Devlog 1: Plans and Projects

Plans

In this devlog I want to highlight a couple of things that I don't see many (or any?) similar games doing. I also want to explain some of the more vague terms in the game description. What even is a dynamic economy? As well I want to answer the question of what's up with Mars Rapid Transit development and outline the plan for the game.

Dynamic Economy

I want Mars Rapid Transit to work at multiple levels of engagement. Which is a fancy way of saying that you can play MRT without getting super deep into the economic simulation and still have fun making money by linking together different colonies and industries.

However, I want players who are looking for a deeper experience to be able to affect how the simulated Martian economy grows and develops.

In MRT there won't be just a single "passenger" type cargo. Instead there will be workers, students, business people, scientists, tourists etc. Each of these passenger types will have a slightly different needs. Workers for example need to commute during the morning and evening, whereas tourists travel during the day.

The day-night cycle in MRT is not just for show. Players will have the ability to schedule trains at different times to take advantage of this effect. This will not only increase profitability but affect how colonies and industries grow and develop.

For example, a colony that receives more tourists might start building hotels and amusement complex buildings, further increasing the demand for tourist traffic. In this way, the player can, with some careful calibration, begin to affect the direction of the economy.

Additionally, the time taken to transport passengers and products to their destination matters. Workers and students might be ok eating ready meals but business people and tourists could demand fresh produce, which has a limited time to make it from hydroponics farms to their dinner tables in the colonies.

Long term, I also want to give players the ability to more directly affect colony and industry growth by letting players buy real estate and build their buildings - hotels, apartment blocks etc - in colonies, as well as own or found their own industries and even own colonies. Though right now this is a bit of a stretch goal. I can't guarantee it'll make it in before launch, but I definitely want to add it later if possible.

Aside: For those familiar with it, I'm taking a lot of inspiration from the A-Train series here. I poured so many hours into the Maxis version of A-Train (aka A-Train 3) back in the day. More recently, researching A-Train 9, aka The Train Giant, I saw a lot of confused and disappointed youtube let's plays of it, which made me sad since actually the principles of the game - deep business sim combined with city builder in disguise - are the same as from A-Train 3. Just trapped in an overwrought and unintuitive user experience.

Future Transport

The other thing that annoys me about many transport/train business sim type games is the approach to building train lines. No one in real life builds a train line one section of track at a time, second guessing if they even have enough money/resources to build the whole thing and without having an estimate of if it'll be profitable. Instead, in the real world, the whole route is planned out in advance, maybe with some alternatives like going round a mountain vs building a tunnel, and fully costed. And only then is a decision made to build.

So, I plan to replicate that in MRT. You will be able to make different plans that you can save and load. There will be a ghost track so you can see where the track will be laid and how much it will cost, and you'll even be able to run simulated trains on the ghost track to have some idea of if the route is even possible.

Possibilities

Some things in MRT are not 100% confirmed yet. Currently building tracks is restricted to single straight or circular lines. It's not possible to make branches or complex networks (there are basically no points/switches).

This is partly expedient in terms of being able to make the game in a reasonable timeframe, as it cuts down on how much time is needed to implement pathfinding, signaling systems etc.

Moreover, it makes life far easier for new players and means players can again still have fun if they don't fancy getting neck deep into setting up signals and complex schedules. Just plonk a train on a line and watch it go back and forth (or in a circle).

I am still figuring out if this is a good thing, as it could restrict the ability of players to, for example, bring lots of products to grow one colony into a mega-large colony. Or make some combinations of train lines unnecessarily complex. Equally I want to avoid making MRT too puzzle like, which could be the result if you always have to think in terms of lines.

In any case, it's something I will test and would like to get feedback on, both now and later when the time for playtesting comes.

Signage

Another part of the game that I am definitely looking to improve is the artwork for the game. I quite like the current AI generated artwork in terms of colours and mood, but definitely it has that uncanny quality of a lot of gen AI art.

(Gen AI - Great for inspiration. Not so much for key art)

As well, the UI style is not final. I only recently realised that a lot of the inspiration for the game comes from the airline industry aesthetic: A combination of calm, stylish in a minimalist fashion, and a touch functional. I want to recreate that feel in the game via the UI and it's one area where I'm looking to possibly get a UI artist on board.

Status

I made the prototype for MRT way back in February, put the steam page up and then left it. The story was that after failing to find a publisher for my other game, Critias Empire, I would put that project on the backburner, and instead make two two relatively short, quick games: Mars Rapid Transit, and another game called Palm Paradise Garden.

Derailed

After prototyping both, I decided to make Palm Paradise Garden first, then come back to Mars Rapid Transit. I'd love to say that I did exactly that, but sadly the truth is Palm Paradise Garden proved to be much larger in scope than I anticipated. As well, for various reasons, I got sucked back towards spending more time on Critias Empire than I planned. And in the process of juggling those two games, I overworked myself and ended up taking an extended break from all game development at the start of the summer.

Slow Train

One thing I did do while taking that break was create pitch decks and proper project schedules for all my games. I have been pitching these to publishers with the idea to make / finish the games that I can get funding for, then circling back and finishing the other two games from a position of greater financial stability.

Meanwhile / in the absence of a publisher, I'm progressing at a slower tempo, dividing my time in a holistic way between each game. I want to avoid my experience from earlier this year when I was chasing deadlines imposed by different Steam Festivals and events. Crunching on one game to get a demo or playable build ready, then immediately switching onto another to get it ready a few weeks later just did not work for me.

However, Mars Rapid Transit will be finished at some point. I have recently improved the prototype for the first time in months and looking at it with fresh eyes has given me some inspiration and clearer ideas of exactly what the game will be like. As well I fixed some long-standing bugs, such as the hilariously game-breaking bug in which building a track from right-to-left instead of left-to-right would cause trains to fly off the tracks and go in circles.

I will make further devlogs semi-regularly to update you on the game's progress. And if you have any feedback, comments or thoughts on the game, you can always contact me on discord or other social media. Or pop a message in the comments below!