Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
SIMCITY,
THE MOST FAMOUS CMS OF ALL
continued
The original
SimCity
, though now an old game, serves as an excellent model to study (see
Figure 18.1). Because it was designed for low-performance machines, it couldn't be too
complex, so its internal economy is easy to understand.
FIGURE 18.1
The original
SimCity
Gameplay
The challenges in a CMS are largely economic. The player must understand how
the internal economy of the game works and how to manipulate it to produce eco-
nomic growth. Growth provides the resources required for the construction that is
usually the overall goal of the game. The game's actions consist of activities that
stimulate growth and ways of using the resources that the player earns.
INDIRECT CONTROL
The majority of CMSs are games of indirect control. The game simulates a process
that the player can alter only in limited ways, and the player learns by trial and
error how the changes that he makes affect the functioning of the process. The
game may offer simulated people (see the section “Simulating Individuals” later in
this chapter), but they are usually autonomous. Their behavior model governs what
they do, and while they respond to stimuli, the player can't give them direct orders.
In contrast, a war game is a game of direct control. The player tells his troops
exactly where to go and what to do, and the troops do it. The simulated soldiers
demonstrate little or no autonomous behavior. If the player tells them to stand and
wait someplace, they wait there forever.
