Chrome Cow » DD9: RTS…Why Must We Fight? [Part 2]

Today I pick up on Friday’s theme of expanding the definition of strategy in Real Time Strategy to encompass non-combat gameplay. A quick aside: I know there are a lot of real-time games/activities that employ strategy in various non-combat implementations, Sim [Noun], various Tycoon games, the Movies and the like.

What I’m interested in is the idea of player/player competition. Multi-player Sim City, where players compete for the best land and resources, place their coal factories in their neighbor’s backyard, and try to lure populations to their town with favorable taxes and entertainments…that’s what I’m after. Multiplayer conflict is the goal, but with something other than military conquest as the mechanism.

So today I propose a classic expand-and-grow RTS, with the conflict metaphor of business competition. This is not virgin territory. Games like Capitalism have trod this ground. But this is not a hardcore simulation. It is a multiplayer experience that puts players in direct conflict.

The players are in the widget business. They start with one small widget factory. The resources are Sales and Reputation.

Sales are about getting your product into as many stores as possible. This is the first element of competition. Each store on the map wants an exclusive, so only one player can have their product in a store at any given time.

The better your reputation, the more like people are to buy your widgets, and the more they will pay for them. A good reputation also makes it less likely that a store will drop you for a competitor.

To get your widgets into store, you will need a sales force. You start with low power door-to-door salespersons. they wander the map, soliciting stores. You begin to build up your sales force adding managers, and regional sales managers. Every time a salesperson seals a deal to get widgets into a store they gain experience. They become veterans, and eventually star salespersons.

Reputation can be garnered in a number of ways. Quality of widgets is one possible approach. PR and Advertising departments are another. Advertising will produce demand for your widgets. If there is more demand than supply, the price goes up, and stores begin asking you if they can stock your product. Low demand makes stores more likely to dump you. A bad reputation will harm sales.

The tech tree has a building-basis. Factories can be added, upgraded. Executive offices produce managers, advertising departments create ad campaigns, which can be positive, or negative to attack competitors reputation. An HR department increases quality of recruits, and allows you to try to steal Star Salespersons away from other widget-makers. New widgets can be developed, and new marketing abilities.

Building new buildings is not a simple point and click operation. Player first needs to acquire a permit. Once construction starts, they will periodically be asked to make decisions, add resources and guide the construction, which pulls focus away from sales.

There is also an infiltrate-and-hold mechanic for existing buildings; send salesmen into stores to take and hold, or executives into city hall to acquire influence. Industrials spies can be sent into competitor’s factories to steal technologies. Building infiltration is time-based. Each building has a resistance value. The first player to erode that resistance gains the building. Each unit assigned to the building works against the resistance. Other factors can speed up the process: bribes, consumer demand, being the first to market with a new widget technology, or good marketing (iWidget).

The environment also plays a role. Some areas are richer than others, and widgets can be sold at a premium. There are also hidden environmental influences that are uncovered as players explore; organized crime, political connections, civic groups. These can help or hinder players.

Vehicles also play a role. A salesperson in a shiny new-model car is more persuasive than one who walks. Trucks take widgets from the factory to the store. Old trucks have a problem where merchandise occasionally falls off the back of them. Newer trucks solve this problem. Delivery vans can deliver widgets direct to consumers. Helicopters can move executives to hotspots quickly. A satellite allows you to beam your advertising message directly to the buyers.

Each player chooses a business style. Each style has it’s own unique abilities, strengths and weaknesses.

Borg: Ruthless, Extend and Embrace