Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
People are the other major resource in most CMSs. They are above all a source of
tax money or labor. Most CMSs simulate people only as workers; children and the
elderly don't contribute to the economy of the game and so are not simulated.
What sets people apart from other kinds of resources is that they have feelings:
In many games, they have to be kept happy, or they either leave or fail to act as
desired. Consequently, managing their happiness becomes a big part of the game-
play, as the earlier section “Simulating Individuals” discusses.
Building materials are generally treated as tangible entities for games that imple-
ment the plan-and-build construction mechanic, described earlier. Those that
implement the purchase-and-place mechanic don't need to treat building materials
as tangible, and some don't make building materials a resource at all, going directly
from money to constructed objects.
One game that treats all resources as tangible, including money, is
The Settlers
from
Blue Byte Software. In
The Settlers
, every kind of resource (and there are many)
must be transported from where it is produced either to storage areas or directly to
places where it is consumed. Grain, for instance, must be carried from the grain
farm to the windmill for grinding; the flour must be carried from the windmill to
the bakery; and the bread must be carried from the bakery to the mines, where the
miners eat it
.
Table 18.1
lists some resources you commonly find in construction and manage-
ment simulations and how their sources and drains appear to the player.
TABLE 18.1
Common Resources
and Their Sources
and Drains
RESOURCE
SOURCE
DRAIN
Money
Taxation on people or gold mines
in the environment
Purchases and construction
People
Immigration and reproduction
Emigration and death
Food
Farms
People eating
Labor
People
Construction activities
Land
Part of the environment;
claimed as it is explored
No drain, but only a limited
amount is available
Construction materials,
such as wood
Found in raw form in the
environment, such as trees
Converted into buildings by
construction activities
Buildings
Constructed from money,
materials, and labor
Destroyed by demolition or
disasters
The Construction Converter
Construction is a conversion activity that changes labor, money, and materials into
buildings (or whatever the CMS constructs). Construction happens only when the
player wants it to, so she controls the spending, and she can usually defer
