Let me hear your thoughts on making the game more approachable
Dear Retailers!
King of Retail 2 often experiences comments that the game is too complicated and far off of the first game. The new mechanics makes the game deeper then the first game on almost all levels.
Some enjoy these, but many seem to think that it is now too much, and too complicated.
Our assumption is that the game asks the player to understand too much from the beginning, which can be overwhelming for some you that wants a more casual gameplay, and simply want to run a store.
So to accomodate those of you who think like this, i thought of introducing various difficulty levels to the game.
But before doign that, i would like to know which knobs i need to dial on.
Our current plan is to have 4 areas of focus:
(A quick mockup, not the final result)
[h3]-- Customer behavior --[/h3]
This influences the complexity of products and customers, and reduces the need of what you need to go into when seelcting and managing products.
Current idea has 3 levels:
Casual -> Customers shop based off of price and needs.
This is a very simplistic model for those who would like to run a casual store and don't take any pleasure of giong into details of the product differences.
Balanced -> Customers also looks at quality and trends
This would be same complexity as the first game (With addition of Trends that makes product needs change to specific events)
Deep -> Customers also look at segment relevance.
As the game is now, for those who like to go into every detail and maximize everything.
[h3]-- Employee management --[/h3]
Simple. -> Negotiations are wage only. No contract demands, no schedule demands. Also no team management, and no individual desires regarding promotions etc.
This is for those that are not interested in dealing with employees.
Reduced -> Here contract desires and team management is included, as well as desires when being promoted/transferred.
This is for those where employees should have a "Personality" but don't want to go into depths and micromanagement of them.
Full -> Schedule desires and workhour ranges also have an effect
This is as it is now, so again the current game would be the "Hard" level.
[h3]-- Day progression speed --[/h3]
Many thinks the day is too "slow", so i want to add an option to how fast the day progress.
Now it is 4 sec / in game minute, which is around 30 minutes for a whole day without speeding up.
Adding the option of 2 sec / minute, would make the day become 50% shorter with around 15 mins pr. which is the same level as KoR1
[h3]-- Different starting scenarios --[/h3]
(A quick mockup, not the final result)
Right now we only have one start.
You need to set everything up from scratch, understand and order products etc. which means it takes a long time before getting into the first actual day of sales.
Some would like to be able to get into the game faster.
So on top of the "Fresh start" which is what we have now, there will be different starting possibilities. Maybe a small bakery, or a fully stocked supermarket with employees. That would make for an easier start, as you could hit the ground running.
-------------------------
For those of you who like the game as it is, should just choose the complex options, where the other modes hopefully makes it more appealing for those who think it is too much.
The reason of making the current game is the "hard" mode, is that we have never received feedback that the game is too "easy" or doesn't have enough complexity.
And currently it is addressing the hardcore deep end simulation players, but at the same time losing out on a large majority of the rest of you, which is what we try to correct.
So please share whatever feedback you might have in the comments regarding these, as the above is currently suggestions from our perspective.
Which areas of the game are too complex for your taste?
What has the most negative impact onyour desire to continue before you even started?
All feedback on this are very welcome, and the more we get, the more i can better understand the issues and make the right adjustments to make the game, and the more specifc you can be the better. So please let me know in the comments of this post :)
Thanks for reading along.
Daniel
King of Retail 2 often experiences comments that the game is too complicated and far off of the first game. The new mechanics makes the game deeper then the first game on almost all levels.
Some enjoy these, but many seem to think that it is now too much, and too complicated.
Our assumption is that the game asks the player to understand too much from the beginning, which can be overwhelming for some you that wants a more casual gameplay, and simply want to run a store.
So to accomodate those of you who think like this, i thought of introducing various difficulty levels to the game.
But before doign that, i would like to know which knobs i need to dial on.
Our current plan is to have 4 areas of focus:
(A quick mockup, not the final result)
[h3]-- Customer behavior --[/h3]
This influences the complexity of products and customers, and reduces the need of what you need to go into when seelcting and managing products.
Current idea has 3 levels:
Casual -> Customers shop based off of price and needs.
This is a very simplistic model for those who would like to run a casual store and don't take any pleasure of giong into details of the product differences.
Balanced -> Customers also looks at quality and trends
This would be same complexity as the first game (With addition of Trends that makes product needs change to specific events)
Deep -> Customers also look at segment relevance.
As the game is now, for those who like to go into every detail and maximize everything.
[h3]-- Employee management --[/h3]
Simple. -> Negotiations are wage only. No contract demands, no schedule demands. Also no team management, and no individual desires regarding promotions etc.
This is for those that are not interested in dealing with employees.
Reduced -> Here contract desires and team management is included, as well as desires when being promoted/transferred.
This is for those where employees should have a "Personality" but don't want to go into depths and micromanagement of them.
Full -> Schedule desires and workhour ranges also have an effect
This is as it is now, so again the current game would be the "Hard" level.
[h3]-- Day progression speed --[/h3]
Many thinks the day is too "slow", so i want to add an option to how fast the day progress.
Now it is 4 sec / in game minute, which is around 30 minutes for a whole day without speeding up.
Adding the option of 2 sec / minute, would make the day become 50% shorter with around 15 mins pr. which is the same level as KoR1
[h3]-- Different starting scenarios --[/h3]
(A quick mockup, not the final result)
Right now we only have one start.
You need to set everything up from scratch, understand and order products etc. which means it takes a long time before getting into the first actual day of sales.
Some would like to be able to get into the game faster.
So on top of the "Fresh start" which is what we have now, there will be different starting possibilities. Maybe a small bakery, or a fully stocked supermarket with employees. That would make for an easier start, as you could hit the ground running.
-------------------------
For those of you who like the game as it is, should just choose the complex options, where the other modes hopefully makes it more appealing for those who think it is too much.
The reason of making the current game is the "hard" mode, is that we have never received feedback that the game is too "easy" or doesn't have enough complexity.
And currently it is addressing the hardcore deep end simulation players, but at the same time losing out on a large majority of the rest of you, which is what we try to correct.
So please share whatever feedback you might have in the comments regarding these, as the above is currently suggestions from our perspective.
Which areas of the game are too complex for your taste?
What has the most negative impact onyour desire to continue before you even started?
All feedback on this are very welcome, and the more we get, the more i can better understand the issues and make the right adjustments to make the game, and the more specifc you can be the better. So please let me know in the comments of this post :)
Thanks for reading along.
Daniel