Initial Thoughts

[Mongoose]

First off, I've really been enjoying the game. I bought it ages ago, but have only really been playing recently.

So far I've started a few games on Easy and Medium, since I tend to struggle with these management games until I learn the ebb and flow.

Generally speaking, this game has been pretty straightforward. You're either making money or you're not, so as long as you're making money you can pretty much just coast along until your profits start slipping.

On medium sometimes having eight opponents can be rough, just because someone can try competing with you in your opening market and that can just wreck the early profits you need to churn out proper lines and expand.

Other than that though, once you're making a profit, I find the computer doesn't even try to keep up with you in R&D By 1980, a basic line of mid-tier components I roll out will be #1 in every category. The AI upgrades so slowly, often I can put out a computer and have steady sales for years without having to put out a new line. By the 90s, there's whole generations of technologies I never end up touching, going straight from cartridges to floppies to DVD-Rs

Then there's just the whole marketing aspect. Basically, I just put out a computer that's better than my competitors, sell it for 8k and keep selling it until the daily profit starts dipping, then I make a new one. Generally, even if I want to lower the price, doing so just lowers my profits without increasing sales. Computer sales don't seem to taper off or fade. They just are until they aren't. You're making money until you're not. It's all getting swallowed in the production and marketing costs.

So then there's self-competition. Or rather, putting out different computer lines. In the real world, this was a thing. Maybe not in the 70's home computer market, but computer makers from the 80's on always had a range of computers. Offices wanted different things than soccer moms and gamers, and it was completely likely to see a basic computer next to one with all the bells, whistles and peripherals.

Here, if you try to sell two different types of home computers, you'll just lose money. Even if they're completely different. But you can sell the exact same specs as a Personal Computer for the same 8k price and they'll both sell like hotcakes.

So, just make the best computers, sell them for 8k, and keep doing that because it works and not doing that doesn't work nearly as well. I really don't like this, since I love having multiple CPUs based on the same architecture, so I can sell high end workstations and affordable home PCs, and to have versions with cartridge slots or zip drives.
But no, you make one line, you sell it until the profits dip, and then you move on.


Anyways, all told I've been enjoying the game a great deal, there were just those few issues that had been bothering me. I'm glad to see the game is doing well though, and I'm looking forward to the next one!

[Progorion]

Hi mate,

Thank you very much for your insights and feedback, it really helps me! As a solo developer, I need as many of these as possible!

Please try a Hard game and share your thoughts on that as well (And even a Very Hard one if you have the time).

It is very hard to manage the different difficulty levels as the audience of the game is really wide. Some people don't have a clue what they are supposed to do and struggle on the Beginner difficulty level a LOT even after completing the tutorial. You say that usually you need some time to get good at management games -> which implies that you play management games. While others start playing Computer Tycoon with only Game Dev Tycoon under their belt (which game I love) that is a really streamlined, simple, casual game where you mostly have to focus on a single thing at a time on a very simple and easy to read UI - so when these kids start playing CT, it is just overwhelming.

So, on the Beginner level, I really tried to push the bar as low as possible, and even the Normal mode is just very easy for somebody who has any affinity to play strategy games. Meaning that the opponents are very slow and not really resilient. But I had to make it like that otherwise the majority of people were complaining that the game is just unbearably and unfairly hard.

Another aspect that is hard to handle for me, is how fast the game should progress. I mean how many seconds a day should be? As I realized that those players who play on the first two speed levels mostly are way better than those who play on the last one, simply because they have way better and tighter control over what is happening.

About these, I'm still unsure where the optimal settings are. If you can share any thoughts about them, I'd be very thankful as it helps me to understand the players' experience.

Now of course, the game's balance even if these circumstances weren't there is hard to set, and I'm 100% sure that things could be better than they are now. It is pretty clear after knowing how much has changed in that regard since the first version.

But in general, I modify these things after just months, partly to give some time to the community to feel the current version and give me feedback, partly because I'm still adding new features to the game.

The next thing will let you trade technology. Now, I'm sure I don't have to go into detail, you understand that it will greatly affect how fast the AI is progressing. In fact, it will be just yet another variable that will make it hard to balance the game haha - but still, it will just add so much to the whole experience, that it should be there.

"Here, if you try to sell two different types of home computers, you'll just lose money. Even if they're completely different. But you can sell the exact same specs as a Personal Computer for the same 8k price and they'll both sell like hotcakes."

This is a phenomenon that is known in the community, and I'm always trying to adjust and find a better way how I should handle it. There are a lot of details here, and things I have to consider - and I already tried many different models.

I agree with your feeling about all of this. I'm just not sure where and what I should sacrifice.

But it is not like a bug or something, it has its very own logic/model behind it. When you lead the market (and according to your experience against playing the Beginner and Normal opponents you do lead the market), you are kinda "alone" on the market, as your computers are just way better than anything else. Now when this is the case, the house mom, kid and office worker need a computer - so very likely they have bought a computer from you. When you offer one to this group and then another one for that group, you are ultimately just splitting your user base. You won't have suddenly a new group/more people buying computers (at least not a LOT), so now you have all the overhead costs of having two computer models, but not more customers -> making it hard to make it profitable.

In the game, we do have different user groups and they do have different properties/preferences. We even have different economic levels and country preferences. So it is not like you cannot have multiple computer models out there, but those models have to differ a LOT - which is not really possible until you reach a later stage in the game. Simply because the system is built on percentage differences. When you have a computer and one of them has 1000 preference points and the other one has 1200 preference points, it is just a 20% difference. For sure, those people who are very interested in performance will favor the second model, but there are a lot of other aspects, and still, it might be not big enough of a difference to really increase the size of that group who actually wanna buy your computers -> BY making those people interested who were until now not interested in your computers.

On the other hand, you are right that when you just make the PC, suddenly you can have nearly 2 times more sales.

It was decided that the 4 main computer design types should have fundamentally different audiences. That's why you can suddenly do that! I know that with laptops and portable computers, it feels to make more sense than with Home Computers and Personal Computers - but as I said, all the variations were tried before (even models where we had overlaps between the audiences of these), and this one just seems to resonate with the community better.

Earlier it was made so that having multiple computers of the same design type was pretty profitable even in the early game - even when you led the market. But then people hated to create so many different computer models again and again.

Now, when your opponents are on pair with you, it still might be better to create more computers from the same design type as then you are stealing potential customers from your opponents, and you aren't just simply splitting your own customers into smaller groups.

That's why in a nutshell this current model might be the best - at least until now I and the hardcore players feel like that.



I just hope that you keep commenting and giving feedback and you will still have a lot of fun with the game! As a solo dev, it is a very ambitious project, but I'm trying to do my best and be as transparent about my challenges as it is possible. Please let me know your thoughts!

Also please, consider leaving a review, as it greatly helps with visibility on the algorithm-driven steam store - it is a big deal to me.

[Progorion]

oh, and I love your avatar master! :))