Quote:Original post by Vopisk
...Pimp Simulator...

Pimpulator.

I think that restraint will be the word of the day when you start making this one. It has so much potential to mushroom out of control. You start dealing with different classes of whore, a rank system, hiring and training security forces, the impact of venereal disease and diversifying into drug dealing, and you've got three or four games' worth of content. I think that pimping in a vaccuum should be your first goal. Pimps, hos, johns and dough. Then add in the 5-0 and some competition, and see how that works out.

Remember, an unplayable mess won't be enough to get the horrific content distributed. This needs to be genuinely fun and awesome to make its point.

Maybe this could be made as a Sims mod. Is the a dev kit for that sort of thing? I've always really wanted to see a "Zombie Invasion" game using the Sims 2 engine.

I have been thinkning more about this game and the actual dynamics of it, how it would really have to work in order to be fun.

First of all, set the game in the 60s-70s to conjure the right atmosphere.

First of, divide the city into neighborhoods which are in turn divided into blocks. Each block has different types of people livin' in 'em, and hence, different markets. Innitially, what you have to do is to cruise around and research the various blocks so you know where you can profit.
As you start your business on a block however, it will change and transform with
the way you choose to play it, which in turn, forces you, the player, to adjust
for succesfull pimpin. So you will want to play various corners differently - on some corner you may wanna keep it discreet and have luxury hoe professionals, in slum blocks shit wont matter so you just keep runnin as much drugs and hoes as possible (hoes here will be infected, but the costumers wont care since they're allready infected and can't pay much anyway).
So a lot of choises are available to the player, keepin' the game content rich, alive and kicking. I say, make a mock-up prototype where you make sure this shit works solidly first, so you have a test bed on which you can try new features and see how they fit in the game balance. This means you will want to make the game
design data driven on the technical side; design the engine so it is dependent on scripts (i suggest GameMonkey or Lua, will get you started quickly) and XML (tinyXML is a bliss) ... of course, this has the added bonus of makin' the game
moddable, so players can create their own add-ons.

Best regards,

Madvillain

Quote:Original post by Madvillain
I have been thinkning more about this game and the actual dynamics of it, how it would really have to work in order to be fun.

First of all, set the game in the 60s-70s to conjure the right atmosphere.

First of, divide the city into neighborhoods which are in turn divided into blocks. Each block has different types of people livin' in 'em, and hence, different markets. Innitially, what you have to do is to cruise around and research the various blocks so you know where you can profit.
As you start your business on a block however, it will change and transform with
the way you choose to play it, which in turn, forces you, the player, to adjust
for succesfull pimpin. So you will want to play various corners differently - on some corner you may wanna keep it discreet and have luxury hoe professionals, in slum blocks shit wont matter so you just keep runnin as much drugs and hoes as possible (hoes here will be infected, but the costumers wont care since they're allready infected and can't pay much anyway).
So a lot of choises are available to the player, keepin' the game content rich, alive and kicking. I say, make a mock-up prototype where you make sure this shit works solidly first, so you have a test bed on which you can try new features and see how they fit in the game balance. This means you will want to make the game
design data driven on the technical side; design the engine so it is dependent on scripts (i suggest GameMonkey or Lua, will get you started quickly) and XML (tinyXML is a bliss) ... of course, this has the added bonus of makin' the game
moddable, so players can create their own add-ons.

Best regards,

Madvillain

Mad, those are some really good ideas, thought my initial idea was to incorporate a mission type resource.

Basically different NPC saround the map will give you, the pimp, missions to complete some task, hand in some item, or to talk to another NPC. These mission givers are not labeled, they might actually be items, are randomly scattered about the city grid, though some may fall around specific locals. For example near a school yard there might be a mission to sell crack to the school kids, or near the fishing warph you might have a mission to send a whore under the docks to give the sailors blow jobs.

Yes, your gameplay affects the areas you frequent, so 'base building' is possible, but you do not directly create structures, rather they change over time based on how you play.

Quote:Original post by ToohrVyk
Also, I believe this has not been mentioned yet: a "Pimp" is always a man. The female counterpart is called a "Madam".

Otherwise, this sounds like an excellent concept. Do you have webcam girls too?

Yes, at the top of the thread I mention French Bordello Madam and Oriental Massage Parlor Madam.

Web cam whore can be aquired if you take over the corner with the internet cafe on it. They have the special power to generate money without regard to The Man or city grid foot traffic and also open up missions like the 'our space' pedophile.

I must say the whole mission-based gameplay doesn't truly intrigue me that much. The way I see it is: if I am the pimp, shouldn't I be the one giving the missions?

- Madvillain

I agree with Madvillain's point, but I think the mission system could be salvaged with a different framing. How about this: Instead of "missions", you have "pimp challenges" which you are never ordered--or even asked--to do, but which are available to you. Completing these missions gains you prestige among other pimps, and perhaps unlocks extra content.

"Daaamn, ese! Don't nobody cruise that corner! Ju' just try and make $1000 a night on it!"