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#1 2013-03-05 16:28:03

ErnieParke
Scratcher
Registered: 2010-12-03
Posts: 1000+

;:" City Tycoon 2: Development Blog ":;

City Tycoon II is finally out!


Blog List

Drum Roll... City Tycoon 2!

Highway to Sell

The Sound of Music

Credits List

Question-thon

Written 3/5/13: Welcome to the Development Blog!


{| Introduction |}

Borrego6165: Hey! This is Borrego6165, the second in command who welcomes you to this incredible new game that myself and the amazing ErnieParke have been collaborating on. So, you're probably wondering what this development blog is all about! Well, this is a super behind the scenes look at the making of City Tycoon 2! We'll be showing you screenshots, interviews, and new game-play features for the upcoming tycoon masterpiece. There will be a new blog every day, and on the last blog we will reveal the release date of City Tycoon 2 for scratch!

ErnieParke: Hi! This is ErnieParke from the City Tycoon II Development Blog! You may already know me from my continuous wanderings around the Scratch website, though most should me from my smash-hit game: City Tycoon. Originally, I had intended it to be a small-scale game for my own amusement because I had no grand amibitions and because I enjoyed making projects of many varieties. Slightly over a year later, after my last relapse back into Scratch, my project had gotten featured, and I started to have brilliant visions about a new City Tycoon; one that would be stunning and ground-breaking. Now, close to eight months later, me and the wonderful Borrego6165 are doing just that, and as a prelude, we present to you a City Tycoon blog!

Now, before we continue, I might as tell you what you'll be seeing ahead. Joining the Crew will be about Borrego joining this collab and The Unabridged Story will be about the history of the City Tycoon series from my point of view. Now go have a great time reading these articles!

{| Joining the Crew |}

Borrego6165: Collaborating with Ernie has been interesting, educational, stressful, and fun! It started when he got City Tycoon 1 featured on front page- which was an inspirational game. At the time, I was having trouble with my own city game. No one was interested in curating or featuring it, and I was stuck on how to make it worthy of getting views. Then, after seeing the success of City Tycoon, which has managed to reach a staggering 2170 views to this date, I got the inspiration I needed to finish what has become my most successful game- thanks to City Tycoon! I altered my game a little to make it more approachable- which was the key to what made City Tycoon so popular. It was very approachable by everyone. I guessed that Ernie would want to make a sequel to his classic so I decided that I should collaborate with him before anyone else- mainly so that I could get an early look on the game!

So, my job was editing the game. Every so often me and Ernie would swap the game over the internet via our secret website (which was originally meant to be the hub for a superhero game I was planning!) where we also discussed and shared ideas on how to improve the game. We never argued over anything, but small children aren't advised to listen to us when we're discussing what rules should apply to laying scenery on the map! As mentioned before, what made the first so great was that it could be approached by any skilled player, from low-skilled amateurs to casual players. However, it was not very approachable to hardcore gamers, which is where I came in.

I tried my best to mature things up, such as allowing the player to speed up the time, and I created a challenging rewards system (which Ernie programmed) that we will discuss some other time. However, I also kept to the game's core values by not changing the economy system (how you make and lose money) and keeping it approachable by every player!

{| The Unabriged Story |}

ErnieParke: Thank you for relating your history of joining this wonderful game! Why, thanks to you, City Tycoon is that much better! You've been such a nice friend so far.

Anyway, now that've we've gotten you up to touch with the crew, it's time that I say how I came by City Tycoon! There is so much for me to say, and to say it all is to start a zombie apocalypse. So, as I tell you my story, I'll try to keep it to a few paragraphs and have it interesting as well. And so I go to the miniscule beginning of this all: paper games.

Paper games were a nice, little novelty that I had invented when I was 4 years old; basically it was a recreation of video games on paper. I would keep track of everything single thing in my head or on paper, and would joyfully play it as if it was a regular video game. Although I often played paper games, sometimes I felt a craving to play one on an actual screen, so I would do just that. The game that I found that I cherished the most was Sea World Tycoon, which is where I got the original, dazzling idea of my City Tycoon series! Although this was true, I didn't know about Scratch at this time, so I decided to turn it into a paper game. After my very first attempt of including every single variable and option of the original game, as well as being buried alive in variables/math, I noticed that this was never going to work in the at all, and so I made a much simpler version of it. Why, if it wasn't for this paper game, then I never would've made City Tycoon, or if in the slightest chance I did, it would've been a lot less enjoyable.

Later on, after having met Scratch, and after having made a few mild projects, I dug up my old Tycoon paper game and got the marvelous inspiration to build it in scratch! After a few weeks of light development, I released it with very little publicity, and one project later, I quit scratch, though not because I wasn't getting views. Now, I'll forward to a week before I got the idea for CT II. My project had taken a huge turn of events and it was getting hundreds of views and kind comments! I had practically fainted the moment it was featured, and everyone was having heaps of fun! During all of this buzz, I decided to go back and replay City Tycoon to remember a bit of what it was like. Now, mid-game, I noticed the striking absence of a lot of features from the game, and I envisioned a spectacular CT II. It seemed wonderful, and I set that as my very next project to create. After getting some basics into the game (or about 2 months in), Borrego came along and we decided to collab on the next game in the generation series! After a few unexpected changes in plan, we finally settled in on City Tycoon II. It was a fresh experience and a great time as well! It still is!

Borrego6165: We've now covered the history of the City Tycoon series. So, it's time that we'd be saying goodbye and we'll see you tomorrow! We are coming very close to announcing the release date too!

Last edited by ErnieParke (2013-03-19 21:24:22)


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#2 2013-03-06 12:26:24

ErnieParke
Scratcher
Registered: 2010-12-03
Posts: 1000+

Re: ;:" City Tycoon 2: Development Blog ":;

Written 3/6/13: Drum Roll... City Tycoon 2!

Boreggo6165: Welcome back! I'm Borrego6165, who helped bring this game to life. For more details about the crew involved, please read the first blog! If you are also confused about what City Tycoon is, then I'd recommend that you read the first blog too. So, let the tour de game begin!

Ernie and I both worked hard to make this game different from the original. My job was to make the project feel more like an actual game instead of a project, which was an issue with the first one. The goal of becoming Mayor in the first game was seen as too easy, because there were little, or no obstacles in the way. Originally, the idea was that I would implement a campaign mode into this game; however, we realised that this was too complicated and that it would actually ruin the simplicity of the first game.

So, I worked out a way to make the game simple but still challenging. However, until the next blog comes out (which explains how to win, as well how to gain income and some other interesting strategies) I can only say that this involves winning an award called Mayor of the Year. You'll have to wait to find out how to win this precious award!

Some of the major features include the ability to speed up the game. This I felt was vital to improve the pace of the game, especially when you're trying to complete the harder goals. There is also a new weather system for rain and storms, which have been beautifully animated by Ernie. You can still enjoy the gorgeous sun when there are no storms. You can also decorate the ground to look like desert, snow or just ordinary grass! There are also new trees and decorations to place too!

Note: To get the best quality images, you'll have to zoom in.

Design the terrain how you want it!

http://i.imgur.com/mSH5uyW.png


Have more control over your city with the control tab!

http://i.imgur.com/WlmueWZ.png


And now for the best part! I will now hand you over to Ernie for some extra information! Ciao!

ErnieParke: Thank you for that spectacular introduction to the new features! Now, as Borrego said, there are quite a few new elements in CT II, all of which beautifully enhance the game-play! For example, there now is a floor which you can creatively design, or even blow up with the TNT! This, I found to be very nice and igneous, though what I find I like more are the small features, like the tourists' ability to take pictures, and the destructive lightning.

Similarly, the buildings happen to have changed a lot since the original City Tycoon. Mainly their graphics have been greatly improved, though now there is interest as well as tip boosts! For example, the new bank and headquarters both give interest, while the Chinese restaurant and the post office both hold tip upgrades. Furthermore, there are a wider variety of buildings to choose from, and a larger arrange of incomes! So now it's much easier to become the millionaire you've always dreamt about!

Personally, I've always liked the federal court the most because of its beautiful pillars and other admirable features. And as Borrego has told me, his favourite building is "The Chinese restaurant, because I love Chinese food! Especially chicken sweetcorn soup, then following comes the crispy duck and pancakes!"

Now we've come to an end; so we'll be coming back to you tomorrow with another amazing blog post! ¡Adíos!

Last edited by ErnieParke (2013-03-07 22:16:14)


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#3 2013-03-07 22:15:25

ErnieParke
Scratcher
Registered: 2010-12-03
Posts: 1000+

Re: ;:" City Tycoon 2: Development Blog ":;

Written 3/7/13: Highway to Sell

ErnieParke: Hi ya'll and welcome back to our wonderful blog! Today, we'll be showing you around the money part of the operations, as well as winning! Don't forget, if you need to catch up on what's been happening, read the first blog post, or if you want to read a bit on the features in general, then there's always the second blog post.

Now, how exactly do you get money? It's the same as the original; basically, buildings give you money automatically and you don't have the hassle of having to manage lots of variables! This is really nice because you can sit back and relax, and it makes the game very approachable. Also, as mentioned in the second blog, some buildings have interest, which can really boost your income! Also, a nice way to earn more money is through people. For example, if you got a tourist to walk into a Chinese Restaurant and you had 5 post offices, you could get anywhere from $3,000 to $12,000 from that one person! And the money goes up the more times they walk in and the more post offices that you have!

Borrego6165: We're still debating about the post offices, as who visits 5 post offices in a real city? But don't worry, we'll provide you with a way to make quick cash, as that's one of the most fun parts of the game! Also, although it's great fun to make money, I wanted there to be an actual reachable objective to the game, and this was not easy to come up with. Originally, we were going to have a large scenario and a sandbox mode, then it turned into a campaign mode, then it turned into three random scenarios that could be played in any order, then at last we agreed on an awards system. It's like a large scenario, but you have so much freedom that it is almost a sandbox mode.

Your goal is to become Mayor of the Year by winning all of the trophies and getting City Hall! So far we have about 10 trophies, but that number may increase or decrease if we feel that a couple are unnecessary. For example, to win one of the awards, you need to buy 5 apartments.

ErnieParke: Oh, and to add on, once you do become Mayor of the Year, you get this nice, shiny diamond trophy! How gracious!

Anyway, that was a bit of a short blog post, but we'll be back with more, so keep your eyes open! By!


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#4 2013-03-08 14:53:45

ErnieParke
Scratcher
Registered: 2010-12-03
Posts: 1000+

Re: ;:" City Tycoon 2: Development Blog ":;

Written 3/8/13: The Sound of Music

ErnieParke: Welcome back again to our spectacular blog! You already know about this by now, though if you're looking for something about the history of CT, the new buildings, winning, trophies, or the such, then go above. You'll have much better luck looking there.

Moving back on topic, CT II happens to come with much improved music, and it's a bit of a grand miracle that we even have it because back a few months ago, I had practically no music and I was terrible at finding music. Now, thanks to Borrego6165, we have spectacular music! Although we won't say which they are, you'll find them here!

Borrego6165: This link leads to my music 'shop', a directory on the scratch forums for you to find lots of sound effects and music that are free and have no restrictions on use to my knowledge.

ErnieParke: Now, you may be wondering how we were able to muddle through that collection of music and find the right pieces, as well as find some sound effects. To be truthful, Borrego6165 did the heavy lifting here for he was he one who picked every song, though I did find and pick the sound effects. Combining the two and we're ready for musical lift-off!

Borrego6165: There is no way to explain how to choose music, you simply listen to it and download it if you like it. Then, after sampling loads of songs you choose the best few and cut them down/enhance them in a song editor like the free Audacity editor. I can give you some tips though.

One challenge of finding music is to stop it getting repetitive. For this example, I'm going to contrast two major games I have worked on: This and Generation:4000! Interestingly enough, they're both city games, with the exception that mine is a simulator, and this is a traditional tycoon game.

For both games, I needed city music. This is a mixture of urban, jazz, classical, and even world music! I had more luck when looking for world music then I had with other genres. With this game, I gave City Tycoon 2 a more urban/electronic mix because I felt that at the street level you would need more upbeat music. This contrasts G:4000, where the camera is set up high in the sky, and so more epic-style orchestral/godly music was required.

City Tycoon was a challenge because I worried that the music would be too repetitive. However, I found a way to overcome this. If you hear a song loop twice or thrice in a row, then if it's a loop you won't notice it too much. However, you'll notice it more if you hear it again later on after a break. So, there has to be a balance between repeating songs and making them last, whilst also not making them too annoying. You'll notice that this was done by repeating each one a couple of times and then moving on to the next one.

There is nothing much more to say, other than make sure that you don't over use or under use music! Thanks for reading, 'till next time!


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#5 2013-03-09 17:05:06

ErnieParke
Scratcher
Registered: 2010-12-03
Posts: 1000+

Re: ;:" City Tycoon 2: Development Blog ":;

Written 3/9/13: Credits List

ErnieParke: Hello to everyone here! We're back today with another great blog post!

So what we'll be doing here is crediting everyone who's done something for the wonderful game, City Tycoon II. Now, here's the full list:

[]=[]=[]=[]=[]=[]=[]=[]=[]=[]=[]=[]=[]=[]=[]=[]=[]=[]=[]=[]=[]=[]=[]=[]=[]=[]=[]=[]=[]=[]=[]=[]

ErnieParke

Well, I was the founder.

Borrego6165

My great, wonderful partner!

Destructo-Serpent

For the idea of the Clock Tower!

Firedrake969

This is a bit obscure, but one day, he had asked for help in the forums, and while helping him, I finally figured out how to make part of the Achievement System, so thanks to him!

Mrs. White + ECS Class

For being such great testers!

Scratch + Scratch Team

For making all of this possible!


Also, we should say thanks to everyone out there for being so supportive and great people!

Now, this isn't the end of this blog. We have something neat and nice left for you, so stay tuned!

Last edited by ErnieParke (2013-03-09 17:08:39)


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#6 2013-03-10 12:36:45

ErnieParke
Scratcher
Registered: 2010-12-03
Posts: 1000+

Re: ;:" City Tycoon 2: Development Blog ":;

Written 3/10/13: Question-thon

ErnieParke: Now it's time for that neat and nice thing that I talked to you about earlier. What we're having right now is a Question-thon! Basically, you ask us any question that you want about City Tycoon or CT II, and we'll answer it for you! If you even want to, you can aim it towards Borrego or me. Now, if you have any questions, feel free to ask.


If you're wondering, Question-thon is my special spin on the word "interview".

Last edited by ErnieParke (2013-03-10 12:39:23)


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#7 2013-03-10 12:42:40

iaoumeur
Scratcher
Registered: 2012-11-24
Posts: 500+

Re: ;:" City Tycoon 2: Development Blog ":;

Hey there, I don't have a question but can I just say this is a great idea and I hope you do well!


The Dot 3 is out!!! Play it here!

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#8 2013-03-10 13:17:45

MEOWCAT34
Scratcher
Registered: 2012-09-29
Posts: 100+

Re: ;:" City Tycoon 2: Development Blog ":;

Can't wait!


Wuntz a pun a tiem dere wuz a ranndumb guy. da end.
GENERATION 32: The first time you see this, copy it into your sig on any forum and add 1 to the generation. Social experiment

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#9 2013-03-10 14:09:30

MEOWCAT34
Scratcher
Registered: 2012-09-29
Posts: 100+

Re: ;:" City Tycoon 2: Development Blog ":;

You should add codes, so you can visit other people's cities.


Wuntz a pun a tiem dere wuz a ranndumb guy. da end.
GENERATION 32: The first time you see this, copy it into your sig on any forum and add 1 to the generation. Social experiment

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#10 2013-03-10 14:41:18

ErnieParke
Scratcher
Registered: 2010-12-03
Posts: 1000+

Re: ;:" City Tycoon 2: Development Blog ":;

MEOWCAT34 wrote:

You should add codes, so you can visit other people's cities.

Well, the problem with that is that this is in Scratch 1.4, and so you can't save your city online or visit other people's, though in Scratch 2.0, I might think about adding something like this. Wait... you said codes. Well, I'll think about that.  wink

With regards,

ErnieParke


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#11 2013-03-12 17:37:01

ErnieParke
Scratcher
Registered: 2010-12-03
Posts: 1000+

Re: ;:" City Tycoon 2: Development Blog ":;

Okay, so I've finally decided I will be releasing CT II on this Monday. I'll see you all then.  wink

With regards,

ErnieParke


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#12 2013-03-12 19:19:07

Nomolos
Scratcher
Registered: 2011-07-29
Posts: 1000+

Re: ;:" City Tycoon 2: Development Blog ":;

Whoo! Can't wait!


Goodbye 1.4. I'll always remember you and treasure your awesomeness in my heart.
RIP 1.4: 2007-2013 *Sniffles* *Sobs* *Bursts into tears*

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#13 2013-03-12 20:17:19

MEOWCAT34
Scratcher
Registered: 2012-09-29
Posts: 100+

Re: ;:" City Tycoon 2: Development Blog ":;

Nomolos wrote:

Whoo! Can't wait!

I know you're online! >:D

Last edited by MEOWCAT34 (2013-03-12 20:17:33)


Wuntz a pun a tiem dere wuz a ranndumb guy. da end.
GENERATION 32: The first time you see this, copy it into your sig on any forum and add 1 to the generation. Social experiment

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#14 2013-03-18 22:16:29

ErnieParke
Scratcher
Registered: 2010-12-03
Posts: 1000+

Re: ;:" City Tycoon 2: Development Blog ":;

I'm sorry, but CT II will have to be delayed a day, though I promise that it'll be up tomorrow.  wink

With regards,

ErnieParke


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#15 2013-03-18 22:19:08

CAA14
Scratcher
Registered: 2013-01-14
Posts: 1000+

Re: ;:" City Tycoon 2: Development Blog ":;

Though tycoon games aren't my favorite, i wish y'all well.  smile

Regards,

CAA14

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#16 2013-03-19 21:23:34

ErnieParke
Scratcher
Registered: 2010-12-03
Posts: 1000+

Re: ;:" City Tycoon 2: Development Blog ":;

CAA14 wrote:

Though tycoon games aren't my favorite, i wish y'all well.  smile

Regards,

CAA14

Thank you! I also hope that your next project comes along nicely.  wink

With thanks,

ErnieParke

P.S. CT II is finally out!


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#17 2013-03-25 13:29:56

techboy102
New Scratcher
Registered: 2012-06-01
Posts: 17

Re: ;:" City Tycoon 2: Development Blog ":;

Can I help?

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#18 2013-03-25 16:15:35

ErnieParke
Scratcher
Registered: 2010-12-03
Posts: 1000+

Re: ;:" City Tycoon 2: Development Blog ":;

techboy102 wrote:

Can I help?

Help develop City Tycoon II, right? Well the game's already done and out, as you might have seen already, so there's practically no development left to do, and what's left is really is easy to do. So no, though you could always give constructive feedback on my game so that I could use it in the future. :)

With regards,

ErnieParke


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