A couple of days ago we announced that Game Dev Tycoon is now listed on Steam Greenlight and will come to Mac, Linux and Windows. Today, it is time to unveil the next exciting news. Introducing our first upcoming expansion for Game Dev Tycoon:
In Game Dev Tycoon you grew from a one-man start-up in a garage to a big game company creating AAA games. In Game Dev Tycoon: Shareholders’ Edition you take the journey further and become one of the biggest players in the industry. While in the original game you tried to maximize your fans and become a fan-favorite, Shareholders’ Edition takes a more realistic approach: instead of caring for your fans you will have to make your shareholders happy.
Below is a sneak peek of some of the exciting features in Shareholders’ Edition:
Reboot franchises with a focus on profit instead of fun!
(make sure to strategically remove features which were taken for granted before and release them as paid DLC instead!)
Deal with press enquiries!
(Gamers are known to be gullible so polish the truth a bit)
Be the bad guy and rip off tiny little indie developers!
(why play fair when you have so much capital?)
Develop your own App Store!
(make sure to focus on App quantity to get maximum praise from mainstream journalists and maximum happiness from your shareholders.)
These are just some of the features in the new expansion.
– Greenheart Games ♥
– 1st April 2013
Game Dev Tycoon is now listed on Steam Greenlight. Help bring the game to Steam on Windows, Mac and Linux by voting here.
Since the release of Game Dev Tycoon we had a number of players offering their help to translate the game into their own language. We have thought long and hard about how we can best provide translations for our game and in the end we came to the conclusion that a collaborative translation is the best way to proceed.
There are several reasons for this:
1. Game Dev Tycoon has, with more than 15000 words, a lot more text than similar games.
2. Game Dev Tycoon has many gaming references that only gamers would understand and be able to translate properly.
3. To properly translate a game the translator should be intimately aware of the game.
4. Only someone who truly enjoys the game will do its translation justice.
5. Using collaborative translations is the only feasible way we can support many languages quickly and on demand.
We have set up a web application to allow collaborative translations and tested it for a week by starting the German translation. Now, we want to invite fans of Game Dev Tycoon to help us out.
If you want to help us translate the game then your help would be most welcome!
You can visit our translation app at: http://translate.greenheartgames.com
We will also open more languages on demand but need a certain amount of interest before we unlock them. If you like to help translating the game in a language or you want to become a moderator for an existing language then please let your intentions be known on our brand new forum.
EDIT: The new version is now live and is available via the Windows Store update mechanism.
Game Dev Tycoon 1.1.0 is on its way and should be available as soon as it passes Microsoft’s review process (usually within 5 days).
Implementing the number one requested feature
The biggest change in this version is that the length of a new game is now 30 years instead of the previous 25 years and that you can configure the game length via the brand new advanced options panel.
The panel is hidden by default and you have to click the cog icon to show the advanced options. I’ve masterfully highlighted the cog icon with a red circle in the above image. In the game we kept the icon subtle on purpose as it isn’t of much interest to new players.
The panel contains an explanation of the setting:
Note: You can always continue playing after the main game is over. The game length simply specifies how fast new platforms come to market and when the high score is calculated.
The options for the game length are either 25, 30 or 35 years.
From the previous 25-year default this gives players much more time to experience the game. 30 years is well balanced, platform releases happen in just the right interval, the game isn’t too repetitive and it is still a challenge to unlock all game features. 25 years is fast-paced and challenging, ideal for experienced players while the 35 year options should suit players who like to play the game longer.
Fixing the number one confusion
The second minor change is that the ‘Fill Position’ button is now immediately visible in the second office, even before the necessary training is completed. When clicked it will show a reminder that the training needs to be completed before hiring staff. From observation this seems to be the one feature which confuses players the most. The game does mention this to players but once the message was gone there was no reminder on how to proceed in case players forgot what was said before.
Full change log
You can see a list of all changes in the full change log here.
Game is now available in New Zealand
We are happy to announce that the game will, as soon as the update goes through, also be listed on the New Zealand Windows 8 Store. When we initially submitted the game we (erroneously) believed that New Zealand had a mandatory rating system for downloadable games and that’s why we didn’t offer the game in New Zealand. We are happy to say that we were mistaken 🙂
Game Dev Tycoon is available worldwide with the exception of Brazil, Taiwan, South Africa and Korea as these countries have a mandatory rating system for downloadable games. Unfortunately for small independent developers mandatory rating systems are a big hurdle. Theses systems seem to be more tuned towards big AAA games or traditional publishers and cost a lot of money and time.
Preparing the game for translations
The biggest change apart from the longer game options in this release was that we have prepared the game for translations. This was a reasonably big undertaking as we had to comb through all text in the game and make sure we can dynamically replace it with a translation. This is all complete and tested and we are currently in the process of setting up a system to enable volunteers to help with translations.
We will announce more details as soon as we have the system up and running. If you are keen to see the game in a different language or if you want to help translating the game then stay tuned.
ARM release
We have made some progress in tracking down the performance issues which prevent us from releasing the full game on ARM but unfortunately the improvements we have made so far have not been enough to make the game playable yet. We have a couple of new ideas which we will investigate in the coming weeks and hopefully this will result in a playable version soon.
Save errors
Some players have reported errors when saving the game. While we were not able to reproduce these issues we have added more diagnostic code in this release which should give us more information on what and when these errors occur.
Developer’s log
If you are a developer or you are interested in game/software development then you can check out my blog post where I go into the technical details of this release here.
We released Game Dev Tycoon in the Windows 8 Store on 10th December 2012, so a little more than one month ago. The reception has been outstanding. We have been listed among the Top Paid apps (between positions 3 and 15, depending on the country) for the entire time and in the sorted by noteworthy category (that’s when you just click on Games directly) we are often listed as number 2 (out of 3600+ games!). We could not have wished for a better position in the Store, especially because Game Dev Tycoon has not even been featured yet!
Release
After the initial release our first players soon discovered a few bugs and before we could even start our launch celebrations we submitted the first patch to the game. The turn around for the updated game submissions to the Store have been absolutely outstanding. Most updates were accepted by Microsoft after only 12 hours! A turn around time iOS developers could surely only dream of (especially around Christmas). After a few more service updates the game is now fairly stable. We are still investigating the odd technical issues which are mostly related to auto-save errors and seem to come directly from the system. Hopefully we can work around these issues soon.
Ratings
To date, the full game has received 612 ratings. Most of them five stars. We have received many positive written reviews and other praise and comments on social media or via email. Not surprisingly, some players pointed out the similarities to Game Dev Story, which is another game development simulation game on the iPhone/Android and which served as the initial inspiration to Game Dev Tycoon. Most of these comments were praise saying that they really enjoyed our take on the genre but some called our game a rip-off. We respectfully disagree with the term. We have been open about our inspiration (see previous link to an interview) and said all along that our game was inspired by Game Dev Story but our entire game is our own creation – from how games are developed, to how you progress and how you make a hit game. We have created the concepts and game mechanics for Game Dev Tycoon as well as the game itself from scratch. Anyway, it’s nice to see that the majority of players who pointed out similarities made positive comments. We certainly think that players of Game Dev Story will enjoy Game Dev Tycoon and vice versa.
Purchases and Downloads
A lot of players were eagerly awaiting the release after playing our Lite version. On the first day alone we sold 470 copies of the game. In our sub-category (Simulation games) we are definitely the top game since the average purchases were listed as five per day before we showed up. Purchase numbers of Game Dev Tycoon have since dropped considerably to around 30-50 copies a day but we hope these numbers will rise as more users discover the Windows 8 Store and as we receive more attention via reviews or (hopefully) Store highlights and promotions.
To date we have had over 6000 downloads and 2300+ purchases. More than 30% of players who try our game also buy it!
Indie game development is not a cheap business, especially when you live in countries with a high cost of living. We still have a long way to go before we break even on the expenses of creating the game and before we can safely focus on our next project but we have a positive outlook.
It’s definitely great to see that players are liking our game. I’m glad to see that it is not only the pseudo-free social games which require you to buy virtual coins and are generally a bore to play are successful. Hopefully this will inspire some other indie devs to create more ‘traditional’ simulation games. The world could use more games which are less ville, less social, less made to generate profit but more made to be fun!
Next Plans
Over Christmas, after we sorted out bugs in the game, we took a much needed break. We have worked on Game Dev Tycoon for over a year and in the last four months of the project we often worked seven days a week in order to finish the game before Christmas.
ARM release
One thing we were not able to sort out in time for the December release was support for ARM devices, specifically the Microsoft Surface. Unfortunately we face some serious performance issues on the device which make the full game unplayable in later levels. We have prepared a few test cases to try to further identify the causes of these slow downs and Microsoft seems willing to assist us with this so we are hopeful that we can resolve this some time soon. Given the nature of this problem there is no guarantee or ETA for a full RT release at this stage but as I’ve said earlier we are optimistic.
Responding to game feedback
We have tried to encourage feedback through links on the game Settings page, on our website, as well as on facebook and twitter. Many players have taken this opportunity to tell us what they like and what they think should be improved. From the feedback so far it is clear that many players think that the 25 in-game years are over too quickly! We plan on providing a longer game option in one of the next updates but don’t have the exact details yet. There are also other smaller things which we will attempt to adjust slightly to provide a better experience. Apart from that we currently do not plan to make any major updates or expansion packs but we definitely listen to feedback for a potential return to the game development simulation genre in the future.
Translations
The full game is only available in English at the moment. We plan to provide a number of translations in the future. First, we will make the game translatable (which takes considerable effort) and then we will start with a German translation.We are both native German speakers (so it’s easy to do quality assurance) and tycoon/simulation games are quite popular in German-speaking countries.
Once this first translation is available we plan to work on a process to translate the game into more languages. Many players have graciously offered their help in translating the game into their own language (thanks to all who have contacted us about this). We will have to investigate how we can do translations for the game effectively while also ensuring that the quality of the translation is right. Translating a game like Game Dev Tycoon isn’t easy so I expect that it will take a while to get the major languages under way.
Fan forum
We plan to set up a fan forum but need to sort out some technical aspects first. In the meantime, you can connect to fellow Game Dev Tycoon fans via our Facebook page.
Other platforms
Not surprisingly many players wonder if Game Dev Tycoon will remain a Windows 8 exclusive. We will investigate possible ports to Android (Google Play), Windows 7/Steam and maybe even the iPad once we have completed the above things. At this stage there are no promises but if you are interested in any of these or if you want to keep up to date on our plans and progress then please subscribe to our newsletter.
We do not plan to port to any phone systems like WP8, iPhone or Android. Game Dev Tycoon was designed for larger screens or tablet devices and the user interface would not work on phones and would require substantial changes.
Final Words
As far as the feedback, ratings and reviews are concerned we had a brilliant start. We could not have wished for a better reception and would like to thank everyone who has supported us!
Thank you!
Patrick & Daniel Klug
Greenheart Games ♥
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Our newest update to Game Dev Tycoon has passed certification. Please be patient if you don’t see it straight away. It can take up to 24 hours to roll out.
We have fixed a number of bugs which users reported and also lowered the system requirements. Users with an Iconia Tab should now be able to run the game. As always, if you experience any problems please contact us at support@greenheartgames.com
v1.0.3 24 Dec. 2012
– Fixed: Disabled expansion packs if no appropriate games are available.
– Fixed: Numerous issues due to invalid expansion pack.
– Fixed: Air con event could cause the game to break.
– Fixed: In rare cases custom engine would never finish.
– Fixed: In rare cases hardware projects would not make any progress.
– Fixed: Numerous grammatical errors in messages.
EDIT: The update has passed certification. Please be patient if you don’t see it straight away. It can take up to 24 hours to roll out.
We have submitted a new update for Game Dev Tycoon which fixes the majority of known issues.
Thanks to everyone for reporting these problems. We estimate that the update should be live in the next 2-5 days.
Here is the changelog:
v1.0.2 14 Dec. 2012
– Fixed: When G3 window shows just before a dev stage, dev progress will not progress any further until the game is reloaded.
– Fixed: SDK was available as a game feature and would result in NaN costs and cause other issues.
– Fixed: ‘Find publishing deal’ would occasionally crash when all topics had been researched.
– Fixed: Game crashes after researching the final 3D Graphics technology.
– Fixed: Could not de-select Stereoscopic 3D in feature selection.
– Fixed: Supporter achievement was not granted when game was bought straight from the Store.
– Fixed: Numerous grammatical errors in messages.
An update to Game Dev Tycoon is now live in the Windows Store. Please be patient if you don’t see it straight away as I think it can take up to 24 hours for the update to become available.
This update fixes the most common issues. If you see any other crashes, errors or other issues please report them to us at support@greenheartgames.com
Our thanks to everyone who has submitted issues and for all your patience. We thought that we had tested the game quite thoroughly but obviously we missed a few things. Sorry for the trouble! If you have been affected by the ‘too much money’ issue and you want a pure experience it’s best to start a new game with the new update.
v1.0.1:
– Fixed: In rare cases games could sell forever, resulting in huge amounts of money. No one should be that rich!
– Fixed: Platforms retire after year 25.
– Fixed: The end-of-trial screen was showing in certain save games even when the game was already purchased.
– Fixed: Selecting SDK as a game feature crashed the app.
First of all, thanks to everyone for buying the game. We don’t have the numbers yet but we certainly heard from a number of people on facebook, twitter and via email. Thank you all for your support!
Thanks also for reporting issues to us. We have identified a handful of troubling issues and prepared a fix for them already. These fixes are currently in review with Microsoft and should be available in 1 to 7 days.
I’m sorry if you have been affected by any of these issues. We spent a long time testing the game thoroughly but obviously we have missed a few problems.
If you see any other issues then please report them to support@greenheartgames.com
List of changes:
– Fixed: In rare cases games could sell forever, resulting in huge amounts of money. No one should be that rich!
– Fixed: Platforms retire after year 25.
– Fixed: The end-of-trial screen was showing in certain save games even when the game was already purchased.
– Fixed: Selecting SDK as a game feature crashed the app.
The wait is over. The full version of Game Dev Tycoon is available now on the Windows Store. You can visit the Store page here:
http://apps.microsoft.com/webpdp/app/game-dev-tycoon/4f09063e-be82-49bf-8051-0650cbef707e
To find out more about the features of the full game visit our updated website:
http://www.greenheartgames.com/app/game-dev-tycoon/
Have fun playing!
