A deep festival management sim · in development
Build a festival from an empty field. Then keep it running when everything goes wrong.
Real people, dark nights and muddy grass
A day and a half of changes in my festival management game, from 3D visitors who dance to grass that turns to dirt under their feet.
Hello, Venue Simulator
Why I'm making Venue Simulator, my first game, a music festival management sim where you build the site and run the show live.
Lay down a stage, bars, food stands and toilets. Run cables from generators, keep the power under the limit and leave room for the queues you know are coming.
Plan the night: pick a local act, set ticket prices and open the gates. Hard rock, heavy metal and electronic crowds all want different things.
A fight by the stage. Someone faints at the front. The bar runs out of beer and the generator shorts out. Your radio does not stop, and every call is yours to answer.
Early development screenshots. Some labels are still in Turkish; the game ships in English and Turkish.
Building happens on a fast clock, one second for six minutes. When the gates open the clock drops to one second for six seconds, and everything you planned gets tested at walking speed.
Book an act, pay the fee up front, set ticket, beer and food prices. The planner shows a demand estimate; your stage size caps it.
Buses drop visitors at the village stop. The ticket booth queue is the first thing they judge you on.
Needs climb with the clock. Bars and food stands queue up, stock runs down, generators burn fuel and the power draw creeps toward the limit.
A fight near the stage and someone fainted at the front, at the same time. You have one security guard and one medic. Trash is piling up behind the bar.
The crowd heads back to the bus. Staff wages come out of the till.
Income line by line, costs, average satisfaction, what people were thinking, every incident and whether you handled it. Then the reputation change.
Venue Simulator is a management game in the old, detailed sense. Every system below is running at the same time, and each one feeds the others: a cheap cable becomes a short circuit, which closes a bar, which grows a queue, which costs you a star, which raises the interest on your loan.
Nothing runs without electricity. Place generators, lay cable cell by cell and keep every network under its limit. Cables that touch merge into one grid; surface cable is cheap but wears out, underground cable is safe but slow to dig.
| Portable generator | 10 kW · 20 L tank |
|---|---|
| Container generator | 60 kW · 150 L tank |
| Fuel use | 0.3 L per kWh |
| Stage draw, level 1 → 3 | 5 → 15 → 40 kW |
| Overload | breaker trips, stalls go dark |
Every visitor is simulated on their own. They get off the bus, buy a ticket, find a spot, and as the evening goes on they get thirsty, hungry and need the toilet. They pick the best stall, join the queue and give up when their patience runs out.
| Needs | drink · food · toilet |
|---|---|
| Walking | real speed, flow-field pathing |
| Feedback | visitors think out loud |
| Crowd engine | tested at 100,000 people |
Hire a crew and command them like units in a strategy game: drag to select, right-click to send, save control groups, paint the zone each person patrols. A bar with no bartender is a closed bar.
| Bartender | $60 per event |
|---|---|
| Cleaner | $50 |
| Security | $80 |
| Technician | $100 |
| Medic | $120 |
Affects Incidents & radio Money & the bank
The show is where the game happens. Problems come in over the radio while the music plays, and each one has a specific fix. Leave it and it gets worse; the crowd remembers.
| Fight | send security |
|---|---|
| Someone fainted | send a medic |
| Trash, dirty toilets | send a cleaner |
| Bar ran dry | emergency order, 1 hour, expensive |
| Short circuit, breakdown | send a technician |
Affects Staff Power grid Satisfaction & reputation
Pick a date and an act, then set the ticket, beer and food prices. How many people show up depends on the act's fan base, how sensitive they are to your prices, the season and your reputation, all capped by what your stage can hold.
| Demand | fans × price × season × reputation |
|---|---|
| Cap | stage capacity 50 / 200 / 500 |
| Artist fee | paid up front |
| During the show | change prices live |
Every dollar is on the ledger. Buildings cost upkeep every night, artists want paying before they play, wages come out after the show. Drop below zero and construction freezes until you climb out. The village bank lends against your land and buildings, and its rate depends on your reputation.
| Daily upkeep | 0.3% of building value |
|---|---|
| Demolish | 50% refund |
| Loan interest | 14% at 1★ → 4% at 5★ |
| Terms | 1, 2 or 5 years, weekly payments |
| Limit | 3 open loans, 2% early-repayment fee |
Queues, prices, noise from the generator, trash on the ground and unhandled incidents all move satisfaction. Every show ends with a report card, and the report card moves your reputation, one star per 200 points.
| Stars | 1 to 5 |
|---|---|
| 2★ unlocks | local talent, level 3 buildings, big generator |
| Each star | more demand, cheaper loans |
Affects Booking & demand Money & the bank
Nine build categories, from stages and bars to infrastructure and decoration. Most buildings have three levels. Upgrading a stage makes it grow backwards and sideways while its front edge stays put, so plan your layout before you need the space.
| Stage | pallets → trailer → main stage |
|---|---|
| Bar stock | 50 → 150 → 300 |
| Bar service | 1 → 2 → 2 fast counters |
| Placement | no building on surface cable |
Affects Power grid Money & the bank
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