Game Dev Tycoon: The Game Thread

Well, I played for 7 hours and enjoyed it. I wasn't to aces all game type. But what a ride.

The game is finished, but I don't know if I'll come back.

I played for about an hour. It's a relaxing yet engaging experience. My only gripe is that I forgot to name my fourth release, and now it shall forever be titled Game #4.

All day at work yesterday I was all geared up to play company of heroes 2. I was pumped. I was excited. I had some cool strats to try out.

I finally get to my PC at the end of a long day. Hmm, Dev Tycoon...maybe a quick game before I get started...

3 hours later I finally close Dev Tycoon and shut down my PC so I can get some sleep. Brand new day... I should probably play some company of heroes 2 tonight...

RnRClown wrote:

I played for about an hour. It's a relaxing yet engaging experience. My only gripe is that I forgot to name my fourth release, and now it shall forever be titled Game #4.

Used to be that you had one shot to name it and that was it. You had your chance at the start, when you pick genre, topic, platform and engine.
Now, however, if you do forget to name it at the start of development like I did a few times, you do have the option to change the name before releasing it. Once development is done, you get the report with design and technology numbers, etc. There's a little box next to the title name you can click to change the name one last time. I thought it was nice they give us an extra chance to name it.

It's 3 or 4 hours later, with a fresh campaign started, and I am loving this game. I botched my first career. I went bankrupt in another. This time things are going better. I've made a loss on one game. Just broke even on another. Made a few good profits here and there. It's an all round pleasing experience. The nostalgic feel of certain topics and genres on older consoles just feels right. It's even better when the game agrees. My debut releases on the Game Boy and the Game Gear are seeing profits hit serious highs.

Sadly, it's time for sleep. What an addictive gem this has turned out to be.

Eleima wrote:

Used to be that you had one shot to name it and that was it...Now, however, if you do forget to name it at the start of development like I did a few times, you do have the option to change the name before releasing it.

Cool, so now if a game doesn't work out I can call it, "Daikatana Revolution" or something.

Well, you can't rename it once it's released, so you can't know if it'll get good reviews or not. This second option to rename it is when you get the post-development pre-release report with leveling stats on components and staff.
I like giving my games semi-original names like "Quiet Hill", "Local Evil", "Call of Honor", "Ninja's Mark", "Monkey Atoll" and the like.

Quick question: How long are these games? I don't remember the game being this long, I'm at Y31 or so, and I'm definitely starting to feel the fatigue. Hoping 35 years will be long enough.

Edit: Just checked the changelog on their website, and they upped the standard game to 35 years when they released the game on Steam. Almost there...
So next question: I got a few 9.75, but never a ten, what am I doing wrong? XD

Eleima wrote:

Well, you can't rename it once it's released, so you can't know if it'll get good reviews or not. This second option to rename it is when you get the post-development pre-release report with leveling stats on components and staff.
I like giving my games semi-original names like "Quiet Hill", "Local Evil", "Call of Honor", "Ninja's Mark", "Monkey Atoll" and the like.

Quick question: How long are these games? I don't remember the game being this long, I'm at Y31 or so, and I'm definitely starting to feel the fatigue. Hoping 35 years will be long enough.

Edit: Just checked the changelog on their website, and they upped the standard game to 35 years when they released the game on Steam. Almost there...
So next question: I got a few 9.75, but never a ten, what am I doing wrong? XD

Your game score is based entirely upon how it compares to your previous scores. A 10/10 (or 11/10) requires the perfect combination of tech, development, platform, audience choice, and marketing. You also have a higher chance if you happen to release a game in a matching popularity window. Sequels also get a boost over new IP. After a 9.75, I would spend the next year training your people and preparing a new engine. Make sure you use a boost during training. Try to maximize your team's improvement over that time. Once I get a big hit, I typically research a couple tech items, build a new engine, and spend the research training. Take some contract work to get more research if you need to. After everyone is back from vacation (I try to synchronize the vacation timer for the entire team), continue doing this until you're sure that a new game will fall on G3. If you're on AAA games, you can start a game on M6 W1 and get a double G3 boost, which is nice.

Now develop a game that is a similar combination to your last. If you had a hit with Fantasy/RPG, then make a Sci-Fi RPG, etc. You're close to 10 with what you just made, so your improved team and engine has a good shot at pushing your new game to 10. During development, try to keep your hype on the rise, as it seems that well managed marketing will cause your team to work better. I usually start with a Magazine article during phase 1, then a large campaign in phase 2. If I am building a AAA game, I save the Marketing Campaign research lab option for later - usually at the start of the debugging phase. You'll also find that 2 rounds of magazines and demos after the bugs reach 0 will cause a little burst of design & tech generation.

It goes without saying that you should be boosting your team at all times during all of this. I usually try to use a boost from someone I've made lead for a phase of development. I believe you'll also get better results if you have specialists trained, so that's something to consider.

Following this pattern with a AAA game, I can usually get much higher scores that previous games and with a hype total that's well over 1000. When things line up correctly, I almost always get that 10/10.

Wow, great info, gonna give these strats a whirl! I know I could go and check Steam, but is there a mac version of this game? I'd love to play on the road on my MBP.

Eleima wrote:

Well, you can't rename it once it's released, so you can't know if it'll get good reviews or not. This second option to rename it is when you get the post-development pre-release report with leveling stats on components and staff.
I like giving my games semi-original names like "Quiet Hill", "Local Evil", "Call of Honor", "Ninja's Mark", "Monkey Atoll" and the like. :D

Here are some of my standard game names:
Dungeon Lords, Master of Polaris, The Dark Void, Jolly Rogering, Unicorn Adventures, Casual Sports, Base Blaster, Patton, Foosball.

Eleima wrote:

Quick question: How long are these games? I don't remember the game being this long, I'm at Y31 or so, and I'm definitely starting to feel the fatigue. Hoping 35 years will be long enough.

Edit: Just checked the changelog on their website, and they upped the standard game to 35 years when they released the game on Steam. Almost there...

Yeah, you pick how long when you start the game.

It does appear to run on macs.

Steam wrote:

Mac System Requirements
Minimum:
OS: Mac OS 10.7.5+
Processor: 2 GHz dual core
Memory: 2 GB RAM
Graphics: Hardware Accelerated Graphics with dedicated memory
Additional Notes: minimum resolution of 1024x768

billybob476 wrote:

It does appear to run on macs.

Steam wrote:

Mac System Requirements
Minimum:
OS: Mac OS 10.7.5+
Processor: 2 GHz dual core
Memory: 2 GB RAM
Graphics: Hardware Accelerated Graphics with dedicated memory
Additional Notes: minimum resolution of 1024x768

And the drm free version from their site run as well on Linux. They give you a steam key as well.

I made a game called "Nuclear Winter" - Apocalyptic/RPG - for the PC. It was a great combo. It was great for PC and Mature audiences. I followed the formula that had worked for me on previous RPG titles across the platforms. The only mistake that was highlighted was the fact I hyped the game during the marketing stage. Surely that wasn't the only reason it failed!

I do need to make a new engine, though.

Playing the new version: yes, the game reports make a huge difference to knowing how to make games that are well-received.

My longest game yet came undone. I fell behind with my technology. I focused too much on releasing a lot of games on a lot of different platforms, and forgot to keep up to speed with upgrading my engine for each new generation. Next time I shall release fewer games with a constant focus to keep pace with fresh technology.

I am still in love with the game. Even with a few start-overs it is holding its appeal. I know it won't last forever, but it's going to be a lot of fun until then.

I think I may opt for no prior knowledge at the beginning of a new game. It asks if I would like to enable the hints I have gained from previous campaigns, but it seems to diminish the fun a little if there's a paint by numbers going on. I'll eventually remember exactly what works and what doesn't, anyway.

I create a new engine every 2 or 3 games.

Creating a new engine is a great way to generate research points.

Yup, not investing in your game engine often leads to a slow death. There's some hidden design and tech stats associated with your game engine that are factored when your game review is calculated. This basically means that unless you continually improve your game engine your game scores will slowly dwindle no matter how great your genre/platform/audience mix is.

I have also opted for specialization within a few genres, much as I would if I was a real video games developer. Thus far I have only developed simulation and RPG titles. The Gameling and the Vena Gear have just released, so I may dabble with a few action titles.

Is it better to have separate game engines for separate genres, or one game engine with all available features to be toggled on or off? My first game engine - Story Teller 1.1 - had features beneficial to the RPG genre, but of little use to Simulation, much to reduce early spending. I can either have the next engine become all encompassing (thanks to deeper pockets) or branch off with a different genre approach.

Super skimmer question. I played this a few months ago and just got my steam code. Has the game changed recently?

IUMogg wrote:

Super skimmer question. I played this a few months ago and just got my steam code. Has the game changed recently?

Yeah, they updated it when they put it on Steam.

Yes! I had a game return a profit of £25.2M and it feels great! The temptation to retire on that and sell off the company would torment me. That success came on the launch of the Playsystem 2 with a Vampire/RPG sequel "Blood Lines 3", that was independent of any publisher, and on a brand new engine. Prior to that my best success was a profit of £5.3M with a Racing/Simulation titled "Wipe Zero", on the Playsystem. The other big hitter was a hand held outing called "Time Vortex" a Time Travel/RPG, on the Vena Gear.

"Blood Lines 3" surprised the hell out of me. The first two games didn't sell very well, nor had they garnered a particularly large fan base, but they each returned a profit so I kept the series in mind.

Yes, there were definitely a few changes to the game. I hadn't played it since I bought back in whenever. So I was a few patches behind and playing it again this time around was definitely an interesting experience. For starters, I knew what I was doing a bit more. But there are also interesting features like the game report which provide information on what makes or breaks a game. Very useful and doesn't leave you floundering in the dark. Definitely worth another playthrough.

This time around, I even developed my own consoled which I dubbed the "MumboJumbo".

RnRClown wrote:

Yes! I had a game return a profit of £25.2M and it feels great! The temptation to retire on that and sell off the company would torment me.

That's how I felt when I had $500M in the bank. Thank goodness for Jolly Rogering 2 and Jolly Rogering 3. It's a shame no one liked my spy series Dead Drop 1 & 2.

Couldn't resist this little gem & its been played loads over the last 3-4 days since I bought it. The simplicity & introduction of the new systems keep on adding small layers of depth to the game. Factors like training your team, moving to bigger premises, research & development which brings you back down to earth when you think your Roman Abramovich & that nothing can stop your immense wealth. I'm on a cracking career at the minute with my studio Filthy Dog, the only issue is I'm lagging behind in the 3D technology, way too focused on 2D which paid of a gem for me with insanely high review scores consistently. Along came my first average review score in a decade of game time so I might try & develop a few tech heavy games (maybe a flight sim) & trash it just for the boost to the exp!

Just had a quick look....one hour later...
Anyway. Indeed those game reports are a huge help!

I noticed that in the newest update, they dropped research/engine items such as joystick, gamepad, steering wheel.

What? How can I make a console without gamepads?

/rhetorical. I know how GDT works.

What? You can make consoles?
/rhetorical, but I am too bad at the game to have gotten to that stage yet.

Yonder wrote:

What? You can make consoles?
/rhetorical, but I am too bad at the game to have gotten to that stage yet.

I've never unlocked that bit. I've gotten AAA games and MMO games researched before the 35 year limit, but could not finish my AAA MMO before my time ran out.

Quintin_Stone wrote:

I've never unlocked that bit. I've gotten AAA games and MMO games researched before the 35 year limit, but could not finish my AAA MMO before my time ran out.

I did. A AAA, multi-platform MMO that cost me something like $95 million to develop. And it got threes and fours from the critics. Needless to say, I went bankrupt a little after that.