Monsterous
In the Shadows, Lurking.
- Reaction score
- 99
Right, i've had this idea simmering in my head, so bear with me - this could be a long post.
Why?/Goal
I've played economy/trading type games before and i adore them, but one thing i usually find lacking is the incentive to Trade. Trading to me is what makes these games dynamic, and as a trader yourself allows you to gain the upper-hand against your opponents.
So, for my version - i would place a heavy emphasis on Trading. Thats my key, #1 goal.
Trading
To inforce trading, materials would have to be hard to gather, and they would have to be needed. Theres no point gathering X if nobody wants it. So, my idea to encourage trading is to have three split economic paths. Agriculture, Metalworking, and Industry. These three paths would require each to trade to allow them to make the most money, for example - Industry needs iron from Metalworking, but requires food from Agriculture.
An immediate problem here, is that Agricultre could just not trade, causing the other two sectors to fail completely. No food = No work. So, i would combat that problem, and potentialy others, with two ideas.
1. All three sectors can grow food - Agriculture can do it much more effectively and can yield better crops.
2. There are "state traders", who will buy for dirt cheap, but sell exceptionally high - this would be a last resort, as this is economically bad. This would also be an outlet for any excess material.
How the game works.
Since each sector is critical to eachother, the sectors are divided equally; with Agriculture being the first to be taken. If there are 3 players, it would be 1/1/1. 4 players would be 2/1/1. 8 players would be 3/3/2 or 3/2/3. Over the course of the game, players utilize they're sector, trading their materials for money or other materials, and everyone progresses and teches up. At the end of X amount of time, everyones resources are sold to the State Traders for double the price (The players could still make more if they traded it), and added to their money count. The player with the most money would win.
Now. Heres where i need YOU. I need feedback of course for whats said above, but mainly for my Idea List.
Green = Positive Feedback. Orange = Mixed. Red = Negative.
THE IDEA LIST!
Workers and Houses
For players to utilize their sector - they need workers which they either 1. Buy outright for money or 2. Have money deducted from them every X amount of minutes. (Like a wage), as well as food. You can only have so many workers, and the workers have to be put into Tents/Houses. (Like Supply). The more workers you have until at full capacity, the higher the output of the building they are assigned to.
The Warlord and Armed Forces.
One idea that im not 100% on is the idea of the Warlord. Basically, one person is assigned to attack anyone else - to raid they're stuff, take over their buildings, and use them for their own ends. The Warlord could get creative and demand protection money so they dont attack.
Now, for players to defend theirselves, they could have workers be assigned to guards. Players could also build defenses, which would help stimulate the market for materials, and not just make them a neccesity for teching up and trading.
Should players attack other players?
Besides the Warlord, i don't think players should be able to attack eachother. Alliances would become way too strong possibly, or in the case of odd-player games it could end up as a 3v2 scenario. However, they could cause some level of disruption, such as worker unrest, or instigate strikes in buildings which would equate to lower production.
Random Events?
Like life, luck can be a bitch. Floods? Well Agricultre is happy, but industry levels would drop slightly. Maybe these events could happen for players with a low amount of income to get them back in the game.
Automated or Manual?
Should some things such as cutting down trees, or harvesting grain be done with a mouse click when ready, or do it automatically when the time is right? Personally i'd go for manual - it would inject an extra level of play into the game.
So yes, give me your thoughts, your ideas. I thank you for reading this! I haven't gone into much detail on the inner mechanics - because in the end its currently an idea. When its fleshed out, i will attempt to make it!
Why?/Goal
I've played economy/trading type games before and i adore them, but one thing i usually find lacking is the incentive to Trade. Trading to me is what makes these games dynamic, and as a trader yourself allows you to gain the upper-hand against your opponents.
So, for my version - i would place a heavy emphasis on Trading. Thats my key, #1 goal.
Trading
To inforce trading, materials would have to be hard to gather, and they would have to be needed. Theres no point gathering X if nobody wants it. So, my idea to encourage trading is to have three split economic paths. Agriculture, Metalworking, and Industry. These three paths would require each to trade to allow them to make the most money, for example - Industry needs iron from Metalworking, but requires food from Agriculture.
An immediate problem here, is that Agricultre could just not trade, causing the other two sectors to fail completely. No food = No work. So, i would combat that problem, and potentialy others, with two ideas.
1. All three sectors can grow food - Agriculture can do it much more effectively and can yield better crops.
2. There are "state traders", who will buy for dirt cheap, but sell exceptionally high - this would be a last resort, as this is economically bad. This would also be an outlet for any excess material.
How the game works.
Since each sector is critical to eachother, the sectors are divided equally; with Agriculture being the first to be taken. If there are 3 players, it would be 1/1/1. 4 players would be 2/1/1. 8 players would be 3/3/2 or 3/2/3. Over the course of the game, players utilize they're sector, trading their materials for money or other materials, and everyone progresses and teches up. At the end of X amount of time, everyones resources are sold to the State Traders for double the price (The players could still make more if they traded it), and added to their money count. The player with the most money would win.
Now. Heres where i need YOU. I need feedback of course for whats said above, but mainly for my Idea List.
Green = Positive Feedback. Orange = Mixed. Red = Negative.
THE IDEA LIST!
Workers and Houses
For players to utilize their sector - they need workers which they either 1. Buy outright for money or 2. Have money deducted from them every X amount of minutes. (Like a wage), as well as food. You can only have so many workers, and the workers have to be put into Tents/Houses. (Like Supply). The more workers you have until at full capacity, the higher the output of the building they are assigned to.
The Warlord and Armed Forces.
One idea that im not 100% on is the idea of the Warlord. Basically, one person is assigned to attack anyone else - to raid they're stuff, take over their buildings, and use them for their own ends. The Warlord could get creative and demand protection money so they dont attack.
Now, for players to defend theirselves, they could have workers be assigned to guards. Players could also build defenses, which would help stimulate the market for materials, and not just make them a neccesity for teching up and trading.
Should players attack other players?
Besides the Warlord, i don't think players should be able to attack eachother. Alliances would become way too strong possibly, or in the case of odd-player games it could end up as a 3v2 scenario. However, they could cause some level of disruption, such as worker unrest, or instigate strikes in buildings which would equate to lower production.
Random Events?
Like life, luck can be a bitch. Floods? Well Agricultre is happy, but industry levels would drop slightly. Maybe these events could happen for players with a low amount of income to get them back in the game.
Automated or Manual?
Should some things such as cutting down trees, or harvesting grain be done with a mouse click when ready, or do it automatically when the time is right? Personally i'd go for manual - it would inject an extra level of play into the game.
So yes, give me your thoughts, your ideas. I thank you for reading this! I haven't gone into much detail on the inner mechanics - because in the end its currently an idea. When its fleshed out, i will attempt to make it!