Recycled whirlpools

• 27 June 2008
• Category: Modern Mogul

A thought model; just a skein of partial ideas to consider hanging a game from:

External markets phase

• A graph, nodes connected by edges. Some nodes are identified as (potential) start nodes.
• Nodes bear a die indicating the current market demand at that node. cf The future market die (central collumn) in Lokomotive Werks
  • The die or node may be coloured to indicate a specific transport type (passenger, freight etc)
• Players may claim edges between start nodes and other nodes, or between nodes already connected and other nodes (connected or unconnected). In this manner the network grows and becomes incestuous
  • Possibly an auction of the nominated edge?
  • cf Dutch Intercity’s blind-bid edge within a very small graph
  • The Riding Series method of rotation auctions until at least one player has spent all their cash and all players have auctioned at least once may be interesting
  • Ordering by cash holdings, or inverse, may also be interesting. cf The Riding Series and Lokomotive Werks for value considerations
  • Possibly there are limitations on contiguous networks, costs for non-contiguous networks etc.
  • Should claimed edges be coloured by player and if so, what is the value?
• By claiming a connection a player has acquired commits them to supply transport in that volume in N-turns (N = 3?)
  • The auction for the edge sets the price for that product-type ($/volume) and this is tracked/recorded
  • Future auctions produce new values, also tracked
  • Minimum bids may be set as a function of projected values from this history
• As additional edges are claimed new markets enter the game with their own demands for volume
  • Represented by a new “line” of dice for that node, possibly in a different colour or a higher value of a current colour
  • Thus a thriving market for one sort of transport (eg freight) prompts a market for passengers etc etc and so forth (yay theme)
• In a later phase players may sell the futures among each other
  • Again an auction, modifies the tracked price?

Production phase

• Effectively Lokomotive Werks redressed
  • D4s? — lower variance
  • Number of dice in future orders column equal to total of all dice-values on nodes connected by claimed edges
• Building new factories unchanged.
• Building capacity unchanged
• Players don’t claim dice, they auction them (and receive the money personally)
  • What is auctioned is a commitment to supply Q product of that type in N turned (N=3?)

Future fulfilment

• The current turn’s contracts are resolved
• Each buy must be matched with sells of the same type etc.
  • Open negotiation?
• Unmatched buys are satisfied by the hidden market which operates at a cost of X% of a function of the tracked market prices and those funds are covered by the players
• Unmatched sells force the market price down and penalise the holding player by n% of the then market value?
  • Simply losing the future may be enough penalty
• What is resolution order of what buys and sells are matched and in what order?
• Monies are paid from the bank to players holding satisfied buy futures (they ship the goods?)

Market maintenance phase

• Each dice line on a node grows or shrinks by one die Lokomotive Werks-style
  • Possibly this is a global function across all nodes, a local function/property of the node, or a mix of both
  • Possibly a function of the properties/types of lines in neighbouring nodes (reflective/communicative/memetic markets)?
  • The dice are rolled, establishing total orders within the period (may be less or more than total futures)
• Each player in rotation claims either auctions a die at a currently connected node (assumes uncoloured edges?), or auctions a new/additional edge
  • A new edge may connect a new node, in which case they automatically get that die/contract, or if between already-connected nodes, may affect market maturation patterns in those nodes (see above)
  • Not clear what auction value an edge between connected nodes has?
• Limit to total growth of dice lines on nodes?

A fractured thought model to be sure, plangent and struck through with gaping flaws.

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