Hello Tycoons,
3 months have passed so I think it is really time to give you news about the development here as well. (remember that we have a discord channel when you can talk with me and the community and get even day to day updates about the game etc.)
Discord: https://discord.gg/VbUQNTd
RoadMap: http://www.computertycoon.com/ROADMAP/Roadmap.html
I'm working on fundamental changes. The last update changed how market prices and research prices are calculated - but unfortunately, it was not enough to really stop the snowball effect.
There are also other issues identified by the community and I'm trying to address them. Here are the biggest problems as of now:
Problems:
1 - Most players feel like the expansion is too fast and too important compared to the actual product side of the game.
2 - There is still a snowball effect problem (a given player can generate an advantage exponentially by expanding faster than the others - even tho the last update made the market and research prices decreasing drastically as someone enters/invents - unfortunately it was not enough).
3 - The previous system of how logistics and expansion work are not "realistic" enough. (Even tho Computer Tycoon is not a simulation game, but a strategy game). Basically the problem is that you have to pay a big chunk of money in the first place to start selling in a market.
4 - Marketing is not important enough. A good player can easily win the game without not touching the marketing features. Also, the current marketing system is too complex and not straightforward enough. Actually points 4 and 5 are part of why 3 as a problem exists.
5 - There are too many markets. It is hard to manage all of them!
6 - There is an ugly system problem around releasing the same computers over and over again. Even tho there is an upper limit of customers per market in the game, by releasing the same model over and over (having the same model with different names on the market at the same time), will effectively let alone increase your sales/income - which is obviously a problem.
And what are the fundamental changes? How am I trying to solve these issues?
- You won't have to pay an upfront fee to enter into a country. Moving into a market and starting to sell will cost only LPs. After you have paid with your LPs, you will sell via resellers of the market. But there is a price, these resellers will cut their share from your income in the market, and different countries will have different distributor cuts (which does not depend on the economy level of the country). This will make expansion less expensive for all the players, decreasing the snowball effect. Countries will also have Taxes. So when you first decide where you wanna sell, you have to check taxes and the reseller cut.
- The reseller system won't work like "you pay 4 LPs for the USA then you are selling for all the population". One LP point will likely represent being able to cover 1 million people, so a bigger country will reach even hundreds of LP points to be fully covered, but still, you will be able to start selling there with even 1LP.
- You also have the opportunity to develop your own distribution network in a market. It will have different levels which will cost you a monthly fee to upkeep and an upfront fee to build. But you will also have the possibility to sell these. Under normal (!) circumstances, the value of this network of yours will increase. So it will also serve as a long time "real-estate" investment. It will worth building a network like that if you have enough sales, because the cost of the network is fixed and constant, so blindly building it is not a good idea, also your own network won't be able to replace the resellers completely.
- Taxation depends on the leadership of the country. You will have the chance to make agreements with the govs. - This is still pretty flexible, likely will come only later.
- This system is obviously more realistic, too. But a problem is that it will need more management from the player's side. For that reason, we will have an extra country list where you can manage only this aspect. Also, there is a new map mode called "Simplified Map". In this one, you have only regional markets - so way less. But I'd like to mention here too, that your company shouldn't be too much focused on small markets anyways. Big businesses are not that concerned about small possibilities, there the reseller system is more than enough.
- The whole previous marketing system is removed from the game. You hated it and I've heard you! The system still works with different channels such as billboards, newspapers, tv, radio or the internet, but instead of these having a different way of usage (different area restrictions, audience restrictions, and effects) this time you will just have to create "marketing campaigns" which will have a "target" (a computer or hardware), they will have an effect in all countries, and these campaigns will contain radio, tv, etc. in a ratio that you've set up yourself. The effectivity and the channels and their prices will change as time goes. So the actual decision point will be shifted to find the most effective and cheapest combination all the time. The big difference is really in the fact that you will aim products from now on with your campaigns.
- And... the effect of these marketing campaigns will be significant on your products. Without a marketing campaign, you will sell way less than before! Without them, you will fail. This also has a good effect on problem 6. Because marketing campaigns will make product releases more expensive, re-releasing the same thing again and again won't be lucrative (even creating a computer is not free from now on). Also, actually you won't be able to just copy and release the same products - because new checks are in place. Also, there is a new limitation of how many products per category can you have on the market at the same time. Problem 6 would need a whole article let alone - so I will leave here only this for now.
These together will hopefully create a more balanced and interesting experience.
Other big changes?
- I already mentioned that we have a new simplified map. Many have asked for it, so there you go! But it is not all, you also have a "historical map" too (it is already implemented). Remember that it doesn't mean completely historical gameplay. You will be still able to alter computer history by having a faster research speed then real companies had, the AI players won't go bankrupt just because of real-life competition died during a given era. Instead, you have a historically more accurate map, with historical events, economy levels, population, and borders. Even communism is back, which will add a new twist to the game. Especially after I've implemented the ways you can interact with governments (not yet!).
- Product parameters are more important and prices are less important now than before. Actually this could have been "problem 7" in the list above. Many complained that the balance between these was not good enough.
- The statistics screen is reworked to have tabs, also its performance is greatly optimized.
- The Computer Design screen is also reworked. Now you won't have to save a prototype manually, it will be saved automatically. Many didn't see that there is a "back to edit" button on the computer list screen, which put you back on your previous system to continue designing it (and they thought that they have to restart the whole process from scratch). Now, these players will see their last work on the computer list anyways. It is simpler and more straightforward now.
Aaaand many others.
Unfortunately, while many things are already in the game, I cannot upload it, because the game is kind of unplayable in this state now. These systems all overlap - therefore they have to be changed/adjusted together.
Of course, I'm doing my best to show progress!
Please join my discord server or the forums if you have any feedback. This is what makes the game better and better.
Your friend,
Andris