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I wont go into something as detailed as a Design Document, but just to get this idea out there. Inspired by the corner grocery store in the end of my block...

Goal: Achieve the highest Net worth, Productivity rates and build a monopoly

How to get there: Using several marketing techniques and Strategic business sense to achieve higher and higher revenue, allowing the player to build up and buy more properties and gain even more.


The System

The Computer generates a population of houses and families; within these families there are different types of people and age groups. The populations of people live in communities of houses wich are spread around the map.
Families grow, children grow producing even more families, making the amount of communities larger and larger. Of course, the growth rate would be relative to the number of businesses controlled buy the players.
Spending habits of the population are by default steady. These habits can be altered by popular trends, scarcity, or surplus. The spending amount of the people will become the most valuable resource of the game.


The System of Product is based on the Color theory

Aside from popularity, there are 3 primary raw materials. Blue stuff, Red stuff, Yellow stuff. Raw materials are ran by, and sold to other players. This marks the first set of playable business type- Blue Stuff producer, Red Stuff producer, and Yellow Stuff producer. Each would have its own style of gameplay such as yellow-farming, red-mining, and blue-scavenging .
There are several product-basses businesses that require raw materials …..Clothing, Appliances, and food. In order for businesses to obtain these selling products, they would need to purchase raw materials. For example, a clothing store would need to buy Yellow and Red Stuff in order to make clothing. To achieve a higher complexity, these can be mixed with other materials to produce Unique products, adding more red material to the clothing would turn it into Red clothing, even more complex, adding Red plus Blue materials, it would make Purple clothing.
This would be an easy example of how buying can be altered by popular trends, scarcity, or surplus. There might be a Orange Clothing trend, or perhaps the winter calls for dark colored clothing… maybe scarcity would cause the population to buy more neutral-cheap colored clothing.
Basically, the more exotic colors like cyan or magenta can be reached by adding raw materials with colors that can be combined.


Running businesses.

This part of the game would be just like a practical Lemonade Tycoon game. Hook up your store, better tools to sell, marketing techniques, hiring employees. Here, the game might be able to be set in some sort of auto pilot mode when it becomes successful.
With enough enough success, players can buy new property to start a second business. A clothing store wich mainly require Yellow-materials may want to buy a yellow Stuff Farm to supply them with this material.
Real-estate is also a factor in this concept, businesses closer to houses may be able to get away with raising the price a bit.
Perhaps business could buy property to build their OWN communities, think about being able to build 10 houses around a single food store. …monopoly.


Is a pretty good concept but I don't think it would appeal much to the BYOND community, and I think this system would work best with a lot of people in it.
Very interesting concept. People will say it wont appeal to BYOND, but the developers decide who uses BYOND. So you make your games, and you let the player base change to it. I personally wouldn't play something like that, but I think you should make it.
I'm not a fan of games involving economics, but the color theory angle is really interesting.
Seems pretty kool to me :) reminds me of some game i used to have on my computer i think it was prob lemonade tycoon too
This actually sounds like it would work best as a browser game, as it sounds like the design is perfect for that.
Why not add a feature of being able to buy out a players business? Or an auction system that players could bid on materials or auction their employees and possibly their entire business O.o?
I think this system would work best with a lot of people in it.
Very true, perhaps set a few computer generated players at first to build a simple economy.

I think you should make it.
That would take a long time. perhaps in the future. Right now we are working on Efencea, an we already have other projects lined up.

color theory angle is really interesting
I have tendencies with my game concepts to include some sort of system with colors, haha.

reminds me of some game i used to have on my computer i think it was prob lemonade tycoon too
That’s true, I used to play lemonade tycoon a lot in middle school on my cellphone, Business Sim games can be fun, but they get boring after there is no way to expand or change he game play. I tried to fix that with this Game Concept.

This actually sounds like it would work best as a browser game
I’ve only played one browser based game, it was called Galava, I worked for the owner a bit making some pixel art. It seems like everything in this game would work perfectly except the way you run a business, I was aiming to make it seem more like a business sim where the main focus of the game is business management. If Cyan Clothing is the summer’s trend, then displaying them on the front window would earn you more sales….. Not sure if a browser game would be able to pull off the graphical interface prettiness of being able to see and edit your shop’s setup.

players could bid on materials
An Auction of the sort woul be cool, especial with property, but probably not with Materials… the game emulates a free market, the “auction” effect is sort of a natural part of the gameplay.


I want that, with space ships. Or cave men.
Yeah, I was thinking a different setting might make the game appeal to a younger crowd. I'd be tempted to turn the raw materials into cute creatures, but families of cave men could be interesting. It might be wise to steer away from space ships though as themes recognized as science fiction are supposedly overused.

That said, I'm with Aaiko on not being tied to the whims of the current BYOND audience... Of course, I kind of have to be with my games. ;)
It would be SO crazy if a few well-known developers like AC,and Foomer decided to make this game...

Its most defiantly a stragedy game, and it -can- be a single player game, where instead of waiting around for players to sell each other material, the computer simply generates them...like spore.

And the theme could be: Galactic, super advanced CAVE men!

Kinda Like Hairless Wookiees.

I would definaly pitch in on the art.
How about space ships made out of cave men that trade shaveable wookies (who would have known that their fur was a great replacement for wool) to cute creatures for galactic advancement?

I'm sure AC and Foomer can't resist now.

Vermolius wrote:
How about space ships made out of cave men that trade shaveable wookies (who would have known that their fur was a great replacement for wool) to cute creatures for galactic advancement?

I'm sure AC and Foomer can't resist now.

Dude that would be epic.
Omegamall is sort of close to this...But you have a lot more in the economic department.

However, I don't think this game would work :/
For over 2 years now I have been actively programming a game that has many similarities to what you describe. However, what I am attempting to achieve is a game that allows for an almost perfect simulation of the economic forces and it's effects on cultural development. Most games I've played, such games as "Command and Conquer", and "Ages of Empires" center all strategy on the development of simiple resource infrastructions with a set monetary base. and most of the game is spent fighting with your military. Economic priciples are "pre-determined"

I'm trying to make a game where the economic and cultural applications are just as deep, fluid and involving as the militaristic. (In real time) In it's creation, it's changing form and shape from its original conception. But if successful, there'd be a very neiche group that would eat this game up. I'd be one of them.

Imagine login into a game that had the UI of google earth, and you were able to simulate the developement of a nation (Over hundreds of game hours like an RPG), and all the while playing with hundreds of others, each playing their own respective interests. All the while simulating all the different aspects of civilization building. In real time. That is the end goal, getting their has been interesting.