Future Development Company

About

The 7th Flash game from NIGORO: the rebirth of the real-time simulation puzzler! Take jobs throughout the universe as head of Future Development Company. Satisfy the bizarre demands of the space colonies, fend off attacks from the bad aliens, and achieve intergalactic corporate domination!

Future Development Company: The universe’s handyman, we have the tech to handle any job! We’ve just recently expanded, with a branch office in the space colonies. But their requests just get crazier and crazier, and in the meantime they’re constantly under attack from the bad aliens.
With the operator Opeko at your side, take the reins as company president, completing jobs and opening new offices throughout the universe!

How to Play

To complete your mission, you will need to develop the building(s) required to achieve each stage’s goal. Some stages will require development of multiple brand-new buildings that must be created in proper order. Creating buildings starts with research, but Labs require constant funding to operate, and if your funds run out, you instantly fail the mission, so you’ll first need to get some Factories operational.

Running Factories

Operating a Factory requires Energy. Start by building an Energy Plant. When the plant is built, staff will be sent out from the head office to begin operation. Once your plant is running, it’s time to build a Factory. You can place it right next to the Energy Plant, or you can set it up somewhere else and connect it to the plant with a pipeline.

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Buildings that require staff for operation must be located next to a road.
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When construction on a building is complete, staff will be dispatched. If the route is blocked by a pipeline, the personnel will return to the head office.
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Supply buildings with Energy by either building next to an Energy Plant or connecting via pipeline.

In general, buildings must be built next to a road. When personnel are sent to staff a building, if there’s something in the road obstructing their path, they’ll turn around and return to the head office. Key points for success are construction order and efficient connection of Factories to Energy Plants.

Building Labs

Factories earn you money once they’re operational. When you have enough money, it’s time to build a Lab. When a Lab is up and running, work will begin on the research plans prepared for each mission.
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h05Research proceeds faster the more Labs you have, but operating Labs also costs money. If you have more Labs than Factories, the cost to operate the Labs will outweigh the funding brought in by the Factories, and your funds will decrease. If you have Labs and Factories in equal number, the two will cancel each other out your funds will remain static. When building Labs, try to strike the proper balance against the number of Factories.
Click a building on the map to bring up the Info balloon. You can check the building’s status and use the Hire and Scrap commands.

UFO Attacks

As you play, you will occasionally be attacked by UFOs controlled by the bad aliens. UFOs will pick a building and start attacking it. To counter a UFO, click the Fight Button in the upper-right corner to enter Fight Mode. In Fight Mode, you can engage with UFOs who are attacking your buildings. Click repeatedly on the UFO (or the meter displayed just above it) to fill up the meter. When it maxes out, the UFO will be successfully driven off.

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Bad alien UFOs will pick a building and attack it.
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In the event of UFO attack, switch to Fight Mode with the Fight Button.
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Click repeatedly on the “Click!” button or the UFO itself to fight back.

UFOs come in two flavors: Abduction and Attack. Abduction UFOs kidnap personnel from your buildings. This results in a staff shortage, which prevents the building from operating. Attack UFOs zero in on a building and then use a beam weapon to destroy it. If a building is destroyed, you also lose all staff members inside it, so be careful. Should an Energy Plant be destroyed, all buildings drawing Energy from the plant will also blow up in a chain reaction.

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Buildings displaying this icon are non-operational due to staff shortage.
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Attack UFOs target and destroy buildings.
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If an Energy Plant is destroyed, the chain reaction will also take out the buildings attached to it.

Other Buildings

Research takes time. While your Labs are busy, try erecting some other buildings. As you build more, the number of staff on standby at the head office will decrease. Use the Recruit command to replenish your headcount. However, recruiting new staff does require a significant chunk of funds, and after you recruit once, you’ll need to wait a while before the command is available again.
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It helps to build Intel before recruiting. If Intel is operational, not only will the number of staff you can recruit at once increase, but the delay before you can recruit again will be shortened. Intel will also give you advance warning of UFO attacks.

If you build a Gun Battery, you’ll be able to shoot down UFOs. When you enter Fight Mode, you can click on any operational Gun Battery. Clicking on the battery will direct it to fire in the direction of the UFO. Each bullet costs a small amount of money, but if you can bring down the UFO, you’ll receive a cash reward. Gun Batteries do have limited range, so it’s a good idea to build them near the buildings you most want to protect.

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Once recruited, staff are called to your head office via transport shuttle.
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In Fight Mode, click on Gun Batteries to fight back at UFOs.
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Bring down a UFO, and you get bonus money.

Completing New Buildings

Completed research plans are useless until they’re put into actual production in your Factories. If you have operational Factories, the plan will enter manufacturing. You can check on the status with the Status command. When production is complete, the new building will be added to the Build command. Possible new buildings vary with each stage, and they have various effects, such as enabling research into other types of new buildings, or achieving mission-clear goals. Repeat this process until you complete the stage, paying attention to Opeko’s suggestions as you go.

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Once research is complete, you can check the production status of your plans in the Status window. The more Factories you have, the faster production will complete. Depending on the stage, some buildings can’t be manufactured until certain conditions are met.
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Buildings that complete the production stage are added to the Build command list.
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The Rocket Engines in Stage 1 should be built at the base of the Buddha Tower.

Mission Complete

Accomplish a stage’s set goals to complete the mission. Each stage has its own funky mission. For details on what exactly is required of you, ask Opeko for help.

Game Over

h18If your Funds or Staff count reach zero, or the head office gets destroyed, it’s game over. When fighting UFOs, the strength of each building is determined by the number of staff inside, so if you have no personnel on standby in the head office when an Attack UFO shows up, it can destroy your office in an instant. Using the Info balloon to monitor building status is crucial.

Finally…

You can replay a stage you’ve cleared at any time, so if you’re going for a high score, you can play again and again. If you clear all four stages, the Final Stage will become available. Unlike the previous four stages, this last one features a frightening number of attacking UFOs. It’ll take all the skills you’ve practiced to make it through this one.
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