Ricky Ford

It seems as if things are never truly finished when you're an independent game developer.

There's always a new issue or a new challenge to overcome, and with such, a lot of time and headaches involved with wrapping your head around programming. I've started the early design phase of RockTycoon version 3 where I will hopefully be able to introduce a couple of new features that the community has requested, such as giving bands the opportunity to book their own festivals, along with introducing the ability for bands to collaborate with each other on their albums.

I can already tell that version 3 is going to be a bigger headache than version 2 was, but I'm hoping that with the new changes, the database that hosts RockTycoon will run like a well-oiled machine. I've tossed around the idea of implementing rounds with the RockTycoon community, to which I've received a lot of feedback from users stating they would absolutely hate the idea. My reasonings for implementing rounds have always been backed by a solid idea of how the game should function.

At the current point, it's entirely too easy for bands to gain millions of dollars in cash and not have anything to spend their money on. I've implemented new vehicles, new instruments and new venues, and still, it seems as if bands are pulling in way more money than what should be in circulation. The last time I did a check on the money in circulation, it was somewhere in the billions. I'd prefer the number to be in the low millions.

So, with the implementation of rounds in the game, it makes much more sense that we would have a fresh slate every two or three months so that bands that just signed up in the game have a fighting chance against bands that have been playing the game since it launched. At the moment, some bands are in the tens of millions of fans, where new players would find it difficult and time consuming to even place on the Top Rock Charts. With the introduction of rounds, there would be an even and fair playing field for everyone who signs up for the game.

Just typing up this post and thinking in my head of everything that needs to be done and everything I want to implement in the game shows me that it's going to take a lot of work to get RockTycoon where I want it to be.

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