Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
Dynamic friction is used in the city production mechanism in
Civilization
(
Figure B.8
).
In this game, the player builds cities to produce food, shields, and trade. As cities
grow, they need more and more food for their own population. Players have some
control over how much food is produced compared with other resources, but the
players' options are limited by the surrounding terrain. By choosing to produce a lot
of food early, cities initially produce fewer other resources but grow faster because
of great potential. Fast growth creates a problem, however, because the happiness
rating of a city must stay equal to or higher than half the population, or else the
production stops due to of civil unrest. Initially, a city has a happiness value of two.
Players can create more happiness by building special buildings or by converting trade
into culture. Both approaches cause more dynamic friction with different profiles on
the production process. Constructing special buildings is slow and requires a high
investment but is highly durable and has a relatively high rate of return. Converting
trade to culture is fast but has a relatively low return for the investment required.
FIGURe b.8
The city economy of
Civilization.
dynamic
friction mechanisms
are printed in color.
The player can freely
adjust the culture and
research settings to
control unrest and
research production.
These settings are
global and affect all
cities equally.
related Patterns
n
Dynamic friction is a good way to balance any pattern that causes positive feed-
back and often is part of the
multiple feedback
pattern.
n
Attrition
elaborates
dynamic friction
that is the result of multiplayer interaction.
n
Dynamic friction is elaborated by a
stopping mechanism
.
