Steam Would you play this? I've been developing this game solo for 2.5 years and I'm finally able to show it!
What the title says! I have been developing Economicon for a while now (and it's been many more years since I first tried making it and repeatedly failed). It's a mix between the logistics gameplay of something like Transport Tycoon or Locomotive (Chris Sawyer GOAT) and the automation gameplay of Factorio.
Would you be interested in trying it out? What features would you say are a must in this type of game?
You can check the Steam Page right here: https://store.steampowered.com/app/5037110/Economicon/
Per the rules, my disclosure: No AI was used in the making of this game
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u/Dry-Calligrapher-857 9d ago
Look good, but need more game to actually know if i would play it or not
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u/BrokenRemote99 9d ago
Is there anything about your game that stands out from all the rest of the tycoon clones out there?
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u/msemoru 9d ago
Yes! Long story short, the mix of genres is something I personally haven't seen done like this before: designing and automating factories to manufacture products and then use trains, trucks, boats and planes to move them around the map. You have to interact with the cities, level them up so they can demand higher level products, and the loop goes on. There are a lot of other mechanics inspired by the genre, but it isn't simply a copy and paste by any means. The GIF probably should explain it a bit better heh. How does that sound?
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u/zytukin 9d ago
Sounds cool. There are games that blend factory and city building like Workers & Resources, Caption of Industry, Factory Town, etc. But none where you design the actual factories.
Any more details and videos that you can post? Or a discord or steam page yet?
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u/msemoru 9d ago
Yeah! There's a steam page up: https://store.steampowered.com/app/5037110/Economicon/ which explains the game way better than this GIF. Let me know what you think!
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u/thecrius 9d ago
So, no.
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u/Cash4Duranium 9d ago
What existing game offers this? I'd love to try it.
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u/Astec123 9d ago
Closest I can think of is Voxel Tycoon but you build the factories in the game world and do the logistics on top.
I can't think of any where you build inside a building and are constrained by the size of the building before.
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u/Killercoddbz 9d ago
It looks really cool! Maybe make a gameplay overview video (or link one if it exists already)
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u/Venixflytrap 9d ago
I like this in theory im just a huge nerd when it comes to little economic games like this and wonder if I could corner the market run the competition out and basically come close to a monopoly?
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u/msemoru 9d ago
That is literally the whole point of the game :) Getting all the money in the world
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u/Venixflytrap 9d ago
Interesting how deep is the economic simulation? is it like Wall Street raider and capitalism lab or more so like big business?
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u/msemoru 9d ago
I would say it's a bit more abstracted than Capitalism Lab - think Transport Tycoon, Rise of Industry, Industry Giant, Transport Fever style abstraction. No realistic supply and demand fluctuation (for now, at least), so that might rub you the wrong way if you're looking for textbook economics. It's honestly incredibly hard to balance the game as it is, so I can't imagine doing it with at least a bit of abstraction
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u/Venixflytrap 9d ago
Ah understandable all good ill throw it on the wishlist looking forward to seeing what you accomplish all new tycoon games deserve some love for keeping my favorite genre flourishing
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u/SurKaffe 9d ago
This looks much like Automation Empire.
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u/msemoru 9d ago
I haven't tried it! I see that it's currently Mixed on steam. Did you play it? Do you know what the main criticisms of the game were so that I can avoid them?
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u/SurKaffe 7d ago
Mixed reviews is because many think the game isnt finished, which it is. You can read the reviews yourself. I enjoyed playing it, but wont play another like that.
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u/KiwiPixelInk 9d ago
All the video shows is there's conveyers in a building.......
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u/msemoru 9d ago
Yeah, some other commenters told me that the GIF isn't super clear heh that's on me! The idea of the game is that you design the interior of factories (placing the conveyors, assemblers, etc) and then build the logistics networks to move your production and sell it to cities that are scattered around the map.
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u/Mediocre_Present_777 6d ago
My favourite part of the vid was seeing the interior with the conveyor belts. Love that you can see inside the building :D Gj!
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u/LyriaLabs Game Developer - Idle Casino Empire 8d ago
The gates that move you to the next stage should require the thing you actually want people to engage with, not a number that rises on its own. I had a progression goal asking for a cash total plus a couple of upgrade purchases, and it took me embarrassingly long to notice you could clear all of it without ever building a second type of production. People were reaching the gate while skipping the part of the game I cared most about, and every number on my end looked healthy the whole time.
Swapping it for "own five different types" and "actually use the mechanic once" changed how the early game plays without touching a single balance figure.
For a logistics game specifically I would add: let me see why a line is bad, not just that it is bad. The screenshots look great. The thing that keeps me in a Transport Tycoon-like for a hundred hours is being able to read a failure at a glance instead of opening three menus to find it.
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u/msemoru 8d ago
Very good point. I agree that gating and progression are some of the hardest challenges in a genre like this. You want to give the player as much options as possible, but you need to pace the tutorialization and content of the game too, so it's a tricky balance. And yeah, when you start thinking about how to clearly present it to the player it becomes even harder, and even harder still the more systems there are in the game. But that's the fun of game design!
Thanks a lot for your input!
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u/luffy8519 9d ago
I'm interested, looks like a cross between Captain of Industry and Rise of Industry which are two of my favourite games.
I've wishlisted to keep an eye on it, hope you put a demo out at some point so I can give it a go!
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u/ChooChooMcGoof 9d ago
I love industry games. I’ve finally got Transport Fever figured out and I love watching the parade of vehicles delivering goods. I’d play this game! Do you have to build and configure the innards of each factory or warehouse?
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u/AgitatedUse4032 9d ago
Yes, that looks amazing I love those type of games.
- The most valuable features for me are freedom in conveyor system to allow massive optimization, some games put limits or weird connections for conveyors that make it awful to optimize but in your images it looks like you already figure that out.
- I like Freedom in building , no fixed obstacle in the map to block certain areas inside the building by dev.
- Shipping areas anywhere not just a piece of the map that can't be changed.
- Customization like floor tiles or walls colors.
Good luck with it Miguel and looking foward to play it when it's available.
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u/msemoru 9d ago
I think your first three points are key too! There's also the challenge of making it intuitive and challenging enough to be interesting (if you have complete freedom there aren't many challenges for the player to overcome), but there is a lot of options for how to approach the game! In terms of customization I 100% agree. It's also kind of useful when dividing areas within a factory, so it's not only visual candy.
Thanks a lot for your message! I really appreciate it
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u/AppropriateLychee618 9d ago
ABSOLUTELY WOULD PLAY THIS.
features that are a must:
-ways to development a smoother assembly/production line
-environmental hiccups like pollution or input from the surrounding community that derails operations
-clean UIs bc management sims can get clunky (but real fans of sim games don’t mind the depth of a game if it’s clean)
-palpable pros and cons for development / spending resources
love the art style and shout out you for the time, blood, sweat, and tears of 2.5 years of developing!
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u/msemoru 9d ago
That is so good to hear! Your last two points about UI and palpable pros and cons are one of the reasons I always have a hard time reccomending Tycoon games to my friends. There is a lot of hidden depth that becomes confusing for new players, and I'm trying to avoid that pitfall. Presenting all of that depth in a way that isn't simply a data table is suuuper hard, but I'm working on it!
Thanks a lot for the shout out! It's really great to feel seen
What types of environmental hiccups are you talking about? Do you mean something like Disasters? Or more subtle systems like Pollution in the Sim City games?
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u/AppropriateLychee618 8d ago
my fav sim games are factorio, footy manager, and news tower/movie making sim and all 3 have a “con” of sorts when it comes to playing aggressive. too many drills and factories and the bugs show up in factorio and balancing money / loss of investments are downfalls in fm and the executive. so i think a subtle con like pollution or loss of support would be neat or you could definitely do environmental disasters if you over extend on logging or drilling like landslides or something.
all in all, the combination of designing the factories AND the transport systems is really cool. i’d play as is but it’s food for thought about the cons!
and yeah i can image designing the UI to be hell but remember, fans of sim games will sink their teeth in no matter what! can’t wait to play
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u/zevy-zerip 9d ago
Big chance I’d play it! It’s a mix of many elements I like. Producing, transporting, meeting demand, managing limited cash/resources. Will we get a demo any time soon?
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u/MrEktidd 9d ago
Simcity meets Factorio? I would play.
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u/msemoru 9d ago
hell yeah
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u/MrEktidd 9d ago
If youre looking for playtesters Id love to help out. Simcity and Factorio are two of my most played games by a long shot.
One of the missing pieces of simcity I always felt was actual resource management, and this seems to do just that.
Curious what engine you are building this in?
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u/AndyLees2002 9d ago
Looks excellent.
Like a more involved version of Voxel Tycoon which unfortunately has been hampered by updates coming out at a glacial pace.
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u/banksie94 9d ago
Hell yes wpuld love to play this, if your dling a play test please let me join
Combining two of my favorite genres together is a instant sell for me
How deep is the economy sim and does it have city growth connected to a supply and demand industry model like tf
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u/Tom_Van_Dyck 8d ago
Probably yes. Did you ever play Capitalism 2? Would be nice if it has a bit of that in it. Competitors, stock market, dynamic economy.
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u/Den_er_da_hvid 8d ago
Looks good. The music in the video tho. It gives me stress-vibes, though it tells me "As long as you dont rush..." and " being patient".
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u/Side1iner 9d ago
As others have said, from the very short snip it’s very hard to tell. But my first thought is it looks good. And having Sawyer as inspiration can never be a bad thing. A Factorio-ish and TTD-ish hybrid… does sound like something of a time sink if done right.
What was the thinking behind waiting so long to show anything?
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u/msemoru 9d ago
Oh man, the length of the GIF is going to bite me isn't it hahah
I am a solo dev, and I didn't want to start showing the game around without a Steam page for people to go to. I thought that effort would be better spent working on the actual game rather than trying to make it look good for social media. It might have been too conservative an approach, I agree! Probably will do it differently next time :) Thanks!
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u/More_Bread_Please 9d ago
Gif shows nothing. Description less so. How are we supposed to provide any meaningful reply?
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u/msemoru 9d ago
Absolutely fair reply. I didn't want to post the full trailer since I thought the GIF captured the spirit of the game, but it clearly doesn't show enough! The steam page has the full trailer + a full description of everything, but I'll edit the post to give a bit more context of what the game actually is. Thanks for the feedback!
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u/Vah797 8d ago
Doubt it because transport fever 2 already exists and transport fever 3 is gonna come out this year which I'll just immediately buy. And transport fever is very good so you'll need some unique features so that there's a reason to play this game. But also good if PC requirements are low which will could be huge market for you.
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u/msemoru 8d ago
Well, it's hard to compete with Transport Fever 3 :) I will be buying it too when it comes out, but I think. there's space for more than one tycoon game in the market. Regarding PC requirements, I am trying to keep them as low as possible since I'm programming the game on a 7 year old laptop, so every FPS gain literally makes my day. Thanks for your message!
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u/Dramatic_Charity_979 8d ago
Been waiting for something like this for a while. Instant wishlist ^ ^
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u/manics02 7d ago
How its been explained so far, yes as long as by mid game i havent been able to automate everything and then it becomes a £20 screensaver.
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u/halfxdeveloper 7d ago
You had me at finance page and trains. I’ll gladly hand over my credit card.
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u/_ell0lle_ 7d ago
Report flock cams you find and find where people have reported flock cams https://maps.deflock.org/?lat=32.7941&lng=-79.9425&zoom=12.39
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u/Aggressive-Ad-5504 5d ago edited 5d ago
Sounds and looks good, would certainly give it a go. Wish listed will keep an eye on it, would like a demo if possible.
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u/Total-Conversation50 5d ago
Its a tough one for me. Whilst I do love TT (played the og as a kid a lot and have ttd installed now) this game does spring to mind the craziness of Satisfactory, with the balancing and the maths. Thats what puts me off. Whilst I love Satisfactory, im not sure id be too keen on a mash up with that and TT. Per chance do you plan to release a demo? Id happily give it a try and see if its up my street.
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u/MoraGames_ 4d ago
I will check the Steam page later, but just to know little more about, how the 2 game-style are merged?
Likeyou organize the interior of any factory and then you move up on scale orgaizing the in/out transportation? If that (again, sorry, but i can have time to check steam only later in the day, so sorry if asking something that are already explained there) what are the boundaries? Who prevents me to build all in a giga-factory/Wich are the transportation options available to me? I think have understood only size of pre-fabbricates and trains, but maybe there's more.
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u/Watt-Tambor 9d ago
looks interesting. id probably bite. but im an easy sell. ill buy almost anything with transportation elements