Tycoon Game Ideas

I am going to start to design my first game. I have picked a tycoon type game which I am trying to figure out a subject for it. I would like the unity community to help me to come up with some ideas for the game.

First I would like to find the game topic ie Theme hospital.. that was a great game.

So my topic list so far is-

Hospital -
Zoo -
Farm -
Super Market -

Feel free to put your ideas in.

 

Is a tycoon game a clicker or just a sim/management game?

Any of what you listed could work, depending on how it was implemented.

 

It's a management game.

 

It will be a Management type game where you will place the different parts in with a drag and drop. Like Prison architect.

I quiet like the shopping centre idea, I think it is original and fresh.

 

Have you considered joining the fan based continued development of Spacebase DF9 instead?

 

OK i will take a look at that now. Looks good.... But i think i am going to keep on with this design.

 

I've always wanted to see a half way decent manufacturing sim. Managing raw materials through a complicated process could be engaging.

 

That's an engineer for you. Gets off for the day only to play a game based on his line of work.

About the closest I've seen are just "buy machine for each stage but minimal real control" games like Free Enterpri$e (just in case you ask they really did put a dollar sign in the name). Abandonia is about the only remaining source for information and screenshots.

There's a YouTube Let's Play scarily enough.

 

http://www.factorio.com/

Complicated enough for you? I think it's a pretty good game if you are into that kind of thing. Minecraft Tekkit is also good, at least I liked it when I played it a few years ago.

 

Minecraft Feed the Beast is generally better though. They tend to offer specialized packs (tech-based, magic-based, etc).

 

This looks really good.

 

So far I have this.

What the game will look like

It will be a 2D game using a overhead camera view to move around the store.

It will look a bit like prison architect see picture below.

The shopping centre view will just be the shopping centre only with just showing the main doors coming in and the area in which you can put the new items.

How to play

Using the mouse you choose to add different areas into the super market like a fruit and veg section.

There will be a GUI with different items you can purchase (if you can afford it).

Items to buy in the game

Checkouts – Manned

Auto self service check outs

Salad Bar

Freezers

Fresh veg and fruit

Cigs and lottery counter

Toilets

Bakery

Pet Food

Clothing

Fresh Pizza

Baby & toddler

Home ware

DIY

Drinks

Help desk

Deli counter

Music and DVD

Fish Counter

Meat counter

Household appliances

Bread

Health and Beauty

Trolley

basket


Staff

Cleaners

Checkout

Security guard

Shelf stacker

Counter staff

Trolley man

Promotion man

Customer service

Aim of the game

Building a efficient supper market giving good customer service, keeping customers happy to make big profits.

Artistic style

The style for the game will be Cartoon 2D sprites, they will be animated.

Asset Breakdown

Art Assets – These will all be done in 2D. All staff members, all departments and items to go with them, different types of customers, GUI, Menus(buttons etc.), backgrounds.

Text Assets - Story of somebody running the supper market. Different levels with a small problem in each one.

Sound Assets - Game music and menu music. Sound effects for each area of the supper market and each customer. Also button sound effects.

 

Alright that I have to try. Nearing the end of the playable life of Kerball, so I need me a new heavy simulator.

Engineering in the real world is certainly interesting and engaging. But its not fun. There is little scope to simply play with things to see what happens. Or to blow things up at all.

 

Reminds me of an early Dilbert cartoon where he basically says something to that effect.

There are a few bridge simulators floating around on the web. Nothing particularly enjoyable for very long though.

 

Its very brief ATM but I will need to fill it out more as I go.

 

About the only thing that sprung to mind that wasn't on the list are motorized shopping carts. Having accessibility be an aspect the player has to deal with could make for some fun challenges when it comes to designing their store in a limited or unusually shaped building.

 

Can you elaborate on this I am not quite sure I follow what you mean.

 

Moving elderly or disabled shoppers around. Do you have moving ramps instead of escalators? They take up more space due to the gentler slope but people can go on them with shopping trolleys, prams, wheelchairs & motorised disability scooters. Or do you have escalators & then banks of lifts for people to use? Less space at be but you could end up with big crowds jamming into lifts. Or do you have walking ramps at each end?

If you have lots of elderly/disabled/pram friendly stuff then do you have lots of disabled & pram parking spots? Does that annoy other shoppers because they need to park so far away? Do you put in really good public transport links so the shopping centre becomes a transport hub as well? Do you have priority parking for minivans from retirement villages so you can get bulk crowds in? Do they spend enough to make it worth the effort or do they just wander around browsing & taking up seating but not spend enough to cover the cleaning costs?

That kind of thing.

 

It looks like I don't have to as @tedthebug pretty much hit on the aspects I thought of and some I didn't.

 

And there goes my productivity for the next month. I hope you're happy!

 

I'm glad you like it .

 

Yes this sort of thing is what I am looking for from the unity community. Spot on !

Thanks

 

Replace the zerg's with environmentalists and you aren't far off manufacturing in the 80's. Thankfully those days are behind us.

 

Hmm tycoon... let's see. I enjoyed old classics like Theme Hospital and Theme Park. I'm a fan of TTD (transport tycoon deluxe). I think almost every subject already covered...

How about a CBD (Central Business Disctrict) Tycoon game, where you must develop and maintain a super block? It's quite a tall order and can be very complex if you want to. Sounds fun?

 

I loved the original Tycoon, it had no graphics at all if I remember correctly. It was just a commodities trading simulation.

 

I am already working on a GDD for the Shopping tycoon game but i am looking for a person who might be able to help me build the doc.

 

What kind of doc? Documents?

 

Please don't hate me if I end up making a shopping management sim too. I've had an idea for one about 4 years ago, but I haven't had a chance to free up my own resources to start development. Anyway, consider it friendly competition, considering you'll probably get started on your game much sooner than I do on mine.

 

The doc as in the GDD. ( Game Design Document )

 

Did you want to join forces ??? And create a game together?

 

Definitely thought about it. Best thing to do would take that discussion offline. I'll PM you.
But by all means, if anyone else has ideas for @markpollard1 for his tycoon game, please let him know!

 

What do people think about the shopping tycoon game graphics? should it be flat 2D, 3D or isometric ?
Let me know what you think would work best

 

Technically isometric can be implemented through 2D and 3D.

 

That question is partially my fault as I brought it up to @markpollard1 as one of the millions of design decisions that needs to be finalized early on in development.

If the game remained in a Prison Architect style, shelving in this store could either be oriented horizontally or vertically, not in any other orientation. If you want the products on the shelves to be seen, this also rules out the vertical, because the products would just be hidden.

Isometric 2D will allow you to see product on "horizontal" and "vertical" shelf orientations, but you're still locked into those angles. But Isometric 2D has its own problems of objects hiding objects, but this is usually remedied by supporting ghosted/x-ray objects.

3D allows you to fully see the products on the shelves, especially if you have a free camera, And 3D can also allow shelving at any orientation in the store. But going 3D can clearly introduce production cost if not careful.

But then, how important is it to see the products on the store shelves? For my game, it might be. For his, it might not.

Anyway, as a first game, I guess a Prison Architect approach would work. But for me, if it were my first game, I wouldn't be making a management sim.

 

Did this ever come to anything?

 

Good question. Not on my side, at least. Still working on my other game that I started a couple of years ago, and I don't anticipate that changing in the next year or two, despite Jake Birkett's recommendations.

 

Well according to steam I now have over 300 hours logged in the game. So I guess that something came of this thread.