The hardware modifier bars were not reset when you created new hardware, and also they were not loaded when you opened an earlier created hardware. - Fixed!
The "Ease-Of-Use" modifier slider didn't have an effect after creating the hardware because the modifier value was used from the performance modifier value instead of the Ease-Of-Use modifier value set by the slider. You could create two identical operating systems, one -15% and the second + 15% "Ease-Of-Use". - Fixed!
When you designed power supplies, you could see non-applicable technology on the list, because design type wasn't filtered initially, only after clicking on the technology list or the design type chooser. When you did it, the inappropriate technology disappeared without explanation - and that was confusing. - Fixed, the list is initially filtered.
The hardware type chooser window won't open after closing the hardware designer window anymore (without creating a new hardware)
In the Load Game list from now on you will see the modification date, not the creation date of the save.
On the save game screen by typing 1,2,3 the game time was affected. - Fixed, now you can freely push them without starting the time of the game.
From now on, the ESC button will open the Main Menu and stop the time in the Game.
Soon I will try to make the marketing part more obvious and useful. Also, I will create the option to set the window zooms and give an option to turn off the camera animation between the camera positions in the site view. Oh... and I will do a lot of other things as well, but maybe these were the most asked right now.
Please support the game on its Steam Page! Thank you! :)
Your friend,
Andris
https://twitter.com/ProgOrion
Nomination for Computer Tycoon!
Hi guys,
If you like the game, please select it here as one of the games :)
The white message boxes were really not satisfying at the end of the game, so I've added ending screens for the game with some simple extra information about your gameplay. You have 4 ending screens. One for failure and 3 for the possible winning options: monopoly, future, singularity.
Monopoly: You make your opponents go bankrupt.
Future: You survive until 2034
Singularity: You get all of the technology in the game.
I hope you will like it guys, please support me on the game's store page if you like the game!
Your friend,
Andris
VERSION 0.9.1.24 - Balance change, Computer Design GUI bug fix
Hi guys,
Here is a new version for you:
0.9.1.24:
Balance change that affects a lot of things including the AI expansion speed and tactic (the AI will try to avoid other AI players more often), country upfront has increased, building site cost decreased, site upkeep cost increased a bit - and generally all of these have a different impact on the 3 difficulty levels.
Country costs are increased, but from now on not only population but wealth also affects the country price. Remember that rich countries buy more than poor countries.
Middle to Late DPP is also decreased.
Sometimes while you were building a new computer you could close some windows (especially the hardware windows when you changed your mind to not create a new stuff) - so you had to go back to the computer list and click on the "back to edit" button. From now on this is fixed, you won't be pulled out from the process like this.
The office hint is changed - the office is a mandatory building only after some levels of other buildings, not from the start.
Upper Right Infor Bar Statistic hint has changed - it is the "all-time market share" not the actual year's market share.
You HAVE TO START a new game - otherwise, the new costs will affect your AI and site costs, but not affect the country costs in your saved game which means a very bad balance.
I didn't have much time to test the new values, but I do believe that it is better than before. You will experience slow down at the early stage of the game. Many complained since the last version in negative reviews that the game is just way too easy and the world map is maxed out way too early.
Also, I'd like to point out two things again:
1) - The "Industry Standard" shows you your competition's average. Your opponents will have values around those in their hardware. So at this moment, this is how you can measure your competition's computers. Later you will have more information, but I don't plan to show you exact models - this would be a game killer. It seems to be a nice thing to see everything, but in the real world, this is much more complicated and also showing everything in the game would kill some fun factors. I do understand that you need more feedback, that's right - but I won't show you really everything. Game design is a tricky thing. Perfect simulation and showing everything most of the time kills a game. Just to give you an example. The first versions of the game using real-world data about how many computers you can sell. It was incomparably more than now - giving you EXTREME profits that made the game nearly _absolutely_ pointless. The computer industry is such a goldmine guys, really. You can't imagine the profit numbers behind this sector. Secondly, just imagine that you show exact prices and values. Your first move would be to change yours. What could be the reaction? The opponent doing the same that could lead to a cycle until you reach the minimum profit margin. In the real world, this never happens, because nobody is interested in reaching that point. Companies won't undercut to their competition again and again. When they do, they do it really slowly and by using much more tools and tricks that we could and should simulate here.
2) Why poor countries don't buy your cheapest thing.
I saw a lot of complaints about this. Again, poor countries have a big part of their population who chooses by "value for the money". First of all, it doesn't mean that they don't have people who will prefer faster computers or computers with more feature. Secondly, it doesn't mean that they will buy only the cheapest computer on the market. Why would they?
I also live in a poor country. Still, here most of the people prefer to buy a computer that has a better price/value ratio than the cheapest potato toaster. Being price sensitive doesn't mean that we will buy only the cheapest computer. You can sell me your cheap computer, but if I can buy a much faster one for some extra bucks, I will prefer the other one. Or in other words, I won't buy a Pentium IV Computer today, doesn't matter if that's the cheapest computer.
Of course, the game still has a LOT of things to solve, and this is surely NOT the last balance update. Maybe it won't even work out what I changed.
Thanks for your help on the forums! Enjoy the game, and please support me on the game's steam page!
Your friend,
Andris
Trading Cards, Heatlh Status, Game Status, Development Status, Status Status and so on...
Hi guys,
I'm sorry for being silent for a while! Eventually, I recovered from my illness completely. It is crazy that I needed 1 complete month for that. The pre and post-crunch around the release date of indies are real and dangerous. You can find a lot of guys like me who don't sleep for days during that period and push themselves into illness AND depression. Please support indies! It is really harsh out there nowadays as an indie dev. Many of my friends failed utterly with their projects lately. Who goes indie have a great chance of losing everything including savings and physical/mental health.
The positive feedback that you gave me during that time meant really a lot. These are not just words guys. It meant a LOT. Although we developers are mostly responsible for our own working conditions, the pressure is really high to do well and to crunch. Also, I got pretty hate as well. I was even attacked by people on facebook that I'm a liar and I insult people here on the forums. I'm not angry because of any of these. We are just human beings, right?
As good news, I can tell you that slowly I think the project will pay for itself eventually. I won't lose (much) money! This is awesome as the first project of mine right at the start of Steam Direct. Also, the game managed to have a "very positive" review score for a long time now - you don't know how happy I'm for that, although this "score" is still very fragile at the border of 80%.
I know that the game is still really flawed. From your input, I've built a very long to-do list of bugs and polish tasks. I'm still here to make those happen, and also I've built a list of new features as well.
In the last week, I managed to update the GUI system to a more flexible one. So I have a new version that solved some small glitches with the computer screens. I just didn't publish it, because I won't be here today, and I wanna stay around while you get it - so I can give a hotfix if anything goes wrong.
Also, I was working on the historical map. I just found out the needed solutions to make it happen.
And also, I just tried to relax a bit and manage the business side of things. Well, managing a real company in the real world is not as much fun as in Computer Tycoon!
Here is a brief list of the features that I'd like to add to the game. These don't have explanations and please don't consider this as a promise. These are only my plans that I really would like to make happen. The list is not ordered. I just wanna give you a "what's the big picture" thingy as Sid games used to do:
tutorial
starting from the garage, adding features and sites slowly
historical map, government relation management
altering economy and population, altering preferences
more realistic, non-rule-braking AI
reviews about computers
selling hardware separately
building site list screen with separated option to build/upgrade and manage departments
loan when player hits a negative bank balance
buying stuff for the CEO
extended life management of the CEO
leadership management for the company in the late game
extended hardware design with more element specific modification options
new building site environments
extended statistics per products with sales charts as in game dev tycoon
localizations
a bit of modding support with techs
hall of fame/score lists and other steam features
ending screens and stats after completing the game
aiding poor countries
Some are already in progress by the way just as I mentioned. I think I will need crunch time again, unfortunately. How many of these points will be implemented will depend on how will my body react to overtime again and/or how will sales (so literally positive/negative reviews) go.
The guaranteed time while I can work on this is the end of February right now. That's 3.5 months left. This is plenty time if you consider that I made the whole game that you played on the release date in only 5 full-time months. (Well I had a one year part-time before starting the project, while I learned the stuff around the engine and so on, but I didn't make anything specifically for Computer Tycoon).
I know that it seems to be not much time, but please again - consider the overwork here. When somebody works literally day and night every day it is just way much more. In normal working, ours this 5 months was more than 10. As an example I worked (my logs show it) 348 hours on Computer Tycoon in October and 412 hours in September. And these don't include the time that I put into non-computer based works.
I had to do this because I couldn't afford financially more time, but I really wanted to make this happen. It is a game that I wanted since I first played Transport Tycoon back in the day on my 486DX Computer. I'm coming as a leader from the IT business sector. I'm not here for the money, I'm here for my passion.
When I designed the game I even wanted to include smartphones, PDAs and robots, and much more technology. Unfortunately, I can't extend the game's scope to that. Maybe with DLCs in the future IF I can afford it.
Some of you ask me about localizations as well often. Some languages such as German or Russian or French already have translations for the technology descriptions, but I will need plenty time to make this happen. Probably I will include the localization at the end of the development, otherwise, I will have a lot of overhead work. I as a one-band indie studio can't do otherwise.
Oh, Dear Germans! Vielen Dank! You gave the second biggest chunk of revenue for the game right after the United States!
As a closing note... Jep Steam finally approved the trading cards for the game! Enjoy them! :) (but most of you with those extreme work hours already got some cards, right? :) )
So again, thanks for the support on the game's Steam Page! I really appreciate it, and the game really needs it!
Your friend,
Andris
VERSION 0.9.1.23 - Daily Profit Indicator and small fixes/changes
Hi guys! Here is a new version for you:
0.9.1.23:
From now on, you can't click on the "Market!" button before you started the polishing. The button is disabled before that.
Until now when the time was stopped and you pushed the "Market!" button to start selling a computer, the button didn't change its title and state until you started the time. Also if the time was slow, you had to wait (on the slowest speed 4 ms) until the next day, when it changed to "Archive!". If somebody didn't wait and pushed the button, again and again, he could archive his computer because of this.
From now on, the button will change automatically its title, and it will be even disabled until the next day, so you can't accidentally click on "Archive!". Probably later I will create an "are you sure" window as well for some GUI actions such as this one.
Statistics, marketing, and Sites Main Menu buttons didn't close the Research Window - fixed.
From now on the "Own Area" button is called as "Area Of", because some people had confusion why he can't see his own area, while in the "Area Of" section of the Map Control window another player was selected. I hope this will make it easier to recognize that you have to choose this button even when you'd like to see your opponent's area (or directly click on the opponent in the "Area Of" section, so this will be automatically selected.
The Map Control buttons from the "Preference" section didn't turn to green when selected (actually they did, but the highlight was too light) - fixed.
Preference, Prestige, and Performance got better colors on the world map - so it will be easier to recognize the different levels.
AND
You got a plus indicator on the upper information bar of the game. Next to your current CTD amount you will see a new CTD number. This is the average daily profit of the last 7 days. (It is green when it is positive and red when it is negative).
It is important to note that I didn't include in it the expansion and construction upfront costs because I felt they can corrupt the usability of this indicator (these costs are very big, and you couldn't see your actual daily profit from the weekly average this way). So when you buy a new site or build a new building, you won't see this in that number. BUT you will see the income - site upkeep and building upkeep costs, CEO costs in it.
Many asked this, and I totally do agree that it was important.
in 0.9.1.23h1 - just found a bug that doubled the upkeep cost of recreation. WOW! And we didn't notice it yet. (tho many thought that recreation is expensive) - fixed.
Thank you very much for your help in the discussions! My to-do list doubled again! :)) I have 66 things in it right now (that doesn't include my own new feature plans). I'm trying to prioritize and give you as much and as fast as I can.
Also, thank you very much for the support on the game's Steam Page! It means a lot to me and the game as well! You are awesome!
Your friend,
Andris
VERSION 0.9.1.22 - VLSI and Recommended Price Changes - a bit easier again
Hi guys! Here is a new version for you!
Version 0.9.1.22 has only two big modification. In the previous versions of the game, the Recommended Price was calculated from manufacturing points and a basic consumer expectation ratio. Every year people wanted the same stuff for cheaper, just as in reality.
The problem with this that as the middle and late game comes, stuff has much more manufacturing cost, while people would like to get it even cheaper. For a while, it is okay, because you sell more computers, so still, you can increase your profit. But after a while computers were just simply too expensive. This is a broken model honestly and many of you complained. This is totally understandable.
In the previous version, I decreased the DPP of the world (people buy more year after year). So now you have the chance to "really rule the market" with the added extra building sites and possible PP capacity.
So what changed?
- First of all, I altered again the DPP. Now it will be still much smaller during the middle and late game, but much more similar in the early game to the previous versions. I wanted to slow down the development rate during the early game, but it was just way too much. (Jep, the game is going to be a bit easier).
- From now on the recommended price will work differently. It will be still affected by the manufacturing price of your product. BUT it won't be modified by the actual manufacturing cost, but the "manufacturing value". What does it mean? The difference between manufacturing value and cost is that the manufacturing value isn't modified by VLSI. So when you research better and better versions of VLSI integration:
(While the recommended price is 2000 CTD for 1000PP in the first year and 321 CTD for 1000PP in 2034)
Your manufacturing price will decrease, but your manufacturing value won't. From a consumer viewpoint it doesn't really matter that what is the real cost that you have when you create a computer, they measure only the "value of the computer".
Some of you recommended me to include in this the preferences such as "performance" or "features". But it wouldn't be beneficial IMHO, this would overcomplicate the system at this moment. The manufacturing cost and value can represent a good price measurement together - while the preferences and cost (+computer design type and marketing) can be good choosing factors of the product on the market.
This change means that you have to research VLSI with a much bigger care. Because that's how you can increase your profit per sold computer. It won't affect only how many computers you can create from the same PP, but it will increase the profit per computer as well.
Soon I will also change the pricing system a bit - so it will be a bit more flexible up, and much more flexible DOWN, when you set the price compared to the recommended price.
*Important! To have the new system work on saved games, open every marketed computer's screen (so those you are selling right now) and after that save the game. You will have to change your prices anyways. Otherwise, the old values will be used. New computers will have the new values automatically.
THANKS for your support on Steam Page and with the bugs! It means a lot! I read you a lot, sometimes I just need more time to answer!
Your friend,
Andris
VERSION 0.9.1.21 - Big balance change, Outdated Tech Filter and other stuff
Hi guys! Here is a new version for you:
0.9.1.21:
New Features:
You have a filter option on the Hardware Design Screen to filter outdated technology - so you won't have to memorize what is the best - but still you, have the option to use earlier tech in your hardware.
Steam Save Cloud enabled
Balance Changes:
You can create 20 building sites
The AI is even slower now than before. But it is really dependent on difficulty.
AI will survive for much longer.
The DPP of the world is greatly reduced. Probably most of you will have financial problems with older saved games, unfortunately. The best thing what you can do is to reduce the factory and laboratory budgets to survive in those games. You will have to expand your market size faster in new games.
Fixes/Other modifications:
Hardware and Computer list screens had several problems with the ordering features - fixed.
The Statistic graphs had issues with dates - fixed
In the Main Menu "Load" is changed to "Load Game".
Some scrollbars were buggy, so they were always "full". - Fixed
After Version 0.9.1.20 Radio Marketing checkboxes didn't work - fixed, and also I removed prestige as an option there.
I changed the name of "device sizes" such as "5.25-inch" into "5.25-inch bay" to make it more straightforward that it is a size standardization, not an exact device.
"Operating System" type fixed on the Hardware List Screen
I know guys, I know... the game is harder now. Don't worry if it will be too much for you, I will make it a bit easier and also I will create more difficulty levels soon.
The game at the start will be a bit slower later because I plan to create a state where you have much more restrictions what you can do - you will start in a garage next to a simple family house. The tutorial will use this time to teach you some stuff. Don't worry also, it won't be a really long thing, maybe some years.
I will probably start a new discussion, focusing on the GUI, because you gave me a lot of great feedback so far. I have 57 tasks in my to-do list that doesn't contain yet the features that I'd like to add to the base game. This is very cool, thank you! I'm always trying to prioritize.
Please support me on my Steam Page and in the Discussions as well just as you did so far! You are an amazing community! I'm very thankful guys!
Your friend,
Andris
VERSION 0.9.1.20 - GUI modifications
Hi guys, here is a new version for you!
0.9.1.20:
Our fellow member Trifler created a forum topic where I got plenty typo reports and some other GUI oriented advice. I've put nearly everything into this release. If you find anything - feel free to add there. (Thanks, Triffler and everybody!)
I got a request to resize some texts in the game, so they will be more readable. Unfortunately, the real solution (having sliders to re-size screens in the settings) isn't implemented yet, but I tried to increase the size and change the text color for the most of the smallest texts. I think people who can't read the texts now must have a not so big display, but I will make the re-size option available for them.
That's all for now, still, I have a lot of lines in my bug list/to-do list, don't worry I will take care of the other stuff as well.
Also, I got some nice ideas in the discussions. I can't answer to everything that I'd like to (especially not in the needed depth), but I really keep an eye on the stuff you write. So I'd like to encourage newcomers to participate!
Translations are also under progress, but I have some new features in my mind (some of them are from the discussions) that you will like.
Another thing that I'd like to mention that I will create a better endgame event with some victory illustrations and statistics for you. It's a shame that when you finish the game you don't really get any rewards, yet. I will change on this.
I'm still sick, unfortunately, but don't worry my head doesn't hurt, I can do programming, haha!
Thanks for your support, it really means a lot to me! I'm really glad that we are in the "very positive" review class now, I hope we will be able to keep it like that for a long time.
Your friend,
Andris
VERSION 0.9.1.19 - More Computer Illustrations, fixed Singularity
Hi guys,
Here is a new version for you! Soon I will talk about my future plans as well.
0.9.1.19:
Because of a bug you weren't able to reach the Tech Singularity and research some stuff - fixed.
Now you won't stuck with the first illustrations of Computers, you will get them all. Older computer illustrations and hardware illustrations won't be all correct automatically, only the newly created ones are _guaranteed_ to have the new illustrations.
Thanks for your support in the forums and also on the game's steam page. I really need your help, you rock!
