Future Development Company

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.

Game Contents

This is a simulation game with multiple stages, each with its own offbeat mission. The challenge is to build up plots of land and develop technology in order to construct what you need to complete the mission.

Using the funds and staff provided to you, build Factories to earn more money for new structures, and build Labs to research and plan designs for your new structures. You’ll be attacked now and then by what are known as “bad aliens”, but you can drive them off with a few well-placed mouse clicks! You can also shoot them down if you build a Gun Battery. There are also Energy Plants to provide your Factories with Energy and Intel to detect approaching UFOs. There are a variety of structures to help you complete your mission.

Much of the game is controlled via the Command Menu in the lower-right-hand corner.

Build Command

Choose which building you wish to place on the map. Construction requires money, and operation of your new building also requires proper staff. As your R&D progresses, the new buildings you’ve developed will be added to the empty spaces.

Recruit Command

Use to recruit new staff. This will cost money. If you keep building structures, you’ll eventually drain your pool of staff, so keep an eye on your funds and try recruiting at the most opportune time. After you recruit staff, you’ll have to wait a little while before you can recruit again. If you have Intel operational on the map, you’ll be able to recruit more staff at once, and the wait to reactivate the Recruit command will grow shorter.

Status Command

When you have a new subject of research, if you have any Labs operational, the Status window will display your research progress. When research is complete, you can move the plan into actual production. If you have Factories operational, production will commence.

For details on how to play, click the Tutorial button on the title screen and read the instructions. In addition to the Tutorial, the game also provides in-game help in the form of Opeko, the operator.

Click the Opeko Button in the lower-left corner of the screen to summon Opeko for hints and tips. She’ll also appear on her own when she has critical information.

Buildings Overview

Each building has its own set of features. Take time to get acquainted with them all. Some buildings can be upgraded when your Tech gets high enough. This will improve building performance but will also require greater funds and staff count. There are also special buildings specific to each stage.

Buildings which require staff for operation must be placed next to a road. Buildings which require Energy for operation, like Factories, must be adjacent to an Energy Plant or connected via Pipeline.

Future Development Company Office A branch office located in each stage where our brainiest engineers wait on standby. Staff for new buildings are dispatched from this location. If the office is destroyed, it’s game over.

Pipeline A pipe for connecting Energy Plants to buildings that require energy. These can also be built on roads.

Lab When operational, Labs consume money while increasing your Tech. This building can advance new research plans.

Factory When operational, Factories earn you money. This building can advance new production plans.

Energy Plant Furnishes other buildings with Energy. Powers adjacent buildings as well as any connected via Pipeline.

Gun Battery Can fire back in the event of an enemy UFO attack. Consumes funds with each shot. Shots have a limited range.

Intel UFOのGives you advance warning of UFO attacks. Also has other effects, such as increasing staff recruitment count.

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.

Buildings that require staff for operation must be located next to a road.

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.

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.

Research 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.

Bad alien UFOs will pick a building and attack it.

In the event of UFO attack, switch to Fight Mode with the Fight Button.

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.

Buildings displaying this icon are non-operational due to staff shortage.

Attack UFOs target and destroy buildings.

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.

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.

Once recruited, staff are called to your head office via transport shuttle.

In Fight Mode, click on Gun Batteries to fight back at UFOs.

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.

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.

Buildings that complete the production stage are added to the Build command list.

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

If 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.