A Little Guidance for your Big Ambitions

We've been playing Big Ambitions since the Early Alphas and wanted to make this Guide to help new players as the game opens up into Early Access!

This list will be edited as more FAQs come in, so if you have more questions, drop them in the comments and we'll add them in here!

These FAQs will give you basic guidelines on how things work, but not exact values. Some people want to know how to do things, but still want to figure things out on their own.

However, if you want exact values, click on the Google Doc, Cheat Sheet!

And make sure to join the Discord - a great place to ask questions or get more information!
https://discord.gg/hovgaardgames

Known Bugs

I decided to add this section to help with current bugs that have not been patched!

• I played during EA 0.1 and now my save doesn't work in EA 0.3?

  
  Follow these steps You can't go from EA 0.1 > EA 0.3, you need to upgrade it first to EA 0.2 to then go to EA 0.3. If you have a savegame from EA 0.2 you'll have no problem opening your savegame in EA 0.3.
  
  
  • Right-click on the game in Steam and click Properties.
    
  • Then go to Betas and click "EA 0.2 (Old Version)" from the dropdown.
    
  • Update Big Ambitions and launch EA 0.2.
    
  • Load your EA 0.1 and resave inside EA 0.2.
    
  • Exit Big Ambitions.
    
  • Right-click on the game in Steam and click Properties.
    
  • Then go to Betas and click "none" from the dropdown to return to EA 0.3
    
  • Launch Big Ambitions and click Load.
    
  • Refresh the saves and try to import your newly resaved game from EA 0.2.
  
  
  

• After the new update, my game keeps crashing any time it saves or autosaves

  We are looking into what caused this, but it seems that the game didn't update properly for a few people, which is causing this issue. Most people with this issue were able to uninstall/reinstall and then their saved games worked fine with no crashing!
  
  

• I stole the game and now it's not working anymore.

  Buy the game and it should work again.
  
  

• Every time I enter my home, it kicks me out

  This is usually because you left a handtruck right in the doorway, and now you cannot enter. If you just did this very recently, you can try to load your recovery saves (go to the main menu and click load, then turn on "recovery saves" and by default you should see 3 autosaves, each 5 minutes apart)
  
  If it's been too long, you can try to just be very quick - as soon as you enter the room, try to click that handtruck in the doorway. If you're able to click it before it kicks you out, you're saved (just move it out of the way after that).
  
  And if neither of those work, you might need to sell your apartment and get a new one. You will sell everything inside though, so that's the least ideal option. The devs are working on this issue.
  
  

• Desk won't recognize the chair I am placing

  Your desk is facing the wrong way. If you rotate the desk around, it should work.
  
  

• Why is there a massive queue in my fast food restaurant?

  There is a bug right now that causes fast food queues to get backed up and makes profits low if you're standing in the store watching them. To avoid this right now, it's best to either time-machine forward if you're on the register, or not be in the building if your employees are in there.
  
  

• I have fallen through the map!

  • If you're in a vehicle, open your contacts and call the Tow Truck.
    
  • If you're not in a vehicle, open Options > Others > "Unstuck".
  Then save and reload the game to make sure everything is good.
  

General Questions

• My game crashed and I forgot to save, did I lose all my progress?

  No, when you load up the game and are on the main menu, you'll see a button 'Load game'. Click on that and activate 'Show recover saves' in the top right corner. By default, this shows 3 recovery saves taken every 5 minutes of play time.
  
  

• What is the difference between difficulties in custom mode?

  Difficulty controls things like starting cash, tax rate, employee salary, cost of goods, and loan interest rates.
  
  

• How can I change the language of the game?

  Go to Options > Others there you will have the choice to select different languages.
  
  

• How can I turn off the objectives / Uncle Fred tutorial?

  If you start a new game in a "Custom Game Mode" instead of "Storymode" you will not have any tutorial or objectives.
  
  

• Why am I being charged negative interest?

  Every Monday, the bank charges you a fee for having your money stored there. This is to stimulate the economy by spending the money instead of hoarding it in your bank. The best way to avoid the fee (other than being broke) is to invest in Real Estate, bank Investments and your own businesses.
  
  

• What happens if I don't pay my taxes?

  Once you start making enough money, every 60 days (1 year, in game) you are given a tax bill. You have 20 days to pay it - and if you don't pay it within 20 days, the IRS will begin taking your stuff until they are paid back!
  
  

• How do I raise my happiness?

  Play video games, watch TV, go gambling, be profitable, fulfill Persona Goals, sleep on a bench in the park, rest on your boat. Each perk only lasts for a certain length of time, so you'll need to keep doing things to keep your happiness up.
  
  You will also lose happiness if you do things like sleep in your car.
  
  

• Where is the Casino?

  Go to Pier 4 on Fridays between 18:00 and 22:00 (6pm to 10pm). You can buy a ticket for $5.000 at the ticket boot behind the Bluestone Imports building at Pier 4. If you get there early, just wait by the booth for the Casino Boat to arrive!
  
  
  
  

• How can I get things delivered from the stores?

  Most of the special AI stores (Appliance Stores, Office Supply, Ika Bohag) have a person seated at a desk. If you speak to them, you can set up deliveries to any of your buildings. Once you have spoken to them the first time, their number will appear in your phone for future use.
  
  After placing an order for delivery, just wait for the specified delivery time. A pallet it will appear outside the business at the delivery time time containing all the boxes you ordered. Use a handtruck to quickly bring them all inside.

• How to purchase a building?

  Click on the building you want to buy, there will be a button called 'send building purchase offer' an estimated valuation will pop up. You can now make an offer on the building. MarketInsider will have a tab Real estate, where you can filter on 'Show only for sale', these buildings generally have a better negotiation range when sending a lower offer then market value.
  
  

• How to sell a purchased building?

  Go to Bizman > Select your real estate building > Click on the tab 'Real Estate Settings'. You will now see a section called 'Set for sale', you can see what price you bought the building for and what the current market price is. You can set a sales price and mark the building up for sale. This doesn't mean the building is sold immediately. If you take a price that is significantly above market value it might not be sold at all!
  
  

• How to increase rent revenue when you purchased a building?

  Go to Bizman > Select your real estate building > Click on the tab 'Real Estate Settings'. You will now see a section called 'Rent Management' you'll see your current rent price and the level of occupancy. If your occupancy is low a decrease in rent might get you more renters and create a larger revenue.
  
  

• How do I repair my vehicles?

  If it's a freight truck, the repair shop is behind the Truck store. But for everything else, you take them the repair shop next to either gas statoin in Hell's Kitchen or Murray Hill.
  
  

• Do you die of old age?

  You do get older, and there is something that happens at the end if you're rich enough, but I'll leave out details to avoid spoilers. But essentially if you cannot reach the final goals, you eventually will die of old age! :D
  
  

• My car is stuck and won't move!

  First check your car's health. If it's at 0% you need to fix your car. If it's not at 0%, then you could just call the tow truck since you're stuck.
  
  

• How do I fix my car?

  For normal vehicles you need to go to the repair shop next to either gas station (Murray Hill or Hell's Kitchen). If you are completely broken and cannot drive, call the tow truck from your contacts!
  
  

• How do I call a store from my phone?

  For most contacts, you must physically visit the location the first time and talk to the person. After that, they will appear in your phone. You can then click on "Contacts" and do business from wherever you are.
  
  

• Does the game have a roadmap?

  Yes!
  Big Ambitions Roadmap[www.bigambitionsgame.com]
  
  

• I don't want to drive myself around

  
  You can run up to and click on a taxi to ride to any building. You can also use the subway. It is also planned to add a chauffeur to Early Access 0.2.
  
  

• Where is ___ item?

  
  The F1 in-game help will identify which items go in which store, and where you can find them. Keep in mind that as the game is in Early Access, sometimes things get updated and the help files might not always be fully up-to-date!
  
  

• Where can my player find a job to start?

  The only current place to work (other than your own stores) is "El Gato" at 23 3rd St.
  
  

• How do I use Interior Designer

  Enter your building and click on the Interior Design button. You can right-click on furniture to change their color. Or you can select a wall or floor color and then click on the walls and floors to "paint" the new designs where you want them.
  
  

• Can I hire movers to get from one building to another?

  No, you cannot currently. You need to manually move everything over.
  
  

• When does the tutorial / story end?

  The storyline continues to the end, but after the tutorial section at the beginning, Uncle Fred stops controlling which things you make, and you're free to expand how you'd like!
  
  

• How do I buy a handtruck?

  You don't, just grab one from any retail store (they automatically regenerate after you leave the store). You can keep it in your vehicle for safe-keeping and use it whenever you want!
  
  

• My character won't move!

  Make sure the game is not paused. Press spacebar and try to move again!
  
  

• My net worth isn't showing the right amount!!

  Net worth does not include gambling money. Even if you use that money to buy a building, it still won't count toward your net worth.

General Businesses

• What businesses can I run?

  Retail:
  
  • Coffee Shop
    
  • Fast Food
    
  • Liquor Store
    
  • Supermarket
    
  • Jewelry Store
    
  • Florist
    
  • Gift Shop
    
  • Clothing Store
    
  • Fruit and Vegetable Store
    
  • Hairdresser
    
  • Nightclub
    
  • Electronics
    
  • Bookstore
  Offices:
  
  • Law Firm
    
  • Web Development Agency
    
  • Graphic Designer
  Miscellaneous:
  
  • Headquarter
    
  • Warehouse
  
  

• What is Traffic Index?

  That number represents the foot-traffic to the building and cannot currently be changed, so it’s important to select a building with a higher traffic – otherwise it will be difficult to get customers.
  
  A building with a traffic index around 40 or more is considered very good.
  
  

• What are "Building Limit" and "Current Capacity Per Hour"?

  Each building has a maximum number of customers it can handle per hour - that is the Building Limit, and you won't be able to exceed that. However, in order to reach that number, you need to make sure your store has enough equipment to handle that many customers. Each item you buy for the store has a customer capacity, so you might need more than one of each item to push your Current Capacity Per Hour up to your Building Limit.
  
  Example: Clothing Store in a building with 30 capacity
  
  • Each stack of Shopping Baskets can service 30 customers per hour, so you need 1.
    
  • Each Checkout counter can service 30 per hour, so you need 1.
    (The smaller cash register only services 20 per hour, so you would need 2 of those)
    
  • Each clothing rack can service 10 customers per hour, so you would need 3.
    Keep in mind, that each clothing rack can only hold one type of clothing, so if you want all 8 types of clothing, you would need 24 (8X3) clothing racks to hit the maximum customers.
  
  If any item does not reach your Building Limit, it will limit your entire store, so be sure to check out your Bizman >Insight page to make sure you're reaching that limit.
  
  

• How do I raise my Customer Service score?

  Your Customer Service score on the Bizman > Insight page is directly related to your Employee skill level. To increase that score, you must train your employees.
  
  Note, if you as the player are working the register, you have a customer service skill of 50% (you are not able to change this number).
  
  

• Can I change the sale prices of my goods/services?

  Open Bizman > Inventory & Pricing you can change prices for each individual item. Just keep an eye on your Insights page to make sure you don't set the price too high. If you do, the customer satisfaction pricing meter in the Bizman > Insight page will start to drop and you'll lose customers.
  
  

• How do I assign cleaners in my business?

  You will need to purchase a cleaning station from Square Appliance. After that put the station in your store, this will open up a specific 'Cleaning station' row on your Schedule. There you can drag your cleaners in and they will automatically keep your store clean.
  
  Note, you will not see these cleaners working, but they will keep the store clean. Your cleaners will probably only need to work a couple hours a day to keep the store clean. Just keep an eye on your Cleanliness meter in the Bizman > Insight page
  
  

• Why are my Employees resigning?

  Your employees each have demands that must be met, or they will lose satisfaction and eventually quit. Some of their demands are schedule-related, such as “Full Time” or “5-days a week”, and some demands are items they want, such as a sofa, coffee machine, or a specific desk to work at. Each demand has a rating of “high”, “medium” or “low” to indicate how important that demand is (and how much their satisfaction will change if you ignore or fulfill it).
  
  

• How do I get 100% marketing?

  The amount of marketing you’ll need depends on your building’s traffic. There are two Marketing Agencies (Mccain’s EMarketing & City Ads) you'll have to mix and match different options to hit 100% at each building.
  
  Also, if you use City Ads, you will begin to see your businesses ads on the billboards around the city!
  
  

• How do I cancel marketing?

  Go to your company's Bizman > Marketing page and click cancel.
  
  

• What is the difference between the Cheap Coffee Machine and the Industrial Coffee Machine?

  The industrial Machine is used to sell to customers at a Coffee Shop, the Cheap Machine is used to satisfy Office Employee Demands. You can get the Cheap machine from Mr. Scott's Office Supplies or Ika Bohag.
  
  
  

• What do the needs and demands of my employees mean?

  
  Each employee will have up to 3 demands. Meeting the demands will ensure the employee is satisfied. The higher the priority of the demand, the more impact it will have on the employee's satisfaction. There are different demands the employees can have:
  
  
  • Part-time: 10 - 30 hours / week
    
  • Full-time: 30 - 50 hours / week
    
  • Four days week: Assigned to work 4 days / week
    
  • Five days week: Assigned to work 5 days / week
    
  • No morning shifts: No shifts between 6:00 (6 AM) - 10:00 (10 AM)
    
  • No evening shifts: No shifts between 18:00 (6 PM) - 22:00 (10 PM)
    
  • No night shifts: No shifts between 22:00 (10 PM) - 04:00 (4 AM)
    
  • Free Weekends: No Saturdays/Sundays shifts
    
  • No cleaning shifts: No cleaning shifts assigned
    
  • Peaceful work environment: Owner has a happiness of 50%+
    
  • Clean work environment: Building with a cleanliness of 80%+
  
  

• How do I import custom logos?

  Click on your company's Bizman, then go to settings. On the right side, you can browse files to find your logo.
  
  Keep in mind, the logo must be a PNG in order to load.
  
  

• Why are my employees losing satisfaction while training?

  They don't actually lose satisfaction while training - they lose satisfaction as soon as training ends until you assigned them to train more or work at a station. So if training ends and you ignore them for a few hours, their satisfaction will go down during those few hours.
  
  

• How do I use mass employee actions?

  On the MyEmployee page, click the checkbox on the left of the employees you want to effect, then click the drop-down at the top of the page.
  
  

• How do you take over an AI run business?

  You click on the business and open Bizman, you'll then see a button called 'Send Business Overtake Offer'. When clicked on this you can make an offer to the owner, to take over their business. It will give you an estimated valuation of what the owner is expecting to get from his business, but you can negotiate!
  
  If the owner accepts your offer the business is yours! This will include, all it's employees, furniture and appliances! It's best to check up on the demands of the employees you take over though, there demands often aren't met completely!
  
  

• How is net worth calculated?

  Click on your Persona App and you will see your Total Net worth:
  It counts your money + assets but does not include any money or assets won through gambling.
  
  

• How do I make an investment?

  There are 3 investments at either bank. Some are "low risk" and should always give some small amount of money. But others are high risk and could potentially give a lot or could possibly lose some.
  
  Call or visit the bank to start an investment and then you can cash out at any time in your Econoview app.

Retail Stores

• Where do I recruit the Customer Service or Cleaning employees?

  You recruit them from Anderson Recruitment Corp. You will have to contact them to recruit one of the above mentioned job titles. They are located at 16 5th Avenue
  
  

• How do I raise my Business Interior score?

  Stand inside the building, and you will see what the customers are complaining about. They will request things things like:
  
  • Music (you can buy the speakers from Ika Bohag)
    
  • Employee Uniforms (you can set this in your Employee tab)
    
  • Upgraded Walls and Floors (Upgrade them from the Interior Design option in the store. Currently your new walls and floors must be worth at least $5.000 to make them stop complaining).
    
  • Somewhere to sit (Fast-Food or Coffee Shops only - you can buy a Booth from AJ Pederson and Son or Tables and Chairs from Ika Bohag)
  
  

• Why do they still hate it my walls and floors?

  You need to spend enough money to satisfy their hatred. It doesn't matter which items you buy
  Currently it's $5,000
  
  

• Can I sell different products in my store, other then the primary products linked to my specific business type?

  You can sell any retail product in any retail store. This means you can sell flowers in your gift store or even clothing. The difference is, that your sales of those secondary items will not be that much as your primary products of the business type you selected for your store. BUT they can be a nice side income for your business and a great opportunity to maximize sales and profit.
  
  

• Why are my customers walking out without paying?

  When you place a cash register or checkout counter, it automatically places a "queue line". To see and adjust this line, go to your store, open Interior Designer and click on the cash register.
  
  The issue typically is that you placed the cash register too close to the door and the queue line is going out the door. Either move the register or adjust the queue line as described above!
  
  

• What fridge do I need to store burgers?

  You don't. Currently you just store them in a box on a shelf.
  
  

• Do products expire?

  Currently they do not.
  
  

• Why does my income summary show the cost of inventory again when I already purchased it before? Am I paying for it twice?

  You aren’t paying for it again, but the cost must be considered in order to determine how much “profit” you made, which is why you see it listed in the breakdown.
  
  However, the amount of money you get at the end of the day is not the same as the listed “profit” since you already paid for the items, like you said. You actually receive the correct amount at midnight.

Offices, Headquarters, Warehouses

• How do I set up Wholesale deliveries?

  Go to the Wholesaler and talk to the person at the desk to set up a contract. You will need storage shelves at your store to do this.
  
  After setting up the contract, open your store's Bizman > Deliveries page to arrange the delivery
  
  

• Where do I recruit the Drivers, Logistic manager, Purchasing Agent, Lawyer and Web developer from?

  Drivers are hired the same way as Customer Service or Cleaners from Anderson Recruitment.
  But for the others, there's a second recruitment office in the city. Called City Workforce inc., you will have to contact them to recruit one of the above mentioned job titles. They are located at 2 1st Avenue
  
  

• Can I get cheaper prices, when buying at the importers instead of the wholesalers?

  Yes, you definitely can! It will be key to have a purchasing agent that is trained as high as possible. Because his level of skill will impact the prices he can negotiate. Meaning the higher skilled he is the lower prices he'll be able to get.
  
  

• What is Import Price Index?

  That shows the fluctuating cost of importing goods. That index number will change slightly each day, and will impact how much it costs to buy raw inventory. You will see these prices reflected in the prices of goods when you go to the wholesalers or when you import goods with your Purchasing Agent.
  
  Note: That's what it will do. Currently, this factor is not really implemented.
  
  

• How do I assign a delivery driver?

  First off you will need a warehouse. Purchase any vehicle and drive it to the vehicle slot in the warehouse, then assign the delivery driver to the driver slot of the vehicle in the warehouse's Bizman.
  
  Keep in mind, to drive certain vehicles, your drivers need to have a high enough skill level. For instance, they need at least 50% to drive the freight truck.
  
  

• How can I increase the number of delivery locations my Logistics Manager can deliver to?

  A couple factors increase your delivery locations.
  
  • Type of vehicle. A small vehicle can deliver fewer locations. The freight truck can deliver to the most locations (up to 4 locations each).
    
  • Logistics Manager skill level. The more you train your LM skill level, the more locations you can deliver to
    
    • If the Logistics Manager is under 25% skill, a freight truck will service 4 locations.
      
    • Under 50%, it can service 5 locations.
      
    • Under 75%, it can service 6 locations
      
    • Under 100%, it can service 7 locations
      
    • At 100%, it can service 8 locations.
  • And of course, if your warehouse has two vehicle slots, you can put two vehicles in there and double your locations.
  
  

• Why didn't my Purchasing Agent order the right stuff?

  First - make sure everything is set up properly. Hire the Purchasing Agent, seat them in your Headquarters, set up a contract with one of the importers along the pier, and place an order.
  
  When you place an order with your Purchasing Agent, you can either set it to be "one time" or to recur every day, 3 days, or 7 days.
  
  • If you set it to "one time", then the amount of inventory you selected will be the amount the Purchasing Agent orders. If you type in 1,000 paper bags, they will attempt to purchase 1,000 paper bags.
    
  • However, if you are doing a recurring delivery, that number becomes the inventory target. That means if you type 1,000 paper bags, but currently have 600 already in the warehouse, the Purchasing Agent will only attempt to buy 400 more so you have a total of 1,000.
  Now - the purchasing Agent also has a minimum purchase cost they have to hit for each order, or else they won't make the purchase. So if your agent wants to buy 400 paper bags, that won't cost enough money to hit the minimum purchase amount, so they won't place the order until that number is large enough to hit the minimum purchase amount.
  
  And finally - if your warehouse pallet shelves are full or you don't have enough money to pay for the delivery, the delivery will not complete. But if your delivery fails, at least you won't be charged for it!
  
  
  

• What's the difference between the small and larger warehouse?

  
  Besides the obvious size difference meaning you can fit more pallet shelves. You also have 2 slots for vehicles, meaning a bigger warehouse can deliver up to 16 businesses instead of only 8 for the smaller warehouses.

Cheat Sheet

This document contains several pages of "cheat sheets" if you want to look something up fast. Some people don't want all the exact answers, so the "FAQs" will give more general guidelines rather than specific numbers.

But if you want specific numbers, this is your guide. It includes things like:

• List of all Goods
  
• List of all Appliances & Furniture
  
• List of all Vehicles
  
• Marketing
  
• Store maker
  
• Office maker
  
• Warehouse builder
  
• List of all Buildings
  
• Building Filter

Click this link for the Cheat Sheet: Bigger Ambitions[BiggerAmbitions.com]

Launch Errors / Crashes / GPU Overheating

First of make sure you meet the minimum requirements!

Windows:
Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
OS: Windows 10
Processor: Intel i5 or similar
Memory: 8 GB RAM
Graphics: NVIDIA Geforce GTX 960 or similiar (Minimum 2GB vram)
Storage: 12 GB available space

MACOS:
Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
OS: macOS Catalina
Processor: Intel i5 or similar
Memory: 8 GB RAM
Graphics: NVIDIA Geforce GTX 960 or similiar (Minimum 2GB vram)
Storage: 12 GB available space
Additional Notes: Dedicated GPU is required

Known issues:

• #Once the game is installed and I press play, I get the following error:
  
  Solution: Move the game files to a different folder and start the game again.
  
  
• #The game crashes on me frequently and my GPU is having difficulties.
  Solution: If you don't set an FPS limit your GPU will keep pushing to max FPS. This can cause overheat issues especially if your cooling setup isn't the greatest. We advice you to limit your fps, go options > Graphics > FPS limit and choose '60 FPS'

---

[David Estes Creations]

@Myst Leissa - good point! I probably should do that soon!

@mandyb - you'll need a headquarters, and then you hire them from City Workforce!

[mandyb]

How do I hire human resources?

[Myst Leissa]

The First Parts of this guide are kinda outdated (e.g. Point and Click Movement); Maybe do a revision of the content at some point.

[David Estes Creations]

@Woman They do restock! But currently they don't do it until the shelf is completely empty (the red alert icons appear before it is fully empty)

[Woman]

Do customer service workers restock items? I have a coffee shop and I am always having to restock like once or twice a day. It's pretty annoying. Is there a way where we can have them restock when a item gets low? Or atleast be able to hire some to restock?

[Manuel Calavera]

Thanks for swift reply

[[OV]RPGforYOU]

@Manuel Calavera. It's a scale system, the more yellow employees meaning the more employees you'll need to do the business. This can be the amount but also the diversity like different sort of employees.

It's to give an indication of the employee amount/difficulty you'll be facing doing such a business.

[Manuel Calavera]

I have a question about cheat sheets businesses page, there are employees icons those yellow/black. Isn't employee count bound to store's capacity and your registers. Or those icons represent somethink else?

[David Estes Creations]

@Monumin [GER] Go to the BizMan > Schedule page and drag the hours where you want them. You can move the whole bar, or drag just the opening or closing hours to where you want them to be!

[Monumin]

How do i change the opening hours? I simply can't find the Options