Post by amitp on Aug 31, 2012 15:09:02 GMT -5
Some thoughts on resources:
I think you need some gameplay that's different to make multiple types of something worth having. This is the “gray goo” problem in a different setting. Right now the names mean nothing. They're not connected to anything else in the game. The uses are pretty similar too.
First suggestion: design the resources around their uses, not their names. Right now there are three different kinds of resources (gridshards, “resources” like photonite, and “research” like refraction). Gridshards have a clear use. I like the way it works. Do we gain something by having four resource types instead of one? Yes, because towns don't all produce the same type, so this means we need multiple towns for optimal production. But it's not a strong element — it would be just fine with three or five. It'd be more interesting if they actually behaved differently. Do we gain something by having six lab types instead of one? I can't tell. How do they get used, and do they get used differently? And then, do we gain something by having six instead of five or seven? I don't think so.
Second suggestion: use map layout for the four resources, and tie it into the town graphics. Have an "agriculture" type of resource that's diffuse, and is harvested by having large "farm like" extractors. Have an "ore" type of resource that's concentrated, and is harvested by having a point source extractor. Have a "river" / "gold vein" type of resource that follows a line, and is harvested by having multiple extractors along that line. This gives you three distinct shapes: area, line, point. You could further distinguish with large area and small area to give four types that are all visually very different. This doesn't solve the different use part of the problem but it helps to make them feel different.
- Do you have too many of each item, or too few? If I were starting from scratch I'd pick 2-4 of each thing. 4 resources seems ok. 6 lab types seems like a bit much. 6 lightning bolts seems like a bit much. 60 lenses? I don't understand their use yet.
- The names seem rather abstract and unfamiliar. Since it's a scifi game I think it's fair game to use chemical elements and compounds for resources. Category nouns like “fuel” and “energy” and “metal” would also work. Put another way, let's suppose you were currently using words like “platinum” and “fuel”. What do you gain by switching to words like “hyperdata” and “polymatter”?
- Are things interchangeable? If I swapped all omnium and photonites, would anyone notice?
- If I swapped wood and gold in Warcraft, you'd notice because they're used for different purposes -- wood is used for buildings and gold is used for units.
- In Age of Empires, you'd notice because food is used for maintaining units, gold is used for building units, and wood is used for building workshops.
- If I swapped wood and gold in Warcraft, you'd notice because they're used for different purposes -- wood is used for buildings and gold is used for units.
- Similarly, does the number of types of something matter? If you had three resource types instead of four, would anything change? In Age of Empires, it would change the gameplay. In Grid12, it wouldn't. Same thing for six lab types instead of five or seven.
I think you need some gameplay that's different to make multiple types of something worth having. This is the “gray goo” problem in a different setting. Right now the names mean nothing. They're not connected to anything else in the game. The uses are pretty similar too.
First suggestion: design the resources around their uses, not their names. Right now there are three different kinds of resources (gridshards, “resources” like photonite, and “research” like refraction). Gridshards have a clear use. I like the way it works. Do we gain something by having four resource types instead of one? Yes, because towns don't all produce the same type, so this means we need multiple towns for optimal production. But it's not a strong element — it would be just fine with three or five. It'd be more interesting if they actually behaved differently. Do we gain something by having six lab types instead of one? I can't tell. How do they get used, and do they get used differently? And then, do we gain something by having six instead of five or seven? I don't think so.
Second suggestion: use map layout for the four resources, and tie it into the town graphics. Have an "agriculture" type of resource that's diffuse, and is harvested by having large "farm like" extractors. Have an "ore" type of resource that's concentrated, and is harvested by having a point source extractor. Have a "river" / "gold vein" type of resource that follows a line, and is harvested by having multiple extractors along that line. This gives you three distinct shapes: area, line, point. You could further distinguish with large area and small area to give four types that are all visually very different. This doesn't solve the different use part of the problem but it helps to make them feel different.