GDM Update 12 - Big Brother is Watching

Note..   To use the latest version you will need to delete previously unzipped files, and then download the new gdm_v12.7z file / unzip / run the gdm.exe file to play.  This new version does not require a fresh save to be used as no changes were made to any major structures, although if your using a version pre 11 I would highly recommend starting over to get the most out of the recent changes.

Content

This updates features no new content or visible changes for the player.  Sounds super exciting right?  Obviously this is not an exciting update for players however for the game as a whole especially in terms of balance this was a big update.

I have implemented a suite of tools / data collection making use of the web api I already have in place for the leader-boards I am now tracking all sorts of data from players game sessions.  As each year passes I am collecting all sorts of data which is then organized into multiple query-able lists where I can see the top the bottom the averages and more.

This data will be integral for balance moving forward.  There is currently no performance loss from this increased data collection, but as we move into better visuals if any performance gains are required I will re-visit this suite of tools.

They are currently not being used to watch for cheats or anything of that nature, but they could easily be adapted into an anti-cheat system for the finalized game.  Currently there only use is to check how easy or hard the game is for players to try and tune the balance.  This will also let me see if there any interesting ways to make money that I haven't accounted for and then balance those as well.

Ideally I would love the balance to be such that everything is a viable way to play / grow your company.  I want the player to feel like they have a choice as to how to proceed and I would like all types of play to be valid, especially when it comes to worker skills / manager perks I would like all of them to be viable options, and the only way to ensure they are is to have long play-throughs using different skills.  With this new set of tools I am hopping to be able to track some great data from different players and use that to make balance changes moving forward.

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT

After a lot of time going over my logic as well as talking to a few people I respect I have decided that my code is really strong, and with the risk of sounding arrogant I think my algorithms are really impressive.  I think the early / mid game code is really impressive offering a huge variety of player options including many original ideas as well as elements from other games / mods.

As such I have decided to call an end to this Technical Demo phase.

This does not mean I am taking this demo down or anything of that nature, it just means I will not be pushing this demo forward anymore than it already is.  

It's time to begin the next phase of development which will involve massive amounts of polish.  Were talking about moving to the new advanced office visuals / main menus / tutorials and all sorts of needed elements to push the game forward.

My hope is to have a more finalized demo on steam within a month or 2 depending on how long it takes me to create / implement the new visuals.

Please consider following my on twitter @hulgarth as I will be tweeting updates / gifs as I continue to work.  As well as anyone who plays the demo moving forward can leave me feedback / suggestions via itch or twitter  https://twitter.com/hulgarth

Also please consider wish-listing the game on steam to show your support as well as get an update for eventual launch later this year https://bit.ly/Gdm_steam

It has honestly been an incredible ride so far, and I have received more support / feedback then I ever expected.  The client in total has had over 300 downloads which is honestly pretty incredible for a no-body like me on itch and I truly appreciate everyone who has tried the demo and especially those who have sent me incredible bug reports / suggestions.  Some of those suggestions were the basis for some of the best original features already in the game, and I am very grateful for the help.

There is still a ton of work to be done, and I hope you will continue to follow development.  I hope that a more finalized demo will help gain even more attention / feedback.  After the demo is up I will be moving into coding the end game.  I have some really big ideas for a very involved and original end game and I can not wait to share it with you, but not before I am sure I can do what I plan.

Once again thank you so much for your continued support and interest, and I look forward to sharing the new visuals / systems that will be coming soon.  Please feel free to hit me up anytime on twitter or here or via email, I am now and will always be very open to hearing your ideas / complaints and I will do my best to improve the game until it as good as humanly possible.  I apologize if you prefer a different social media for getting updates such as Facebook / discord / reddit etc etc  but as a solo dev I can not put in the time to manage multiple social media, it would take to much time away from development that I am not willing to do.  As such I hope you like twitter as it's my favorite social media to use for updates as it lets me be very quick about posts as well as make use of gif's or small vid clips and the dev community on twitter is really great, and twitter lets me just make a quick post then get back to work with minimal interruption to my workflow.

Thank you and I hope to see you in the Steam Demo..