I recently started playing the game again due to the excellent Camelot-mod (which has rekindled my interest). It seems, however, that some changes have been made to the game in the meantime - and I would like to understand what has happened. I ask here, since I can’t find anything on the forums about it.
Previously, when moving out of the garage, I hired four employees with rather low ratings immediately (since you are competing against yourself and thus do not want to increase your output too much). The first game was always bad since the employees have to practice working together and all that. However, after that my output always increased significantly (which seemed natural since I had 5 people working on the game instead of 1) - say, from a combined score (design + tech) of 40 to a combined score of 60. Now, however, my newly-hired employees contribute with almost nothing and my own character produces less than before - so I get a score of around 30. This seems very strange (that 5 people produce less than 1) and I was wondering what has been changed in the game mechanics. Can someone help me?
I kinda got the game late so I’m not too sure about what the changes were before I got the game.
What I can say is that if you train your team or do a contract job or 2, your team’s stamina goes up quicker which allows them to work at a much higher potential…
I suggest trying that and see if your second game produces more or less points.
Also, I doubt it was a small game because of the points you gotten, but small games seem to be capped as to how many Design and Tech points can be put into the game.
So try that and see if that works… I never really had that problem before.
Alright.
I had done a small game with my team before and they didn’t contribute to anything other than the last stage or so…
i think what would be best is to upgrade to medium games or update your engine if it’s not maxed out already.
You’re better off doing a medium game and working for a publisher to open up more research points n such…
Also, medium games will/should get your team to contribute a lot more to the game than with a small one (since small games can be made by 1 person).
Yeah thanks - I was just wondering why 5 people produced less than 1 person. Since I knew it was not a stamina issue, not a first game with new team issue, etc.
And it can’t be because small games are capped, since I produced more initially.
Maybe there is now some penalty for small games made outside the garage?
Or, maybe it now takes longer for new staff to work well together (and maybe even longer with more new employees)?
Or, maybe some penalty had been introduced for hiring workers that are at a lower level than yourself (design/tech or level)?
I have always advocated hiring exactly 2 people when you hit the 2nd stage and jumping right into medium games. 3 people is exactly enough to produce a medium sized game. 3 people also won’t spike your game score too high above your creator’s smash hit. I normally hire two level 2 people aiming for a high (200+) starting research skill and lower (sub-200) speed skill. I find I can make my way all the way through both the publisher phase and the post-publisher independent phase with just 2 employees. This tactic worked back back in the early days and having picked the game up again now, still works. (at least with vanilla, I don’t have any mods yet). Having only two employees also makes training them effective. It is not too much of a drain on your research points and yet gives you marginal increases in game quality which can help you make consistent good games without relying too heavily on new engine features or risking overshooting your score.
Doing a small game in the 2nd phase seems like a waste. Even if you get the bubbles right and net a 9.0+ game, you still push up the standard you have to meet with future games, but a small game will always sell less than a medium one of the same rating, all else being equal.
Yeah, I actually tried switching to that strategy - and it worked a little bit better.
And while I appreciate your answer, I was not really asking for strategic advice, but rather input into what has changed - that is, how the game mechanics have been altered. Or, is it the mods I installed (Camelot, startswith, and ultimatelib)?