This week - Studio name and concept

I decided on a studio name!

I also got a few domains:

https://toyworlds.co - for marketing
https://toyworlds.studio - for.. studio stuff
https://toyworlds.dev - for dev blogs (this one!)

They'll all point to this blog for now. I've moved to zeit's now from surge. I'm really digging the GitLab integration and auto SSL assignment. now's user experience is really really spectacular (and so is GitLabs!) I think this may be due to the productivity gains of remote/distributed teams..

Last week

I decided on a couple game elements:

• Construction boat

  • This is going to be the players 'avatar' element in the game, upgradable and personalizable. This is the element where limits on construction speed and capabilities will come from

• Platforms

  • Will be delivered by airdrop (vs boat haul - gets around problem of placing a platform into the center of a hex ring)
  • Limited to bordering an existing platform
  • Can toggle grid connection

• Residents

  • Skills/levels related to their industry
  • Happiness affects energy reduction rate (and thus work efficiency)

• Buildings

  • Able to see assigned residents, where they live and maybe current position
  • Happiness buildings; eg restaurant, park, water sports

• Research

  • Proximity upgrades
    • Residents living on platforms with others of the same industry should improve skills faster
    • Buildings constructed near others (around the same time) decrease cost
  • Resident education campaigns
    • Reduce water/waste

• Policies

  • Tax rate

• General guideline

  • Nothing pops into existence, should be delivered or constructed
  • Residents drive everything

And started sketching out the game world's story:

• Not earth, not humans (but very, very similar)

  • Over industrialized, rising water levels
  • Oceans very calm, starting to be cheaper to build on water
  • 30% land / 70% water trending towards 20% / 80% within 200 years

• Ocean Settlement Organization

  • The OSO administrates and inspects ocean settlements
  • Goal is to move 30% of population (~2 billion) to ocean settlements in 80 years
  • Method is to promote ocean settlement by issuing licenses to Founders and inspecting settlements for quality/safety
  • Rates settlements into divisions (this is the leveling mechanic)
  • Levels determine rate of resident applications, among other things
  • OSO takes a fee, and shares research according to your level (leveling up improves abilities or makes upgrades available)
  • Provides advisor

I added:

• Camera bounded to be near platforms

• Rent/taxes

• Office building, intellectual property

• Residents delivered by boat

• Platforms can only be placed north of origin

• Per building funding

• Resident action updates are particles

I like doing game design work as it can be done anywhere - on the bus, in a park, while you're at a social gathering (ahem). It's mostly just been thinking things over in my head. Well, I'm just starting out with it and the workflow may be different as I get deeper in.

It does involve a lot more psychology than I was expecting, which I've found pretty enjoyable. There are comparisons with Myers-Briggs, like this interpretation of Bartle types or this really interesting talk about 12 motivations.

I delved a bit into psychology when trying to model the Residents, almost like a mini review of high school psychology class. I thought about trying to track against Maslow's hierarchy pretty explicitly - but I'm not sold on that yet. I've touched on the first two levels, ie Physiological and Safety - there are food, water, sleep and employment / resources mechanics in the game.

I think the interesting bits of the simulation will come with the first couple parts of the next two levels: Love & Belonging and Esteem, which are coming with the social system. SuggestableTask will probably need to be reworked into just base Communication and be the foundation for those two levels. ERG theory looks a little more like something I'd like to implement, especially since the wikipedia page has a nice flow diagram telling me exactly what to do. And of course - I should work OCEAN in somehow!

Well - that's enough for todays post. Oh and huzzah 2020! 🥳