Okay a little expansion on that, I find the game difficult because I literally HAVE to have the guide open to even get anywhere. In 20 years of gaming you’d think I’d know how to make a RPG but apparently I don’t. The game dials are meant to be set to very precise points to prosper, points that I hit almost never. I liked the demo it wasn’t too hard it wasn’t so freaking bogus yah know? I don’t mind playing a hard simulation game but this one just blows me out of the water with the difficulty. I CANNOT get beyond the second stage with medium games unless I metagame…I shouldn’t HAVE to meta game…It saps any fun I’m having with it very quickly. I was really having a blast with game dev until that started to be a requirement. I would love to see what is beyond that point because I was so excited to get this game. But this is really frustrating cause I can’t enjoy the game I paid for due to it being incredibly specific with how you make each game.
I think games should have more leeway with how they are capable of succeeding there is never a bad game merely games that didn’t have enough effort. I mean yes its a game so the system needs set amounts be jeez do they have to be so precise that I can’t experiment at all without it blowing up in my face? I raised one thing ONE thing by 5% and my score went down this was the same game at the same time reloaded that is bogus.
/rant
Oh yush I’m a bit of a pirate myself but only when games are scarce like games that have been out for 3 years or more are pretty hard to find on shelves sometimes. By that point I figure if I can’t find it I’m not hurting dev’s if I pirate after that point 
Ijs that’s how I roll so I support that cracked version totally.
It can be really frustrating at first, even with the guides. Eventually you’ll get into the adjustments and it’ll be something you do without thinking.
I agree, it needs to be simpler to get a hold of. I personally suggested in a different topic that they tell you a breakdown of each reason your game got it’s rating so you can learn how to adjust it. 
There really ought to be some kind of score suction that reduces variability. Real game studios don’t go 9-5-9-5, but that’s a pattern I’ve seen happen in Game Dev Tycoon.
I’m just going to totally ignore that piracy comment and focus on your problem.
You got into the second level, that’s good for starters. Now you want to go and tackle bigger games, also very admirable! But what good does a medium game do without fans? Stick with small games until you hit 100k fans, OR go with publisher deals until you hit 100k fans. After that you can publish them yourself with a very decent profit from each game. I know this doesn’t help your issue with the precision required to meet every genres requirements to make a quality game but it might help you nonetheless, in case you hadn’t considered publisher deals yet.
Yeah I did all that, with publishing and stuff granted it would help if they explained what some of the dials affect. Graphics and story and the like are self explanatory, but in what world do you not want AI intelligence in a RPG or Simulation game. I know that you don’t need a lot in some but I should be able to make awesome games like that. I personally believe sound is fundamental to every game as good sound effects make or break a game but a lot of them ignore the sound. I think really that they should just add a better explanation on how to make games properly in the tutorial, they kinda gloss over it. I don’t mind having my hand held in the first few mins of the game so long as your not telling me how to move my view I don’t need to know that…I’ve never met ANYONE who couldn’t figure out the view stick in the first 5 mins grampa’s and kids included.
That being said the pirate thing was my two cents on the matter if I can’t find it anywhere that’s when I personally believe its justified.
I agree that the game undervalues AI, but I would note that Simulations in particular are one of the genres that are considered to need good AI.
As for Sound, some genres rely on it more than others, but good sound doesn’t hurt any of them. Ignoring sound is always a dubious choice.
Here’s a slider tip. Always invest heavily in the graphics slider. The game considers graphics to be of primary importance. On that note, don’t get distracted by the 2D Graphics path. It’s expensive in RP and has lower tech levels. Switch to 3D graphics as soon as you can.
Heh those being simply examples is all, over all things that seem like they need thing are quite unforgiving on how much they need.