System Mapping our Simulation

In The Guild 2, we have a variety of raw materials and industries. My simulation is heavily inspired from this game, but I've also attempted to simplify and cut out a few things from the game that I deemed less important.

Below a first pass for system mapping the flow of goods in our systems. Everything eventually feeds into the town market and demand is driven by individuals buying things.

Individual Needs vs Town Market

The Guild 2 made it feel like every industry NEEDED to produce something for their global market and service was more of a secondary thing. I felt this would over-saturate the market with things that honestly not many people buy. For example, who really needed to legal papers? To counter this, I split the industries into ones that exclusively manufacture goods and ones that exclusively provide services. My thought with each of these is to work from the individual customer and think about what demand for that good or service would be like.

Demand of goods and services

Goods:

  • Baked Goods / Meats - Everyone needs to eat. Citizens will buy food frequently which consists of baked goods and meats.
  • Armor - Conflicts call for adequate protection. Citizens may want to buy armor if violence is near.
  • Weapons - Conflicts also call for adequate weapons. Citizens may buy weapons for personal protection or in case of violence outbreaks.
  • Clothing - Citizens normally don't buy this often but the profit margin can be quite steep for richer folks.
  • Alchemy? - The Guild had a pretty cool pseudo-magic system. I'd like to recreate that if I can. I put a question mark in here because I am unsure how it will work into the simulation at first

Services:

  • Entertainment - Citizens will get bored and places like taverns or theaters will provide entertainment. Money comes from purchasing booze or tickets.
  • Medical Services - If a citizen is injured or gets sick, this is where they will go. Hospitals also become pretty popular during fights or plague outbreaks. Money comes from patients
  • Religious Services - Citizens following a religion will typically go to church at least once a week. Money comes from donations
  • Financial Services - Citizens may want to take out a loan or save their money here. I'm still thinking of how this will fit in. Maybe money is made on interest?
  • Education - This is usually reserved for wealthier individuals and is fairly profitable(?) for the individuals that can afford it. Provides XP boosts for citizens.

A quick note about the Rogue class

The Guild 2 had the infamous rogue class whose sole purpose was to commit crime. I felt that the roles that the rogue played could also use a bit more refining and thought of giving any player the chance to participate in criminal activities rather than make it a whole separate class. Mercenaries were excellent protection in The Guild 2 but anyone should be able to muster a military force, not just the Rogue. I also figured I would introduce crime later once the simulation was more mature.

What's next?

The next step is to prototype this simulation and see what happens. It might succeed or fail miserably, but that's the fun of it! Before touching our game engine, we're going to attempt to model the system in something like NetLogo.