Hey!
Steam's algorithms noticed me somehow, and now I'm getting way more page views, wishlists, and feedback.
And I'm really happy about it.
You've thrown a ton of ideas at me on how to make the game better, and that's exactly what I want to talk about a little today. (The bugs you report - I'm fixing them, honestly! XD). With this post I want to show that I do use your ideas - I just can't get to everything at once). A little about the future.
This week the Early Access version of Project Manager SIM comes out on Steam. As I said, it's the same early game as in the demo, but with new mechanics, new items, your feedback taken into account, and simply better polished.
You can read about what's changing in my previous post:
BUT!
The early game isn't done yet. Let me tell you about the next update I'm planning.
"I AM A HUMAN" update! (late August - early September)
I've been working on this update for almost a month now. But alongside preparing the EA release, I won't manage to finish it in time. In the feedback form, players kept telling me that the character feels like a robot - he doesn't want anything and doesn't need anything. That shouldn't be the case - there's a reason SIM is in the title. It's supposed to be a PM simulator, not just a tycoon.
So I decided the early game wouldn't be complete without SIM mechanics. Here's what this update has in store:
Definitely coming:
1. Energy and mood stats for the PM.
The idea: just like your employees, the player will have energy and mood that affect gameplay. Low on energy? Sprint gets disabled, active skills are locked. Good mood? You charge up the team and their mood improves too. Mood will be affected by various events; energy will simply drop over the course of the day.
2. To raise your mood and energy, you can now eat, drink coffee, and so on too.
3. Home sweet home. How else to bring the needs system and the SIM part of the game to life? Right -by letting the player develop their own life too. Now you'll have a home (I'm still drawing it - badly). You'll be able to buy furniture for it and do activities there that affect you at work. For example, after buying a computer you'll be able to freelance a little to earn some extra money. Even the early game's final goal - buying a car - will help you get to work earlier. Now everything will carry a bit more meaning.
Most likely also in the update:
1. I want to make a few new events involving your employees. For example, if someone on your team has the Astrologer trait - let them give market predictions) Maybe I'll add a few events that play out over several steps.
2. PM burnout mechanic. Not sure about this one, because I don't understand how it could work. Still thinking it over - I'll probably push it to another update.
3. "Employee thoughts and conversations." I've already partly implemented the mechanic itself. Employees can now say something. But I want more situations and lines. I want to bring the office to life. You have to start small, though)
That's roughly how the update looks so far. I plan to release it 3–4–5 weeks after the EA launch. Let's say end of August. I draw very slowly + it depends on how many bugs I'll have to fix in the current version after EA goes live XD
What's after that?
After this update I want to move on to the mid-game. I won't go into detail here, but in a nutshell:
Expanding the current projects - more depth, new roles and specialists
A new project type (something like agile with a team, rather than assigning people to specific tasks)
Expanding the office. More people, new departments. I want to develop the HR and Sales department idea.
First automation (I'd like to let you hire other PMs)
New content in general (new events, customization, traits, and so on)
An interface for resource planning, or something like that
I don't know whether I'll do these big stages in one update or have to split them up, but that update should be packed with Project Management, not SIM.
I can't say anything concrete here, because it's too early to promise. But all of these things (broadly) were part of my original plan + they're what you often bring up in feedback. I don't want to show all my cards yet, because I'm scared to promise anything XD
I'd also like to touch on a few smaller things, since you bring them up often:
1. Difficulty.
I hear about this a lot. Yes, I'll definitely add difficulty levels in the future that affect the number of available projects, employee salaries, project payouts, and so on. But I haven't "balanced" the game the way I want yet. The problem is it's still missing a lot of planned mechanics. Right now it's also important to me that the game challenges me too, so it stays interesting to test. It may be too hard in places. But for now it'll stay that way. The game should force you to make decisions. I don't yet know how to do that without high difficulty.
2. Other bosses.
That's right, the boss is a jerk right now. That's by design. Working under him is hard/painfull. But it's kind of like real life in places, isn't it? I can't exactly make the boss be in the office 100% of the time XD. In the future I'll think about letting the player choose "which company to work at" -so there's a choice of bosses. One's a jerk, one's kind to people, one's something else. In theory that should affect gameplay.
3. Yes, projects for a specific role can run out.
Especially early on. And that forces you to make choices. Got a reeeally cool developer - hired the best one, with the best traits, and cheap too? Nobody promised there'd be work for him the next day. So think it through XD) You can sadly fire him. You can send him on unpaid leave or to training. Or you can just let him slack off and figure out how to earn back the money spent on his salary later. For now it stays this way, because it's a pretty realistic situation.
That's probably the main stuff that keeps coming up in feedback. I'll definitely be working on it! If you have any other questions - welcome to the discussions, write here or DM me, whatever's easiest for you.
And now I'm off to keep polishing the EA build - I've got literally a couple of days left) Though I feel like I'm ready) I'll be waiting for you, and thanks again for the support and interest!