Game Dev Story: the love festa thread

[chronovore]

Game Dev Game of the Year. Sequel, now, please. I want to give you moar moneys. 4 yanqui dolla for this much fun is too cheap.

Playing this on the way to work and during breaks, this like some weird Xzibit meme:

spoiler (click to show/hide)

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This thread is for boritos to post their love or hate for this game, or to posit the unusual freaky-deak games they've created, what has worked for them, and what hasn't.

I'm still in my first run. I know I screwed up early, but I'm sticking with it through recovery. So far at Dead Fleet Co., my plucky, small team of devs (2 coders, 1 designer, 1 writer; later adding a producer, another designer, and another musician AND MISTER X, LUCHADOR DEVELOPER) has not been able to keep up with the latest platforms. We had the most luck with the mismatched "action dating" combination. Our first hit "Gimme Shugah" debuted at #6, and the unofficial sequels, "Too Twee" and "Hot Action!" debuted at #3 and #1.

...I have been trying to figure out what an Action Dating game would be; I can only pray it's not some Japanese rape simulator. But that would explain the sales. It wouldn't explain why my primary demographic is 18~24 year old women though. So I think it's probably some moe-moe romance.

So how about it? What have your most eccentric combinations been? What are your best titles in 14 characters or less? What the hell are those golden balls?

[Bebpo]

I want to play this but I have a 3G and it runs slow with games tending to crash it :X

[Howard Alan Treesong]

I just got my first Hall of Fame game, the City Life game "Yo! TownVille"

time to milk

this game is DANGEROUSLY addictive. everyone at work is all up in its business

[pilonv1]

AND MISTER X, LUCHADOR DEVELOPER

He's awesome until you get Hackers. Same with Donny Jepp.

[chronovore]

Yeah, probably exploit that next time I play through. Right now I'm having trouble getting enough growth in my company for some reason. It's still my first playthrough though.

[Sho Nuff]

Walt Sidney is a beast. I put his ass to work on my Romance RPGs like Fabio Quest, Cuntastrophe, and Anal Protocol

[GilloD]

Ugh. Apple started declining my credit card for no reason and I've e-maield Customer Support 4 times over the lats month with no response

Is it possible to gift an app?

[pilonv1]

whats this short break?

[tiesto]

I'd totally be down to playing this if it weren't exclusive to eye-PHOOOOOONE.

[Howard Alan Treesong]

Do you guys have any good strategies?

My experience is that you don't get any penalty for same-game cross design, so if I have someone high in Scenario/Graphics/Sound, I'll often have them take 2 or even 3 roles. With just 3 in-house power hitters I can rotate them to cover all my bases.

Outsourcing can helpful at first to get a few hits, but seems to lose its effectiveness very quickly.

I've started taking a contract or two in between every game project just to build up some capital and some research data.

How important is the "Popularity" of Genre/Type? I try to focus on A/B, and I try to keep levelling the same genres and types in different combinations (i.e. Samurai RPG, Samurai Action RPG, Ninja Action RPG, Ninja Action, etc.)

[chronovore]

Finally am hitting projects squarely into the Hall of Fame territory with regularity. I felt like a real software magnate: I shipped a multimillion selling game and then laid off half my staff!

whats this short break?

"Short Trip" - 2nd screen of options for TRAINing any of your developers. There's also a Long Trip for 2/3 more moolah, with different effects.

I'd totally be down to playing this if it weren't exclusive to eye-PHOOOOOONE.

Apparently it's actually a remake of a Japanese PC game which is at least 10 years old. I've been telling the guys at work about it, and they say it's nearly identical to something they were playing in junior high.

[Hitler Stole My Potato]

So this is actually good eh?  I avoided buying it because I thought it was another one of those time management games ala Diner Dash that are littered all over the app store.  Looks interesting though.

[Howard Alan Treesong]

So this is actually good eh?  I avoided buying it because I thought it was another one of those time management games ala Diner Dash that are littered all over the app store.  Looks interesting though.

I did too, but it's less time management and more resource management - managing money in/out, building hype and buzz about upcoming projects, avoiding staff burnout, etc. The actual game development is pretty self-running - you're not constantly clicking on people to advance the process or anything.

It's also fiendishly, inexplicably addictive.

[Howard Alan Treesong]

I want to play this pretty badly but I don't have an iphone nor do I want one. I guess if it hit's android I can play it.

The sequel is free on Windows PC (http://kairosoft.net/pc/gamedev2.html) but it's in Moonspeak.

[Maximus]

I hate this game; I havent played it but I hate anyway.
I came up with pretty much the exact same concept two years ago; to make a theme park like game development game for the iphone, I was going to do a game design doc out for it and everything then forgot completely about it.
Stupid Alzheimers.

[pilonv1]

"Short Trip" - 2nd screen of options for TRAINing any of your developers. There's also a Long Trip for 2/3 more moolah, with different effects.

Ahh I stopped using training because it seemed to lower their power.

[chronovore]

I want to play this pretty badly but I don't have an iphone nor do I want one. I guess if it hit's android I can play it.

The sequel is free on Windows PC (http://kairosoft.net/pc/gamedev2.html) but it's in Moonspeak.

ゲーム発展途上国ⅡDX: I love that it's got a "DX" in the title. That way you /know/ it's Japanese. Or mocking the naming conventions. Or both.

Other ways you can tell it's Japanese: No matter what game you tell them to make, they'll try it without too many negative comments, even if they should tell you it's doomed to suck. No-one quits for another company because they're tired of sequels. No one quits when you don't pay them a bonus above their salary after selling 6,000,000 copies of the last game they made. No-one is recruited by an outside company because they'll pay a little more or promote them.

"Short Trip" - 2nd screen of options for TRAINing any of your developers. There's also a Long Trip for 2/3 more moolah, with different effects.

Ahh I stopped using training because it seemed to lower their power.

Yeah, that's what Sho Nuff is pimping: use a Dead Bull to get them all to recover immediately. But I just let them go home for a night, which fills them back up.

I hate this game; I havent played it but I hate anyway.
I came up with pretty much the exact same concept two years ago; to make a theme park like game development game for the iphone, I was going to do a game design doc out for it and everything then forgot completely about it.
Stupid Alzheimers.

See my above post if you want some ideas for American Dev Story, which promises to be a deeper, more rich and complex experience.

But in the end, every developer I've ever met has, at some point, said what a great idea it would be to make a game about game development. The idea isn't original, it's the act of committing to it and seeing it through until it's on sale.

[Maximus]

oh i know I'm only joking; it happens all the time there are millions of ideas and you'll always get someone who has the same ideas as you. Its just a matter of making sure your game is the one stand out idea amongst the crowd whether because its unique take on something, the better gameplay, the better style or all of the above as long as its something that isnt ignored or easily forgotten you always have a good chance. Well thats what I'm hoping anyway.

[pilonv1]

I don't mean using a Dead Bull to get their power back immediately - I thought their max power decreased every time you trained them?

[Hitler Stole My Potato]

Alright.  You guys were right.  This game is ridiculously addictive.  I just spent the last 2 and a half hours playing this damn thing on my phone......I can't remember the last time I played any app for that long.

I gotta make my own console.....

[chronovore]

I don't mean using a Dead Bull to get their power back immediately - I thought their max power decreased every time you trained them?

What? Really? IT SIMULATES CAREER BURNOUT AS WELL? 

  this game

[Howard Alan Treesong]

I finally developed my first 40/40 !

KICKPUNCHER 2, a Motion Martial Arts masterpiece.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

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EDIT: Now I'm just fucking with my players. My new series is Tesseract, a Time Travel Simulation with max points in Realism and Niche Appeal and points in all other categories intentionally withheld. I still get straight 9/10s and sell 20 million units. Is this what it's like to be Nomura?

[Howard Alan Treesong]

BUMP for boredom. Once you hit year 15 or so and have $200 million in the bank, it seems like it's impossible to fail. Is there no real endgame and I should just start over? I guess I should run the clock out to 20 years, at least...

Next up: my PC-only Falcom-sim playthrough

[chronovore]

When a system goes off the market and you already have a game in development for it, what happens?

I'll try it on my next playthrough if no-one knows.

[Howard Alan Treesong]

To make your own console, you need:

spoiler (click to show/hide)

LOTS of Career Change Manuals

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Specifically:

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You need to have one employee who's hit Lv. 5 in every possible job. Once they've done that, they can "class change" to Hardware Engineer. Get ready to grind Contracts for all that research data!

[close]

The Nedroid is now on sale. Sony just announced the PlayStation 2 ... too bad for them the Nedroid is a 64-bit BD-ROM based bad boy. SUCKERS.

Also, there's a "Fast" mode in the Options screen. Wish I had found that ages ago.

[GilloD]

I just got my first million selling title. A Historical Simulation called "Anne Frank Sex". Oh, Japan.

[chronovore]

Anne Frank Sex

[GilloD]

Better yet, we're now on Anne Frank Sex 4.

[chronovore]

One of my only complaints about the game is the 14 character limit to custom game titles.

[BobFromPikeCreek]

Why, why, why do I never get applicants with graphic skillz? I hate outsourcing my graphics every time.

[GilloD]

Why, why, why do I never get applicants with graphic skillz? I hate outsourcing my graphics every time.

Look for Hackers once you get the new Office.

How do I get Hardware Engineers?

[GilloD]

Also, it has become impossible for me to not create a hit. I made a Golf Audio Novel with max points in realism and niche appeal and got a 36/40 and sold like 20 million units. It was called "Really?"

[chronovore]

Why, why, why do I never get applicants with graphic skillz? I hate outsourcing my graphics every time.

Look for Hackers once you get the new Office.

How do I get Hardware Engineers?

Read Howard Allen Treesong's spoilers.

[BobFromPikeCreek]

Huzzah! My wrestling game "Sweaty Beasts" is my first million seller!

[chronovore]

Come on! We all know non-licensed pro-wrestling games don't sell! Where's your branding?!

PS: Congrats!

[BobFromPikeCreek]

Oh god can't stop. Been playing all day. Sandy Traps 2 almost sold 10 million. Got 39/40. Must kill reviewer #2.

[BobFromPikeCreek]

Yesss. Divalicious 3, which is actually supposed to be named Divalicious 4 but I fucked up, just broke 10m and won the GGA grand prize!

[GilloD]

I have like close to a billion in cash, my own console, I'm up to Anne Frank Sex 6, but I cant get a 40/40

[BobFromPikeCreek]

Same (minus 1 billion cause I keep spending money on moon advertising). I haaaate that my romantic audio novel series "Dry Heat" is my biggest seller. 40 million. What the hell?

[chronovore]

I have like close to a billion in cash, my own console, I'm up to Anne Frank Sex 6, but I cant get a 40/40

In real life, can't you just buy the 40/40?

[pilonv1]

http://www.androidpolice.com/2011/06/08/just-released-kairosoft-gives-the-green-flag-to-grand-prix-story-rev-up-those-engines/

There's a GRAND PRIX STORY out for Android. Not on iOS yet for some reason

[chronovore]

Whoa, this too:
http://www.androidpolice.com/2011/04/18/hot-springs-story-for-your-inner-digital-inn-keeper/

[Cerveza mas fina]

I'm worried it's going to be a bit samey.

I played the shit out of Game Dev for a week or two, but was kind of stuck I think. My office doesn't grow anymore. Now It's hard to get back into the game. Great game though for those few bucks!

[tiesto]

It's a great game but after a while, it becomes so easy to get 10 million + sellers... Made my own console, sold 29 million copies of a motion controlled baseball game, then kinda just gave up on it. It was sooooo addicting at first, but once you get to a certain point, you "master" it and there's not much in the way of replay value.

[Cerveza mas fina]

Yep. They would really have to make it more complex for this to be great, but I def spent enough time on it before I got tired!

[MyNameIsMethodis]

I should be getting my eye phone tommorow so i'm excited to play this, however, i really really wish Grand Prix Story was on the app stroe

[Shuri]

It's a really cool game, but too bad that at some point, things get crazy and you end up selling 4 times the number of units than consoles on the market

[naff]

It's alright. Like others I was really addicted for a couple days. Then I got all the good devs and broke the game, haven't played since

[pilonv1]

Whoa, this too:
http://www.androidpolice.com/2011/04/18/hot-springs-story-for-your-inner-digital-inn-keeper/

Pretty sure Hitler raved about this in the iPhone thread, or somewhere else

[Barry Egan]

first million seller?  "AreGamesArt?", an online sim where you make games.  These guys really get, on a profound level, what a bunch of self absorbed fegs make up the gamer community.

[Hitler Stole My Potato]

Whoa, this too:
http://www.androidpolice.com/2011/04/18/hot-springs-story-for-your-inner-digital-inn-keeper/

Pretty sure Hitler raved about this in the iPhone thread, or somewhere else

Yeah, Hot Springs Story is pretty good. It took me a bit to warm up to Hot Springs because I'm about as familiar with Japanese hot springs as I am with flying a space shuttle into the sun but it's still the same core gameplay found in GDS only more of it.  It's a little esoteric, but it's addicting as hell.

[MyNameIsMethodis]

I can't get higher than a 18 review score but I sell amazing anyways

[MyNameIsMethodis]

Department Store Story was just announced

http://itunes.apple.com/jp/app/id444076836?mt=8

[pilonv1]

Still waiting for Grand Prix Story

[BobFromPikeCreek]

Department Store Story was just announced

http://itunes.apple.com/jp/app/id444076836?mt=8

looks like sim tower