Letās continue our journey! Where were we? Oh yeah, 2021.
Almost forgot - for those, who are new here, it's highly recommended to read the first chapter of Masterplan Tycoon Making Of. You'll find it here: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1644500/view/6075941675634992026
I think it is worth explaining the time gap between Hackaton in 2018 and February 2021. I have always believed that developers can really benefit from pet projects. On the one hand, they allow you to explore the areas away from your main job, and on the other, itās like therapy, your little playground where nobody tells you what, how, or when to do things.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1644500/Masterplan_Tycoon/
This is what Masterplan Tycoon was for several years. There were massive delays in its development. The biggest hiatus lasted for about 7 months during which I didnāt touch the project at all. I also changed my job and had less time to spend on making the game. A new job always means new challenges and hobbies go by the wayside.
But as time went on, progress was made I implemented new features and posted them on Twitter. And over time, more and more people who thought of the game as a product that could bring money started to show up.
The first wake-up call happened in early 2021 when some guys contacted me about publishing the game. At that moment, I still perceived Masterplan Tycoon as little more than a pet project, and I had to deal with things that hadn't been necessary before. For example, I needed a design document now. Itās a doc, that describes game-related components, from basic gameplay all the way to potential audience and revision budget. The first attempt at writing one took me a month. It was a useful experience that helped me uncover many problems in game design, even though unfortunately it didnāt go anywhere. Nevertheless, it was an important message that made me realize what I was doing was no longer a hobby project. It was a commercial product, and that meant a lot...
I still didnāt have the money to hire people who could help me bring it to the next level. In fact, I didn't even have enough money to make ends meet - a mortgage wonāt pay for itself! Thatās the reason I could quit my job to bring the game to release. That's why I couldn't quit my job to bring the game to release, but I still managed to find someone who believed in me and would help to make a new step in Masterplan Tycoon history for a modest fee.
First of all, a game designer joined my crew. He helped me to balance the game and make it more systemic. Since balance is not my strong point after a few weeks project started feeling like an actual game. It was like magic for me! Sadly, our collaboration did not last long because the game designer moved on to work on a AAA title. I couldnāt compete with this, but I knew it was his dream job, so I was proud of him!
At that exact time, an artist joined the project to lend me a hand. It was such a great experience! Since she had little passion for graphic design (and Masterplan Tycoon visuals is all about that) and I knew exactly what I wanted, we agreed to rework the graphics from the ground up. It wasn't easy, but our discussions brought out the truth thanks to our diverse experiences...
We began by experimenting with the background. Not everyone knows what drawings and diagrams look like in real life, which made newcomers think the blue background was water. I wanted the game to be accessible not just to engineering geeks, however, so we decided to tackle this problem.
Mini Motorways was one of the inspirations for Masterplan Tycoon. In a rush to explain some idea, I sketched the image you see below. This is how we ended up with the background you see in Masterplan Tycoon right nowā¦
At this time I realized that my knowledge was not enough to work with resource areas as I had before. You can read more about it in the first part of Making Of. I started exploring new areas using the tile system. It took me almost a month to find the right size of tiles, see how they connect with one another, and so on. It didnāt solve all our problems, but the result was satisfying enough to be put in the game.
After that, there were many iterations of how the game (its individual elements) should look. Six months of intensive work and we bring the game to roughly the same shape it is now :)
By then my project looked much more like a proper game than half a year before. Iām always happy to work with people, who know more than myself and can teach me something about their area of expertise... After this work was done, the artist had a career turn and left the development. Iād like to thank the folks I worked with for believing in me and my project and for giving so generously of their time :)
As sad as it was to be alone again, I could move on through the turbulent storm that is game development. I had oars that gave my ship some stability, so it was time to get myself a sail. But this is something we will talk about in the next part of Making Of ;)
Best wishes,
Anton!Follow
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