University Branch

Custom branch 'university'

For the purpose of the course, some additional changes had to be made to the game's source code, mainly to enable external timing of the game for use in exercises. These changes are available on another branch via the Steam library. The list of changes includes:

1. No console (disable hotkey)
2. No fast forward, only 1x and pause
3. In class TimeManager, add a non-static Property of type bool named "CanAdvanceTime". If set to true the player can pause or set the game speed to normal (no fast-forwarding) at will. If set to false the speed will be set to paused and the player can no longer un-pause the game
4. No bankrupt or win screen
5. No events
6. No auctions, except for expansion (AI can expand as well)
7. Add a watermark that is always shown, like when we showed the version number. "For educational purposes only"

It was decided to let the students play at 1x speed as this gives more time for decision-making. Fast forward was disabled to show a continuous, i.e. realistic, time progression. The variable canAdvanceTime was set to true when an exercise started and to false when it ended. To prevent problems from occurring when a player went bankrupt, bankruptcy was disabled. However, it still had a negative effect on the company score. Events (e.g., increased building maintenance) and auctions (e.g., deliver product x with quantity y to z) were also disabled to ensure that no team had an advantage and the playing field was balanced.

How to activate the beta?

1. make sure that "Rise of Industry" is part of your Steam library.
2. right-click on the game (in the list) and select "Properties", go to "Betas" and enter the code 'hildesheimuni' to unlock the beta 'university'. Make sure that the beta 'university' is selected in the dropdown menu. Start the game.
3. when the beta is unlocked, you will see a watermark in the bottom right corner that says "For educational purposes only".