Hey, I have a placement system I have been working on for days now and I have just finished it and it is working nicely.
In my game the player enters a “building state” in which the player has an open menu with a list of items they can place down, however it was only until playing some modern tycoon games like ‘Restaurant Tycoon 2’ that I realised the system they have is different and I am unsure if its worse or better than mine.
In ‘Restaurant Tycoon 2’ you have to visit a store to purchase all your place-able items instead of what I have done and have the items purchasable from the menu. I can’t decide if I should continue this menu purchasing system or if I should opt for a similar style to ‘Restaurant Tycoon 2’ and for this reason I am asking you. What do you think I should do?
Sounds more convenient to do it the way you are doing it. I don’t personally mind going to a ingame store but it would be easier to just pick from a menu while building. I would add a search function and categories so players can find exactly what they want.
This kinda depends on what kind of game you’d like to produce.
If you want a more immersive/interesting experience, go for the in-game store.
If you want to encourage your players to buy more items/make a more efficient way of progression, go for the menu system.
My honest opinion is having an in game store, not a menu, because I think it’s more realistic, even though it would be harder to travel from store to your build.
I have decided I will do both, if players want to feel more immersed in the game or whether they just want to progress there is an option for everybody.