Film Studio Tycoon 2: Dev Diary 0
Oct 13, 2023 15:11:33 GMT
spacekid, melocarma, and 4 more like this
Post by Admin on Oct 13, 2023 15:11:33 GMT
It might not be a smart idea to announce this project so early, but I'm excited and I want to share that with you. I have started development of Film Studio Tycoon 2 about 2 week ago. Film Studio Tycoon has become such a convoluted mess of spaghetti code (mostly due to the fact that I was very new to programming when I started) that updating and even just bug fixing and balancing became nearly impossible. So we are going to start fresh and with that fresh start there are going to be some changes and some (I think very cool new features).
Here is a short summary of my vision of Film Studio Tycoon 2!
Make History
The be far most often requested feature was "can we please choose the start date". Okay guys, but if we do that, we do it right. You won't just choose the start date, you will play through Hollywood History. The earliest start date will be the year 1950. I chose that date because the 50s were the era when the studio system died and Hollywood started working more like it does today, so it felt like the right point to start the journey (It also was the decade when television took off. More on that later). As you progress through time you will not only get to play with Hollywood legends like Humphrey Bogart or Billy Wilder, you will also have to deal with historic trends, events and developments. Deal with the Hays Code and the red scare, play through the decline of the Western genre, watch how historic events like the civil rights movement influence cinema, deal with the rise of streaming service.
Start dates will be once per decade, so you will be able to start in 1950, 1960, 1970 all the way up to 2010.
Television
Another requested feature was managing a proper TV Channel, so that will be a feature of FST 2, too. Either buy or produce tv shows, movies, but also things like quiz shows or sports broadcasting. Schedule your program in a smart way to draw in viewers. Once technology reaches as certain point you will be able to expand into streaming, too.
Build up your Studio
When you start you will start with a single small sound stage and a lot of empty land to develop. Since producing movies and shows will now require free sound stages you'll need to start expanding your studio lot quickly. Building more and bigger sound stages will allow you to produce bigger movies, multiple movies at the same time and faster production times. You can/will have to build other facilities, too and those will unlock different bonuses and features as well (want to use green screen in your movie? Well, you got to build a green screen set first). But of course these buildings need utilities and maintenance, so make sure you have enough cash flow to afford your big fancy expansions.
Right now this all happens in menus, but my plan is to eventually allow you to build and decorate your studio lot on a 3d map.
That's it for now. I will give you guys regular updates on my progress where I will talk in depth about new features. Until then here is a first look at the main menu.
As you can see the UI is less themed (since that wouldn't really work with a historic game) an more neutral and modern looking. I chose a darker theme because it was popular request and I think it works better for eye strain. I hope you like it.
Small disclaimer: As most of you know, I'm just a hobby solo dev and I have a job and two very young children. Do not - I repeat - do not pester me about updates. I'm more than happy to involve you guys in the process here and on Discord but I will not humor any rudeness or guilt tripping. I've talked to my husband and we cleared some time for game dev in my schedule, but life happens. Kids get sick, I get sick, I might simply feel more like playing a video game myself than staring an code lines, so just... be patient, okay? Right now I'm making good progress since I can utilize many things from Film Studi Tycoon 1, but it's still a big project.
Here is a short summary of my vision of Film Studio Tycoon 2!
Make History
The be far most often requested feature was "can we please choose the start date". Okay guys, but if we do that, we do it right. You won't just choose the start date, you will play through Hollywood History. The earliest start date will be the year 1950. I chose that date because the 50s were the era when the studio system died and Hollywood started working more like it does today, so it felt like the right point to start the journey (It also was the decade when television took off. More on that later). As you progress through time you will not only get to play with Hollywood legends like Humphrey Bogart or Billy Wilder, you will also have to deal with historic trends, events and developments. Deal with the Hays Code and the red scare, play through the decline of the Western genre, watch how historic events like the civil rights movement influence cinema, deal with the rise of streaming service.
Start dates will be once per decade, so you will be able to start in 1950, 1960, 1970 all the way up to 2010.
Television
Another requested feature was managing a proper TV Channel, so that will be a feature of FST 2, too. Either buy or produce tv shows, movies, but also things like quiz shows or sports broadcasting. Schedule your program in a smart way to draw in viewers. Once technology reaches as certain point you will be able to expand into streaming, too.
Build up your Studio
When you start you will start with a single small sound stage and a lot of empty land to develop. Since producing movies and shows will now require free sound stages you'll need to start expanding your studio lot quickly. Building more and bigger sound stages will allow you to produce bigger movies, multiple movies at the same time and faster production times. You can/will have to build other facilities, too and those will unlock different bonuses and features as well (want to use green screen in your movie? Well, you got to build a green screen set first). But of course these buildings need utilities and maintenance, so make sure you have enough cash flow to afford your big fancy expansions.
Right now this all happens in menus, but my plan is to eventually allow you to build and decorate your studio lot on a 3d map.
That's it for now. I will give you guys regular updates on my progress where I will talk in depth about new features. Until then here is a first look at the main menu.
As you can see the UI is less themed (since that wouldn't really work with a historic game) an more neutral and modern looking. I chose a darker theme because it was popular request and I think it works better for eye strain. I hope you like it.
Small disclaimer: As most of you know, I'm just a hobby solo dev and I have a job and two very young children. Do not - I repeat - do not pester me about updates. I'm more than happy to involve you guys in the process here and on Discord but I will not humor any rudeness or guilt tripping. I've talked to my husband and we cleared some time for game dev in my schedule, but life happens. Kids get sick, I get sick, I might simply feel more like playing a video game myself than staring an code lines, so just... be patient, okay? Right now I'm making good progress since I can utilize many things from Film Studi Tycoon 1, but it's still a big project.
