INTERNATIONALIZATION
In order to achieve a massive target group, I have to translate the game into different languages. An economy simulation lives about players from around the globe and thats makes trading with others very exciting. I searched for an Asset that includes an own editor, so that I can create and edit all translations in Unity. After a short search I found the I2 Localization Asset, and it does exactly what I wanted. Also I can export / import all the translations to Google Docs. With this it is possible, that the game automatically updates the translations wihtout rebuilding the game or publishing an update / patch. Great feature!
LAUNCHER / PATCHER
A really important part. Indenpendent of a later steam or itch.io integration, the game must update itself. For that the game needs a launcher / patcher, that searches for updates and then download, apply this updates and starts the game. Also the game itself needs an update check which will start the patcher. That is how it is ensured, that the game is uptodate. There was not so many fitting solutions for my budget, but i ended up with the Coffee Auto Patcher. A really nice feature is the distribution of updates with Amazon S3, as well as on own file servers.
USER INTERFACE
It is the same as with 3D models. As single developer I have no time to create all the needed graphical details, in this case to create 2D GUI assets. So I purchased the Clean & Minimalistic GUI Pack. This pack contains all assets to create a great looking GUI. I really love the flat style and I want to reuse this asset for further games. And: I learned a lot from this asset and the examples that comes with it.
SOUND AND MUSIC
The next big part is sound and music. Tycoon$ has a quite casual style, so I purchased a big music collection that fits the style and from that I can use the music for many other projects. Also the NPCs will greet the players. For that I use the Mini Characters Ultimate Voice Pack. This pack is so nice and fits in the game perfectly. I don't want to forget the needed sounds for the Footsteps, that can be used also in other games.
But how I can now organize all these sounds and music? For that I found the Master Audio: AAA Sounds asset and I really love it. All music and sounds are centrally organized now and I can change the settings very easy. From a jukebox system to sound groups that can play variations (perfect for footsteps). And it is the next asset that I can use in futher projects. Nice!
OTHER TOOLS
After I had built the first alpha open world (not finished yet), I had a problem with the performance / FPS. One of the common technical solutions is Mesh Combining. I dont want to go in detail, but I can do it manually or using a tool for that task. I found different assets but I ended up with the Mesh Combine Studio. I just integrated that asset and reorganized my world , and in minutes I had a FPS boost from 20 up to 50 FPS! There a more solutions to boost the performance and i think in the future i will give World Streamer a try. In my Unity Wishlist you can see other assets I will include in the game in the future.
At the end of this devblog I want to mention one more really useful asset. It is the Headless Builder. With the help of this asset i can build a headless server that is very small and performant. It deactivates not needed systems and can replace assets with dummy objects, so that the build is very small. My tests where very positive. The server uses less file size, RAM and CPU as the standard Unity headless build.
You can see how many parts there are. It is not only about to purchase this assets, rather to understand and implement this in the best way. And that takes days to weeks. The reason why this devblog comes so late. Also I have to write this devblog, news, creating screenshots, videos and many more :-)
I am happy to answer your questions about the used assets (also have a look in the first part devblog). Just join my Tycoon$ Discord server.
Thanks for reading i and see you in the next devblog.
Links of the used assets in this devblog:
- I2 Localization
- Coffee Auto Patcher
- Clean & Minimalistic GUI Pack
- Music Collection
- Mini Characters Ultimate Voice Pack
- Footsteps
- Master Audio: AAA Sounds
- Mesh Combine Studio
- Headless Builder
List of all assets in the Unity asset store: Assetstore.unity.com
