I wanted to make my own console, so I tried hiring several times in the last 5 years of my game, using the most expensive options. I never saw any hardware engineers until the escaped monkey was announced and appeared in the applicants list. At that point, the game was almost over.
Is the monkey the only hardware engineer you can hire, or is it possible to hire others, earlier? Perhaps it's just the luck of who applies?
Best Answer
If an employee is level 5 in Coder, Writer, Designer, and Sound Engineer, you can then train them as a Director or Producer.
If they are level 5 in Director and Producer as well, you can make them a Hardware Engineer.
The limiting factor here is that after so many level-ups, their salary will be very high (2 million dollars or more).
As far as I know, this is the only way to get a Hardware Engineer early in the game.