Give the player four shifts to ship a polished fabric sample. Building it takes one shift, polish takes another, and the final manual check takes two. Now offer a tool that cuts the check to one shift but takes two shifts to set up. The tool saves time on every check. On this contract, setting it up leaves no time for the final check.
In the fictional studio sim Patch Bench, that same tool lets the player ship all three packages on a longer contract. Set both commissions in a fabric-sample studio that builds and checks small swatch packages. That gives each action a visible step at the workbench.
Make development priorities visible
Greenheart Games’ official Game Dev Tycoon page describes a business simulation about starting a game development company and choosing what to focus on during development, such as gameplay or quests. For an original prototype, make the consequence of one development priority visible in the remaining schedule.
Showcase gives the player four shifts for one package. It needs a build, a polish pass and verification. Compatibility gives the player eight shifts for three packages. Each package needs a build and verification, and shipping opens the next package. The player selects one commission per run.
Give each action a cost and a prerequisite
Use one current package and one action at a time. Before the player commits, show the shifts left, the current package’s prerequisites and whether the reusable harness is active.
| Action | Shift cost | When it works |
|---|---|---|
| Build | 1 | Build the current unprepared swatch package. |
| Polish | 1 | Polish a built Showcase package once. Compatibility has no Polish action. |
| Set Up Harness | 2 | Activate it once before any package ships. Setup can happen before or after the first Build. |
| Verify | 2 manually or 1 with the harness | Check a built package and require polish in Showcase. An accepted Verify ships that package. |
Check prerequisites and time before applying a cost. If the player tries Verify on an unbuilt package or with too few shifts, give the reason and leave the project where it was. Compatibility advances to a fresh package only after a successful Verify. Once the required package count is reached, complete the commission. If the count is still short and an accepted action used the final shift, end at the deadline. Let the player choose End Project while a commission is active and retain credit for packages already shipped.
Walk through four project schedules
Run each plan from a fresh commission. The costs below describe the fictional rules and can be checked by hand.
| Commission | Plan | Expected result |
|---|---|---|
| Showcase | Build 1, Polish 1, manual Verify 2 | Ships one at zero shifts. |
| Showcase | Setup 2, Build 1, Polish 1 | Deadline at zero shifts. Verify would need one more shift. Nothing ships. |
| Compatibility | Two manual Build and Verify pairs for 6, then Build 1 | Two ship. The third Verify needs 2 with 1 left, so it is rejected. End Project retains the two shipped. |
| Compatibility | Setup 2, then three assisted Build and Verify pairs for 6 | Ships all three at zero shifts. |
On Showcase, the manual plan goes from four shifts to three after Build and two after Polish. Verify uses those two and completes the project. With the harness, the player reaches the same polished state at zero shifts. Check the shipped count before evaluating the deadline so that the manual route succeeds and the harness route fails at the right moments.
On Compatibility, the harness saves one shift on each of three checks. That recovers the two shifts spent on setup and leaves one more shift of savings compared with three manual checks. Even if a manual player has one shift after the third Build, spending two would take them over budget. Keep the one shift visible after rejection and explain why they can no longer ship the last package.
Give AI a complete commission
Include an explicit test for each of the outcomes before adding other studio systems. This prompt describes an original fictional prototype you can start from a written idea.
Make an original fabric-sample studio simulation called Patch Bench.
At selection choose one commission. Showcase starts with four
shifts and one package. Compatibility starts with eight shifts
and three sequential packages. Start with no harness, zero
shipped, and an empty current package.
Build costs one shift and marks the current package built.
Polish costs one shift and works once on a built Showcase
package. Compatibility never offers Polish. Set Up Harness
costs two shifts and may happen once before any shipment.
Verify requires a build and also polish in Showcase. It costs
two shifts manually or one with the harness. Each accepted
Verify ships one package and opens the next empty package
if the commission has another.
Check prerequisites and affordability before changing any state.
On rejection, show the reason and preserve the entire state.
After each accepted action, complete if the required number has
shipped. Otherwise, at zero shifts end at the deadline.
End Project keeps shipped packages and stops the incomplete run.
Show remaining shifts, required actions, and shipped count.
Once ended, accept only Reset and return to commission selection.Try an early Verify and a duplicate Build as additional rejection checks. Then replay the two successful schedules through their final Verify and check that each finishes at zero shifts. Use SEELE’s first-build guide when you isolate the next change.
Change only the harness setup cost
Reduce setup from two shifts to one and repeat the Showcase harness plan in the same order. Setup, Build, Polish and assisted Verify each cost one shift. The project now ships at zero. The manual plan still fits, so the change makes both routes viable for Showcase. To compare results, record shifts and packages shipped under the stated rules. These are predictions for the prototype, with no measured effect on a real studio.
Start an original studio simulation with SEELE’s AI game maker.
Frequently asked questions
How many projects does the first build need?
Two commissions are enough to show the tradeoff. Give them different amounts of repeated work and let the player choose one per run. Keep the action costs visible so the player can work out when an investment pays back. A single-package commission gives them a useful point of comparison.
Which bottleneck should I model first?
Start with the repeated check that the player can choose to make cheaper. In this fixture, three manual checks require six shifts. Making each check cheaper creates enough room to ship the third Compatibility package. Keep Build at the same cost in both plans so that the result comes from the verification choice.
What if the last check uses the last shift?
Apply the accepted Verify, then check the shipped count. If the required count is reached, finish successfully at zero. If a required package remains, end the run at the deadline. Show the shipped count beside the outcome so a player can distinguish a partial delivery from a complete one.
When should I add a new client?
Add one after the original schedules and rejection checks are repeatable. Give the new client one clear difference, such as a fourth package or a different shift allowance, and rerun the two original commissions afterward. If the schedule changes for either original commission, the new client probably changed a shared rule.
