Hello. I want to create a movie business simulation game like game dev tycoon using BYOND's DM engine. I am not good at game design at the moment. I have a design document that I will paste here soon but I don't know how to use it. I want you to choose which movies you create, how to hire and handle staff and how to market the movies. But I don't know how the game will work and which formulas to use. I need to know how this game will work/play. Like you will click create movies then input the name, the genre etc... But what will be the formulas such as using your money for movie production, what score reviews of the movie will give, how the movie will be marketed etc...? How will you use staff?
This is the design document. Please help me how to use it exactly. How this game will be played. Here:
"the only thing is the genre selection Movie Maker Tycoon
Genre: Tycoon / Simulator / Strategy
Taking control of a young director, you must manage actors, costume designers, and other professionals to make the best movie you can! From a variety of themes and genres, you can become a director that focuses on a single subject to grow a consistent fan-base, or perhaps a director who specializes in everything!
Genre Relationships:
Some pairings will be good for kids rather than adults or vice versa, some barely work together and some work great. You'll have to tinker with what works best and nets you your target audience.
Other factors effect a movies success other than it's genres. The population might be tired of an on-going theme (i.e.: oversaturation) and just something new/fresh might spark more success than it normally should.
Genre Age Appeal is listed unless it is "everyone":
Genre Demographic Appeal is listed unless "N/A":
Genres (11 currently)
Action - Male Early to Late Adults
Adventure
Comedy
Documentary
Drama - Late Adults
History - Late Adults
Horror - Early to Late Adults
Musical
Mystery
Romance - Female Early to Late Adults
Sci-fi
Subgenres (25 currently)
Survival
Escape
Western
Animals
Erotic (may want to leave this out) - Adults
Family - Children/Early Adults
Parody - Late Adults
Law and Order/Cop/Police - Working Class
Military - Patriotic
Gothic
Medieval - History Buffs / Nerdy
Ghosts
Magic
Aliens - Nerdy
Robots/Cyborgs/Androids - Nerdy
Cyber-punk - Nerdy
Steam-punk - Nerdy
Post-apocalyptic
Fantasy
Heist
Espionage
Supernatural
Super-heroes - Nerdy
Pre-historic
Martial arts - Nerdy
Religious - Young to Late Adults Religious
Political - Young to Late Adults
The two appeal groups are only one facet of what makes a movie appeal to a demographic. Having attractive stars, or well known stars can act as a trust investment for movie goers. I.e: If you throw in a lot of sex scenes in a romantic film you might land a lot of males. The goal is to teeter between groups to land the biggest net without being too spread out.
Population: The games virtual population is randomized each game, and trends change over the course of your game. This way, you will never cater to the same population. When many movies of the same theme are made, most of the population gets tired of them. Every type of movie will always have fans, though making movies too similar along with everyone else might lead to market saturation and make that genre overused, decaying any bonuses it might generate.
Trends/Rivals: In the game you're not alone, other directors and actors, crews exist and will more or less be simulating a game alongside your own. The population's tastes start randomized and change over time so riding trends and what would be a popular idea would be something to look out for. However, rival directors might push out a movie ahead of yours to cash out faster. With you releasing after it looks like you copied him or people might not want o see a similar movie so soon.
Network and Assets:
Everyone you know in game is in your network and is an asset.
Early Friends: Early on you only have "friends" these are purely casual relationships which you can ask them for favors (to act or write) straining these relationships with too many favors can cause them to leave your network.
Later Friends: Later on you can befriend people already in your network in a professional sense, making what they do normally cheaper. These relationships can be trickier due to egos.
Actors: From no talent to stars, you'll gather contact info and build report with them if you hire them often enough.
Hiring an actor in their "no-body stage" will be a lot of report, and less the more known they are. If your movie is a smash hit and this is the actors break-out role they'll gain a considerable report with you - making them a big money earner for cheap.
Agents: Befriending agents means you get scripts sooner or exclusively, it also means you can get certain actors cheaper.
Producer: Unless you become extremely wealthy producers are where you get your money from. They can cover a large budget needed to get a good movie made.
Studio Rep: Studios are big names and deadly with someone belonging to one can be good for business, whether it be a studio producer or agent.
Accountant: Managing a budget can be a tricky thing, a professional at finance can squeeze out millions of a bloated budget.
Location Manager: If no sets are built location makes or breaks a film. Someone who has an eye for locations can pick places that require little to no set work, saving you time and money.
Publicist: Good press is king when making movies. These guys will get your ads done and get them out.
Writer: Not everyone can write an award winning script, some people just need a little help.
Casting Director: Handles auditions and extras gathering. Has an eye for talent you may not have.
Camera Men: At the end of the day camera men are who get the shot that counts. Some are artists in their own right.
Lights: Also very important, but often overlooked, light guys see the shot while it's still being shot and make scenes really count.
Electrician: A professional when dealing with power being distributed to the set. A large set with lots of effects can be costly. Having someone who can handle that for you would save a lot of money.
Set Director: Handles the building of sets and manages the team of builders.
Set Builder: Like arts and crafts of steroids. These guys can build fantasy lands indoors.
Costume /Props: Handles getting and managing the props, costumes and other items. Can save tons of money to rent a uniform set instead of buying or creating your own.
Make-Up: Actors might have world-class talent, but even they need help designing a look.
Stunts: These guys put their neck on the line so your million dollar actor doesn't have to.
Critics/Movie Goers: The only NPCs that you can't hire or barely interact with. Critics are professional movie goers and often write blogs/reviews of your films. If they give positive ratings you might get more movie goers. However, critics are known to have an elitist sense of taste that can be a bit eschewed from popular opinion. This is where you have to buckle down and choose whether to make a film to appeal to critics (and reap reputation and rewards) or make a film to get as much box office tickets as possible and appeal to as many groups as possible.
Hiring/Status: To hire someone gives you their skills 24/7 with a 24/7 salary. Freelancers are a good option early on (Sometimes the only option in the case of actors who come with a million dollar salary.) this means they work for you when they're available and if they agree on the price. This also means if they're working on other films they cannot work with you. Having an high report with someone will allow you to ask them favors, this can save you money in many cases or net you an actor for less. You'll find your childhood friends won't make for the best actors once people start expecting results so hiring people will be key.
Traits: Every person, including network NPCs, will have these skills. They will fluctuate depending on events and time.
Traits will only show in a character's profile if they are relevant. I.e.: You won't see 50 skills if they're only rich and popular (like a producer).
Acting, Directing, Writing, Finance, Construction, Electrical, Creativity, Attention to Detail, Wealth, Popularity/Fame, Charisma, Ego, etc.
Stages of Production: (The Process in-game)
You control how much time is spent on each step as it goes. You can (in game) select to spent a little time (and thus money) at intervals as you go on or select to spend a lot of time (and resources) at once. I.e: If you have a very good writer but don't know how fast he can iron out a script, you might give him a week and check in on him, if it looks good you can continue on or give him another week.
While the steps are in progression you can still do things from previous steps as you go on to deal with new issues or events, doing things out of order may have unpredictable set-backs (like deciding to film with 3D cameras after you've already filmed half your movie out will mean the old film/files are useless and will anger everyone involved - or simply rewriting a script cause an actor unfortunately passed away.
You can work on multiple films at once, but the workload on your contacts can be unbearable/stressful if you don't manage them properly. I.e.: having multiple people for the same type of task will lighten the load or allow each of them one film to work on instead of three for one writer. You can save money by making your filmmaking more efficient if you have writers on hand writing your next film as the rest of your crew is working on your current film. This means if you have any crew on contract you're getting the most out of them with-out over working.
Step 1 A: Selecting Ideas/Genres: You'll pick from the genres and subgenres. You can have as many as you want but at risk of the movie's outcome. I.e.: If the movie has too many genres or a bad mix of genres you risk it being received badly. Depending on the genre different things will be needed such as sets, or costumes.
Step 1 B Getting a script: Later on getting your hands on a script will be managed/outsourced (or not) but early on your director will be drafting that himself, unless he has a writer friend/person in network. A script comes with a genre selection with it but carries other bonuses in terms of writing that you may not have.
Step 3: Script Drafting: Once you have an idea (or script) you have to refine it. You may have valuable input or know someone who does.
Step 4: Budget Building / Investor Hunting: Movies are expensive. You may have to go out of pocket (especially early on) but finding investors is a good way to earn more, although you spread the wealth. Different investors give out different amounts, some charge a return % on proceeds in exchange for a large amount. You can also take out bank loans at great risk to yourself.
Step 5: Prep Phase: Now with your budget in place you can pull the trigger of preparing your film and its needs. This is when you send out your people (or hire some) to do their things. Find actors, build sets, design costumes, the works. During the prep phase all of your crew will provide you with documents for your approval. For the most part all of these things will be the best case scenario - but you may need to manually alter something, this can offend that person depending on their ego. This is where you decide what techniques or technology you want to employ. I.e.: Stop motion or 3D cameras, etc.
Step 5B: Filming: You are able to film as long as you want. The movie’s expected quality will continue to go up, though you will still have to pay for everything. Filming for extended periods of time will only be viable to those who have the money or contacts to do so. You'll go through several random events, running through problems, contact's suggestions, and other random events. These could boost your film's overall reception or hamper it.
Step 7: Editing: Once filming is done, the movie goes to the editing crew, who trim the massive amounts of film into a reasonably sized movie. Effects can also be added in at this point
Step 8: Final Review and Publishing: Once your movie is ready, you get to review everything done to it, as well as the pre-rating for it. At this point you can publish, or go back to an earlier step.
Challenges/Random Events:
Throughout the game, you may face situations, which may set you back a bit. Making a comeback will almost always be respected, though, so this may occasionally be used to your advantage.
Running out of funds while filming
Script film stolen and then leaked
Sabotage by an unwilling actor
Problems in theater
Actors giving up
Crew giving up (could have multiple causes)
Raw footage leaked
Lack of motivation
Tragic accident (resulting in the loss of a contact)
A big star gets a hold of your script accidentally and really likes it (may have to let-go of your leads or risk offending the star with a minor role)
One of your actors is discovered to have a shady past (crime, porn, sex tape, etc)
Actor has a drug issue and goes to rehab (can cause relapse events and eventual OD if unlucky)
Do note that not all of these end in failure, most are just minor set-backs or risk-reward challenges. While making your movie, you might be lucky and have just good events occur, or you might be horribly unlucky and have all losing situations occur. You should be clearly able to see the stress level of each member, so you can give them a break or vacation as needed.
After the filming:
Box-Office Sales: This is your main moneymaker, but note not all movies need to go to theaters to be successful.
Awards: Awards are what give your reputation/fame the greatest boost. With enough fame/money studios or investors might see you as a solid investment and you might even be able to shell out a few movies just to make money. Different things will get you nominated; you can even do things specifically for critics and award baiting. Like making an overly artsy movie using an outdated technique or going all in budget wise. Or doing something good that people regarded as impossible (like mixes a bad genre combo but still producing a good film.) You also get a boost in reputation if one of your actors/crew win awards even if not for your movie, as long as it's with-in the same year. i.e: A boost with-in your network helps you as well.
Home-Sales: Even after your film leaves theaters home-sales can drive-up your total profit for years to come. You can even release unseen footage or director commentaries and other incentives to make those DVD/Bluray packages for appealing.
Gene: "sales of movies are based on a number of factors including marketing, the reviews of the movie and the proper genres.
level up staff and director(you) and show points up on screen. up to 1000 points. " "
How will this game be played? What will you do? What will be the formulas for this game?
