OK, so here's an example:
There are 20 districts in this 4x5 embark. All but one (P) are empty lots waiting to be claimed.
(I'm going to call the claimed District P, "The City Founder's District".)
So, suppose we have three Players who have decided to claim empty lots: Say: District K, District L and District Q.
So I would save this game right after it announced it was Spring and upload the save file as a link on the first page under "Year <number> save".
All the Players who had claimed a District would then immediately upload that file and post which seven previously unclaimed residents would be the "District Founders". (Obviously, there might be some cross-over, so it would have to be that the person who posts their claim first gets that resident.)
NOW everyone plays their turn, only affecting the District that they claimed and saving the game once the one RL week is up, posting a link to that save in the forum.
OK, so that's clear so far, but now, I'd upload all of the save files and on the original game save that I posted, I would make burrows in those three Districts, assigning the chosen seven for each one. Then, using the other three save files as a "blueprint" for each District, I'd play through the turn on the original game, and post the resulting save file as "Year <number+1> save". Everyone with a claimed District would then have a chance to play through another year on the new save, so that they can see what the other districts have done the year before.
Players of adjacent Districts can choose to collaborate on a bridge maybe, or to join tunnels/sewers if they like, or they can just go it alone and see what happens. Players could also barter and trade resources with each-other - wood for charcoal for metal smithing might be plentiful on an empty lot, who needs stone blocks or to be protected by the military of another District, so those Players could set up (and post) a inter-District trade agreement. Players who miss the save posting deadline would just miss out on being a part of that year's update and their District (and the District's "founding seven") would become available to be claimed once again. (Obviously, any trade agreements would fall through as well, which would make the Marketplace a bit of a risk, but would reward Players who were timely in posting their save files with greater trust from the other Districts. All part of the game. New Players would upload the latest save file, claim unclaimed Districts and if it's never been claimed before, go through the "claiming a founding seven" process too.
Access to the Trade Depot would be via a Broker that
is protected from being chosen as one of the Founders. Heck, we might make all the Noble positions like that - The Sheriff, Barons, ect... would all be free-range citizens, able to choose where they take their business, where they choose to sleep and where they choose to worship. Their needs would be shared by every District in The City, and would make for some interesting RP in the Forum. Likewise, "strange moods" and the like.
Wash rinse, repeat.
The idea is that eventually, TWENTY Players will be able to upload a new save and affect the world every in-game year, rather than just one at a time (spaced about a year apart in RL). Because of this, The City will dynamically grow and change. There's also the "bloodlines" aspect to this: If things go on long enough, the
seven "Founders" of each District will marry and have kids. If those kids happen to marry into the families of other Districts, then Players could set up inheritances or dowries or whatever to simulate the changes in power for each District. (All in fun.)
For fun, I'll be going into Legends mode and looking up the direct ancestors (mother, father, grandmother, grandfather, ect...) of each "District Founder" as well as what each family member was most famous for. This is from a Medium sized world, 200 years old and with one surviving dwarven civilization. The world map itself is one I set up in PerfectWorld, and is going to be used in an adventurer game I set up after The City has been going on for awhile. (Quests for abducted children or stolen artifacts, maybe even a contest to see who can guide "The Tourist" as a companion unharmed from wherever he begins to The City. I expect this world to be the host of many different games as each naturally runs its course, creating a rich and diverse Player-generated history.)
So far, the world is still in "The Age of Xun"
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Topic: "The City" (Multiplayer-ish Dwarven Economy) 42.05 LNP -Combined game phase- (Read 32593 times)