Cars and Planes

Just wanted to post a couple of games ideas. I played Detroit (car factory) and an airline game a few years ago, in the early 90s I think. The world has moved on to FPS and PS3 and I’m on the Mac. I’d kind of forgotten about them until I found Cliffski and his games. I’d love to see those games again.

Cars! could be a game where you start at the beginning of the 20th century. You research technologies, design cars and sell them. The great depression would be a major challenge, you’d have to help building military vehicles during the war, but the goal of the game would be to survive to the present day (or near future). The types of cars you build will affect your image. Will you be a Ferrari that only makes sports cars (and make a fool of yourself when you introduce a van) or will you be a Ford that makes everything for everyone (and won’t be taken seriously in the niche segments)? Advertising will also help solidify your image, so be careful how you advertise and where. Will you focus on quality, performance or price?

Airline! would have you starting out with one plane and hopefully growing into an international force. Will you focus on cheap ticket prices, safety or luxury? Will you fly to the premium airports or the Lutons? An alternative idea is an airline factory, similar to the cars game above. Do you focus on military aircraft, private jets or airliners?

What do you think?

At the risk of plugging another company’s games on the site, there is a game called The Corporate Machine that does something very similar to what you’re describing. You can pick it up dirt cheap from Stardock Central’s Impulse (where you can also pick up several of Clifsky’s games!)

You start out at the dawn of the industry (car, airplane, cola, and computer are the four that I remember…there may be more) and you need to build your company through research, production and marketing. The graphics are very dated since the game was released in the late 90s, but it does what you are looking for. There are no historical events like the Depression, World Wars, but there are certain events that force you to react to them. It’s an interesting simulation. You win when someone has a monopolistic share of the market. If it’s you, you win. If not, you lose.

Heh, I do love The Corporate Machine. “Inventing” computers, from the 4040 CPU and 10 micron to Holographic 3D displays is always fun. But yes, don’t want to advertise other company’s games (however it is under $10, just saying).

And Mr. SamBrookJM™Eminem you are correct in stating Cars, Aircraft, Cola and Computers as the four products. Cola came after the initial release, I think when it went from Business Tycoon to The Corporate Machine, but that period is a little hazy.

Remember: Dropping your prices below cost to crush the struggling opponents works only when your opponent is struggling :stuck_out_tongue: And raising your prices to crazy figures is a good way to start the game, at least until your production is up :wink:

Wayno, still in high school when it came out and has been playing it ever since (yet still can’t beat the top few difficulty levels)