You're probably aware already, but if you're not, then a Youtuber Quill18 has done a video on your game

Put up our review build on Steam and sent it out to press and streamers yesterday. GULP

Seven days til launch. We're focusing on bugfixing and polish only now!

How about letting some of your pre-orderers get their hands on it *hint*.. I was one of the first 100 pre-orderers and can't wait to try it out

*edit* especially since its been let out to Twitch streamers

As far as micromanagement goes, it's never going to get to the point of trying to balance mood bars or deciding percentages of gate receipts but I do want it to have some depth and decision making .

I just don't know where the line will be currently though.

I forgot about those quotes.. Maybe on a loading screen.

Quick question. Would people prefer a list of managers to choose from at the start of the game with predetermined stats or be an unseen entity focusing more on the band

Thanks. Don't get me wrong about the tokens. It's just not a style of play that I enjoy. I can see how they are useful for a game played on Facebook.

You have definitely given me something to think about in regards to gigging. I hadn't included external factors like instruments which could be interesting if I gave them durability. Could you afford to repair your leads guitar (or replace strings)  on a regular basis to keep him sounding good or stay cheap and quality suffers?

I'd also not even thought about busking which would cost nothing but bring in very little

Yeah.. PC only at the moment

I think I looked into Twisted Rock Manager when I was doing research. It was a Facebook game that required tokens to complete certain things which turned me right off.. However.. does that now mean I have written consent?

Progress has stalled recently since its my busiest time of the year at work, however come July, my free time increases massively.

Im still not happy with the gig calculations. What do you think factors into a great show?

[Saturday 7th February]

Saturday 7th February

Work has been progressing slowly this week due to a combination of sickness within the family and work commitments.

The gigging system has got to the point where it will look at various player statistics and generate a rating on how successful the show was. Its in the testing stages still so, it doesn't progress the calender or give you any money.

I'm currently thinking that the player shouldn't see any exact stats for a bandmate but get generalizations. The main screen has started to have included a bandmate rest level, but only says things like 'Good To Go' or 'Looking Tired'. In my opinion thats better than being able to see his tiredness is say 83 out of 100.

Finally their have been a few cosmetic changes with the Start Game and Continue buttons to make them look a little bit more professional as well as adding a logo.

Oh yeah.. That reminds me.. I thought Currently Un-Named Band Management Game was a bit long winded.. I've shortened it to Rock Band Manager. I think its a little bit catchier

Last few days have been spent looking at gigging.

Every band member now has a musical skill level and energy, and I'm thinking both of those are important in how successful the show is.

However I can't seem to get it to translate into a realistic attendance level or figure out a way to increase popularity based on results.

I'm sure I'll figure out though

Have you taken the game off your site?

Thanks.. Appreciate the comments.

Now that most of the generation is setup, I'm probably going to make a start on what the player can do each day.

Currently they have a choice of 2; Gig and Skip Day, but i'm thinking of adding in:

• Practice - Improving their musical skills
• Record Song - Gotta get the music out there some how
• Publicity - I like the rockstar approach.It could go well, it could go wrong, or it may not get any press
• Rest - Although musicians would probably die rather than take a break, at least you have the option

I'm thinking of making this hard. From my research, it looks like managers get between 10 - 20% of the talents earnings and you've got your own overheads to handle (starting with a pokey office) and hiring costs for venues, recording studios and publicity stunts.

You have to think about whether you can rest your tired musicians or push them as far as you can to make sure you can afford to hire a studio and pay your rent

[Saturday 24th January]

Saturday 24th January

Today I worked on the opening sections of the game. The new game / continue section was created giving you the option of starting right at the beginning with little cash, or starting on the day where you left off.

I really wasn't happy with the band layout screen so it got recreated

Artwork is still holder but feels much better in my opinion. The text underneath has been shortened to a few keywords that will change as the character improves.

The rest of the day was playing 'Fix The Variables' as moving bits around had ruined the creation order

[Friday January 23rd]

Friday January 23rd

There is probably an easier way to do it, but if there is, I don't know it. One of the key parts of my game is the random band that you get assigned. To this effect the last few days have been used to enter in almost 200 first and second names. I've also created a list of birthplaces for the stars to come from.

After that I've added a Creativity, Musical Ability and Charisma stat which gets randomly assigned (currently). I didn't feel like having the player know exactly where the bandmate stands so the game generalizes it into a keyword (basic currently but wil expand later).

I may change the layout to a 'left to right' later with possible a long body picture of the bandmate, but thats not high on my list right now. Its taking the bandmates and giving them something to do

Question: Currently their birthplace is completely random. Should I make them all come from the same area or keep it random?

[Tuesday 20th January]

Tuesday 20th January

Little bit of progress during work lunch hour.

Began by creating the header bar to show cash and date. Added a plectrum for practice, a ticket to go gigging and a CD to make a recording. These have been placed haphazardly currently but are only placeholder images anyway.

I've also setup a processing screen (as the original all white screen was very boring)


(Again.. Placeholder based on internet imagery)

[Monday 19th January]

Monday 19th January

After putting up my first post here, the evening was spent testing the calendar and finance models that I currently have in place.

At the moment I have built a calendar that moves along with the push of a button and moves the months and years along correctly. It doesn't take into account leap years but at my current level of knowledge, that would be a struggle to figure out for very little benefit.

Being a manager is not without its expenses. Sure you may have to pay out immediate for things such as venue hiring, equipment and other such sundries, but what about the fixed payments; your rent, electric food etc. I have it set that on the 28th of every month, the game will check what expenses are due, and take them out of your balance. Dip below zero and its game over.. or it will be once I've programmed that is.

I also put in a VERY basic gigging system (i say basic because it randomly generates a crowd number and ticket price) and begun work on a band generation system. The current idea is that you don't get a say in who you get, and what stats they have meaning you have to try and make do (or bleed them dry and start again)

[The History]

Hi Guys.. 1st time poster so a little nervous

The History

This is a game that I've been waiting for a revival for a long time. Back in the early 1990's I used to love 'Rockstar Ate My Hamster" although I was never any good at it. For those that never played it, you put together a group of (upto) 4 musicians and then try to get platinum records out of them. I could never survive the year usually with my band members constantly dying. I also never figured out how to get a Number One single.. I put it down to my age at the time.

In 2002, I saw the trailer for Rock Manager and picked that up and while it was fun, it felt a little gimmicky and mission based. It didn't really take me long to blitz through the game and soon get bored.

I've tried other games since, but they seem to have taken a route towards becoming the owner of a record label or the band themselves and none of them held my interest.

Which is why im trying to make my own...

My Idea
Im hoping to make a band management game in a similar vein to Rockstar, but with one significant difference. I want mine to be somewhat roguelike. How so (i silently hear you ask). First off, I want it to save only when the day progresses meaning that you have to think about the choices that you make with no reload, but more importantly I want players to have the option to carry on if the band implodes with whatever cash you have left and a new group of wannabe starlets to try and groom. Im hoping that this could lead to interesting opportunities such as deciding to either nurture a group for long term success or leech them for all their are worth until they give up and you run off with your 10%

Hows It Going?
Its a one man operation only started this week, so progress is slow. So far I have built the calendar system and a very basic finance model but there are many more things that I hope to get in there.

Important Information
Probably the most important thing I should say is that I am teaching myself coding as I go along. I have some basic knowledge but its a case of going 'Hmm how do I make it do this' and then googling or watching a YouTube tutorial on it. I've decided to open up this DevLog for two reasons. Firstly it makes the project a lot more real for me and less of me just mucking around. Secondly, it gives me somewhere to go and seek advice if I just cant get something working.

So on that note, if you made it this far, thanks for reading