Sandbox Game Concept

Started by mroedesigns, January 25, 2012, 04:39:10 am

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mroedesigns

January 25, 2012, 04:39:10 am Last Edit: February 05, 2012, 02:59:34 pm by mroedesigns
Simple Life

A concept I've been tossing around for a few days. Thought I'd get some feedback. Keep in mind it's still pretty rough.

   Summary
      Simple Life is a real-time, 2D sandbox game / sim. Players spawn people at will, who will interact with one another, as well as their environment. The environment may be changed via player input, or possibly evolve naturally as a result of the peoples actions.

      Planned Features
      Spawn - as many people as you want, and check up on them at any point.
      Free Will - No need to babysit them, they have a vague idea of what's going on.
      Learning - The people will slowly learn more about each other.
      Groups - Groups, villages, and cultures may grow.

   
   Game Mechanics
      Individuals - Any person not in a group is an individual. Their main goal is their survival, their secondary goal is to gain knowledge.
         - Survival
            A persons survival depends on them having food, and health. Their hunger level will rise at a given rate at all times. If the  hunger level goes out of balance, this person will begin to lose health. Other ways a person could lose health include sickness and enemies.

         - Sickness
            A person may become sick by coming into contact with another sick person, or by eating tainted food.

         - Enemies
            Enemies may be spawned by the player, or may spawn naturally. People can fight off enemies by using certain resources to build tools.

         - Resources
            Food is the primary resource. The other resources are wood, stone, and metal. Resources can be placed by the player, or may spawn randomly.

         - Tools
            A person can only build tools within the range of their knowledge. Wood is the easiest to work with, followed by stone, followed by metal. Tools include the following;
                     Books - Increase a persons knowledge
                     Containers ­- Allow a person to carry resources
                     Weapons - Help a person fight off enemies

         - Knowledge
            If three people with enough knowledge come into contact, a group will begin to form. After a group is formed, other members with similar knowledge can join by coming into contact with that group.
         
              Groups - Groups are a way for people to share knowledge and resources. The logic that people follow when in a group is slightly different than when they are acting as individuals. All members of a group gain 10 knowledge points while in the group.
         - Logic
            As a member of a group, a persons first priority is to sustain themselves as well as the other members in the group. This means that if group member A is full, and group member B is hungry, A may decide to give B their food, so B doesn't have to leave the group to find food. This also means that people in the group with less knowledge may give resources to people in the same group with more knowledge. The logic there is that the people with more knowledge can create better tools, and help protect the group.
            The last thing any member of a group wants to do is leave their group. The only time they will do this is if they start to lose health due to starvation, and have no health. They will wait a short period of time for food from other group members before breaking off. If any member of the group is attacked, all group members will break off and fight the enemies before reforming the group.