Business simulation (computer game)
An economic simulation is a computer game that simulates economic relationships in a very simplified way . Such a computer game is thus a special form of economic simulation and is used as a game primarily for entertainment purposes, and less often for educational purposes.
In-game item
The player's task is to use a simulated economic system such as B. to generate as much profit as possible and to assert oneself against competitors by setting up production facilities , skillful action or by running a company , an association or state . The player is usually located at the management / executive level and has to make appropriate decisions. The economic simulation uses simplified economic, political and legal relationships.
There are numerous forms and subgenres of business simulations, including related to certain industries / branches of industry (e.g. sports clubs, airlines, media) and the activities / value creation stages and economic areas to be carried out (e.g. production / industry, trade, transport / logistics) . There are also historical, current and future-based simulations.
In contrast to many other strategy games , pure economic simulations are peaceful, or the warlike aspect is heavily in the background. War-oriented strategy games such as real-time strategy games often use similar elements as pure economic simulations to limit the available resources and to simulate military logistics, but are still not counted among the economic simulations. In general, in economic simulations, the main focus is on financial returns, while in strategy games, the economy is subordinate to the military option.
In addition, there are also some hybrid forms in this genre that cannot be strictly assigned to economic simulations, since they mix with the real-time strategy area. This applies to the Siedler and Anno series , among other things .
development
The earliest still running economic simulation is Hamurabi (also called Kingdom ), a text-based, turn-oriented "simulation" of the kingdom of King Hammurabi , in which it was a question of three interdependent variables (the population and the resources of land and grain) within a limited one Maximize number of laps. However, there are detailed reports on even earlier economic simulations that ran on mainframes. The most famous of these is the Sumerian game .
Real-time economic simulation
MULE can be counted among the first real-time economic simulations . One of the best known and most successful business simulations is the game SimCity , in which the aim is to found and run a city. SimCity was sold over 1.1 million times in the first two weeks.
The god simulation is a special form founded by Peter Molyneux with Populous . Depending on your point of view, it is a strategy game or an economic simulation that lets the player slip into the role of a god. In contrast to pure economic simulations, the god simulation often also allows a warlike confrontation with competitors.
The most commercially successful business simulation from German-speaking countries is the Anno series , where islands are settled in most parts of this series and trade networks are built up with ships.
The online real-time business simulations are also seeing more users. The game Farmerama has over 48 million registered accounts. The game also owes its user numbers to the integration of social networks such as Facebook .
Turn-based economic simulation
In the 1980s and 1990s, turn-based trading simulations appeared in German-speaking countries . Well-known titles were Kaiser and Hanseatic League , Oil Imperium , Der Patrician . When 3D graphics had already found their way into most other genres, games like Die Fugger II were still successful with simple stand graphics in Germany. More recent trading simulations, such as Port Royale or Die Gilde , rely on real-time-based gameplay and more modern technology.
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ Christoph Klektiven: Politics in Computer Games , p. 195, in: Dohle / Vowe (Hrsg.): Political entertainment - entertaining politics: Research on media content, media reception and media effects . Herbert von Halem Verlag, 2014.
- ↑ Florian Lippuner: The Biography Game: Structural Couplings and Transfer Processes in the Context of Adolescent Computer Game Use . Springer-Verlag, 2017, p. 90.
- ↑ Hammarupi (PDF; 3.3 MB)
- ^ Richard L. Wing (with Mabel Addis et al.): The Production and Evaluation of Three Computer-Based Economics Games for the Sixth Grade . Final report. New York June 1967 (English, archive.org [accessed December 11, 2019]).
- ↑ SimCity sales