Your Feature Request / Idea
I don't know about the rest of you, but the contracts in Challenge mode always feel like a chore to me - a core aspect of the game should be fun, maybe challenging, but definitely not a major annoyance. It doesn't have to be this way. I've been playing some other building games recently and Prison Architect's grant system specifically looks like it would work really well in this game. Here's the suggestion:
* Disable the need to always have 3 contracts in challenge mode. It isn't fun, it isn't challenging - the pop-up is just annoying.
* DO keep the idea of contract cancellation fees.
* Keep a number of contracts generated for at all times - say, 6, for example (2 for each division).
* Increase contract requirements (release 3 carnivores and 2 specific herbivores, take a picture of a dinosaur in multiple unique situations (a drinking ceratosaurus, an eating ceratosaurus, a hunting ceratosaurus, for example).
* In exchange for the increased difficulty, make contracts include both a payment up-front and a payment upon completion. Cancelling a contract would then cost you both the down-payment and an extra bit as punishment.
* Maybe as an extension to the last point, increase reputation a small bit when accepting a contract (the manager paid attention!), and a bigger increase in reputation when you succeed, but a large decrease if you cancel.
* Let the player select any of the currently generated contracts at any point, up to a maximum of 3 at a time.
* Maybe cycle contracts out after a while if the player hasn't selected them.
This would make the contracts feel like mini-missions rather than single-action tickboxes, and I feel it would make the player more engaged with each Challenge Mode game both because the contracts would be more rewarding, but because they'd be more interesting to complete.
Of course this is just a baseline suggestion, and I'd be interested in what changes or additions everyone here has to offer.
I don't know about the rest of you, but the contracts in Challenge mode always feel like a chore to me - a core aspect of the game should be fun, maybe challenging, but definitely not a major annoyance. It doesn't have to be this way. I've been playing some other building games recently and Prison Architect's grant system specifically looks like it would work really well in this game. Here's the suggestion:
* Disable the need to always have 3 contracts in challenge mode. It isn't fun, it isn't challenging - the pop-up is just annoying.
* DO keep the idea of contract cancellation fees.
* Keep a number of contracts generated for at all times - say, 6, for example (2 for each division).
* Increase contract requirements (release 3 carnivores and 2 specific herbivores, take a picture of a dinosaur in multiple unique situations (a drinking ceratosaurus, an eating ceratosaurus, a hunting ceratosaurus, for example).
* In exchange for the increased difficulty, make contracts include both a payment up-front and a payment upon completion. Cancelling a contract would then cost you both the down-payment and an extra bit as punishment.
* Maybe as an extension to the last point, increase reputation a small bit when accepting a contract (the manager paid attention!), and a bigger increase in reputation when you succeed, but a large decrease if you cancel.
* Let the player select any of the currently generated contracts at any point, up to a maximum of 3 at a time.
* Maybe cycle contracts out after a while if the player hasn't selected them.
This would make the contracts feel like mini-missions rather than single-action tickboxes, and I feel it would make the player more engaged with each Challenge Mode game both because the contracts would be more rewarding, but because they'd be more interesting to complete.
Of course this is just a baseline suggestion, and I'd be interested in what changes or additions everyone here has to offer.
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