Best way to start

Game Dev Tycoon
#1

Some of this has been tested, some of it has been not. This is part tip/part discussion about what’s best (that’s why I think it should be left outside of the main tip thread).

Getting good reviews comes down to consistent improvement. So if game B has more points than A, it gets better grades (at least that’s what the wiki seems to make clear and afaik this is true). So if everything else is the same (Great Combination of Genre/Topic, no bugs, etc.) you’ll get better and better grades. That and other observations I made might help some get better results. I welcome comments/criticism.

  1. Only make RPGs. Using the slider positions 0/100/100, 100/100/50, 100/100/100 will help you make perfect games more easily than more fickle genres like Action.

  2. Only develop for G64. It has no costs and it has higher market share than PC until it tanks a few years down the line.

  3. Add one extra feature with every game. So start off with Text-based graphics and no sound. Then 2D v1 and then 2D v1 + Basic sounds.

  4. When you run out of new features, make your custom engine. You should have enough research points and money. Add everything and like before add one new feature with each new game.

  5. Developing for anything but G64/PC is only possible after you get Target Audience. Without it, you’ll get games that won’t fit with the TES, Gameling, etc. audience (Young) resulting in less money. I personally stuck with developing for the G64. If you do it right, you end up with 5M in the bank on just one custom engine and no licensing costs. After that you can either go Gameling (it’s great for RPGs and remains popular for a long time) or switch to PC. The advantage of the latter is that it’s wide audience allows you more freedom with Great combinations of RPG and Topics (like Vampire).

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#2

The G64 costs 20k per game to make, the PC only costs 5k. Your first three games aren’t going to sell enough to where the market share is going ot make up for the 15k extra development costs.

This is how I personally start each game.

For my first 8 games, I make 4 design focused games (adventure/rpg) and 4 tech focused games (action, sim, strategy) making sure that all 5 available genres are hit at least once to provide sequel fodder later.

After the 3rd game, I research a custom engine with 2d graphics V2 and build a new engine using ONLY that part. The other parts aren’t needed.

When developing my first 8 games, my sliders are set as follows:
Design Games: Dialogues, Storyline/Quests, World Design at 100%, middle slider at 50% Engine, Sound and AI at 0%
Tech Games: Dialogues, Storyline/Quests, World Design at 0%, Middle slider at 50% Engine, Sound and AI 100%

For all three stages.

This isn’t the ideal slider position, but I’m going for even XP growth.
After using my first four starter topics for my first four games, I research the next four seeded topics (Racing, Fantasy, Pirate, Scifi) and make my next four games on them, making sure to get the New topic + New Combo + Good Combo 1.6 exp bonus with each game.

Depending on how the RNG goes, I’ll have my hit game on my 6th to my 8th game.

After the 8th game I move to the office and get ready for stage 2. Doing it in this way has several key benefits for me:

  1. All my skills are at level 3…ALL of them, unlocking engine parts for every game aspect to be made on my next engine.
  2. 2D graphics V3 and 3d graphics V1 are unlocked. I normally build 3D graphics V1 into my next engine.
  3. I know what my next 4 researchable topics are. This can help me decide if I want a tech or design focused company depending on what genres are good over those four topics. They are important as the publishers will very frequently want games made from them.
#3

I tend to find that making a RPG at the beggining of the game ruins your money and i have yo start over, since you only have enough for one game at start i would say to do PC, military, simulater with 2D and basic sound and that tends to get 6-9 scores, just put out engine and gameplay and all the others up max, accept dialoge and story down to 0-10% , i normally get almost 200-300K from that and give a great start

#4

Always develop for the PC for your first 5 titles (at least). You aren’t going to make enough extra sales with the G64’s extra market share to make up for the $15,000 higher development cost. If you make a game on the PC that flops, it doesn’t hurt nearly as much.

Starting with your 6th game, develop for the G64, as you’ll want the extra market share when you finally get your hit. If you can research target audience before you get your hit game, you can also make your hit for the TES if you gear the game for young players. Don’t develop games for the TES before being able to research target audience, as you’ll get a penalty to the score and sales; only young-targeted games do well on the TES.

#5

Damn 6-8 games. That is pretty nice, I never move up at least until 10-13. I’ll try your strategy for xp gain see how it works.

#6

Hey there @CaptRobau

I have a posting that help with sliders. If you want to check it out, here is the link:

http://forum.greenheartgames.com/t/what-to-set-sliders-to/5217

(This isn’t to brag. Just helpful!) =)

#7

This will be a very cheap way to promote my video and channel :wink:

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