Something I’ve been thinking about recently is resource management in games. It definitely falls into the more “game” side of Choicescript Games which I don’t see talked about as often.
In some games its almost non existent, either because its either not relevant to the plot (there is nothing to manage) or its glossed over and assumed to either be going amazingly or terribly (depending on what is needed for the plot to progress).
In other games you have small choices that feel like management, but are fairly limited, often coming down to a choice of building x, y or z. It still feels like you’re “managing” something, but there are a limited number of possible outcomes. (Lies Under Ice sort of felt this way).
There are other games where you start going into number allocations. You have x resource points (be it money, troops, building space, etc) that the player either enters numbers to allocate, or spends on a list of upgrades/buildings/later stage resources. (Think troop management in I, the Forgotten One or estate management in Lords of Infinity).
Finally, I don’t think I’ve seen many if any games that fall under this, but full on management simulators. Where theres a lot of numbers and math going on in the background. I’m thinking something like, Factorio, Dwarf Fortress, Oxygen Not Included but in text form. Although I think the pages and submenus might be overwhelming if entirely in text based format.
I’m curious as to what other’s opinions are on the matter, whether they enjoy it in games, see it as a chore that takes away from the experience or don’t really care either way.
Imo interactive fiction is in a unique position to do (at least certain aspects of) storytelling better than its graphical competition. I don’t think most resource management I’ve seen plays to this strength.
Which is not to say I’m completely opposed to it, if I’m playing a lord I understand I may have to deal with underlings. The way it’s often done tends to be rather opaque though. If I’m playing a graphical game, I can mouseover things and see what they do. In most IF implementations, I’m just guessing and hoping for the best. This doesn’t feel very rewarding and, for me, detracts from the story instead of adding to it.
At the same time, this increased difficulty may be what others look for. I have encountered similar issues with non-resource, stat heavy games that others love. In the end variation is the spice of life.
While resource management games can be fun, i think choicdscript games have a poor ui for it. Most resource management ends being frustrating rather than fun.
For a fun resource game you need to be able have good idea of your vital resources with a glance (as much as possible).
I think it’s difficult to implement resource management into a ChoiceScript game well, and that’s coming from someone who generally enjoys that sort of thing in actual video games. When every resource is just a number next to a piece of text… It’s often difficult to get invested in that part of the game and often easy to get lost in all the values. And that’s not even getting to the actual mechanics and all the ways they can devolve into never-ending failure spirals if the author doesn’t know what they’re doing.
I’d only advocate for resource management if it’s actually a part of the story, and if the player has some investment in these “resources” they’re handling. Having to choose between increasing your own wealth and spoiling your political allies in a game about ruling a kingdom is a form of resource management, but it’s also something that reflects what kind of character you’re playing and what outcome you want. Making a choice between buying gold and buying silver with the sole purpose of maximizing your income doesn’t feel nearly as fulfilling—it’s a math problem at best, a guessing game at worst.
I’d argue that text games are positioned to reflect management better than most – because in reality you’ll be basing your decisions on what people tell you (“text”) and provided numbers (also, text for the most part) Not cutesy apps with icons and tooltips which spell out certain effects your decisions are going to bring. That you’re often just “guessing and hoping for the best” is the dirty secret of real management. /s
When I created a management system for my game, I had a few personal rules.
Cap the number of resources/stats to manage. Do not make it overcomplicated.
Make sure the UI is neat while conveying as much information as possible.
Use stat bars when possible as these are always more aesthetically pleasing than numbers.
I tested diffferent configurations extensively on a mobile device to get the best look, and I had also intentionally made it easy (difficulty wise) as the entire inspiration behind it was freemium apps which keep us entertained by letting us tap mindlessly and watch numbers go up. I suspect this could be a reason why it performed so much better on mobile platforms compared to steam.
You might be looking for Daria: A Kingdom Simulator. This is a full on hardcore management game built in choicescript. (LINK)
Yeah, I think the major “UI problem” is choicescript exclusive because of how choicescript games are designed. They are very… vertical? And would have difficulty taking advantage of horizontal space like other browser resource games can.
Kittens Game and A Dark Room are both incremental resource games that are mostly text, but they take advantage of computer screen ratios to use multiple columns. Choicescript doesn’t really have an easy way to implement columns for information and the way it handles menus (through nested choices) makes flipping through screens a little awkward.
Thank you for the recommendation, I’ll check it out! I haven’t had a chance to keep up with WIP since I’ve been busy with university for the last couple years,
Yeah, I think this is the biggest barrier. The fact you would have to go minimum one click over to another screen, then back breaks the flow. Then you come back, have to reread everything, and you’re not as engaged in the narrative as you were.
Just like with video game engines, different IF/text-based engines are better and worse suited for different functions. It’s not to say resource management would be impossible in CS, but it would be clunky, at best, prohibitive at worst.
it’s a mechanics that has not been explored that much in choicescript to actually form a general and acceptable opinion, because it’s not easy to pull off and there is no best-practice nor general guidelines on how to do it, it’s purely depends on author’s creativity
I even dare to say that titles with management genre that already released under CoG and HG are not satisfying enough in terms of management mechanics itself, so there are lots of rooms for improvement here and there
I’d say Lords of Infinity is worth a look in this regard. The estate management included in the game, while not its main focus, strikes good balance between complexity and enjoyment, and the presentation of both the state of affairs and available decisions is pretty good, imo.
Even the shopping for artifacts mechanic in Choice of Magics felt frustrating, because doing it through a CSG text menu was so much more cumbersome and awkward than even the simplest, most rudimentary point-and-click type menu.
I really think text games are a bad medium fit for this gameplay genre.
