Suggestions

[Notsurprised]

Hello there! First of all I'd like to praise the developer for making such a great game, its refreshing, original and specially wonderful to see how you brought a type of game concept only seen on the late 90's when there were tons of tycoon games on web browser sites, I remember playing games like this and they were complex, you have done an excellent job bringing that experience from old web games like car company tycoons and other game I can't remember their names.

That said I come up with a few suggestions that I believe could improve the gameplay and immersion, mind you that I did not play the open beta versions so some of my suggestions may or may not be already implemented in the game.


Improve Visual Interface and Market Feedback

Make the interface more informative. Let us see how well a product is selling in each country and why it’s performing the way it is. Are we not selling more because of price, specs, or a better competitor offer? Display how many units we are selling versus how many we could be selling at the current price, what's the sale potential?
Additionally, countries with similar wealth levels (e.g., rich vs. rich) often show drastically different results, even when consumer types are similar. This information alone isn't enough to explain the differences in performance, again, maybe the competitor has better prices or our specs aren't comporting demand as theirs, or the balance between price and spec is worse than theirs. Greater clarity on what's influencing these outcomes would allow for better decisions and more strategic gameplay.

Pricing and Product Positioning

When developing a product, the only pricing guidance we get is the average budget. But this doesn’t help in many real scenarios.
What happens when our product is the only one in that market? What’s the correlation between price and number of purchases? If I create a product that's far superior to the competition, how much more can I charge and for how long, as others catch up?
If I develop both a standard and a deluxe version of a motherboard, how do I price each effectively? We need tools or feedback systems that help us understand this relationship so we can act accordingly.

Component Specialization and Cross-Manufacturer Builds

In real life, companies build PCs using parts from other manufacturers. If the game allowed this, it would fundamentally change the balance but open up huge opportunities.
Players could specialize in one component and become a global leader in it, forcing competitors to either pay a premium or invest heavily over time to break the monopoly. The AI could even follow this logic, creating a dynamic ecosystem of specialized companies.

Dynamic Competitor Ecosystem

Historically, companies go bankrupt and new ones emerge. The game could reflect this by introducing new companies during the campaign, especially when others go under. These newcomers could start small, perhaps backed by a technological breakthrough, or they could focus on a specific part like a GPU or CPU, adding variety and life to the game world.

Skill Selection System

Please let us select our starting skills. Currently, we have to roll repeatedly (sometimes 20+ times) just to get a desirable setup. If the goal is to prevent min/maxing, that’s understandable but a point buy system with caps would be much more player friendly while still balanced.
For example, you could set a maximum of 30 points per attribute at level 1. Another option could be allowing 1 or 2 skills to be capped at 70, or if one skill exceeds that value, the remaining ones are capped at 20 or 10 or something like that. If done right these systems would preserve balance while respecting player agency and avoiding frustration.

More Customizable Part Development

While fans already exist as part of the CPU development process, and mouse/keyboard are available as fixed additional options, they can’t currently be developed as standalone parts like CPUs or motherboards. Allowing us to design peripherals such as mice, keyboards, and other extras would add depth for companies looking to specialize in accessories.
Additionally, consider the idea of chassis development not as a requirement, but as an optional mid/late game feature. Real world PC cases vary greatly in size and design, and letting players create their own could add both gameplay variety and aesthetic identity for high end builds.

Rework LP System

Instead of LP (Local Popularity) simply opening markets, it could offer bonus percentage sales, fanbase growth, or more detailed market information, such as the data requested in points 1 and 2. The more LP you have in a country, the more insight you should gain into its consumer behavior and product expectations.

Reverse Engineering Mechanic

Reverse engineering played a big role in real tech history especially in markets like Japan. Any company could attempt it, but with the risk of lawsuits or fines. Alternatively, reverse engineering could be used to gain research points on a specific part category, accelerating innovation in exchange for risk or reputation cost.

All in all I like the way the game is developing, I hope that there are more developers like you, more games like this start to be developed. This is a true game, thank you!

[Progorion]

Hey friend!

Thank you very much for the suggestions, also I'm happy that you like the game! ^^

Indeed a few things are already (or at least partly) in the new version, check it out - because it has around 2 years of extra stuff in it. (I'd like to release the game out from early access with a big leap forward to make it fresh and interesting to older players as well). Things like the new LP system or blueprint/tech trade are like these. But the beta also has 2 new screens where you can compare things regarding sales figures and products. (one screen where you design your computer and one at a country/market level).

The "what sort of information" or feedback I give about potential sales is a tricky one. There is a super complex algorithm behind all the sales that I have to run to give good predictions - and that could be an issue if I wanted to give a really deep analysis of market situations per product. But I definitely tried to give a bit more information in that regard already.

Also, it is kind of a game philosophy of mine. I know that some players would like stuff to be given to them instead of themselves researching/finding out how things work. What I mean is that to me, it is part of the fun to analyze things from the results instead of somebody else (or the game) telling me exactly what to do and why. I game doesn't have to be like a real life activity, of course - but that thing to me is interesting and a challenge - instead of a burden. Could I make more money with another price point? I will change it or release my next computer on another price point. Could I sell more computers? Well, then let's see how many my opponents can sell here compared to me. Etc. etc. Of course, it is super complex, but to me that is fun.
Also, sometimes there are simply no clear answers. I mean, it is not like you have one problem and if you fix it, then you have 80% more sales. It is more like there are 12 things where you can do 4 different strategies in different combinations that lead to different outcomes. Even visualizing this is a huge challenge. Please check out the beta really to see how well I've done there - it would mean a lot if you could give feedback on it!

Also, if you can, please leave a review - it helps a lot with the poor visibility my game gets on steam!