Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
(Morris, 2001). Morris was the lead designer on
War rior Kings
, and for that game
he proposed a special unit called the supply wagon. Supply wagons carried food,
and so long as troops were near a loaded supply wagon, they regained health points
(which consumed the food). When the food in the wagon ran out, the supply
wagon automatically trundled back to the nearest friendly palace (palaces acted as
storehouses) for more food. Units whose supply wagon couldn't get back to a source
of supplies couldn't regain health. This rewards the player for keeping supply lines
open but does not actually require her to do so. (Unfortunately this idea was not
implemented in the final version of the game for lack of time.)
ROAD-BUILDING
Another way to abstract the distribution of supplies while still requiring the player
to pay some attention to them is to let the player build roads. Consider the territory
map in
Figure 14.4
.
FIGURE 14.4
Resource distribution
via a road network
B
A
C
Tow n B has access to a forest—it has a road (supply line) leading directly to the for-
est, providing a ready source of lumber. This allows Town B to build wood-based
units, such as catapults. Town A is linked to Town B via a road. This road provides a
readily available supply route between Town A and Town B. Hence, Town A has
exactly the same production capabilities as Town B. Anything that is available to
Tow n A is also available to Tow n B, and v ice versa. Tow n C is a newly built tow n.
