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Digital Dynasties

An academic exploration into the intricate systems and strategic depth of virtual world-building and economic governance within Construction and Management Simulation (CMS) games.

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Introduction

Defining CMS Games

Construction and Management Simulation (CMS) is a distinct subgenre of simulation video games where players are tasked with the strategic construction, expansion, and ongoing management of fictional entities or projects. These endeavors are typically constrained by limited resources, demanding careful planning and economic acumen. While strategy video games often integrate resource management into their economic systems, pure CMS titles differentiate themselves by focusing not on the defeat of an adversary, but on the continuous process of building and evolving a system within a dynamic environment.

Early Milestones

The foundational success of the CMS genre can be traced back to seminal titles such as SimCity (1989), which captivated audiences with its innovative approach to urban planning and governance. This early triumph paved the way for a diverse array of games, including city-building series like Caesar (since 1992) and The Settlers (since 1993), as well as complex business simulations like Capitalism, and more specialized experiences such as Theme Park. These titles collectively established the core mechanics and appeal of the genre.

Beyond Simple Simulation

While often colloquially referred to as "simulation games," CMS titles offer a unique blend of strategic depth and creative freedom. Unlike simulations focused on specific activities, such as vehicle operation or sports, CMS games immerse players in the intricate processes of economic development and infrastructural growth. The genre challenges players to master complex systems, making decisions that ripple through their virtual creations, from bustling metropolises to thriving businesses.

Gameplay Mechanics

Economic Foundations

Economics forms the bedrock of construction and management simulations, providing the essential framework for players to build and operate within defined financial constraints. The primary challenges in these games are predominantly economic, centered on fostering growth and optimizing resource allocation. Players typically assume a role that transcends a real-world manager, engaging in highly detailed decision-making processes to steer their communities, institutions, or empires toward prosperity.

Construction & Resource Management

Players are equipped with both construction and management tools. Construction mechanisms generally fall into two categories: 'plan-and-build,' where structures are completed over time, and 'purchase-and-place,' where they appear instantly. Challenges can arise from random disasters or specific construction requirements. The core of CMS gameplay lies in acquiring and managing resources—such as money, labor, and building materials—within a dynamic economy where resources are produced, consumed, and exchanged. Some games even allow for resource conversion, like fermenting sugar into rum, adding layers of strategic depth. Resources are expended for either new construction or ongoing maintenance to prevent decay, though demolition often incurs minimal or no cost, sometimes even recovering partial resources.

Objectives & Progression

CMS games are predominantly single-player experiences, as competitive multiplayer modes could stifle creativity in favor of pure efficiency and resource accumulation. They often feature a 'free-form' construction mode, allowing players to build without strict objectives, appealing to a desire for creative control. Many CMS titles lack a traditional victory condition, though bankruptcy serves as a common failure state. The emphasis is on sustained growth and the continuous expansion of creative capabilities through successful economic management. While some games offer pre-designed scenarios with specific victory conditions (e.g., achieving a certain wealth level or surviving adverse conditions), success in one scenario rarely impacts others, allowing players to approach them in any sequence.

User Interface

Navigating Complexity

Given the intricate internal economies players must manage, construction and management simulations frequently employ sophisticated windowed interfaces. Unlike action-oriented genres, CMS games provide players with computer-like controls, including pull-down menus, buttons, and detailed analytical tools such as graphs. These interfaces often feature in-game advisors who alert players to emerging problems and highlight current needs, assisting in the complex decision-making process. Consequently, CMS games are renowned for having some of the most elaborate user interfaces across all video game genres.

Perspective & Interaction

The player in a CMS game typically operates as an omnipresent entity, without a direct avatar within the game world. This perspective is commonly rendered through an isometric viewpoint or a free-roaming aerial camera in modern 3D titles, offering a comprehensive overview of the player's creation. While the game world is populated with units and non-playable characters (NPCs) who react to the player's strategic decisions, direct individual orders to these entities are seldom a core mechanic. This design choice reinforces the player's role as a high-level planner and manager rather than a direct controller of individual units.

Visuals vs. Depth

A notable characteristic of the CMS genre is its enduring popularity, even for titles that do not boast cutting-edge graphics. The genre's appeal often stems from the depth of its simulation, the strategic challenges it presents, and the satisfaction derived from building and optimizing complex systems, rather than solely from visual fidelity. This emphasis on gameplay mechanics and strategic depth allows CMS games to maintain a strong player base regardless of their graphical sophistication.

Historical Genesis

Early Mainframe Experiments

The conceptual roots of construction and management simulations can be traced back to early mainframe games. A pioneering example is The Sumerian Game (1964), a text-based economic simulation designed by Mabel Addis. This game placed players in charge of the ancient Sumerian city-state of Lagash. A later adaptation, known as The Sumer Game and subsequently Hamurabi, simplified this concept, allowing players to manage the economy of a city-state through text commands on systems like the DEC PDP-8.

The Birth of a Genre: Utopia

The year 1982 marked a pivotal moment with the release of Utopia for the Intellivision. This title is widely recognized as the progenitor of the construction and management simulation genre. Utopia challenged players to oversee an entire island, managing both its military and economy. It required sophisticated strategic thinking to maintain population happiness and defend against threats, a stark contrast to the reflex-driven games prevalent at the time. Its commercial success and innovative design significantly influenced subsequent game development across various genres.

Eastern Strategy & Console Influence

In 1983, Koei introduced Nobunaga's Ambition, a historical simulation game where players assumed the role of Oda Nobunaga, aiming to conquer, unify, and manage feudal Japan. This game integrated detailed economic management, such as tax collection and rice distribution, with grand strategy elements. Nobunaga's Ambition became a benchmark for console simulation games, inspiring numerous sequels and other Koei titles like the Romance of the Three Kingdoms series. Capcom also contributed to this trend with Destiny of an Emperor (1989), further solidifying the genre's presence.

The SimCity Phenomenon

The genre achieved widespread acclaim with the release of SimCity in 1989. Heavily influenced by Utopia, SimCity allowed players to design and manage a city from its inception, balancing budgets, public opinion, and urban development. Its sophisticated simulation of city planning, non-violent gameplay, and departure from traditional win/lose conditions resonated with a broad audience. SimCity not only spawned numerous successful sequels and spin-offs, establishing the city-building subgenre, but also propelled its designer, Will Wright, to prominence as one of the most influential figures in the game industry. This success subsequently inspired the popular 'Tycoon' series of games, further expanding the CMS landscape.

Subgenres

City-Building

In city-building games, players assume the role of a city planner or leader, overseeing the growth and management of a simulated urban environment from an elevated perspective. Players control the placement of buildings and manage city-wide policies such as salaries and work priorities. The actual construction is typically carried out by non-playable citizens. Prominent examples include the SimCity series, the Caesar series, and Cities: Skylines, all of which have achieved significant commercial and cultural success by offering deep and engaging urban planning experiences.

Colony Management

Colony management games share similarities with city-building titles but are distinguished by their focus on establishing and developing a settlement in an isolated, often hostile, environment with limited initial resources. Players must gather and combine local resources to expand their colony, requiring extensive construction and management with a high degree of detail. This subgenre often incorporates combat against environmental threats, necessitating the construction of fortifications, leading to the alternative moniker "base building games." Due to their niche appeal and intricate design, fewer titles exist compared to other subgenres. Notable examples include Dwarf Fortress, RimWorld, Oxygen Not Included, Frostpunk, and Surviving Mars.

Business & Tycoon

Business simulation games, often known as tycoon games, are a subset of CMS where the primary objective is to achieve financial success by simulating a business or economic system. These games can vary in scale and focus:

  • Abstract Economic Simulations: Some titles emphasize management over physical construction, allowing players to engage in virtual stock markets or abstract trade systems. Capitalism is a prime example, challenging players to build an industrial and financial empire.
  • Facility Management: At a more concrete level, players manage specific businesses or commercial facilities, designing layouts, hiring staff, and implementing policies to optimize customer flow and growth. Examples include Theme Hospital, SimTower, and Game Dev Story.
  • Theme Park Management: A popular niche within business simulations, games like Theme Park and RollerCoaster Tycoon allow players to manage parks, design rides, and test their creations.
  • Logistics & Transport: Other games focus on managing business elements across regions or nations, often involving the transport of goods between various destinations. Titles like Transport Tycoon, Railroad Tycoon, and the A-Train series exemplify this.
  • Unconventional Business: Not all business simulations are realistic; games like Dungeon Keeper and Evil Genius task players with managing and expanding an evil overlord's base with limited resources.
  • Online Variants: The rise of internet technologies has spurred the development of online business simulations, such as Virtonomics and IndustryPlayer, offering browser-based or downloadable, single-player or multiplayer experiences.

Life Simulation (with CMS Elements)

A distinct category within life simulation games incorporates elements of business simulation, where the player character actively participates in the game world. While these games de-emphasize the explicit business and management aspects, players still make crucial decisions regarding purchases and time management to achieve success. Examples include the popular The Sims series, the agricultural-focused Story of Seasons series, the community-centric Animal Crossing series, and the beloved farm-life RPG Stardew Valley.

Factory Simulation

Factory simulation or optimization games challenge players to efficiently convert raw resources into finished products, utilizing a combination of labor and automated systems. These games can lean towards different objectives:

  • Business-Oriented Production: Some are closer to business simulations, where players aim to create cost-effective production lines to compete with virtual rivals, as seen in Big Pharma and Good Company.
  • Open-World Survival & Production: Others blend with open-world survival mechanics, requiring players to build complex production chains from raw materials found in the environment, often while fending off hostile entities, to achieve large-scale production goals or escape. Examples include Factorio, Satisfactory, and Dyson Sphere Program.
  • Hybrid Designs: Innovative titles like Mindustry combine factory simulation with tower defense, while Shapez.io adopts a minimalist art style for its optimization challenges. Post-apocalyptic settings, such as in Captain of Industry, also feature industrial rebuilding and resource management.

Government Simulation

Government simulation, or political simulation, games endeavor to model the governmental and political processes of a nation or a segment thereof. These simulations can encompass geopolitical strategies, the formulation and execution of domestic policies, or the intricacies of political campaigns. Historical examples from the Cold War era include Balance of Power, Crisis in the Kremlin, and Conflict: Middle East Political Simulator. The board game Diplomacy, originally published in 1959, also found an early online adaptation through play-by-email, showcasing the genre's enduring appeal in simulating complex political interactions.

Sports Management

Sports management games position the player as the owner or team manager of a sports franchise, tasking them with strategic decisions related to player training, team selection, and overall team progression through a season, with the ultimate goal of securing championships. These games can manifest in two primary forms:

  • Integrated Simulation: Some titles layer management features atop the actual sports simulation, allowing players to both manage the team and directly participate in games as athletes. Examples include Electronic Arts' FIFA and Madden NFL series.
  • Pure Management: Other sports management games, such as the Football Manager series, do not offer direct control over the matches themselves. Instead, players, as team managers, influence game outcomes through strategic team composition and tactical decisions, with the results often simulated based on these choices.

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References

References

A full list of references for this article are available at the Construction and management simulation Wikipedia page

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