[Prototype] Elevator Service (idle clicker)

vintar

Always wanted to make an idle game, here's an idea I came up with inspired by one of my old favourites "Elevator Action"
You're a hotel owner and make money off customers by making and serving them food. There are a few upgrades to make the process quicker and eventually when you have enough money you can hire some assistants that will upgrade stuff for you.

At the moment there is no downside to having an order time-out, that is something that I will add later, as well as the ability to purchase more hotels.

Try it and see what you guys think. I added a few tutorial tips but let me know if anything is unclear.

Just click "No thanks just take me to the download page" when you hit the "donate" section. Download the file and unzip and run ElevatorService.exe.

Oh and there is no music yet and the artwork is all placeholder (if it wasnt glaringly obvious)

https://itch.io/embed/464243

vintar

https://1drv.ms/v/s!AiHUKDpE6OGRuFKLYinKBe7bcZdo?e=VW3WKv

Short video.

Fengol

Gave it a try and I'm still a little confused about what I'm supposed to click on. I suggest if the user is supposed to click on something, make it look like a button.

vintar

Fengol said:

Gave it a try and I'm still a little confused about what I'm supposed to click on. I suggest if the user is supposed to click on something, make it look like a button.

Thanks for trying Fengol. I thought the tips were straight forward enough, guess not :)

Fengol

I knew what I had to do, I just wasn't sure what to click on.

vintar

Made the clickable things more button like and added music and some sound effects. Will be looking for better character sprites next. Really just looking for feedback on the mechanics as everything is just placeholder and I'm wondering whether I should pursue this or not. Appreciate any feedback.

Fengol

Thanks for making the things I needed to click on more obvious. I see my real issue now is that I was clicking on the prepared food but nothing was happening because my 2 delivery boys were out.

I had a couple of bugs where I couldn't buy the 2nd elevator or extra floors. I think it happens if I open the upgrade menu before using them.

The HR Manager, while appreciated, takes the only interactivity out of the game. If you look at other idle clickers the player can always click on something to produce goods, even if it isn't very useful in the greater scheme of things.

I also felt like I was earning less once I bought the HR Manager, even though I was upgrading my kitchen speed and the number of waiters.

I think this idea has legs but it needs a couple iterations before it fun to continuously play.

vintar

Thanks @Fengol. The idea of the HR manager is really for once the ability to purchase further buildings is unlocked, then you can have him run things, and he will be much more expensive and only be available once you have added many floors to the building. He's just in there now for testing the mechanics.

Thanks for the heads up about not being able to repair elevators etc. I`ll fix ASAP. I`ll also be adding tips that will explain when you can not achieve something (IE not enough waiters).

ashashza

Hey @vintar, I got a chance to play this.

Initially I bumped into the same issue as @fengol. I wasn't sure what to click to prepare the orders. I started clicking on the rooms that placed the order, then tried the kitchen. Eventually I figured out that a button had appeared over the chef and then things came together.

I haven't played many incremental games, so I'm not sure how valuable my feedback is but here are some notes I jotted down:
- Really like the character of the game so far. It's somewhat charming, especially seeing guests comment when they receive their order. It didn't feel like the time to delivery affected what they said, which would be cool.
- After hiring the HR manager (and no longer having to click orders manually) I definitely got that happy upgrade / progress feeling. Would love to have more of those moments.
- The HR manager auto-hires waiters, which got frustrating because I'd be saving up for an upgrade and he suddenly used all my cash to hire a new unneeded waiter. That got in the way of me planning my upgrades.
- For most of the game I felt reluctant to add floors because the kitchen felt so busy and I felt that adding extra floors meant I wouldn't be able to service them anyway.
- I never felt the need to tap elevators for speed. First there wasn't much time to do it and secondly they felt so fast already.
- I wasn't able to upgrade my kitchen over 1000. I had the cash but the upgrade button was disabled.

I agree with @fengol that having something the player can do at any time to generate more resources (even if it becomes basically worthless) feels satisfying. I wondered if clicking the chef to make him speed up slightly would work here.

You mentioned having more buildings, I like that idea. Imagine eventually running a chain of hotels!

vintar

@ashashza , thank you for trying it out!

I have now added arrows to try indicate more clearly where to click:

https://gyazo.com/54a6e00219cb5c9d3b74826d8709d861

Hopefully this clears it up a bit more. In regards to "clicking the chef" to speed him up, yes, this is the next thing I will be adding. I have since added the ability to increase the amount of completed orders can sit in the kitchen as well.

As for the HR manager, as I said to Fengol the other day, he will ultimately be much more expensive and only be available once you have upgraded the floors a bit etc. and the ability to buy new buildings will help to fix the feeling of nothing left to do.