Merchants & Citystates

Merchants and Citystates

Introduction

This is a sandbox (more of an aquarium) in which a handful of citystates attempts to exist, produce, process resources while another handful of independent merchants (who look like squirrels) attempt to attain wealth and survive by transporting said resources. Every citystate is free to set the prices on resources they’re selling and buying, while merchants are free to purchase and sell to and from any citystate if they think it’ll be worthwhile for them.

It also comes with a procedural terrain and rudimentary travel distance simulation.

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Gameplay information is available below the screenshots.

Screenshots

Simulation loop

The game starts off with a generated world containing a handful of settlements of different tiers. Lowest-tier settlements (called Homesteads) produce a single resource out of thin air, and other settlements have recipes consuming these base resources to craft more advanced goods. Every settlement is free to set their own prices for purchasing and selling goods, and has a so-called “strategy”. The strategy is a program describing how the prices should be changed.

In the other part of the simulation, there are merchants - small animal critters capable of purchasing and selling goods. They also have a “strategy” - a program that runs once they reach a settlement. It tells them what to sell from their inventory, what to buy, and where to go next. Additionally, merchants lose money regularly to simulate travel costs and business upkeep - and if they run out, they go bankrupt and disappear.

With those simple-to-understand mechanics, hopefully an interesting economic situation emerges, with supply chains forming and fluctuations in prices adjusting them. This feedback loop of a system is hopefully fun to watch or tinker with, and it sure did sound interesting in my head. In any case, what’s entertaining is ultimately subjective.

The player is provided several tools to inspect or modify the simulation, activated by left-clicking in the world.