Minigame Composite

[Tholish]

Let Civ4 be the main structure on which to hang a bunch of other games--the barbie doll that you have to get dresses for.

That is, let each tech allow a different kind of advantageous micromanagment through a screen you can go to once you have the tech(in the game) if you have the version of Civ4 that includes that tech, and the use of that screen becomes a game unto itself.

For example, Civ4 could come out pretty much like civ3, with everything kind of figured out by the computer statistically rather than being shown in detail. For example, you move a stack of units onto another stack of units and this simple combat system compares Attack and Defense and Hit Points against random numbers and somebody dies.

Once the original Civ4 has been upgraded with the right expansion, you have a tech "Battle Management" that gives you a tab to go to a screen where battles are done differently, where you play a tactical game, maybe something non turn based like A of E, fighting the battle with the units that went into it on the terrain of the area. That is what I mean by a minigame.
It would be like the difference between automating workers and micromanagement of them.

As time went on, Atari could sell more expansions, and interestd players could "buy techs." So now "City Management" tech doesn't just get you a building or a bonus of some kind that is just formala calculated, it gets you
a whole new minigame, a Sim city like game where you can get the advantage (if you do the work) of zoning your commercial areas and digging the right sewage lines.

A whole stable of games could be tied to the main skeleton.

Like, hate, what?

 

[sir_schwick]

Have it all included with the game. Even so, this is interesting but a pipe dream. Imagine how many different game engines you would have to program. Doing this is like making Civ a MMO4XSG(Massive Multiplayer Online 4X Strategy GAme). Although that would be interesting, where all players play a city on a huge map(10000 x 10000) and make decisions for it.

 

[Tholish]

What I was thinking was that nobody would play with all the minigames installed, unless they had a really fast computer. You would patch the original game with the combination of minigames you liked, creating our own customized experience. And there are two problems with having it all in the original game:

1) it would take forever to create and indeed remain a pipedream
(to create an original game that was predesigned as easy to add to, on
the other hand, would comparatively require mostly foresight)

2) there would be no incentive for the game company to include all that for
the base price. To encourage them to do something, convince them it is
in their interest. A game like I have described would be a big monemaker,
and it would be highly modifiable. The company comes out with a new
game, but to play it you have to buy the original engine game, then you
have gotten an incentive to buy all these other improvement games. A
new synthesis beyond the mere compromise of a "something in/something
out" solution to increasing complexification.

What brought this on was seeing all these great ideas here and knowing that many of them would never come to fruition.

 

[rhialto]

Umm, no thanks. I assume you made this suggestion in jest, as only an utter loon would seriously want this. You've just removed a big incentive for them to ship out the game with any interesting features.

 

[sir_schwick]

Seriously, this would be the equivalent of the Unified Field Theorem for gaming. Once its developed it will change preception of physics and science in general, but until then do not even think about it.