I’m excited to share with you the first major update of Computer Tycoon. The game is available on Steam for 2 years now (It was first released into Early Access 2n 2017 October 12th). Since then a lot of things have happened.
*Personal notes are coming - skip if you are not interested until you see “HERE”*
Computer Tycoon was planned to be a small dream project from my childhood. I didn’t have the ambition or money to make it “BIG”. Then I’ve got a lot of feedback from you - and I embraced the wishes of the community. This is when I’ve created the game’s Roadmap.
Then I and my father faced serious health issues and Steam abandoned supporting small and medium indie games (last terrible change just happened a few weeks ago) and things started to go down into a death spiral - but I’ve never given up!
I’m happy to tell you that my health is fine now! And I had a lot of progress since then. My dad will just have a new surgery tomorrow, please wish him all the best!
*Game stuff again! HERE you can continue!*
This release is unfortunately still not the so-called “beta”. For the manager system and the “CEO stuff” I will still need more time, but in the meanwhile, there is no obstacle anymore to make frequent updates - because the game’s core is _already rewritten_!
So here is a brief list of what has been changed:
The game has extra songs :)
In general, Opponents are smarter and balanced - Customers are more reasonable. These two sections are completely rewritten. Now actually the different opponents are playing differently (Big’s Computers ftw! :)) )
You can check the computers and hardware of your opponents.
You have a visible research tree - on which by clicking on a node you can add multiple techs at once.
The research queue is also updated to show more information, to have filters and ordering capability
You have new technologies such as coolers and others
You can sell PC hardware components separately
You can set discounts on your products (per country economy level)
You have to take care of the cooling of your products
New Product properties such as Heat, Noise, and Capacity
There are user-groups in the game, namely: workers, gamers, casuals, and cheapskates - which are all behaving differently. (Better explained in the game)
The game’s speed options are faster than before - for a smoother experience.
You can continue playing after victory - and also you can choose from the different victory conditions right from the start before starting the game. Basically you can play endlessly now - if you don’t go bankrupt (it was your request - still I’m not sure if it makes any sense).
The game’s UI has been updated. Also, you have small extras such as the retro loading screen.
You have a CTD (money) estimation about your products’ cost (not only a PP value)
You can check the techs’ descriptions right on the hardware’s screen and you can see all the property values and extra information, too.
You can freely change the name of your products - and there is no separated naming window for that.
You have screens to compare your and your opponents’ hardware and computer
You have a screen to check the user group scores of your and your opponents’ products per country - to find out why is it (not) selling.
You don’t have a “recommended price” anymore, instead, you see the “average budget” of people per country economy for all the different kinds of hardware and computer designs that indicate the pricepoint where sales will start decreasing or increasing.
CPU, GPU and Memory performance has more variables. Their performance also depends on the “multiplier” coming from production size and base frequency, core number, os support, etc. Overclocking generates heat!
PC computers have more design rules, such as PC mobos always need interfaces, PC video cards are working only with mobos using the same interface, etc.
OS multicore support increases the performance of computers with multicore CPUs.
Extra tech features, such as Co-processors are adding to the base clock… etc.
The game was optimized (Tho it is still far from perfect) to have a smaller system requirement.
Forced obsolescence after 5 years is removed. But they have a natural lifecycle of first having a short amount of time in highlight and then losing interest on the market after a while.
Option to have Integrated Graphics Cards on the motherboard.
Countries have flags from now on :)
The Wall Of TEXT crash course is replaced by a small step by step guide.
Tooltips are rewritten - and hopefully, they have fewer typos!
The choosable player bonuses are rebalanced (not all of them are simply 10%)
LOTS of bugs have been fixed. Even some you’ve never known about :)
That’s all that I’ve found in my notes right now, but I’m sure that I’ve forgotten some. Best is to check it out yourself!
In the next update, I will add the country list and the site list - so you can expand and upgrade more easily - tho the system is already changed in a way that you will need less of that.
I hope you will like what you see! Of course, old saves are not working (you won’t even see them in the load list anyways).
If you like the update, please share it with your friends and leave me your feedback and review. It means a lot to me!
Development News 02
Hi Tycoons,
First of all, please remember, that you can join my Discord channel to stay in a day to day touch with me and our community if you don't like the Steam forums. Here is a link to join:
https://discord.gg/g4cdj7U
I know from your feedback that you would like to have a more complex pricing system. Changing the pricing system to support discounts means that I had to alter the customer simulation, too. It is already in the game, and I think it is a much more reliable and balanced system now than ever before.
You can price your products as before, but this time you have an additional screen on which you can give discounts for the given product per country wealth. I think it is more convenient to do it like that instead of pricing the products per country - because u just have way too many countries eventually. For this, it is also useful to see your profit per units sold.
So you have this new screen:
As you can see, on this screen you can also find out the placement of your product compared to your competition. (If you would like to compare it to only your stuff, or to only given opponents, you can simply turn off the unnecessary opponents on the right side).
If you see 50% in the line, it shows how big is the shared population with the owner of the given best product in the category.
So let's say your CPU is the 7th in performance, while Big's Computer has the #1 CPU in performance on the market, and you see 100% in this line. It is bad news because Big is selling his superior CPU everywhere where you sell yours. In that case, you may still sell these CPUs if their price or other attributes are competitive. And by lowering the price on this screen, you will also immediately see if you still make a fortune by selling them OR they may just generate you a loss by doing so.
If you are really behind, you may consider contacting Big... and buying techs from him (if he is interested in selling them and you can pay its price) or even make an agreement of putting his CPUs into your computers. -> This is something which is yet not in the game, but it is on the roadmap.
On another screen, you are able to see how many of this product was sold to different user-groups. (user-groups were also asked by many of you)
We have Casuals, Gamers, Workers and Cheapskaters OR Bargain Hunters. (which name do you prefer?)
And... that how many of this product was sold in a country with poverty, poor, average, etc... wealth level. As you could see, from now on you can see the average budget of people in the given economy-level per product type. This and other opponents' prices are your indicators now to select your price. In general, you can make much more profit by selling to rich people. But if you sell only to those then you skip the biggest chunks of the market... So these indicators can help you to actually see that who are buying the given product on the given price you've just defined.
Lately, my painting skills have improved, so I'm working on the faces of the future manager system. It is not sure if these are already the final versions, but check out the difference yourself:
Say hello to the new Billy & Laci manager characters:
...characters. Here are the old versions:
My goal is still having a beta released in October.
I truly think that the beta will be like a totally new game, basically "Computer Tycoon 2".
If you have any questions, please use the forums or discord, because I'm more than happy to answer them!
Check out the game's roadmap here: https://steamcommunity.com/games/686680/announcements/detail/1673520100901557536
More development pictures which were already shown in earlier news posts:
Development News
Hello Tycoons,
First of all, please remember, that you can join my Discord channel to stay in a day to day touch with me and our community if you don't like the Steam forums. Here is a link to join:
https://discord.gg/g4cdj7U
But some of you have noted that you'd like to get some news about the development here on the Steam store page, too - and I totally understand it, so I made this post for you!
At the very moment, I'm working on the AI and customer simulation in the game. It is a very interesting part to work on, especially now, that the new version of the game has user groups (such as office workers or gamers), the player can sell PC hardware as well, not only computers and in general, the whole thing is under reconstruction.
The downside of this kind of work is that I cannot really share progress pictures with you, because it is mostly coding.
While being able to sell hardware doesn't seem to be a big deal, it is the opposite: it is a lot of work to implement it and it changes many things. As an example still, I haven't decided if it means that I should put hardware sell data on the country detail view such as I do with computer sales. Or maybe I should handle computers with hardware together in that diagram? But computers are more expensive, and on that diagram, you should focus on the strength of your opponents, or shouldn't you focus on that?
In customer simulation, how should this affect sale numbers? Should hardware sales decrease computer sales? Or should PC sales increase hardware sells? If yes, I should take care of their compatibility?
As a general rule, the more complex something is, the hardest it is to understand and implement well - so how should I simplify this?
When you sell multiple computers in a country with other players and the sale numbers are dependent on the parameters of the computer, the budget, and priorities of the user groups, the population and economy level of the country, (and country preferences of course), your marketing efforts, your prestige, the design type, the price tag, the price level AND NOW the sold hardware in the country, your products' manufacturing priority (and your maximum PP)... it doesn't always easy to know why a computer sells or doesn't sell -> but this is a core element Computer Tycoon what somebody can either hate or enjoy. I will try to show more data to think about, even tho... again: "As a general rule, the more complex something is, the hardest it is to understand and implement well - so how should I simplify this?"
The earlier "recommended price" system is already gone. Now you won't get such a number. Instead, you will have to check the prices of your competition or play with the price of your product (what should be higher than the average production costs which are also shown as the new "magic number").
People from different wealth level (wealth of the country) have different budgets for the different kind of products. How/why would you follow a magic number if decreasing or increasing the price could result in more profits depending on your very own situation? What if selling the same computer for more people for a lower price isn't better than selling fewer for a much higher price? How about making a weaker computer or the very best? It all depends on the details, but you'd better know your plan before starting a business, instead of waiting for a magic number to show up in the middle of it!
But here are some pictures of some screens what have changed in the meanwhile. I know that this is what you are really interested in. :)
My goal is still having a beta until October 12th.
I truly think that the beta will be like a totally new game, basically "Computer Tycoon 2".
If you have any questions, please use the forums or discord, because I'm more than happy to answer them!
Check out the game's roadmap here: https://steamcommunity.com/games/686680/announcements/detail/1673520100901557536
More development pictures which were already shown in earlier news posts:
Some talk about stuff.
Hi Tycoons,
It is the third month of the year, so I thought that it is time to give you an update. Where should I start?
Whenever I write these posts I have a desire to write about things not directly connected to Computer Tycoon. It can come from my personality and/or from the fact that I have a very restricted number of people I'm talking with IRL. Whatever the reason is, forgive me, please.
Computer Tycoon was uploaded to Steam in 2017 October. It had a moderate start. In 2018 I decided to grow it into something much more than it was planned originally - mostly because of your feedback and interest. Then I had "trouble" with the thing called "LIFE" which kept me back working until the end of the year. During that, I made a few updates and here we are now in 2019.
I must say, that I'm not satisfied.
I'm not satisfied with the progress of the game, and so you either. The scope what I'm shooting for is just huge. If I had a single problem called A in CT what I had to solve with a game design decision, then now this is 10 problems now to solve at once.
I could have known this when I decided to embrace the wishes of the community? Right? Right! So what?
I just realized that other than having the obvious problem that I'm late with the "big update"... The year 2018 was already depressing because of my health and family issues, but now I'm depressed because of THIS even more. And whenever I get a message saying something like "so where it is?" or whenever I get a negative review saying that the game has potential, but it should be already done... I get more and more depressed. Please, give me time!
Simply put, I'm not used to failure in work and I'm not the guy who just gives it up. And I won't. I just never ever give up.
But at the same time, a thin voice tells me in my head that "You are losing money by working on that thing! Man, a cashier earns 2-3 times more than you by doing this. Man, that's the road to poverty."
Do you know what I say to this voice in my head? "Get the #?&! out of here!" I was always poor, I can manage this, it is not the most important thing.
Then what makes me even more depressed is that visibility on Steam lately is just CRAZY LOW (not only to me but to all indies out there with non-top seller games). I'm trying to compensate it with ads, but I'm still not sure if it works accordingly or not. (yeah Steam, don't allow us using Facebook pixel... we love putting money into advertising your site, without even knowing if it works or not).
Experts say that this summer lots of indies will go bankrupt. Yeah, making games is not a good business for small parties.
But most importantly I'm afraid that my financial sacrifice will be pointless because it will be pointless if the game will be unseen by people who could enjoy it. I thought that it is some kind of investment in my future. That slowly by having more games later on it will be fine. Now I seriously doubt that.
Okay, okay. So what?
Let's call everything that I wrote until this point as "whining".
I can blame Steam or Life or anything, but if I have to write an honest list of the problems in my life, I know that I have to start with myself and only after that can I start "whining".
I am so worried about the future, I'm so worried about not having the chance of continuing what I love, that actually I've just forgotten how much excitement and love was taken into this game when I started. I have to get back to the roots.
Oh, are you still here, reading that? Cool! Now, let me share with you something:
You will have the beta this October.
You know, that "big update". And nothing can stop me in that. It is a MUST. Because I love it. There is no other way around. I have to finish this, I have to put more work into it. I have to get back to that level of workload what made me sick last year if necessary, I just have to.
So... just to answer some questions I will probably get after this statement.
But how will you do that? Well, as I did with the very first version. I will glue myself to my desk "until its done".
Couldn't you hire some programmers? Or may I help myself? Nope guys, it would mean just much more work and expense to me, unfortunately. It could just slow down things. Trust me, in the business sector I was an architect who led projects for long long years. This couldn't work here if you are not Cliffski working for free.
What will be in that beta? Basically everything from the Roadmap, except localizations and some tiny things.
Where is the Roadmap? Find the link at the end of this post.
Ummm. so localizations... When do they come? Before the full release. Find the list of planned languages on the Roadmap. Probably until 2019.02 or 03. which is an estimated full release. (I'm not promising the full release, because it depends on a lot of things, what I'm dedicated for is the beta in October).
Will you update the game in the meanwhile? Of course, I will upload beta branches, because I will need your help with the balance.
I don't have the time to read that Roadmap... Could you summarize, please? It is hard. Basically, it is Computer Tycoon 2. Ability to sell hardware separately, tech tree, third parties, different customer behavior and marketing, new map modes (including historical), advanced ai, managers, a few rpg elements.
But I really would like to help! What can I do? Just give feedback, and leave a review, please.
So is this going to be really cool? It is going to be as cool as having a Stargate in your garden or having a Yacht. I'm not joking! I could have just written this single sentence instead of this whole post. Because that's the most important thing I have to focus on: It has to be so cool that no YouTubers can avoid covering it!
But man, take care of yourself! That's what I'm doing. Depression is dangerous. If I cannot make a difference, even tho I try as crazy as I can, I will accept it and move on later on. If I don't do everything that I can do for my dreams... I will face levels of despair which I'm not prepared for. I will work out 3 times a week and I will also schedule some mandatory "life stuff". I will try to be smarter than last time of course. I promise I won't be awake for 3 days without a single hour of sleep again. I'm planning to Deliver, not planning to die.
Your Discord? Here it is: https://discord.gg/BVB8cje
If you ask more questions, I will answer them here!
I have a small update for you while you are waiting for the "big update". Here is the update log:
No more site limit. So from now on, you can create unlimited sites which will provide you a nearly unlimited potential PP. After the 20th site every site costs 2% percent more than the previous one.
I have changed how many digits you see on the department window. (It was pointless to show "output 10.00 PP" as an example, it is "10 PP" now instead.
Since the last patch we had a bug. The autosave files landed in an incorrect directory (next to the game's exe file). Because of that those saves didn't appear in the loading screen. It is fixed now. If you need the autosaves, you will have to manually copy them to their correct place (you will find a thread in the discussions with that question).
There was a bug which added HC compatibility automatically to your hardware after creation even if you haven't checked the HC box. Fixed.
And of course, I've updated the WOG.
I know that's not much, but at least now you can really cannibalize the world and beat the AI during the late game as well.
I was thinking about adding more things, but I'd like to avoid the hassle with that legacy version here on Steam. Instead, I'd like to work as much as I can on the latest (development) version.
The development version's base GUI is 90% replaced, but with only a single GUI, not with an altering/evolving GUI. I tried to prepare the GUI so I will be able to extend it with the other 2 versions as well, but I feel like I should just focus on the gameplay right now. I will attach a screenshot, so you can see how it looks at the moment.
As a side note, I've started to upload gaming content to my youtube channel, what was an old plan of mine. If you like that kind of entertainment, check out my channel, and comment, please. I'm absolutely a beginner creator there, so I need the feedback. Basically, I just record how I play a half hour per day.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scUNCepmeBw
Thanks for your support guys, any reviews, bug reports or messages are highly appreciated!
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Below this line you will see things from the upcoming still unreleased dev version.
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So here are some pics from the latest dev version (right from my development environment, so don't worry about bars being not filled up, or values being just placeholders):
Thanks,
Andris
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Pictures from the yet unrleased upcoming development version (0.9.4.0):
ALPHA VERSION 0.9.3.08
Hi Tycoons,
Here is a small new patch for you.
Version 0.9.3.08
There was a bug which prevented saving the statistics and budget data of past years. Fixed. Unfortunately, your earlier data won't be back by that, but future data will be saved.
I've changed the building cost progression of the building sites. It is way lower than before, what will make it easier to expand. Their price growth slows down as you have more. Currently, the 20th site is still under 1.000.000.000 CTD. This will affect the game's balance a lot.
Originally the prices were high because the coming changes will affect the game balance wise a lot, but since we still don't have them, this change was important to be done now.
Also, I've updated the WOG, and put an email subscription link into the main menu (look for the monkey). Please subscribe, I won't spam you, but visibility on Steam is getting so bad for indies, that without collecting email addresses being a dev is unsustainable on the long run.
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Below this line you will see things from the upcoming still unreleased dev version.
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It is still a work in progress, but I'd like to know what you about this, any feedback is appreciated:
Thanks,
Andris
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Pictures from the yet unrleased upcoming development version (0.9.4.0):
VERSION 0.9.3.07
Hi Tycoons,
As I previously mentioned the 0.9.3.07 is here. It has a bit of bug fixing and performance boost in loading/saving and the 3D scene. I've waited until player levels lowered again after the autumn sale to release it. Because unfortunately, this will break your saved files (you won't even see them on the loading screen), and your game settings will be lost as well. If you haven't read my last announcement, you should check it out for more information.
Earlier I mentioned that I've decided to upgrade the UI visuals, and lately I was trying to implement an earlier idea of mine (which was requested by you as well).
Namely the altering UI. Please check out this little preview how I imagine it so far:
Let me know what you think. If I want to create it, I will have to keep some limits in creativity, because the more different the look of the stages is, the more work it needs in my engine, and this is not a priority task.
Another thing I wanted to mention is that I will be able to reduce system requirements because the mentioned solution in my last post seems to work,
it just needs time to implement. I'm very happy because a lot of you have more than 6 years old PCs which are not able to run the game normally.
Lately, I tried to port the game to as many places as I can as I mentioned in my previous post, and so far it didn't really worth it, so despite
Steam has dropped indies' traffic by 50-90% the other stores are still mostly a waste of time, unfortunately. AAA games are not only getting a better revenue share in the future (while indies don't), they also
get more traffic what is possible by decreasing ours. Some think it is just a result of a bug, but I barely think that. You can find a short article about it on PCGamer if you are interested. We indies are worried about our future on the PC platform.
Anyway, what I wanted to say is that porting has to be closed very soon because I have a lot of work with the game. (And also because I'm going crazy of those "unknown error" messages from Microsoft and Apple dev kits) And I'm really sorry that yet again I postponed (by around 1.5 months) my main task: developing the game.
Have a nice day or evening or whatever you have :) As soon as I will know if I will be able to post a bigger update still this year I will notify you here!
Andris
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Pictures from the yet unrleased upcoming development version (0.9.4.0):
Development Status Report!
Hi Tycoons,
Right now I won't post a new version, even tho Version 0.9.3.07 is done. The reason is that currently we have a couple of new players in our community and the new version would break the save files without significant advantages. I'd like to avoid destroying the starters experience right now, so I will wait some days or the end of the sale event on Steam.
I had to rewrite the saving system because of two main reasons. The first is that the development version (0.9.4.0) has much more data than the current one which slows down the loading process. Simply we have to store much more data, so we needed a new system for that (and I'm happy to say that the new solution I've built is around x4 faster than the last one).
The second reason is that I wanted to offer my game in different stores which meant that I have to offer wider compatibility. The new system now supports the Windows Stores even including XBox (as I mentioned earlier I will port the game to consoles eventually as well), but that's the far future.
Offering the game at more places is pretty critical because of changes here in the past months which cut back visibility from "moderately successful" or let's say "indie games" drastically so now I lose more money than before - what I'd like to compensate. Luckily I have wishlisters who are still potentially here (that's how we got some new players) - and as I mentioned I saved up every penny to be here, so still I can afford to work on the game for long. And don't worry, even if I won't be able to finish the game in the next 1 or 1.5 years in full-time, I will continue it in part-time.
The above also means that I've updated the most important components of the game to the latest versions. I've started the development in 2016, so that means years of advancement - providing a bit of performance boost and potentially less trouble on your computers. Also, I've researched for a new solution to show things in the 3D building scene which could offer a great performance boost, but I didn't have time to test it yet.
Another thing that I'd like to mention that some weeks ago I've decided that I will create a new style for the UI. It means that it will change both functionality and visuals and I'd like to put it into the very next bigger update of the game. Even more, maybe I will put it into the current stable version before the bigger update comes out (yeah, I know how long it takes :( ).
I made this decision because of your input. I think the retro goals were not really reached, while a huge percent of the players doesn't like the current style (again, I'm not talking about functionality here which is a different topic). In my "free time" I even participated in UI courses hoping that I gather new skills.
I know how excited you are because of the new features, I am too, and I will do my best to deliver them as soon as possible, without rushing it.
Thanks for asking about my health, again and again, I really feel good lately, I even go to the gym on a regular basis. It is not only a great physical recreation activity but in fact, that's the only occasion when I socialize. Being a solo indie dev in your own place is kind of isolating, but it helps a lot to work more hours per day.
Also, thank you very much for being here, and being supportive!
And special thanks for the kind words in the discussions nominating me for the "Best Developer” Award. I'm not sure if I deserve it because I'm in such a big late, and honestly I'm just very happy that I can afford to be here. Thank you very much, guys! :)
Oh and... I've also tried to improve my general drawing technique. Check out the before and after versions of this character:
and now ->
Thanks again guys,
Andris
*Let me put here the earlier stuff and the link to the RoadMap of the game*
Nope, unfortunately, that's still not the big update I wanted to post. I had a good progress in the last weeks, but still, I'm not done with it. Basically, the tech tree works fine, but I had to re-adjust hardware property points and further polish the hardware design system. I won't lie, it is hard - but I really hope that the result will be a much better, more interesting game.
But I didn't want to give you nothing - yet again. That's why I made a small update for you even if it means double work on my side to migrate it into the development version as well.
Changes are:
I've rebalanced the RP points depending on difficulty. Many wrote that the game was too challenging, so I worked accordingly. This means that those who didn't like the pace of the research will like this new version a lot. I myself think as well that it is indeed better balanced that way now.
I made it possible to turn off the "CEO Death" feature. Being more accurate I changed what happens if you don't click on the checkbox asking about it, before starting a new game. Now if you say no to that feature, instead of "Game Over" you will just lose half of your current money in the game. That way the game will still punish you for overusing given marketing methods (lies increase stress!), but you won't lose the game. This was also a priority task asked by you.
I've turned off the Auto Steam Cloud feature, what means that you will be able to delete the saved games on your hard drive if you feel that the mess is too big. DON'T WORRY ABOUT THE Steam WARNING. You won't lose your saved games.
I've fixed some country names.
And of course, I've updated the "Wall Of Gratitude" because I got a lot of support and feedback in the previous months (especially during my health issues) and I'm very very thankful for those who have/had the patience and the understanding.
Now, let me show you some pictures about the development version - SO AGAIN, NOT FROM THE CURRENTLY available version. Just to show you some progress.
For example here, you can see the tech tree as I've added a line of texts to the queue. Simply by choosing a tech in the future and clicking on the "add to queue" button adds all the required techs in a correct order. Also, if I remove a given tech, it will remove all its dependencies from the queue - making the research planning much easier.
Remember that you can zoom in and out in-game.
Here you can see the new Tech Queue. Do you see how all the techs required are on the bottom list? Earlier it wasn't possible to add techs which were not available right NOW, so you had to wait until its direct requirement is yours. Now from the tech tree, you can plan into the future.
Also, see how the queue got filter options. If you prefer picking the techs one by one, then it is going to be very helpful in selecting the ones you need the most.
And here is a hardware design screen, the CPU. You can see the new heat metric and the other options. In the future you will be able to set the cache, overclocking and frequency separately according to the Roadmap of the game.
Also, now I will include a real production price metric shown in CTD as well, next to the PP value. The algorithm behind the CTD value gets your average cost per PP and multiplies it with the given PP value needed to produce the hardware element.
I hope you will enjoy the small update! I'm sorry that I'm not done with the big update, I'm really trying hard!
THANKS!
*Just got a message from a player and it seems the game is Proton compatible so by using it you can play it on Linux without additional setup.
And let me just put you here all the other tasty things coming in the future
Update about the Coming Changes #5
Hello Tycoons,
Computer Tycoon was put into Early Access exactly 1 year ago this day.
Nothing would feel better but uploading a new version today and celebrating the game's first year on Steam. I'm really sorry that I cannot offer that, but announcements. At least, I have good news for you.
I got a lot of good wishes and understanding from you concerning my father's and my own health issues - and I'm very thankful for that. That was a harsh period to us. There is a Hungarian saying (I'm sure you have a similar one in your own culture) what says "If something doesn't kill you then it will make you stronger." I’m here in that mentality…
And I'm extremely happy to tell you, that my father is alive and his condition is acceptable now. While we are still worried his life is not in direct danger anymore, his first surgery was a success. Also, I feel much better now physically and mentally too! I had no pains in the last month, even more, I can do the exercise again (what I desperately nowadays). My liver is okay now – and hell I’m not a big drinker but I really enjoyed my beer yesterday (after it was forbidden for that long).
Even with this hard period and being unable to work normally for a long time - (and it is kinda devastating for a solo man proejct), Computer Tycoon's first year on Steam was a moderate success. When I left my work as an architect in the IT business sector many was really skeptical about my plans, waves of laughter and dubiety were my constant companies, but against all of that and the “indie apocalypse”, I managed to be here. I tried to play it safe, but I put all of my money into this plan and I got back enough from you to expand the game into more. Now I'm not forced anymore to work on my games after a full-time day job in the nights, that's the only thing I have to focus on.
I have a LOT of work to do. But I’m in! I didn’t work 14 hours for months daily before early access because I wanted to abandon my dream game. In fact, I don’t feel like I’m working when I’m doing this. Marketing, business research, coding, art, organizing things, testing, planning… all of this is fun to me. That’s what can motivate you when the financial return is low – that now I’m really enjoying the thing what I’m doing in most of my day.
But yes… the situation is worse and worse on the PC platform. Even right now changes are coming what touches indies in a frightening way here, but I felt it is coming - and because of that I was thinking about the solution for a while now and I am prepared:
I am going to port Computer Tycoon to Xbox and PlayStation as well - and also in the future, I will create multi-platform games. It is not easy with strategy games, but it is still better than attaching to a single monopoly. The development will be done here, but when I’m done I will expand the controls and the GUI to fit those platforms as well.
With this, I think I’m done with announcing things. Or not? Oh no... not yet.
So yes, I know your next question… when the next version is coming? I really hoped that by now you will have it, but I failed. I'm very thankful for your patience! My last question to the community was about the tech tree and I got a lot of feedback from you what I’d like to build into the game. Let me show you two pictures of the progress.
The default research screen in the next version is going to be the "Research Tree" and the old window is going to be called as the “Research Queue”. The most important task of the Tree is to show your progress visually and help you in long-term planning. You will be able to put the techs in the queue from the tree and in the old way as well (on the Research Queue). Then you will be able to order your researches but you also get more tools to filter and order the coming researches than previously.
I have new techs in the Tree which were not part of the game earlier. Now we have "cooling" as well. The performance calculations are going to be completely different and so the hardware and computer design screens and system as well.
You won’t be able to trade with other companies in the game YET. But that’s another thing that will come soon, we will just need time to see how the game mechanics are changing because of the new features – thus I have to put it out as soon as I can.
Here are the things I want to deliver to you with the very next version of the game:
- New kinds of technology
- Tech tree, new research system
- New base properties for hardware and computer (noise, heat)
- New performance calculations and parameters (base speed, multipliers)
- Fixing some mayor issues with the ending screens, country names and so on
- Ability to turn off permadeath of the CEO and possibility to play after the victory condition is fulfilled.
I think you wanted to see this, although I will just follow the ROADMAP:
https://steamcommunity.com/games/686680/announcements/detail/1673520100901557536
I’m afraid to make promises, but I say maybe I will be able to release it this year – as I know that you REALLY would love to know when it is coming.
And here let me just put here some shots of the coming stuff again, to make you remember how many things I was working on in the meanwhile. (For example the prototype of the manager system is something that was very important to make happen earlier, although I won’t be able to put it into the game for a long time yet).
And… Thanks for your support! Thanks for being here and letting me doing my game! You are the best!
