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 Welcome to Big Pharma! As the head of your own Pharmaceutical Conglomerate you have this power resting in your hands. Will you use it for good? Being totally altruistic may not be the best business plan. The uncomfortable truth (is there an ointment for that?) is that some remedies are more profitable than others and illness is good for business. Big Pharma is part business sim, part logistics puzzle, with a sort of Theme Hospital feel to it. It’s one thing to work away in the lab perfecting new formulas, but converting the ‘sciency stuff’ into cold hard cash means bringing an engineering and business mind to the problem. Factory space is expensive, and those fancy new agglomerators and centrifuges don’t always slot nicely together. Rival corporations that want to put you out of business have their own set of competing cures and treatments. Then there’s the dynamically shifting marketplace which means that your fancy cold and flu medicine from last winter might not sell so well now it’s the height of summer. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85I89ZrwIfU What you do Starting with an empty warehouse plot, you start off on building your pharmaceutical megacompany (or play the scenarios with some specific winning criteria.) As you grow you can expand, research through the tech tree to unlock new processes (or make your exisiting ones cheaper.) Send explorers to places around the world in seek of new ingredients you can use to make sweet new drugs. Do you want to strive for perfection with your products, or settle for "as long as I'm making money." It's a strategic one, as every additional piece on your production line cuts into your drug's profit. Cut into your AI competitor's one market, driving him out of business. The cures/ingredients/locations are randomized at the start of each game, so you're never playing the same game twice.             How To Play http://www.bigpharmagame.com/howtoplay.html Release Date Out now!  If you pre-ordered your Steam key is in the purchase e-mail sent from BMT Micro Orders called Big Pharma Product Information. http://www.bigpharmagame.com/schedule.html less than three fucked around with this message at 03:07 on Sep 3, 2015 |
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Jun 12, 2015 04:53
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idk why this game is so low key cause its really good. nobody is talking about it yet it owns
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Jun 13, 2015 10:29
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Saw your first picture there and instantly thought Theme Hospital, which was enough to convince me to give it a spin. The menus are a little clunky, like you have to go back and forth a bit to see what you need to be doing for your production line, and also this game desperately needs an undo function. But the core gameplay is cool and good, this could be a lot of fun once they tighten up the interface.
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Jun 13, 2015 19:57
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Big fan of the art style and the game style of the puzzle being trying to fit everything in as nods to Theme Hospital, gotta wait for the Mac release before I can play it.
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Jun 14, 2015 15:32
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I love that you can name these drugs to whatever you want, you can make a contraceptive called "Bay-be-gone" or a or an insomia cure that causes nightmares called "Existential Hell simulator: deluxe edition 2015". And its one of the few games I can think of that actually has competing brands of products from other companies pushing you forward, its really dynamic in how it changes the game each time you play.
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Jun 14, 2015 15:42
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This game looks cool, looks like factorio and is a game about my actual job too.
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Jun 14, 2015 20:16
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double post
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Jun 14, 2015 20:18
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TheSpartacus posted:This game looks cool, looks like factorio and is a game about my actual job too. You make flatulence solutions that cause horrible nightmares? One thing I wish they'd change is some sort of limitations on the randomness of research materials. I tried one challenge level where it was make X number of two things, and the require materials were so far up the drat tree. Then I restarted and both of them were on the ingredients I was given from the get go and won in like 5 months.
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Jul 4, 2015 21:50
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I just spent two hours with the beta, and love it. I can feel the pull of optimization dragging me in. It's not as bad (good) as Factorio, but the visual style is easy on the eyes, and it doesn't take two weeks for you to get into full spin, just 30 minutes or so. I love this.
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Jul 5, 2015 21:45
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Gibbo posted:I tried one challenge level where it was make X number of two things, and the require materials were so far up the drat tree. Then I restarted and both of them were on the ingredients I was given from the get go and won in like 5 months. I had that same problem but I just worked around it and mastered the level anyway. 
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Jul 5, 2015 21:56
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HerpicleOmnicron5 posted:I had that same problem but I just worked around it and mastered the level anyway. I didn't restart just because it was up the tree, I failed because it was so far up the tree. I just think it would make sense to have them specifically placed to solidify the challenge level they want for a given stage.
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Jul 6, 2015 00:52
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Gibbo posted:I didn't restart just because it was up the tree, I failed because it was so far up the tree. I just think it would make sense to have them specifically placed to solidify the challenge level they want for a given stage. Yeah, it'd make sense for those missions if it would place the ingredients in roughly the same area each time, but with some variation.
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Jul 6, 2015 04:02
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The next patch comes out later this week, on the 9th July. Next patch - crossroads and balance Here’s what to expect: 4-way belts. These can be crossroads, 1->3 splitter or 3->1 merger. Each company now starts with a random selection of starting ingredients. All ingredients are shared but it diversifies the starting pool of cures more. Loan sizes increase as game goes on, interest rates increase with existing debt. Improved AI. Changed a number of challenges so that they are fixed time, but require greater numbers to achieve expert and master rankings. Once again, these updates are heavily based on feedback from the community. The idea of this update was to improve the existing core gameplay before adding additional features. One of the high priorities was to increase the involvement of the AI and maintain the competition element that dominates the early game, into the mid and late game too. This will in turn increase the effectiveness and necessity of patents which will be added in a later update.
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Jul 7, 2015 22:42
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less than three posted:4-way belts. These can be crossroads, 1->3 splitter or 3->1 merger. Crossroads will make multimixers a lot more feasible. A good patch.
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Jul 7, 2015 23:00
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I like that they're tightening up the requirements for master ranks. A lot of them seemed way too easy to hit. I hit a couple of them with what I thought were pretty inefficient factories even.
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Jul 8, 2015 01:07
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Gibbo posted:I like that they're tightening up the requirements for master ranks. A lot of them seemed way too easy to hit. I hit a couple of them with what I thought were pretty inefficient factories even. Yeah, for the produce X drug one, basically all you have to do at the moment is take out the massive loans, quickly research up the tree and produce what you need (hopefully before the loans run out.)
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Jul 8, 2015 04:31
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What's the current ETA on getting this pushed onto steam? I'm not a big fan of having to manually download the builds and not having cloud saving.
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Jul 8, 2015 05:59
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I wish some of these medications existed in real life. For example, i've got a pill that reduces Anxiety and causes constipation. Never give a poo poo again!
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Jul 8, 2015 07:38
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Brackhar posted:What's the current ETA on getting this pushed onto steam? I'm not a big fan of having to manually download the builds and not having butt saving. I believe it was something like late July for Steam. In the meantime you only have to download once. It has a launcher that updates the game when you start it. No storing savegames in your butt until Steam release, though.
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Jul 8, 2015 08:16
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Deki posted:I wish some of these medications existed in real life. Is there any side effects that also have a cure? Please make a drug that causes and cures a problem 
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Jul 8, 2015 09:00
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Deki posted:I wish some of these medications existed in real life. Funny story, a lot of anxiety meds DO cause constipation (and some of them urinary retention) So do a lot of stronger painkillers.
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Jul 8, 2015 09:11
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I picked this up and it's pretty cool. I thought the tutorial was a bit poor since it's just a wall of text you have to scroll through and you have to keep track of your progress yourself. But once I wrapped my head around how upgrading a drug works it's opening up. Is there a more efficient way to feed 2x pill makers into a single output slot? I have to give each pill maker at least 3 squares of belt each and connect at the bottom to avoid congesting the belt. Also should i be abandoning low level drugs early on and going for upgrade paths? What's the best use out of concentrations? So far I've just been trying to concentrate a drug enough to avoid the side effect, or ignored it if the side effect isn't in a different concentration group.
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Jul 8, 2015 09:17
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Demiurge4 posted:I picked this up and it's pretty cool. I thought the tutorial was a bit poor since it's just a wall of text you have to scroll through and you have to keep track of your progress yourself. But once I wrapped my head around how upgrading a drug works it's opening up. congesting the belt costs you 1 pill max, so I wouldn't worry about that
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Jul 8, 2015 11:44
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Splode posted:congesting the belt costs you 1 pill max, so I wouldn't worry about that Yeah I figured it out and it's not so bad now. I just really love it when I make the most efficient use of my space   This game is addictive.
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Jul 8, 2015 19:09
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Demiurge4 posted:What's the best use out of concentrations? So far I've just been trying to concentrate a drug enough to avoid the side effect, or ignored it if the side effect isn't in a different concentration group. Once you research the Analyser you can use it to find out an effect's Maximum Strength. The closer to that number, the more effective/horrible the cure/side effect will be. A more effective cure will earn a higher drug rating, and thus a higher value. However you must weigh the benefits of the strength versus the production cost. Like if I spend $20 to get that purple cure up to 15, will I make at least $20 in additional profit from the cure rating. Also raising it to 15 would make the Inflames Skin effect worse, because you see it's max strength there in purple. Effective cures raise the drug rating, the power of the side effects reduces it. As you play you'll start to get a "feel" for when it's worth going for the optimum concentration or  push it out the door as-is.Also if you didn't know, some side effects can be removed with the same mechanic as upgrading cures, such as passing through a machine at a certain concentration. Hover over the side effect to find out. 
less than three fucked around with this message at 02:59 on Jul 9, 2015 |
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Jul 9, 2015 02:56
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Guys it has been two days and now all I see when I close my eyes are tiny little people next to tiny little belts moving ingredients. I guess what I am saying is that when the opening post says this game is very feature complete it means this game is already really loving fun.
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Jul 10, 2015 00:18
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New patch is out. Update before doing any more playing because your expert/master achievements on the updated missions are removed. Starting game changes: You and the AIs now don't start with the same ingredients. This should end the thing where AIs all launch the same drugs at the same time. All the 0 explorer and 1 explorer drugs are randomly assigned to each player. The drugs you (or the AI) don't get are researchable with 1 explorer. Should add variance to the paths taken by the players. reignofevil posted:Guys it has been two days and now all I see when I close my eyes are tiny little people next to tiny little belts moving ingredients. [/i]. This video of 4 crossroads makes my head explode. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKnWHXLMkTk less than three fucked around with this message at 06:42 on Jul 10, 2015 |
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Jul 10, 2015 06:29
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Brackhar posted:What's the current ETA on getting this pushed onto steam? I'm not a big fan of having to manually download the builds and not having butt saving. Autumn. If you buy early you don't have to download each build. The game has an autopatcher that updates the game on launch. You can redeem the Steam key once it's in the store.
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Jul 10, 2015 06:35
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Dunno-Lars posted:Is there any side effects that also have a cure? Please make a drug that causes and cures a problem Here's a compound that both Alleviates Insomnia and Prompts Sleepiness.  I immediately thought of this: https://vimeo.com/50054222
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Jul 10, 2015 06:39
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less than three posted:Here's a compound that both Alleviates Insomnia and Prompts Sleepiness. Isn't "Causes random fainting" already an insomnia cure? 
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Jul 10, 2015 16:37
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Jul 10, 2015 19:30
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Jabor posted:Isn't "Causes random fainting" already an insomnia cure? I made a birth control pill that caused sleepiness and nausea. I didn't have to put the nausea in but I did it anyway so I could call it "The Cosby". I never took it off production. I'm going to hell.
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Jul 10, 2015 20:27
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Demiurge4 posted:I made a birth control pill that caused sleepiness and nausea. I didn't have to put the nausea in but I did it anyway so I could call it "The Cosby". I never took it off production. Ironic names are half the fun. Any problems in a pill can probably be mitigated with a small dose of antidepressant.
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Jul 10, 2015 21:09
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reignofevil posted:Ironic names are half the fun. Any problems in a pill can probably be mitigated with a small dose of antidepressant. Oh wow. Now I want to make a factory that puts antidepressant in everything. Every drug should start with HAPPY, in all caps.
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Jul 11, 2015 09:30
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Just beat the challenge to make a crapton of money on advanced difficulty. Some tips: Mixing; Any empty slots in the base ingredient will be filled by the other ingredient. I don't know why the person making the video tutorial couldn't have put it into a single sentence like that but it is really that simple. You can click on an ingredient on your conveyer belt to see its properties. Save 50$ when inventing new cures by letting the ingredient go into the necessary machine and clicking on the machine to view the ingredient inside. This will allow you to see what machine will next be needed to activate the new cure. It can be really annoying having to sell belts once you realize the ingredient has to come out and go left instead of straight or what-have-you so just don't do it. With this knowledge you should never have to make a sugar pill again. Loans are freaking harsh if you don't have a really good plan for making the payments. Once I had a crippling loan and I took out a loan and payed the remainder of the first loan with it; then I got my poo poo together and payed off my second loan. I didn't win that round but shoot for the moon. Space is expensive but costs nothing to maintain. If your goal is specifically earning revenue it is better to spend a chunk of change on space even if you just put a basic production line. For one of those try to stick to a single machine and two pill makers. Try to purchase spaces with three or more belts whenever possible; the big bucks is noticing small holdups in the line and diverting those resources to useful ends nearby. If an ingredient has to waste one tick in the line waiting to be refined into a more advanced cure then divert one of those ingredients every other turn and refine it into the lesser cure and sell that poo poo yo. Your debt works more like the United States Govt. rather than a household budget. Basically once you take out a loan it will keep you from buying anything but the loan always gets payed even if you have no money and so if you have a factory that was making a profit (and your pills haven't devalued themselves in the timeframe) don't panic and sell everything; you may be able to outlast the debt and leverage it into a productive factory again. A loan is typically like 10,000 movements of the belt or something. That's like 45 minutes realtime from the moment you get a bunch of money to try and spend. Equipment that isn't in use costs nothing. Don't sell any equipment! Barring hilarious situations where you thought it was a great idea to build like seven of one machine for a line and now there is no room any excess the equipment should be stored in some corner that I have dubbed "The supply closet of doom". Enjoy the perks of big business while you watch as the little people manning the equipment spend their years staring at one another and wonder at what their conversations must be like. Scientists > Explorers; at least early on. The new ingredient variety means there is a rare exception in which you don't have any advanced cures you can refine without a catalyst in your starting material but unless that happens know that two scientists costs less than two explorers for a reason. Any explorers or scientists who are done researching and costing you too much money need kicked off the payroll. Getting the points to shave costs off your machines and products IS important but any time your research is leaving you heading towards debt you probably just better off instituting some layoffs rather than going further towards debt by getting greedy with the efficiency points. The Cryogenic Condenser and the Autoclave are loving essential and should be obtained quickly so long as you have something available to do with them (You really should; even if you can't directly refine any cures to the next level take a look at making your old processes better). You will need four scientists to get these which means your basic goal for the early-midgame is to get more than 120$ per tick to afford these guys. reignofevil fucked around with this message at 10:59 on Jul 11, 2015 |
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Jul 11, 2015 10:46
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Jabor posted:Isn't "Causes random fainting" already an insomnia cure? I do actually feel like sometimes some of the side effects are effectively things which would make people want the drug more, not less. One time I made a cough medicine that barely treated people's coughs, but also caused massive, super-intense hallucinations. As far as I'm concerned, Super Trip Cough Drops should have been the most popular medication on the market.
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Jul 11, 2015 11:25
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Actually, loans are really good and much like a real business, you should be taking out loans all the time to capitalize new things. If you have a cure lined up, you should have a good idea what your profit will be on it, and hence what your %age return will be on your capital expenditure. If the return on investment is substantially higher than the loan interest, then it's profitable to take out a loan to build the production line. (If it's not higher than the loan interest, it's probably too expensive, and you should look for something better to build). The super-hard scenarios that start you out with a massive loan are a real pain in the rear end mainly because you can't leverage as much to build out your factory. Also, don't worry about profit early. It's good to build an initial production line (simply because you'll need those machines for your real cures later anyway, so you might as well get some profit out even if it's small), but there's really no penalty to deficit-spending your way until you've unlocked an actually profitable drug. Jabor fucked around with this message at 11:41 on Jul 11, 2015 |
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Jul 11, 2015 11:38
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Pretty much exactly what I meant by "A plan to make the payments".
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Jul 11, 2015 17:40
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reignofevil posted:If an ingredient has to waste one tick in the line waiting to be refined into a more advanced cure then divert one of those ingredients every other turn and refine it into the lesser cure and sell that poo poo yo. Instead of diverting crap, (that probably wont be at the right concentration and will thus need more processing) you should design your line to be run at 100% throughput from start to finish. This means multiples of the machines which have a longer process time. The exception to this is some of the level 4 and 5 cures where a full 30/month production line would oversaturate the market and kill your profit margins.
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Jul 12, 2015 00:23
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Enzenx posted:Instead of diverting crap, (that probably wont be at the right concentration and will thus need more processing) you should design your line to be run at 100% throughput from start to finish. This means multiples of the machines which have a longer process time. The exception to this is some of the level 4 and 5 cures where a full 30/month production line would oversaturate the market and kill your profit margins. Goons how do I double multi mixers. I've tried so hard but I can't seem to work it out. I always find a belt needs to overlap and I'm back to square one.
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Jul 12, 2015 02:18
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