Internal Economy - Game Mechanics: Advanced Game Design - page 76

class for their character in a role-playing game. Each class should have a unique set
of different skills and abilities. In Deus Ex , the player is also presented with choices
to improve the cyborg character that have gameplay consequences: The player
might be forced to choose between installing a module that will render the charac-
ter invisible for short periods and a special type of subdermal armor that will make
the character much more resistant to damage.
Third, you should ideally design your levels in such a way that players can use dif-
ferent strategies to complete them. For example, in Deus Ex , the player can choose
to develop a character in different ways. The player can focus on combat, stealth,
or hacking as alternative ways of solving the many challenges in the game. This
means that almost every level has multiple solutions. This is not an easy balance to
strike. If you estimate that the player has managed to upgrade three options before
a certain level, you have to take into account that the player upgraded the combat
abilities three times, stealth three times, hacking three times, or perhaps all of them
once. In Deus Ex, this problem is even more pronounced because all the sources of
experience points that you require to upgrade are not renewable: You gain them for
progressing and performing certain side quests. Going back to a previous area to
harvest some more experience is not an option.
This example illustrates that the levels in games that permit customization must
be more flexible, and more general, than in conventional action games, because
you don't know exactly what abilities the player's avatar will have. Deus Ex Human
Revolution contained a flaw: It allowed the players different ways to play the game
but only one way to beat the boss characters, which defeated the point of allowing
the players to customize their avatars.
Tips for economy Construction Games
Games in which the player builds an economy, such as construction and manage-
ment simulations, tend to have large and complex internal economies. SimCity is a
good example. As players zone areas and build infrastructure, they use these build-
ing blocks to craft an economic structure that produces the resources they need to
increase it even further. Building a game like this requires the designer to assemble a
toolbox of mechanics that the player can combine in many interesting ways. This is
even harder than designing a complete, functional, and balanced economy your-
self. You have to be aware of all the different ways your economic building blocks
combine. When successful, playing the game can be very rewarding, because the
economy the players build up through play directly reflects their choices and strate-
gies. This is why no two cities in SimCity are alike.