Hello Tycoons,
VERSION 0.9.9.17 is released into the Open Beta Branch!
As usually I'm releasing the new build into the Open Beta Branch instead of the Default Branch on Steam. This version contains a new feature and many adjustments to the game which has a broad and deep effect to the game. As a solo developer I try my best to plan out and test things - but the game is just too big to release it into the normal branch, I need your bugreports and feedback on it.
The data structure has changed which means that your current saves will no longer work. Of course, you can still finish your games on the Default Branch and when the transition happens and this version goes live into the Default Branch I will yet again create a legacy branch for 0.9.9.16 (as I will do that from now on every time when backwards compatibility is not sustained).
Wanna play the Open Beta Branch version? Here's how to do that. Don't worry, it's not complicated: https://steamcommunity.com/app/686680/discussions/0/4031350783733793401/
(This is where you can opt in into different versions/branches)
The CTN Feature
This new version introduces the CTN, or Computer Tycoon News, feature.
I have already talked about this feature several times, but let me quickly recap it. Computer Tycoon is inspired by classic games such as Master of Orion, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Civilization, Europa Universalis, and Game Dev Tycoon.
The game’s diplomacy system is a mixture of Master of Orion and Civilization, but there was another feature from Master of Orion that I wanted to recreate: its news reports, which periodically covered events across the galaxy. They told you about empires growing stronger, random events taking place, and how the different empires were competing with one another.
Computer Tycoon needed a similar system not only because I think it is cool, but also because it makes the game world feel more immersive and responsive. It helps the player understand how they are doing compared to their opponents and what is currently happening around them.
The news is divided into five categories: Historical Events, Random Events, Player Interactions, Milestones, and Rankings.
Only some of these stories are considered breaking news. These will pause the game and require your immediate attention. Most stories are regular broadcast news, reported only once per year. You can also disable any of the categories in the options if you do not want to see them.
Historical Events
cover things that happened in real life. They include fun facts and interesting moments from history, such as the first email, the first computer virus, the collapse of the Soviet Union on the Historical Map, and China opening its markets.
These stories may eventually feel a little repetitive, so this will probably be the first category some players disable. Still, I would encourage everyone to leave it enabled, as I tried my best to make these stories both nostalgic and sprinkled with humor.
Random Events
are not new to the game, but it makes a lot of sense to include them in CTN. However, not every random event is covered, since some events are not really newsworthy. For example, your manager becoming inspired and gaining experience does not need to appear on the news.
If you disable this category, random events will continue to be reported through the regular random-event pop-up window.
Player Interaction news reports when an opponent goes bankrupt, companies begin researching together, rivals emerge, or someone gets caught doing something shady.
Some stories involving two companies also include a comment from a third company to make the report feel more immersive. Their opinion of the event, as well as their relationship with the company responsible, will influence what they say.
Milestones
include events such as reaching a certain number of sellers, experiencing financial trouble, or unlocking a new computer design type.
Rankings
feature magazines publishing lists of the best computers, along with rankings based on factors such as research strength and market share.
Other Changes
Logistics
From now on, every manager assigned to the passive Logistics task will not only increase the selected department’s LP output, but also reduce the time required to distribute or remove an LP.
By default, distributing an LP takes 25 days, while removing one from a market takes 15 days. Every manager on Logistics will decrease these by 3 days.
This will help you catch up with your opponents when you fall behind, or give you a useful boost during the early game.
SPP Changes
An earlier issue was that players did not always notice when their maximum SPP increased and their factories began filling the newly available capacity. Since this additional factory activity costs money, players would simply see their profits decrease, sometimes even turning negative, without understanding why.
To make this clearer, I have added a small notification element next to the Main Production Bar that displays the current state of the SPP system. It shows when the reserve is full, when it is being replenished, and when the system is paused.
Players can now pause the system as well. This allows you to intentionally use up your stored SPP for a temporary increase in profits, while also preventing your factories from trying to replenish it again.
CPU/GPU Changes
CPU and GPU performance calculations have been redesigned to make cache and memory choices much more important.
Under the new system, clock speed and core count determine the basic processing power of a CPU or GPU. Cache and memory then determine how effectively that processing power can be used.
For CPUs, performance depends on:
CPU clock speed
Number of CPU cores
Cache size
Cache speed
A larger and faster cache can now provide a major performance increase. With maximum cache and cache technology matching the speed of the CPU, the cache can add up to 100% of the CPU cores' basic performance. Even faster cache technology can increase this further, up to approximately 125%.
For GPUs, performance depends on:
GPU clock speed
Number of GPU cores
Video-memory size
Video-memory speed
Graphics memory works similarly, but represents one shared pool of video memory rather than cache assigned to individual cores. A powerful GPU needs enough fast memory to keep its graphics cores supplied with data.
With maximum video memory and memory technology matching the GPU's speed, video memory can add up to 100% of the GPU cores' basic performance. Faster memory technology can increase this further, up to approximately 125%.
Larger cache and memory sizes have diminishing returns. Even moderate amounts are useful, but the final steps toward maximum capacity become progressively less efficient.
These changes make processor and graphics-card design more balanced and meaningful. High clock speeds and large numbers of cores are still powerful, but they now need suitable cache or memory technology to reach their full potential.
I've also made the last CPU techs after multicore128 to have 128 cores by default.
Cooling, Removable Media, Mobo - AGP, PCI etc. Changes
Cooling tech stats were changed and in general boosted.
I've nerfed removable media techs - because they could easily dominate performance in mid game. It's been requested for a long time now. I thouched storage performance as well, and boosted CPU performance values.
In earlier versions, removable media received only a speed boost from interface technologies such as AGP or PCI, but no feature points. This was intentional, but I could not communicate it clearly enough in the game. From now on, these technologies will also provide feature points to the motherboard.
Difficulty
A recurring issue is that players sometimes choose a difficulty level that does not match their skills.
Some players select a level that is too easy, but never consider that they might be dominating simply because of the difficulty setting. As a result, they may never think about trying a harder one. I have added a message that congratulates these players and lets them know that their skills are more than sufficient for a higher difficulty level.
I have also revised the difficulty levels and their descriptions. In addition, I have made several changes to the AI. Companies will now try harder to recover from difficult situations, but they will also go bankrupt sooner when they are in serious trouble. Previously, they often became smaller, reduced their activity, saved money, and slowly escaped the situation by turtling.
I have increased the players’ starting money, which is probably the most noticeable change at the beginning of a game. I have also slightly reduced taxes and reseller cuts.
I hope these changes shift the difficulty in a direction where surviving the early game is less punishing, while the game remains challenging later on.
Localizations
Don't worry, I hear you! :)
Holy! The game's text file is already longer than the first Harry Potter book... Read this, if you'd like to know more about localizations: LINK
I'm working on the solution that we will use to create the localizations for the game. I will run my own weblate server. PLEASE keep volunteering via email as my above linked forum thread asks you - if you wanna be involved.
The game now contains around 70,000 words, which is again... roughly the size of a Harry Potter book. Since the game isn't generating enough revenue to support professional translators, I will most likely have to rely on community translations for all target languages. I wanted to have professionals for Mandarin and German at least, but it is what it is. Since CT is a passion project I'm happy to offer anything instead of nothing.
That said, this process cannot begin until the texts are finalized. Please understand that I'm developing the game alone, and even managing the English text is already a significant amount of work, especially when volunteers are involved. Continuously changing texts while translations are being worked on would create a lot of unnecessary complications, so that's something I want to avoid.
Ending Words
Please keep the feedback coming, I really need it! Thank you very much for all the support and the patience! ^^
* Also thank you so much for the reviews, they help a LOT! *
Have a lot of FUN, my friends!
Andris aka Progorion
FULL CHANGE LIST
This new version introduces the CTN, or Computer Tycoon News, feature.
From now on, every manager assigned to the passive Logistics task will not only increase the selected department’s LP output, but also reduce the time required to distribute or remove an LP.
By default, distributing an LP takes 25 days, while removing one from a market takes 15 days. Every manager on Logistics will decrease these by 3 days.
This will help you catch up with your opponents when you fall behind, or give you a useful boost during the early game.
Difficulty level and their descriptions have been changed
I have added a small notification element next to the Main Production Bar that displays the current state of the SPP system. It shows when the reserve is full, when it is being replenished, and when the system is paused.
Players can now pause the system as well. This allows you to intentionally use up your stored SPP for a temporary increase in profits, while also preventing your factories from trying to replenish it again.
Cooling tech stats were changed and in general boosted.
CPU and GPU performance calculations have been redesigned to make cache and memory choices much more important.
I've nerfed removable media techs - because they could easily dominate performance in mid game. It's been requested for a long time now. I thouched storage performance as well, and boosted CPU performance values.
Previously, to reorder items in a scroll view, you had to click the “-” symbol. From now on, you can also click the item’s icon or name.
From now on Harware and Computer prices change only if you leave the price field or press enter. This forbids temporary values affecting your sales if the game is not stopped.
In earlier versions, removable media received only a speed boost from interface technologies such as AGP or PCI, but no feature points. This was intentional, but I could not communicate it clearly enough in the game. From now on, these technologies will also provide feature points to the motherboard.
I have updated the hints for the new tech/software/game counters on the computer designer hovering over the parts - so that they are easier to understand.
I've changed the pricing window's title to "PC COMPONENT RETAIL PRICING" when the player sets prices for PC parts - to make it more understandable (hinting that only PC parts can be sold separately).
BugFixes
When hovering over the cash flow UI element at the top of the screen, the cash flow window and the element’s tooltip appeared on top of each other. Fixed.
The scrollbar in the Load Window was extremely slow and sluggish when opened from within an active game. Fixed.
The notification ball indicating that a computer prototype was ready to be released did not refresh automatically after the product was put on the market. The player had to wait for another day to pass. Fixed.
The "your market should be bigger" notification ball was not animated to move up and down. Fixed
At resolutions of 2560×1080 or wider, the Settings Menu could sometimes be taller than the player’s screen when first opened. Fixed.
When opening a dropdown (Settings / Graphics) you need to select an option or you couldn't close it. Now you can also click out from it, or click on the original value. Fixed
In the Menu, when opening the Information Window, it auto-scrolled to to the middle. The same error was present on the Game Load Window. Fixed
The "Information and News" screen's slider could be super slow sometimes when only using the mouse wheel. Fixed
The Computer Design delete button didn't refresh the Computer List automatically. Fixed
The site department cost calculation was sometimes displayed incorrectly. In some cases, it did not include the upkeep cost of the site itself. Although this cost is very small compared to department expenses, its omission made the entire calculation appear faulty when using the department budget sliders. This was only a visual issue. Fixed.
After talking with an opponent, pressing Space did not restore the timer to its previous speed. Fixed.
I have changed the Research Tree’s background to a softer color because some players said the previous one hurt their eyes.
Negative heat values in the Research Queue were displayed with excessive decimal places, such as -5.00000. They are now displayed as -5.0.
The Repeat button for software and games did not work when there were no existing software or game products available on the market for the selected year. However, the UI did not explain this, so the button simply appeared to do nothing.
The text has now been updated, and the Repeat button is disabled whenever no suitable product is available for that year.
The ambient beach sound effect in the CEO Home screen continued playing after leaving the screen. Fixed.
The Load menu did not display saved games properly on super-ultrawide screens. The issue affected the Load menu accessed from the main menu, but disappeared when the resolution was changed to a narrower aspect ratio. Fixed.
In some cases, the “OBS” tag appeared on technologies while designing new hardware even though those technologies were only obsolete for certain design types. For example, a technology could be obsolete for Home Computers but still remain the best available option for Handhelds if the next technology in the sequence was not compatible with them. Fixed (now that tag considers the design type as well)
On some computers, saving the game could make it briefly unresponsive. Fixed.
The Save Game Window's input box was blurry. Fixed
After saving a game and returning to the main menu, the new save did not appear in the Load list unless the game was restarted or the Load menu had first been opened from within the game. Fixed.
In version 0.9.9.16, when attempting to delete a save file from the main menu, the confirmation window appeared behind the Load Game window. Players had to close the Load Game window before they could confirm the deletion. Fixed.
When opening a trade offer from a Site screen, the site’s country flag and also from the CEO Office the “What Is This?” window remained visible on the Trade screen. Fixed.
A storage-related bug caused incorrect cost and capacity calculations when certain technologies, such as the Magnetoresistive Head and SCD, were combined. Fixed.
In rare cases, a country’s population could reset after reaching extremely high values. Fixed.
If the player switched extremely quickly between adjacent markets in the Market List, they could sometimes distribute LP or build sites in closed markets. Fixed.
The earlier name of “Lithium Batteries” was too long to display properly in some parts of the UI, so it was shortened to “Lithium Battery.” Fixed.
The input box for the autosave frequency in the settings did affect the game's timer buttons. Fixed
When writing in the input box on the Save Game screen the research tree was affected by wasd characters. Fixed
The middle mouse button (wheel usually) didn't refresh the lines between the nodes on the research tree when the player used it to move around there. Fixed
The current system lets you set Logistics points just as the previous one, but instead of one point opening up the whole population of a market - it will just give you access to 12m people there. I had to change the effects of manager skills and change the out of your departments to make it work right. Also, it takes time to allocate/deallocate a point in a market. It is both a more realistic and balanced/chilled mechanic now. On the other hand, you have to be more strategic with where you go since you cannot just redistribute your efforts on a single day anymore.
The AI players will be now more inclined to get into high-profit markets - but that also offers you a safe line in poorer countries. You either get into the markets where potential profits are higher - or you can go where there is not that much competition - of course until everybody gets everywhere slowly.
This new screen (which is actually a new tab on the Market Survey Window) helps you to know if you are profitable or not in a given market. Tells you how much you've spent here and why, and of course how much you make. The economy/business simulation behind Computer Tycoon is simplified compared to reality but is already way more complex than what most players are used to, and isn't trivial to comprehend - so we needed that one.
You don't just see the total income/total expenses and your total profits, but your profit per 1 million people in the market. This number helps you to compare the different markets' profitability. This helps for example in deciding where you should send your accountants to reduce taxes, or where should you stop selling computers when you don't have enough PP, or helps to decide if you should move to a new empty market instead of this one.
Some costs are averaged. For example, how much does a computer that you've just sold here cost? It depends on where it was manufactured, but when you think about the profitability of this market or another market, this shouldn't be a factor, as it is not dependent on this market. So, the production cost of your computers is averaged. But your Sales Tax or Reseller Cut is very specific to this market and isn't average. (If you hover over the labels on the screen, you will get explanations, don't worry).
Also, you see a Local Market Profit and a Global Company Profit separately. The difference is that the first one doesn't include any costs that are not directly connected to this market. For example, when you have to pay Salaries to Managers which are not working here or are not working where the computers that you sell here are made. But still, they mean an expense, and you should know if this country can pay for them. Right? Now it is also not a trivial thing, but the solution here is that you can see your "Local Market Costs and Profits" plus your "Global Costs and Profits", too - the latter including an averaged amount by those as well, where the proportion of these is dependent on the population of the country you are in. It means that your Global Company Profit being negative doesn't mean automatically that you don't make a profit here. It just means that if that was your only country, then you wouldn't and that this market might decrease your profit margin on computers sold.
Now obviously if your Local market Profit is negative, then you make a loss in that market, but it still doesn't mean that you cannot have a reason to be there (like simply pushing out your opponent for example).
This screen helps you to compare your computer with other computers and also answers questions that might concern you when you'd like to know why your computer sells... or doesn't sell. You see the two most popular computers (of your opponents) sold in your markets, you see your and those computers' ranks in the different attributes and their price matrixes. But you also see how many markets you have where you are the sole company selling computers etc.
On this screen, you can see the 4 most popular computers in the given market, and a pie chart with the top 10, showing their sales figures. Before this screen you had to check where your opponents are selling, to know what computers you are competing with, in a market. This screen helps in that regard a lot. Tho after a while you will all sell everywhere, so it won't be so much of an issue, as the next major update will give you the ability to make deals with your opponents where you sell or don't sell, the screen won't lose its relevance then during late-game.
Also, that pie chart is just fun to see... isn't it? Of course, you can set which players and design types are shown on the screen.
I hope that these additions will greatly improve the playability of the game before I add new systems to it. Other than these, there are other smaller changes, such as a new little window giving tips on the research screen - and of course, I've fixed bugs as well.
