some other noticables

[Prosayist]

hints, suggestions and more annoyances [size=59](… and some other stuff that’ll probably be forgotten)[/size]:

Add news of some sort:

Asylum 13 sold out another tremendous show at ‘The MegaDome’ last night. Bassist Ade Ford smashed his guitar and threw a microphone stand into the audience causing $500 worth of damage but the crowd loved it.

‘Mellow Horizons’ is releasing a new CD this week…

… and other relevant news:

There are lots of people concerned about homeless cats, these days…

would increase the popularity effect of a charity gig for the “Homes For Cats”

The news could be be a reimplemented version of the ‘Kudos’ restaurant thing (“Pizza Palace is cheap but it’s pretty uncool, isn’t it”) ~ Sometimes somebody says something or a ‘news flash’ appears that shows relevant advice.

You could buy a book or subscription to a music magazine which would get you all the good information at once (like the ‘movie guide’)

-ability to book your own charity gigs (that’s likely how it would work in the ‘real’ world)

If you book your own show it should amount to more publicity than if they ask you

Being dirt poor ourselves, ‘Shattered Rainbow’ is really concerned about the poverty issue. We want to do a charity event for ‘Poverty Action’

[list]This would also allow you to negotiate the RS_CHARITY_GIG_MULTIPLIER

Welcome London! We hope you really enjoy tonight 'cause 25% of the money we get from you guys is going towards protecting the habitat for giant pandas such as Zhu Xiong in Chinas Pingwu district!"

This would increase your popularity and incite National TV to interview you[/list:u]

-ability to take a rain-check
size=75[/size]
immediately after a show, the national newspaper wants to do a spot but the band is too exhausted and they all don’t show up. There should be a ‘Put off for 3 days’ button or something.

Sorry, National TV show but we just did a huge show at ‘The Enormo-Dome’ and we’re beat to snot but we’ll be happy to return after a few days rest

This could likely cause even more publicity as the TV show hypothetically says:

“Cobalt Blue just put on a huge show at ‘The Enormo-Dome’ and, when asked to appear on our program, they were too tired.”

“So what now, Janice. Will we ever hear directly from Cobalt Blue about this show or will we just have to go on hearsay?”

“I thought you’d never ask, Bob. Although Cobalt Blue was too strung out from their last show to appear tonight, they have agreed to accept the interview three days from now. This Thursday night Cobalt Blue will appear live right here in our own studio and they may even perform their new hit Subtle Perfection.”

-ability to play covers
[size=84](from the news)[/size]

The new Stray Mudcats album is a big hit 'specially with their re-released single “Next to the cactus”

• • • • • “Hey, let’s do a cover of ‘Next to the cactus’ at our SpaceDome show next Tuesday, it’ll be a big hit”

A cover of ‘Next to the cactus’ following a news announcement like this should add to the show response (more CD sales, bigger turnout, greater fame gain)

(overall more integration with other bands)

(when just beginning)

‘The Patriots’ would like ‘Phantom Black’ to be their opening act this Saturday at 'The Rat Club". You will receive 15% of the shows profits for accepting plus the fame and inspiration associated with that band.

(when accomplished)

Gemstone would like to invite Guitar Brothers to open for them at “Blue Rock Stadium” Friday night.

This would increase publicity and awareness as all the people that came just to hear ‘Guitar Brothers’ will probably stay to hear “Gemstone” and some of them will like it.

-the cancel button on the promo page -

click on web promo 'cause that might do well given the circumstances but there’s also a choice for a local radio interview which might do better… able to compare side-by-side - choose one, cancel, choose the other, see better success with the first and go back and do it;

or just put the ‘% reachable’ message on the main “what’s happening today” page (as in):

A local TV station wants you to do a segment for their entertainment guide. Accepting this promotion could theoretically reach 20% of your audience given your current fame.

There should also (or alternatively) be a cancel button on the page after you accept the offer to do a radio interview (for example) so that if you see it’ll only reach 5% of your audience you can cancel and do something more effective.

-band-members should acknowledge when you buy something new.

“I love this new guitar!”
“Thanks for the cowbell”
“It’s very motivating that we now have a manager.”

-silence after a few minutes;

-the practice thing with the notes (simon), they don’t line up.
screen shows ‘5,3,3’ sound plays 3, screen shows ‘1,3’ sound plays ‘3,1’ screen shows ‘3,3,1,5’

does this happen for anybody else or is it just as a result of my rubbish instrument?

-there should be, when a new gig from another band is playing tonight, after “seeing this band will cost you $45”, a “you’ve already seen this band once”, “you’ve never seen them perform before”, “you have been to 3 shows by this band so far” or just “previous shows attended: 2” (am I just gonna just get +25 inspiration outta this or will I get a new riff, too?)

-when you take a day off, the ‘tiredness’ progress bar should go down instead of just showing ‘how tired he was before today’

-I added a new rehearsal spot (“Bassist’s Pad - It’s semi-roomy, comfortable and free. It’ll do in a pinch and If the neighbors complain, so what!”) but there’s only room for 8 on the ‘Rehearsal’ page (can’t see the ‘Use’ button for the ‘Beachfront Studio’)

This page should be expandable/scrollable | have another tab | not list the unavailable ones [size=75](i.e. if you don’t have more than $50 it wouldn’t even list the ‘Large Rehearsal Studio’ or if your fame is more than 299 or less than 101 it wouldn’t list the ‘Recording Studio’)[/size] | as you get better/bigger the lower-end studios could drop off the list | the size of the box could shrink to fit more | something better that I can’t even think of right now.

Of course those options are only necessary if there are more than 8 spots.

-I added some merchandise and the line structure is similar to the ‘tshirts’ line but after a show it doesn’t give the sales results on the GIGSCREEN, even if I add a seemingly appropriate line in ‘strings.ini’.

Is there something else I’m missing?
(linebreaks added for brevity)

#,merchandise,lighters(100),Lighters (x100),merchandise, "Most of your audience smokes.. make'em think of your band every time they light up",ass_lighters.jpg,,45.00,0,0,0,,REBUYABLE,,100,2.50, merchandise_lighters,#,#

That’s all for now, more on this later.

[Prosayist]

More observations from me:

running history of concerts would be helpful (“dude, you clicked the finish button too soon after that last concert; I didn’t get a chance to see what needs improvement!”)

including:
ratio of people in attendance to CDs sold (as it goes down over time you realize it’s time to put out some new stuff)

the ‘ratio’ thing could even be in one of those meters (another meter after the show and continual for some things such as CD sales, there’s a meter on the sidebar that shows the effect of your currently running CD [size=84](and all CDs if you make it so we can sell first releases still)[/size])

This has been mentioned before [size=75](by me)[/size] but make it so you can still incorporate older songs onto CDs (especially the classics)

put a higher limit on the fame if there’s gonna be a limit at all

when you get into the studio to record the CD there should be a cancel button (“This album isn’t gonna be as quality as our last one, let’s not record yet”)

the CD info box should have a ‘revert’ button or something (“this CD isn’t as good as the last one, let’s pull it”)

If you’re a successful band and the drummer quits, you hafta get a new drummer - he should already come to the table with a ‘proper’ kit

(anything randomly better than cheap - maybe comparable instrumentation to the rest of the band; if your band already has a Precision V guitar and an Ultra-Bass Pro the new drummer shouldn’t have anything less than a ‘Drumtech Deluxe’ kit…)

That could be optional. On the auditions page it could also show what kind of equipment he/she would bring to the band.

The ‘better equipped’/‘more experienced’ he is should equal greater quality overall [size=84](better musicianship, possibly more live experience, maybe less of a chance of him getting de-motivated etc…[/size]) and a greater level of ability than he would have if you were just starting out from scratch [size=84](new game)[/size]

we’re already a famous band, why do all these schoolkids keep showing up for audition? Shouldn’t we set some sorta limit for entry?

‘Space Dust Guitarist wanted! Famous Kudosville-based band seeking accomplished guitarist. High-paying gigs weekly. Applicants must have at least 3 years prior experience and a Precision V guitar or better’

the more meaningful tooltip could include [size=84]when pointing at a band member’s icon)[/size] an actual word describing his emotional state (happy, neutral, sad, very sad) so one does not have to rely on determining his/her attitude merely based upon slight changes in facial expression

show relationship between band members (kinda like the ‘network’ thing in Kudos)
this way you could tell ahead of time “everybody hates the drummer, I better fire him before things get outta control.”

make it possible to look for a new guitarist even though you already have one

this guitarist isn’t working out, if I fire him then we’ll be guitaristless for a while. If I line up another ‘behind the scenes’ then it will lessen the blow for the rest of the band… which brings up another thing

be able to have more than one guitarist (again I mention this )
train the new guitarist while the attitude of the original guitarist is going downhill then when he finally quits or when you fire him you’ll already have a new guitarist trained… which brings up another thing

keep track of the people who’ve been in your band so you can hire them back if you realize you made a mistake or think you’d like to try again or something [size=75](didn’t Judas Priest do this recently?)[/size] [color=red]NOTE:[size=84]Judas Priest also has two lead guitars[/size] size=75[/size]

add an ‘Effectiveness:’ percentage on the GIGSCREEN:

profit/cash = GIG_PROFIT_INCREASE; /* example: I just did a gig and before I got there I had $850, profited 219 so the GIG_PROFIT_INCREASE would be 26% */ (%capacity) / (('% fame increase' + '% chemistry increase' + '% experience increase') * ('performance/stage performance' * GIG_PROFIT_INCREASE)) = overall effectiveness

something like that; the numbers derived from those inputs really don’t make any sense as far as whether this could be an actual indicator of effectiveness but you prob’ly can see where I’m goin’ here. I don’t see the numbers or the available variables right in front of me nor am I familiar enough with their effect on the rest of the game. cliffski could prob’ly do it though.

could you also put a concrete number (i.e. ‘73%’) on the dB meters on the GIGSCREEN ?
(in the tooltip)

even if you don’t decide to ‘relax and do nothing’, the band’s tiredness should decrease

If I’m writing a song or going to the store, are they ‘relaxing and doing nothing’? they can sleep all day while I’m out booking gigs, whaddo I care? they could be improving without me - some real good songs have been written by our bassist and drummer when the singer was not there. they could practice or rehearse… which brings up another thing )

allow solo, 2-piece, 3-piece performances / bands / rehearsal / gigs

The guy that was once the singer of a highly popular band went on after the band broke up and played keyboard and sang. It’s a whole different style from what the world was used to from him but now he has a different audience.

Some of his fame has carried over from his devoted fans, some of the fans that liked the band but not necessarily his singing in particular have moved on but some other people who enjoy solo vocalists and still others who like keyboards have now become his fans… which brings up another thing

allow the singer to play guitar if he chooses. Or keyboard. Maybe even bass.

which brings up another thing

make ‘backup singing’ a new ‘song element’ or something

this auditionee is disruptive but she could be a backup singer

that’s enough for now.

[edit]
make it more difficult, random, challenging or something. If I remember correctly, this was a suggestion when you first released Kudos. (It was a lot better after you fixed that.)

It should take longer to gain fame. When you first start playing, you can only gig at Joe’s or Blue Note. As you gain fame, more become available but the classier ones come up too quickly (when you finally can afford a van to get to Ginny’s Bar, by that time you’re already playing ‘The Rat Club’ which is way better.

Smaller bars should all be local (maybe) and bigger venues should pretty much stay just like they are.

I realize I can change some of this myself but… glean what you will from here.
[/edit]

[Prosayist]

there needs to be a ‘Relax and do nothing’ button on the main page

there should be an indicator of promotion percentage (“given your current fame, you have potentially reached 85% of your audience with your promotional efforts.”) Don’t put a ‘100%’ cap on it (i.e. it’s possible to promote too much)

MAYBE, in addition to or as a complement to that ‘networking’ thing I was talking about earlier, some sort of a ‘tension meter’ that would show where there’s troubled relationships between the band members

there could be a sorting option when recording a CD. It would be a great help to be able to sort by quality

when, on the calendar, there’s an upcoming gig, it should specify if it’s a charity event

[cliffski]

all good points, there’s just an endless list to be done. at least I don’t have any problems deciding what goes in future patches. There will be a 1.1 patch coming very soon, probably tomorrow, it doesn’t have all this, but it has some cool stuff.

[Prosayist]

X-cellent! Thanks cliff, I’m looking forward to it; keep it up