GDM Ver 9.0 - Bigger is Better

Version 9.0 is Live

To play this version you will need to remove all previous unzipped files, then download the new gdm_v9_.7z file and unzip it and run GDM.exe to play.  Note this new version may have issues with older saves due to some structure changes in some of the saved data.  For the most part it should work alright, but DLC and console porting may have issues due to structure changes in the archive structure.   I would recommend starting a fresh game, but you do you.

Features

This update which is rather large in scale contains 3 major additions to the current content.  I apologize for the length of time this update took, but due to holidays + cyber-punk + scope of the update, it's taken some time to achieve, but I believe it's well worth the wait.

Feature 1:  Office 3

I have added the 3rd office, this office can accommodate up to 6 workers, which allows you to construct large games.  This office also has a board room beside the main office which will be used for dynamic events from your workers. 

I had a small showcase of the event system on twitter, but this system is still in it's infancy.  I have yet to implement it into the game completely, as I want it to be meaningful, but also not to intrusive.  It's purpose is to add some spice to your basic play-through, and drive you to create new games in different genres / topics.  Which honestly is a difficult task as most people who are good at these types of games know how easy it is to just go back and forth between a few games you know score well.  I am aiming to push you into reacting and thinking on your feet, and ideally drive you to expand the types of games you make through various rewards and incentives.  Much more on this topic will be covered in future updates / devlogs as development moves towards "end game" content, which I really have big plans for as I believe end game is one area these types of games tend to over-look.  I plan to do the opposite and add an interesting and dynamic end-game scenario using the Ai companies and some ideas I can't even articulate into words yet, but soon..

The upgrades for office 3 are temporarily set to off as I am yet to balance them.  After I gather more play data from office 3 It will be easier to set meaningful values for the upgrades in office 3.  The upgrades for office 2 are still in full affect, but office 3's are currently off.  I will be turning these on in a small update to follow this one shortly.

Feature 2:  DLC

I have already shared in length my current setup for creating DLC.  The concepts have not changed since its iteration a short while back, so as such I will just link to that log here:  https://hulgarth.itch.io/gdm/devlog/202877/gdm-dlc-creation-deets  If you wish to see the details surrounding DLC please view that page.  

Feature 3:  Console Porting

Large games have the ability to port to the other 2 consoles on the market that were not used in the games creation.  This can only be done once, and it can only be done while the console used to create the game is still active on the market Ie. If you made a game with console 1 Ver 2.0  but now the console 1 Ver 3.0 is on the market then you can not port that 2.0 game to the other 3.0 console versions.  Console versions shift every 3-4 years, so there is plenty of time to port a current game, but theirs no going back 5 years and porting an old game.  Which honestly I think makes sense based on reality.  A remake of an older game could be possible, but I have yet to implement that system, but it is on the table.

Console porting was made to be very simple and clean.  You choose to port a game from your archived game lists the same way you create DLC or sequels.  You are then met with a small screen showing you the games total bubbles / cost as well as the needed bubbles for the port and the port cost.  If you do not own a license for the other consoles you are porting to this charge will be added when you decide to create the port.

Once you commit to the port, a special project begins (special skills work here Ie Rush) and your team is required to create 1/3rd of the total bubbles of the base project, which if you use any skills is a short period of time depending on how advanced your game was.  Upon completion I am just paying you out immediately.  I considered putting the game back on sale for 12 weeks or so and trickling in the income, but at the end of the day I thought instant sales felt better for this feature.  Of course this is subject to change if players feel it would be better to have it sell over xx weeks instead. 

The quality of the original game has a large impact on the port sales.  This combined with the market shares of the other consoles, as well as the number of units your base game sold is used to derive sales for the port.  This is meant to simulate real life in the sense that if you heard a game was a piece of shit, you wouldn't buy the port to your system, but if you heard god of war was 10/10 and then it came to PC you would be buying it as a PC player.. I know I would :P

Basically if the game you made scored really well, then a port will make you money and be very worth doing the one time that you can before systems version change.  If the game scored poorly then you will likely lose money or break even on a port, and you may wish to not do so for those missed games.

Whats Next

Next update version 10 will be named "The great expanse"  If you can't guess the content of the update from the name, it will feature the expansion on several implemented systems that are waiting for more data.   These systems are things like the milestones where we only have a few milestones atm, the fact you can only use model fem 1 as your base character etc etc  These systems will be seeing major expansions in the coming weeks.  I plan to flesh out several systems in the next update, which you can expect to see sometime in January hopefully early January.

After the next update I plan to shift gears and prepare a short more finalized demo of the small office with 1 worker and just small games.  In addition to a more finalized visual I plan to add tutorials and an intro for this demo.   This demo will be featured on Steam in hopes of increasing visibility with tycoon fans.  Steam has really been pushing the demo scene lately, and I want in on it.  I can't give dates, but I plan to be ready for steam's next big demo event where you can play demos and chat to developers.  It sounds like a ton of fun and I hope to have a short demo ready for the next event if possible.

After these updates / events my focus will shift to "End Game" content, and of course during all stages of updates and development I will be ready to smash any bugs that arise as well as tweak balance based on feedback and or make changes as necessary.

Thank you so much for being a part of the on-going development of what I hope to be the deepest and greatest game dev simulation game ever made.  Please consider adding it to your steam wish list if you have not already, your support would be very much appreciated.  

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1478350/Game_Dev_Masters/