Home Tycoon Potential, Part Two: Vehicular Commotion
by Gideon, HSM team writer
Welcome to part two of Home Tycoon Potential, where postulations run rampant and ideas are strewn about like asterisks in a troll’s chat bubble. If you haven’t had the chance to read the first part of this series, don’t fret, ‘twas only an introduction. If the completionist in you compels you to read it before or after this article, simply depress your left mouse button HERE.
This second part of the Home Tycoon Potential series will be exploring the possibilities of vehicular based mini-games and interactivity within Home Tycoon. Since this is the only aspect of interactivity that has been shown, aside from the actual city building, it seemed like a good place to start. There’s a lot to discuss, so let’s get right to it.
Let’s begin with what is known about the vehicular action within Home Tycoon.
- There will be cars within Home Tycoon.
- These cars will involve private and police vehicles.
- There will be drifting.
- There will be a stunt pack available with loops and jumps.
- Cars will congest the roads to represent population.
- Collisions will be part of the vehicular dynamic.
- In the beginning, vehicles will be limited to ground vehicles but will not include motorcycles.
That’s pretty much it. How many friends will be able to play, how many vehicles there will be, the different ways vehicles can be obtained are just a few of the details that are completely unknown at this time. This leaves quite a bit of room for wild speculation, which just so happens be the best kind!
Ready, Set…
Lining up at a starting line, running through checkpoints and reaching the finish line first will likely be one of the core foundations of the Home Tycoon racing mini-game capabilities. Combined with the collision dynamic of the vehicles, these few elements create a solid foundation for a near endless array of vehicular based gameplay variations. It has yet to be seen if racing within Home Tycoon is achieved through score comparison or direct player-to-player competition. Many of the racing concepts presented within this article could be achieved through either design decision, but most are likely hoping for direct competition.
With modern gaming technology Home Tycoon could support procedurally generated races through the streets of each user-created city. If the race routes are randomized they would test the moxie of each player by offering a new track with each race so memorization of routes through the city wouldn’t be a deciding factor of the race. In this way the Home Tycoon racing mini-game could offer a type of variety that isn’t even seen in modern disk-based racing games.
Zipping around these sweet streets should never feel boring!
The desire for tried and true race routes could be sated with customizable races, which will hopefully be part of the initial release of Home Tycoon as well. Mayor-determined start lines, checkpoints and finish lines that would create a set racing path that could be driven time and time again would be a welcome accompaniment to the random race routes mentioned above.
Both race types could be given greater depth through Mayoral customization of races. If Mayors are given control over various attributes, such as the ability to toggle collisions and traffic in addition to determining the number of laps, the racing aspect of Home Tycoon could prove to be as robust as the city building itself. Players would no doubt create everything from straight stripped drag races to 200-lap oblong tracks in the vein of Nascar.
The racing of Home Tycoon could further its allure by offering multiple type checkpoints for placement. Checkpoints could allow different point values and mutators such as momentary speed boosts for players. multi-path races could be possible by using different checkpoint configurations. This race type could give players a choice of exactly how they get from start to finish without laying out a specific path to follow.
Linear race routes should not be achieved by limiting player mobility through the city via invisible walls. Instead, each player should be prompted by on-screen icons or indicators that tell them when they are approaching a turn to another checkpoint. Taking a page out of the Burnout Paradise game design manual, the tail-lights of the vehicle could blink when a player is approaching a turn they need to take to stay on the race route. Need to go right? Right tail light blinks. If a turn is missed the blinker would simply guide the player back to the route.
I’m going to give you a damn good thrashing!
Even with the aforementioned features, standard racing should not be the only vehicular dynamic within Home Tycoon. The collision detection alone could create multiple game types that could offer hours of entertainment. Currently it is unknown if the collision detection will result in vehicular damage, visually or otherwise, but one would hope collision = smashy good fun times.
No one should expect car damage like THIS from Home Tycoon. For that, go to Burnout Paradise! Seriously awesome game, BTW.
Either way, the most gratuitous use for collision detection would be a destruction derby-esque mini-game in which players are to incessantly ram their vehicles together until only one remains functional. If collision doesn’t result in vehicular damage then the derby could be point based, with each collision being awarded points and each round lasting only a set amount of time. The winner being the player with the most points at the end.
Another possible game type using a collision dynamic could challenge players to rack up the most damage by tearing through traffic. In this game-type points could be gained for each collision before their own vehicle dies or the time expires. This could be done in single player or competitively with scores being tracked by leader boards.
A capture the flag dynamic could offer a few variations as well. By giving a “flag”, or some similar beacon, to one car, Home Tycoon racing could create an “it” vehicle. This vehicle could either chase other players trying to be “it” for the least amount of time during the round, or inversely, players could chase the “it” vehicle to try to be “it” for the longest amount of time during a round. Using a slight variation of checkpoint concept, coupled with the “it” position, there could be an actual vehicular capture the flag game offered within Home Tycoon.
Get four wheels and burn rubber!
Using these concepts, the vehicular aspect of Home Tycoon could be quickly expanded with a variety of vehicular types. Instead of simply hosting different colored sedans, Home Tycoon could offer a wide array of vehicles that handle differently, offer different mission variations and would each have their own impact upon the city.
Each vehicle mini-game type would work off the basic design features mentioned before. The possible start & finish line, checkpoints and collision elements of the racing in Home Tycoon would be enough to create unique experiences for each vehicle class. Each mini-game could offer a leaderboard with which to track player performance. The success or failure of the mini-games could affect sub-statistics of the city that would only come into play if that specific vehicle was owned by the Mayor. There could even be vehicle specific rewards for players who successfully complete certain missions. Tokens could also be awarded to players of certain vehicular mission types that would be simulating jobs around the city. Vehicular mission types could also be regularly expanded to grow the narrative of each city with expanded player missions requiring specific vehicular types.
Cross promotion could feature car models such as Sweet Tooth’s ice cream truck. Hey, more twisted things have happened!
Once a player begins to build suburban neighborhoods on the outskirts of their city ice cream missions could become available if that Mayor owns the Ice Cream Truck. In the base mini-game for the Ice Cream Truck, players could be required to drive around and stop at checkpoints around suburban areas. The amount of points awarded for each stop could be dependent on how long the player waits at each checkpoint. The catch would be that as soon as the player activates a checkpoint, the next begins counting down. If the counter reaches zero before the player reaches the checkpoint then it’s game over. The player would have to try to achieve a balance between number of stops and the effectiveness of each individual stop. As players play this mini-game, the happiness of the city they are currently in could be positively affected.
This is but one example of how various vehicles could broaden the vehicular based missions within Home Tycoon. Just about any vehicle could offer a unique vehicular based mini-game and an effect upon the city, which might not always be positive. If too many police missions are failed within a city, the crime rate of the city could rise and the happiness could crumble due to citizenship insecurity. If a Garbage truck mission is unsuccessful the pollution level could increase and decrease the happiness of the citizenship. Fail at getting an injured citizen to the hospital in an ambulance and the city’s population could decrease by one. The number of possibilities is staggeringly large. If new vehicle classes were released on a regular basis Home Tycoon could stay fresh through this aspect alone.
Better yet, the vehicles themselves shouldn’t be what are bought from the store, but the licenses’ to be able to drive each vehicle class. Obtaining each individual vehicle should be left to more…creative methods.
Slippin’ out a slimjim!
This will NEVER happen in Home Tycoon.
Obtaining vehicles within Home Tycoon could be a dynamic and exciting process. Simply purchasing the vehicles wouldn’t be nearly as rewarding as earning the vehicles through mini-games and interactivity with friends. While in one’s own city, playing the mini-games associated with each vehicle class could unlock the ability to use the specific vehicle in races and free-driving. Unlocking different models of the vehicle could be obtained in a similar fashion. Each vehicle could be stored in a city garage that could house all the various vehicles owned by the Mayor of each city. They could also be selectable through the appropriate building or structure if one is available. It would be absurd to be able to go to the garage to drive a Police cruiser and not the Police Station.
While crime isn’t going to be encouraged or even allowed within Home Tycoon — remember, this isn’t Grand Theft Home — there is a method of car theft that could be supported within the no-carjacking policy of Hellfire Games, if that is even their policy. Offering pilfer-able garages would unlock an interesting dynamic between friends and car collecting.
When in a city not their own, players could visit the city garage and view what vehicles and what models the Mayor of the city owns. At this point a player could try their hand at car thieving and a playable mission could begin. When the mission begins, players within the city could be alerted and they could be given the chance to try to stop the thief. If no one elects to stop the thief, or if no one else is in the city, the police would be controlled through AI.
Once the mission begins, the police would have to damage the thief’s vehicle to the point of malfunction. The thief would be fined and tokens could be taken from the player and added to the city’s coffers. Players who participated as police officers would be rewarded and the crime rate of the city would decrease slightly, increasing happiness. If the thief were able to find and pass through the finish line before they were brought to justice, they would be able to keep the vehicle model they stole and the crime rate of the city would slightly increase, which would decrease the citizen’s happiness.
In this concept a player would only be able to attempt to steal car classes that they themselves have the license to drive. The thieving would be of the different models of that vehicle class.
Mixing it up.
Using these concepts, the vehicle mini-game could mix and match rewards for missions to keep gameplay interesting and keep gamers coming back for more. Mayors could offer specific vehicle models for someone who beats the high score of a custom race or beats them in a one on one drag race. The rewards for completing missions could be randomized so that the reward of an avatar-wearable reward, a furniture reward, a token reward and a vehicle reward could be randomly given to players when they win a race or complete a mission.
Novus-Cooldown announced there will NOT be ridiculously priced items. What about ridiculously limited ones?
Limited and exclusive vehicle models could randomly show up parked around random cities. The only way to own these cars would be to spot these vehicles and play the missions that are offered when they are selected. They would not be offered in the stores, they could not be won through mini-games and they could not be stolen from garages. Having the odds of a player seeing limited vehicles increase as they visit other cities would greatly encourage traveling to other player creations. Of course, to stay true to the ability to play through the Home Tycoon experience as a single player, the limited vehicles would have to be available in one’s own city from time to time, however infrequently that might be.
Certain vehicles could offer missions that are only available when specific conditions are met. If a player sees an armored van parked outside of a bank, a Heist mission could be available, which would greatly reward the player and damage or boost the city’s crime rating, depending on which side of the law the player chose to play.
Using the vehicular based dynamics covered in this article, or by coming up with your own, leave whatever ideas you feel would be a good fit for the vehicular missions and games within Home Tycoon in the comments below. Also feel free to tell us what type of vehicle classes would you like to eventually see available in Home Tycoon, if it supports such things? Remember to try to stay as grounded as possible. Car customization and tuning, particle based damage modeling and off-road driving are all unlikely to be in Home Tycoon.Tricks and stunt tracks have already been announced so they could very well be the foundation for a creative concept or two.
While the dynamics of vehicular based missions alone are enough to make Home Tycoon bust at the seams with features, there are many other gameplay possibilities within each city that have nothing to do with vehicles. In subsequent articles the conjecture will begin to deviate from capabilities that have already been announced and will begin to speculate on what other types of games and interactivity could be released for Home Tycoon.
July 18th, 2012 by Gideon | 8 comments
Gideon is a team writer for HomeStation Magazine and likes cheese in all its forms. Whether it be block, slice, cream, wheel, log, string or aerosol, Gideon cant resist the pungent bitter taste of good cheese. Heck, he'll even take mediocre cheese, as long as its slapped between two pieces of whole wheat bread with a little bit of mustard.
Tell ya what would be *insanely* awesome: car darts.
That’d be an absolutely mental mini-game for Home Tycoon.
Ha! That would be awesome and so doable!
I think because its from hellfire they might do what they do with novus and have perchisable items that will boost aspects of ur city or cars. As for car types I myself am a Steampunk fan so iI would like to see Steampunkesk cars or heck at least a Duesenburg Walker Coupe.
Wow, just lost my comment thanks to competing WiFi waves!!! I shall try again:
Card-darts, destruction derbies, stealing rare cars from neighboring cities, it’s fun to speculate! I’d join in but I think you’ve covered pretty much all basis Gid. I’ll be a party-pooper here though and say the destruction thing might be a little out of reach for Home, running a buildable city AND having enoughemory left for the polygonal carnage that a destruction derby equites would be a tall order, but you never know, right?
I’m a big fan of open road racing, there’s not too many games that offer an endless steam of tar-mac to race on, the closest thing I can think of is Test Drive Unlimited 2, which is all kinds of wicked for people who like racing on streams of unfamiliar road. Really tests the driver’s pure control and car-zen (as me later).
I wait for your next bout of random Tycoon musings with anticipation Gid!
I totally agree Krazy. I guess I should have clarified what I meant when I said “visually or otherwise”. The “otherwise” would be an alternate method of showing damage to the vehicle that doesn’t involve altering the model. A damage bar would do nicely with perhaps increasing plumes of smoke emitting from the vehicle as it get thrashed. While I would love for there to be polygonal deformation I would much prefer the horsepower of Home (and the time and energy of Hellfire Games) to go to making Home Tycoon even more engrossing with additional, game extending features.
I like the idea of an endless race! This would totally be a cool feature for Home Tycoon racing. Maybe the player would simply stop for a couple of seconds to abandon the marathon with the leaderboard full of the longest runners. That could actually span all Home Tycoon cities. Great idea!
All of these sound different and interesting, though I am not a race fan or car person nor do I play these types of games at all, I might try my hand at something in Home just for the fun of it. Good read Gid.
for people like you Burbie I hope Home Tycoon features a Cruise option where gamers can just get in the car and drive to their heart’s content.