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Content

Warnings and precautions .....................................................................................3

Early Access ............................................................................................................4
Menu ......................................................................................................................5
Definitions ..............................................................................................................6
About the game......................................................................................................7
Places ....................................................................................................................11
A few tips ..............................................................................................................15
Quality, ratings and sales of games (Spoiler!) .....................................................16
Support .................................................................................................................17
Credits...................................................................................................................18

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Warnings and precautions
The following indications should be read carefully before adults and especially children
use the game.

Persons who suffer from photosensitive epilepsy are susceptible to epileptic seizures or
disturbances of consciousness if they are exposed to certain flashing lights or light effects.
Those persons may suffer an attack when playing a computer or video game.

In most cases those who suffer from epilepsy are not exposed to any danger when playing
those kinds of games. If you or a family member has ever had symptoms that could
possibly be associated with epilepsy (such as seizures or impaired) you should take advice
by a medicine before playing the game. Should an adult or child whilst playing a computer
or video game suffer from dizziness, impaired vision, twitching eyes or muscles, loss of
consciousness, disorientation or any kind of involuntary movement or convulsion, the
game should be quit immediately and a physician should be consulted.

 In case of photosensitive epilepsy a few precautions should be considered. However,

the use of computer and video games is not prohibited in such case.
 The gamers should not sit too close in front of the monitor or TV but be located as far
as possible from the screen.
 For the reproduction a possible small display should be used.
 If a person has not slept enough or is overtired playing the game is not advisable.
 Sufficient lightening in the room where the game is being played is needed.
 Every hour in front of the screen, requires a minimum of 10 minute break.

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Early Access
This game was released after a long time of planning and runs of trials on Steam in Early
Access in October 2015. We received many questions of why we’ve already released it
so early, but the answer is simple: we wanted to collect as many ideas and suggestions
of the community as possible at an early stage to have the chance of putting as many of
them into the game. We still believe that it has been the right way, although many
people, unfortunately, don't exactly understand what “early access” is and that it does
not mean to receive a completely developed game.

Throughout the Early Access phase, we got a lot of ideas and suggestions of the
community and a lot of them were integrated into the game, which have greatly
extended the game.

We want to thank all those people, who helped to optimize and enhance the game by
thinking and being creative with us.

Overall, communicating with the community is an important part of all our work. So, for
us, it is self-evident that we also respond to support requests (as long as they remain
fair) and try to solve problems.

Far more people have worked on Game Tycoon 2 than on the final development of the
game. Many thanks for their dedication, their ideas and their work.

We thank you for purchasing the game. Each purchase supports us a lot as a small
independent developer.

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Menu
Tutorial
In the tutorial menu you start one of the five tutorials. A new tutorial will be unlocked, if
the prior mission has been successfully mastered.

Campaign
In the campaign menu you start one of the 20 missions. A new mission will be unlocked,
if the prior mission has been successfully mastered.

Endless
Starts a new endless game or continues a saved endless game. Here you can type in a
company name, choose a company logo, choose the difficulty level and the character. You
start the game in 1980, but you can also choose the starting year in five-year steps until
2020. However, only if you have played one of the prior endless games at least until the
starting year.
There are two difficulty level: Easy and hard.
The difference is, how much credit you can take, how strong the opponents are and many
more.

Options
Here you can change settings, such as language, text displays, music, sound or volume.
Help texts can be switched on or off.

Credits
All developers, testers and whoever has worked on this game, would surely appreciate it
if you came by briefly.

Quit
Ends the game.

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Definitions
Engine An engine is the base frame of a game. It can save a lot of work, as
many technologies are already integrated.

Distributor A distributor makes sure that a game enters the market. No more
than that. You are responsible for its production and advertising.
Most time you get a higher share than with a publisher but also take
a higher risk.

Publisher A publisher publish the game. From a publisher you get a lower share
than from a distributor but you do not have to put up with
production or advertising costs.

Copy protection Protects your games a few days longer and guarantees more income.
It can upset gamers if it is too annoying.

Skill system In the skills system certain areas of the game can be considered more
or less.

Technology An example for technology is a mouse. A feature of technology would

be a mouse wheel.

Beta phase In a beta phase bugs will be found and removed.

Bugs There is hardly any software without errors. A bug is an error or a

series of errors.

Update An update fix bugs and/or brings new features.

Add-On An add-on enhances a game with additional features.

Reputation Your company’s reputation has a positive influence on your sales. It

can be improved by developing good games and positive actions. Bad
games and negative actions harm it of course.

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About the game
Play the tutorials first. They show you the basic functions and guide you through the game.
Therefore, you get a support system to help you during the game. Whenever you see this
symbol in the game (usually next to a button or in the field) you can read a short
support or descriptive text. Later on, when you know all the game’s functions you can
switch off this function in the main menu.
Via the main map, you can get to almost all important locations. The developer’s office
and research section can only be accessed through your company office.

In the scenes, you see a small info, which shows you the target of objects, where you move
the mouse over:

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With your company overview on the lower left, you get to see the most important
information:

Your company logo, the date, the company’s account

balance and most important the reputation of your
company. You should always try to keep your reputation
in the positive and green zone. You reputation improves
with successful games, when you hire employees and so
on. It deteriorates with bad games, games with many
bugs or if you fire employees and so on.

With the buttons, you get to the menu, pause the game or change the speed of the game.
Alternatively, you can change the speed with the keys CTRL + 1-4 or pause the game with
STRG + Space.

On the upper left, you see a small info area. Here you can see details about current
researched technologies, open contracts, game concepts and released games. You open
and close this area with the right button.

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Basically, you should always keep in mind how games find their way to the customers:

There is an idea

It leads to a concept/ design document

Maybe technologies will be researched or bought or an engine will be licensed

A team will be formed

The development will be started and finished

If it hasn’t been done before, it will now be decided if the game will be distributed by a
publisher or a distributor

If it’s a publisher, the game will be handed in and released on the market

The publisher takes care of the production, advertising and support

If it’s the distributor, the game box will be planned

Then it will go into production and be delivered to the distributor and you can advertise
the game via marketing/ PR agencies

A PR-agency can plan and execute a press tour

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To reach the highest level of success with games it takes a lot of luck. However, many
factors can already be taken into consideration during the planning and development,
such as:
- Which genre is popular in this year?
- Which system is popular in this year?
- Which technologies are available and are they up to date?
- What should be the price?
- How much time is left for a beta phase?
- In how many languages should the game be released?
- Which special features should it have?
- Which extent and quality should the packaging have?
- is there any copy protection?
- How many units should be produced for the start?
- What is the best way to advertise the game?
- And a lot more

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Places
In the following, we are going to describe the most important locations of the game. We
will not describe all details, because some of these you will have to discover yourself to
successfully develop games in Game Tycoon 2. The following locations are under your
control in the game:

Company office
Here you can train employees, promote or fire them (also see different types of
developers, which will be explained at the university area), check balances, statistics and
the latest news. In the folder, you can change settings concerning employees and your
salary. On the computer, you can plan games and engines, hire employees during the
game and look at all products. Also you can see statistics for each published product (with
publisher, with distributors, with online server and for engines) in the PC. During the
planning on the computer, you get to see all the estimated expenses and duration of
development, which are subject to changes. Here it is important which quality and speed
your developers have and how many you actually assign to a project.
From your office, you can reach the research area and the development office. If you
expand your company, your office will become too small and you will have to move into
a bigger one across the floor. You can do that on the map.

Research
Here, research on new technologies can be done. Technologies can also be purchases
later, but they are more expensive compared to research. The cost of research gets lower
in the course of the game. Certain technologies also have features, which will be released
after some time, and they can be purchased. The researched technologies can be used
into game concepts. If you buy an engine, it already contains certain technologies
according to the year of publication. You can also create your own engines with your
technologies, use these or sell them in the law area. Engines can be expanded later, by
developing sequels with new features.

Developer’s office
Here the planned games and engines are developed on a project board. Therefore, you
click on a project and assign the developers to it. You can hire developers at university or
later on at your computer. Then you can start a project and see your progress. You can
also release later games on own servers.

Law area
In the law area, there are two further areas: the lawyer and the notary area.

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Lawyer area
At the lawyer’s you can negotiate contracts with publishers and distributors. In publisher
contracts and contract jobs, concepts and completed games can be submitted. In the
further course of the game, contracts for online platforms can be signed too.

Notary’s area
At the notary’s area, you can purchase licenses at certain dates. Furthermore, you can buy
and sell engines here. Engines are differentiated between those with a project license
(only usable for one product) and full license (more projects can be developed with). You
can also see if the engines are up to date.

University
There are two areas at university. The notice board and the kiosk.

The notice board

At the notice board, employees can be hired. These are divided into programmers, graphic
designer and musicians. When you hire employees, make sure to check if they are
freelancer, permanently employed or project based developers. The differences are:

Freelancers
They can be fired anytime but cost more. They can be trained or employed permanently.

Permanently employed developers

They can be trained or promoted. When they are fired, there is a notice period, which
makes them more expensive but still less than free developers.

Project based developers

They only take part in developing one project and will automatically leave after that. They
cannot be hired or promoted and are more expensive than permanently employed
developers. On the other hand, there are no gratuities to pay in case of dismissal.

Kiosk
At the kiosk, you can check the market newspaper for the popularity of certain genres and
systems in the actual year. In the gaming magazine, you can see how your game has been
rated. You can only see the result as soon as you have marketed the game. Have in mind
that the test rate is not equal to the game’s quality. The game’s quality is important for
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fulfillment of minimum qualities in contracts and can be viewed in the game’s overview
on the computer after the development was finished. The test rating depends on what is
added to the game’s packaging as well as some other factors.

Banking area
At the bank, there are two areas: banking and stock exchange

Banking area
Here you can take out credits for you company and pay them back. If you pay them back
earlier, you need to pay less interest. You can invest your money on an account book or
in investments. You do not take risks with the account book, but only little interest rates.
You get higher rates with investments but the risk is higher. Here you can also see your
private account balance. You can buy status symbol at the shopping mall. Your monthly
salary, which you pay yourself in your company, will be transferred to this account. During
hard times, you can also borrow money from the company at low interest rates.

Stock exchange
Here you can buy shares from other companies and easily earn more money. Keep in
mind, that companies at stock exchange can go bankrupt, if they are based on too low
ratings and are then will be delisted from stock exchange. That is when some investments
might get lost. The companies at stock exchange have a level. If their level remains at a
high or low stage, they rise or fall a level or gain/lose value. If their level is in the lower
one-digit stage, they might be delisted from stock exchange.

Is your company successful and has enough money, you can become a stock exchange
company. This can have advantages but also disadvantages. Benefits are such as fresh
capital. Disadvantage are the cost and the risk that other companies take part in.

Advertising Agency
In the advertising agency, you can advertise your products with special campaigns. You
choose the duration and sign a contract. You can quit contracts ahead of time and receive
back a certain amount, however not everything.
In the advertising agency, you can book appearances at trade fairs. Here you choose the
fair and the extent of the booth. When the trade fair takes place, you can visit it via the
map. At the trade fair, you can do ad-hoc campaigns, which improve your reputation and
help your sales but are also expensive.

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In the PR-area, you can plan press tours for your games and carry them out. They are
expensive too but boost your sales.

Production
Production is divided into three areas. From right to left: replication, planning and stock.
First, you set up the box on the table in planning. There you get to see the cost per piece
at low circulation. When time passes there will be new packages and goodies, you can add
to the games. The game’s medium is not shown, but taken into account. Here you can also
set up compilations of games.

When you click on finish, you can get the game produced in the replication area. Choose
the system, the quality and the circulation of the game and start a normal or a slightly
more expensive but quicker express production. If you manufacture more of the game
later, the qualities will already be set for the system. You can only change the circulation
then. In the stock, the game will be delivered a few days later. There you can set the sales
price and choose the distributor contract. Keep in mind that genre and system have to
correspond with the game in the contract or else it will not be shown here. In addition, a
minimum quality of the games must be maintained. In the game’s details, you can check
how many games have been sold and how many are in stock. Watch this, because when
the stores are empty, you earn no money. When games cannot be sold anymore, you can
try to sell them cheap or let destroyed them.

If you want to publish a compilation of games, close a corresponding contract or one in

which the platform and at least one genre are matching.

Shopping Mall
In the shopping mall, you can buy status symbols for your house in different shops.
Furthermore, there is an exclusive pizza restaurant and a games shop. At the games shop
you can look at the charts and the yearly-awarded trophies.

Your House
In your house, you can see your status symbols, which you have bought at the shopping
mall. With some items you can also interact, but not as simply as in Game Tycoon’s first
part. You do not pay a rent because you have inherited the house.

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A few tips
- Look after your company’s reputation. If it is low, it affects your sales numbers.
You can improve it through marketing campaigns, by hiring developers or just
making good games.
- If you are in the red with your balance for more than three months in a row, the
game is over! To avoid this, you must develop successful games, take credits or
speculate successfully at the stock exchange. You can adjust your private income
in the folder in the office once a year.
- Publisher assignments make only little money in the long run, but they can help
keep you alive.
- Start small. Hire cheap developer and train them. Develop small games for
publisher and then grow small with your company. Even you get a lower royalty
with a publisher contract, it cost you less risk. If you then have more money, you
can try bigger projects and sell them with a distributor.

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Quality, ratings and sales of games (Spoiler!)
The following passage contains details concerning gameplay. We made sure not to publish
everything here because we didn’t want to spoil the fun factor of the game.

Quality
The quality of the games, which are important for contracts, can be influenced during the
planning phase. Important aspects with regard to quality are:
- how popular and up to date are the used technologies? Obviously you’re supposed to
find out yourself.
- how many bugs are in the game?
...
The quality can be improved by patches on PC after finishing of the development. One
patch can be developed for every percentage point of bugs. When only 0.0% of bugs are
left in the game, you can just develop a content patches. The patch icon will then
consequently vanish from the screen.

Ratings
In addition to quality, the gaming magazines’ ratings are also based on a few other
adjusted details from the game concept, which have been realized during development,
e.g. skills and further details. Another way to boost your ratings could be a license...

Sales
In order to sell as many games as possible, many details have to fit in. This is a list of
important factors:
- quality
- the extent of the box content
- the company’s reputation
- special features
...

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Support
Due to the variety of hardware components and system configurations on the market,
problems with installation and the operation of software products can never be entirely
avoided. Therefore we would like to offer you assistance. Please visit problem-solving /
Support/ FAQ's on our website. Answers to many problems and questions can already be
found in the Online Forum and on the websites of Sunlight Games.

All questions related to the game are gladly answered by the technical support team.

You can contact them via the Sunlight Games‘ website (www.sunlight-games.com) or
directly via E-mail: support@sunlight-games.com

Please provide the support team with the following information:

 Exact description of the error and detailed description of the problem
 Manufactor of your processor and its speed
 Size of the user memory
 Manufacturer and description of the graphic card
 Operating system used

Updates and add-ons are available on the websites of Sunlight Games.

www.sunlight-games.com

Here you can find product information and additional info regarding the games of Sunlight
Games, as well as updates and much more.

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Credits
Idea
Marco Sowa

Executive Producer
Marco Sowa

Lead-Programming
Sebastian Engfer

Programming
Tim Polak
Marco Sowa

Graphics
Michael Keutmann
Sebastian Krauß
Marco Sowa
Claudia Zähle

Animations
Michael Keutmann
Sebastian Krauß

Sound & Music

Alon Kaplan

Manual
Marco Sowa

Translations/Proof reading
Übersetzung
RuM Corp.se Localisation Pro (Italienisch, Französisch)
Gabriel Burdese (Spanisch)
Knight of Soundtrack (Englisch)
V. Meyer (German)

Tester
QA-TestLab Solutions Limited
S.C. Quantic Labs S.R.L.
Lara Marciniak
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Justin Schikerle
Kristina Schroers

Copyrights
© 2015/2016 Sunlight Games GmbH, all right‘s reserverd.

Manual, version 1.1

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