Coding the first controllable business means making a lot of general choices for all the other businesses as well. I need to find a design that will work for controlling all types of businesses. Though I'm pretty pleased with the overall overview (easy on the eyes with all essential information right there), I still have doubts about the size of the Resources Managing screen. I'm trying to find a good midway between not overloading the player with information, but still hinting that there are much more advanced choices the player can make. This is a large part of the 'easy-to-play, hard-to-master' style I'm going for. The player should be able to make a small profit with only a few clicks, but be able to further expand this profit by configuring advanced options.
For example:
The player starts an airline. The airline will need resources (planes and pilots), booked services (planned flights), and customers. Planes can be bought with a simple click on the buy button, but can be attained through advanced ways as well. Like: Renting, Paying off monthly or buying second hand. Pilots can be hired with a simple click on the hire button, but can be attained through advanced ways as well. Like: Training one yourself or Putting up an ad for one. Booking flights can be done with a simple click on an airport you want to use (and pay contribution to), but can be booked in advanced ways as well. Like: Setting up a contract with an airport for multiple flights to reduce paid contribution. Attaining customers could be done with a simple click on the promote button, but can be done through advanced ways as well. Like: Hire billboards, distribute flyers or organize events. In the end, the player should be able to decently control each business easily, but also be able to completely indulge into controlling his favourite business. It might even be neccesary to control very profitable businesses in an advanced way, so huge profits are made, just to counter the losses of the business you desperately need to get closer to your goal. Feedback is very much appreciated!
