has full control over what I'd and isn't done in the ports, which not only keeps consistency between the versions, but posibility even the compatibility of updates and features as well.

The mobile "port" I am suggesting would be a "direct" port. The only change needed would be touchscreen controls and a simpler graphics style to replace the 3d style used for the map and base menu to reduce the requirements needed. Since CT dosen't depend on moving objects or 3d layouts for its core gameplay, all 2d menus and displays won't affect the core gameplay at all.

As far as my love of "tycoon" games go... the 2nd PC video game I ever owned was Chris Sawyer's Locomotion and the 1st was Sim City 3000.
Simulation and Tycoon games are my core game picks for PC gaming. I have spent 20k+ hours in SC3K alone, and we'll over 8k in CSL... I've gone back and played almost every tycoon game from TTD (1994) up to game dev tycoon (2013) when I got into more general and mmo gaming more.
I won't list all the ones I've played here, but look at my profile and you'll see majority of the games I own aND play are tycoon or sim based. I even still own all the disk for them and more to this day. I even have a whole channel on youtube where I just play those games alone.

mid 2018 for multiplayer ... do you mind me questioning exactly how much development experience you have to be coming up with these numbers?

I am a noob game dev. I won't lie and say that I can accurately guage development time for any game or feature. My really honest guess for multiplayer would be mid 2019 if I truly think he'll add it and that assumes the game is 100% ready and launched by the start of 2018.
While my own multiplayer coding skills are severely lacking, if I am to assume that the dev has "decent" skills them having multiplayer for a game like this by 2018 is feasible as long as the base operations for the game can be altered to be streamed over the net and sync properly enough. This was a huge flaw with CSL's multiplayer back in the day, but in this day in age as long as the code is done right and the connection then multiplayer is possible for any game really. Nessacary no, but nice to have.

Could I be wrong about all this. Yes.
But judging how the dev has handled even these first 3 days soo well compared to what I've seen entire teams do in years, I say he has a chance to brink back the "real" tycoon days of the late 90's and early 2000's when these games were just deap enough to have massive replayablility but still cater to the general masses to let any one pick it up for the first time.

Probably too much optimizing really but that's how I role when these kind of games come along. :)

(Typed this on my ohone, probably typos but out of the house so I dont havr the time to proofread this for now.)

[KG79]

I'm also interessted in playing it on a tablet. I still prefer the gameplay on the desktop, but sometimes I like just to lie in bed and play something for a while. So I tried it on the Surface Pro without any input device attached and started it from Steam with max settings, which is of course pretty silly, especially because I already was on low battery. So I'm sure the APU was throtteling, but it was playable. And even that it's not done for touch input it worked, including two fingers zoom. Some polishing on this in a later stage of development and it will at least run well on x86 devices. Okay, Atoms could struggle, but as you said: leaving the 3D stuff out and replacing it with 2D in a tablet mode would not be a big deal. I don't really know how difficult it would be to port it to ARM architectures, I don't even know if there is a port of Unity for it, but this would be the next logical step.

[Progorion]

Hi guys,

I don't really have the time to explain in detail, but the deleted comment of Obiwan is very true.
let me give you a comparison. I have some kind of inspiration from the game called "The Corporate Machine". This game has a similar aspect. It has a world map (although only a simplified Risk-like map) also the product/research/marketing is really simplified there.

This game was made by a studio in 2003. Although the dev tools are much better today - that's unquestionable - this game was made by around 10-20 people in full-time dev for years. And it is FULL of bugs, nearly unplayable, 9 games crash out from 10 today.

This game is 10 USD now on steam, but when it was released it was between 30-40 USD.

I think this gives you an idea about the size of the scope that I managed so far, and that I'd like to achieve. I still didn't mention the historical mode.

Unfortunately, I have all of my savings in the game already, and the sale numbers are _really bad_. By continuing the development for 4-5 months now on as I promised I will sacrifice everything that I have. I just can't promise you such an extreme updates.

Also, the porting. - No way. I cannot support that, neither I have a market there. Trust me, likely I have a much better view about this. This "just change the GUI to 2D" stuff would be an extreme amount of work and money again, without any real chance to get it back - again, I have a huge chance to be financially unsuccessful even with the Desktop version where I saw the opportunity.

I hope you understand! :) I wish I could do these!

[jm764]

Originally posted by Progorion:

Hi guys,

I don't really have the time to explain in detail, but the deleted comment of Obiwan is very true.
let me give you a comparison. I have some kind of inspiration from the game called "The Corporate Machine". This game has a similar aspect. It has a world map (although only a simplified Risk-like map) also the product/research/marketing is really simplified there.

This game was made by a studio in 2003. Although the dev tools are much better today - that's unquestionable - this game was made by around 10-20 people in full-time dev for years. And it is FULL of bugs, nearly unplayable, 9 games crash out from 10 today.

This game is 10 USD now on steam, but when it was released it was between 30-40 USD.

I think this gives you an idea about the size of the scope that I managed so far, and that I'd like to achieve. I still didn't mention the historical mode.

Unfortunately, I have all of my savings in the game already, and the sale numbers are _really bad_. By continuing the development for 4-5 months now on as I promised I will sacrifice everything that I have. I just can't promise you such an extreme updates.

Also, the porting. - No way. I cannot support that, neither I have a market there. Trust me, likely I have a much better view about this. This "just change the GUI to 2D" stuff would be an extreme amount of work and money again, without any real chance to get it back - again, I have a huge chance to be financially unsuccessful even with the Desktop version where I saw the opportunity.

I hope you understand! :) I wish I could do these!

Ah I remember CM, I actualyl liked it a bit dispite all the bugs, and I have the steam version as well.

Yeah the biggest factor from the reviews so far is the ballancing is too easy and short right now. I thinkg reducing the cost and prices of things by 10 times and demand by 100 times would fix it. the pc in the begining IRL sold for about $250 for the Atari 8008 like models for example.

aside from that the base is definetly there. Hoppefully you'll get the funding to continue this interesting and well developed game. ^_^