This is just a preliminary idea and, if it sounds good, can be hammered out with further discussion, of course.
Its fun to have genres, but, there is no point to them in the game currently. they are very feature poor and don't really offer much in the way of depth. But really, they should be the focus of a game like this.
currently, genres provide a basis for the sliders when making a game.
studios also have a "happiness" meter related to genres which depletes as they make more of the same genre.
There is also a compatibility rating with themes and consoles.
this is the extent of the genre mechanics that I am aware of.
Issues with this:
Researching more than 3 genres is unneeded from a mechanical stand point. cycling through three genres is enough to keep your studio happy indefinitely.
Sub-genres are meaningless and offer nothing beyond added clutter in the menus.
I think we can go deeper.
Studios should be allowed and encouraged to specialize in a genre.
A side benefit of this is that it gives a new strategic reason to have more than one studio.
When we start a new game and select our genre specialization we should have the option to make games for any of the starting genres (Action, RPG, Adventure, Simulation, Strategy, Casual [Puzzle should be a subgenre to Casual]), but, we start with all research done for our specialization, no post-mortems needed.
As we make games in a genre that studio gains experience in that genre and can unlock new sub-genres but only for that branch. so, making simulation games only allows unlocking simulation sub-genres. there is no sense that making sim games can unlock an RPG sub-genre. This experience gain applies to the studio. deleting or selling a studio loses the experience. Studios can gain experience in multiple branches, but, this slows research progress. you can either be a generalist or a specialist.
Sub-Genres should be more "powerful" than the starting generic genres. the "power" is that the starting genres only allow making games up to a certain rating; 70% at tier 1, for example).
Tier 2 allows up to 80%, Tier 3 Allows up to 90% and tier 4 allows up to 100+% perfect games. This way, there is encouragement and reward for unlocking genres and using them. There could also be an impact on the fanbase (more potential fans gained when higher tier genres). There could also be an impact on potential sales, customer appeal, employee satisfaction, etc.
Another idea is a final tier (4 or 5) where the player designs their own genre. When they have mastered an entire branch the game will prompt them to create their own, unique genre. They can decide where the sliders are, what the name is, which themes it works well with and which consoles it matches to. This final genre will be the ultimate genre for a specialized studio and allow for maximum potential in all areas.
This of course means that the genre tree will need to be redone for balance to ensure that all branches have the needed number of tiers to unlock.
I think a lot can be done with this and it will add much needed depth to the game.
This is just a preliminary idea and, if it sounds good, can be hammered out with further discussion, of course.
Its fun to have genres, but, there is no point to them in the game currently. they are very feature poor and don't really offer much in the way of depth. But really, they should be the focus of a game like this.
currently, genres provide a basis for the sliders when making a game. studios also have a "happiness" meter related to genres which depletes as they make more of the same genre. There is also a compatibility rating with themes and consoles. this is the extent of the genre mechanics that I am aware of.
Issues with this: Researching more than 3 genres is unneeded from a mechanical stand point. cycling through three genres is enough to keep your studio happy indefinitely.
Sub-genres are meaningless and offer nothing beyond added clutter in the menus.
I think we can go deeper. Studios should be allowed and encouraged to specialize in a genre. A side benefit of this is that it gives a new strategic reason to have more than one studio.
When we start a new game and select our genre specialization we should have the option to make games for any of the starting genres (Action, RPG, Adventure, Simulation, Strategy, Casual [Puzzle should be a subgenre to Casual]), but, we start with all research done for our specialization, no post-mortems needed.
As we make games in a genre that studio gains experience in that genre and can unlock new sub-genres but only for that branch. so, making simulation games only allows unlocking simulation sub-genres. there is no sense that making sim games can unlock an RPG sub-genre. This experience gain applies to the studio. deleting or selling a studio loses the experience. Studios can gain experience in multiple branches, but, this slows research progress. you can either be a generalist or a specialist.
Sub-Genres should be more "powerful" than the starting generic genres. the "power" is that the starting genres only allow making games up to a certain rating; 70% at tier 1, for example). Tier 2 allows up to 80%, Tier 3 Allows up to 90% and tier 4 allows up to 100+% perfect games. This way, there is encouragement and reward for unlocking genres and using them. There could also be an impact on the fanbase (more potential fans gained when higher tier genres). There could also be an impact on potential sales, customer appeal, employee satisfaction, etc.
Another idea is a final tier (4 or 5) where the player designs their own genre. When they have mastered an entire branch the game will prompt them to create their own, unique genre. They can decide where the sliders are, what the name is, which themes it works well with and which consoles it matches to. This final genre will be the ultimate genre for a specialized studio and allow for maximum potential in all areas.
This of course means that the genre tree will need to be redone for balance to ensure that all branches have the needed number of tiers to unlock.
I think a lot can be done with this and it will add much needed depth to the game.