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Post by Admin on Oct 28, 2019 18:54:24 GMT
I'm always careful with estimates, but I will most likely start working part time in January to do a doctors thesis. This should leave me with a bit more free time, so I will hope I'll have a playable Alpha Version out by early 2020.
Absolutely. You can expect a video in the next couple of days.
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Post by nighteye424 on Nov 1, 2019 0:42:05 GMT
Good news, guys! I decided to tackle the most daunting task still on the to-do list... well, you can save and load the game now. I have never been happier I made the switch to unity. I remember struggling with this for weeks, if not months back when the game was still developed with visual studio. This time it only took me a couple of hours to set everything up (and I spent half of those hours fighting with the UI). This was the last major hurdle. Now it's only about adding a couple of smaller features and then refining, tweaking, polishing an balancing. This is the most exciting news yet! Keep up the amazing work!
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Post by Admin on Nov 22, 2019 9:58:28 GMT
No fancy screenshots today, but I manged to optimize saving. It used to take over a minute (pretty unacceptable) to save and load. With the new method it only takes about 2 seconds. Also did a lot of "cleaning up" during the last couple of days, fixing a couple of UI bugs. Good progress overall this week.
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Post by Admin on Nov 30, 2019 12:36:25 GMT
Making good progress right now:
I added Trends. Got the idea from several video game tycoons. The game picks 5 random topics that are popular with the audience (giving your movie a box office boost) and 5 random topics that are unpopular. You can try chasing trends, but the topics are replaced once in a while so you never know if the topic will still be popular by the time your movie is ready for release. Quick question for you guys: when trendy topics disappear, should the bonus just go away or do you want some kind of fatigue happening? Right now topics just loose their bonus, but I think it might be better if the instead go to the negative trends list. You know... it used to be super popular, but now it's overdone and people are tired of it, so they are no longer interested in these kind of movies.
I second thing I'm currently working on is a financial overview. It's a management game after all. Not the most exciting feature, but I guess you guys should have a way to check your income and expenditure somehow.
Here is a short overview of my to-do list: - Finish Franchises (about 70% done) - Expand Events (about 50% done) - Expand Financial Overview (80% done) - Add DVDs - Add Loans - Add Actors/Directors willingness to join a project (big name actors are more picky and will only join big or high quality productions) - Add Review System
There are a couple of nice to have feature that might or might not make it into the game for alpha release. Some of them I want to discuss with you first before adding them to the game.
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Post by JoeGuest on Dec 1, 2019 11:16:56 GMT
Exciting! I personally like the idea of a fatigue post trend because it makes chasing trends risky - without it, there's no real downside.
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Post by bunkerdost on Dec 1, 2019 11:49:49 GMT
Very good ideas! Can't wait!
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Post by kike22309 on Dec 2, 2019 5:06:45 GMT
Actor/Director willingness to join a project is crucial, so it is not just Fantasy-Casting. I assume the Relationships between the Talent also is important. For example, if a project is of slightly lower quality than what an Actor would usually accept, but the director or screenwriter is a friend of him/her, he could still accept. (think Movie 43 for example. Hugh Jackman, Dennis Quaid, Greg Kinnear, Kate Winslet, Liev Schreiber, Naomi Watts, Chris Pratt, Emma Stone, Richard Gere, Uma Thurman, Gerard Butler, Halle Berry...hell...there's shitloads of talent in this movie, that I would put well above a piece of shit movie like this. But someone had to be friends with them to get them to sign on. I can't believe that anyone of those, would read the script for that movie and willingly sign on.)
Also a Question. Or rather a suggestion. Since you already make Random-Events. I think there should be some events of a Talent spending too much, or the IRS came down on them and now they need to make money, so they will accept way more work and way more lower-brow projects, to pay off their debt. Think Nicholas Cage, Wesley Snipes or Cuba Gooding Jr.)
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Post by sythushd on Dec 2, 2019 5:12:02 GMT
Yeah, these are great. So after a movie ends it's run at the box office. Can we choose to release it on DVD, Blu-Ray, Streaming? And also re-release it in theaters after a certain amount of years? The potential of depth in just the post-release distribution methods is insane. Potentially even being able to make their own streaming service alas Disney Plus and HBO Max.
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Post by Admin on Dec 2, 2019 15:06:20 GMT
Yeah, these are great. So after a movie ends it's run at the box office. Can we choose to release it on DVD, Blu-Ray, Streaming? And also re-release it in theaters after a certain amount of years? The potential of depth in just the post-release distribution methods is insane. Potentially even being able to make their own streaming service alas Disney Plus and HBO Max. I'm currently researching these topics. It's probably going to be pretty streamlined in the Alpha version. Once the movie is out of the cinemas it will generate some extra income via dvd and tv/streaming rights, the amount depends on the success of the movie. Eventually more control over that (how many dvds to print, what special features to add, etc.) would be a cool addition, but I would have to come up with a way to make it gameplay relevant (That's my motto: no empty choices). That's what I had in mind. The main factor will be the quality of the script, our studios reputation and, in case of actors, how big the role is. But yes, the relationships between the people involved will also have influence, both positive or negative (More likely to join if a friend, lover or family member is already on board, less likely if it's a ex-lover/ex-spouse or enemy). Then there are three options: The person wants to join the project, the person doesn't want to join the project under any circumstances or the person is undecided. In the last case that person will make extra demand like a higher salary or script changes to make the offered part more important in the script. If you agree to their demand you can sign them on.
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Post by Admin on Dec 8, 2019 16:57:14 GMT
Hey guys, my week of vacation as highly productive and I thought you might be interested to see some of the progress. I managed to solve a problem/bug I had for months. You were able to set a release date in the past, resulting in the movie to never be released. This is now no longer an issue. Dates in the past are now also highlighted red in the calendar, possible dates are green. Buy scripts on the market. I think this might have been in the video I posted, but I still wanted to mention it. When I planned this feature a while ago I asked you guys if you wanted the script to be randomly generated or if they should come from a database. Most of you wanted randomly generated, but I just had so much fun coming up with script ideas (Also the game still generates some scripts that are just such an absurd mix of genre, themes and setting that it was immersion breaking. I'm working on that aspect, trying to make the generator "smarter" though) that I decided they will come from a database and will only be generated if you manage to use them all up in your play-through. The quality of these script still varies from game to game, so there are no go-to box office hits. Next big feature are trends. Certain topics will be especially popular(or unpopular) with the audience. Movies with these topics will get a bonus at the box office, but chasing trends can be risky since people will tire of trends making these topics really unpopular for a while. Random events are an on-going process, but I added a ton in the past week. Most of them rea "flavor" events. They have little impact on the gameplay, but if you pay attention to them you can keep up with the current events in the industry. It helps a lot with immersion, really adding to the "simulated hollywood experience" I'm aiming for. Not very interesting to look at, but a vital part of a management game and pretty tricky so set up: Financial overview. Do you guys think it needs more color? Red text for losses, green text for income? Another unexciting but important feature. You can now take loans. Something we've talked about in the forum not long ago. You can no longer fantasy cast. The willingness of an actor to join a project depends on his/her fame, the script quality, the directors fame and a couple of other things like relationships with the people already hired for the project. Sometimes actors are on the fence and will make extra demands to join your project, like bigger parts or more money.
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Post by nighteye424 on Dec 8, 2019 17:25:29 GMT
I think that color coded finances would be useful and should be added. I have question, how will movie extras work?
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Post by Admin on Dec 8, 2019 17:46:36 GMT
They really don't play an important role. Consider them included in the production budget.
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Post by bunkerdost on Dec 8, 2019 21:18:33 GMT
Congratulations!
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Post by bgoldey on Dec 9, 2019 16:53:14 GMT
Looking good - agree colour coordinating the finances screen will make it much easier to keep track and also nicer to look at.
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Post by pepperpirate on Dec 10, 2019 3:05:11 GMT
Any possibility of having optional currency symbols? As much as I love the Euro, I'd love the option to be able to change my currency symbol - like the dollar symbol ($)
Above all else, I am so happy to see this evolving and I hate how every time I make a comment, it's a needy suggestion hahaha
I also disagree with the idea of "Fantasy Casting" - if there's anything this game needs, it's a sandbox mode to EXPLORE the fantasy casting. In many of these film tycoons, I enjoy having the option to fantasy-cast because hell, it's my single-player experience and I want Ewan McGregor as Tony Stark/Iron Man. I would love a campaign mode that gives you a set amount, then you must work with the mechanics - but a sandbox mode to mess around in. Actor/Director Willingness is a unique concept, however, and I support the heck out of it. I believe Hollywood Movie Studio had a similar concept, however it was hardcoded in sequel contracts - and the contracts would change behind the scenes without any prompts. Slightly irritating.
Nagging complaints aside, this is coming along beautifully and turning into a game I would love to support.
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