Games with immersive economies/worlds

[tigerusthegreat]

Just saw a steam advertisement for X-Rebirth, and some of the notes about it seem very interesting.

For instance, every freighter has a place to be, and blowing them up will cause shortages somewhere. Which is an awesome idea.

Anyone know of any games that take this sort of approach to their world simulation/economies? Most games have NPCs that just mill about doing nothing, but that is boring to me.

Ideally, I'd like a game where I can set up a manufacturing or trading empire. I'd love to get X-Rebirth, but it will require a major computer upgrade to even run it (and until I'm out of school in about 5 months, money is tight).

Any suggestions?

[Maxios]

The rest of the X series, for starters. The Mount and Blade series also has this feature, and I believe the Elite series also had it.

[Brother Oni]

Well there's Eve Online but as a subscription MMO, it's expensive until you start turning over a large enough profit to buy GTCs every month.

Wikipedia has a list of Trade simulation games (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Trade_simulation_games), of which Pirates of the Burning Sea is a free to play MMO which is ideal if you're having cashflow problems.

[Triaxx]

Yeah, the first few games, the best of them being X3:Terran Conflict, all simulate an economy pretty well. True, some compromises are made for the AI, but they'll run on a lighter computer than Rebirth.

Can't think of any specifically, though you might try the Tycoon series.

[tigerusthegreat]

Played eve for a long time, but CCP is taking it in several directions that I don't care for, and I don't have time for a second job (i.e. the game itself).

Terran Conflict doesn't like my laptop (which exceeds the requirements), and my desktop is just below the requirements for it (rather, technically in the minimum requirements for it, but it chugs a lot).

I could never get into mount and blade and mount and blade; warband. It was really hard to get started and lost interest to me (probably why I didn't see any of the economy bits of it).



I will look at the tycoon series and elite series, thanks.

[warty goblin]

I could never get into mount and blade and mount and blade; warband. It was really hard to get started and lost interest to me (probably why I didn't see any of the economy bits of it).

Playing M&B for the economy is like buying an Aston-Martin for hauling groceries: sure you could, and sure occasionally you will, but it's really not the point. The point being riding around on a horse, stabbing people, and picking crossbow bolts out of your teeth.


You should look into Space Rangers HD. It's got a genuine simulated economy, and one of the most living universes I've seen in a game. Also I once fed my cockroach illegal performance enhancing drugs to win prison races. Look, it's a long story, OK?

[Crow]

I've played the X>Series ever since X2, and it pretty much fits the bill. It's one of those games where you can build economies or destroy them. X3 actually begins with the economy in a recession, which makes for a lot of interesting opportunities.

Flexing your military might to create conditions to exploit economically. Divine!

I played Eve for quite a while, but yeah, I've already got a job in real life.

[tigerusthegreat]

I've played the X>Series ever since X2, and it pretty much fits the bill. It's one of those games where you can build economies or destroy them. X3 actually begins with the economy in a recession, which makes for a lot of interesting opportunities.

Flexing your military might to create conditions to exploit economically. Divine!

I played Eve for quite a while, but yeah, I've already got a job in real life.


I have a sneaking suspicion that I'm going to end up upgrading my desktop just to run the X series.

[Triaxx]

Google Squiddy McSquid. Trust me.

[tigerusthegreat]

Google Squiddy McSquid. Trust me.

always dangerous googling things like that, but this time, worth it, ty

[Triaxx]

I know. I've been caught a few times, but I'm glad you did.

[Doc Kraken]

In defense of Mount and Blade's economy, the point isn't for you to run goods between cities (although it's so open-ended that you totally can! Just hire some cavalry to scare off bandits and go nuts). The point of the economy is to have caravans constantly going back and forth.

Tasty, tasty caravans.

It took a bit for me to get into as well, but then I got the hang of it and now I'm hooked. Also, there's a ton of mods out there, and that's always a plus.

[Ailurus]

It doesn't change over time, but I've always been a fan of Freelancer's economic system. (Its 10 years old, what do you expect?)

Plus, Star Citizen is supposedly heading in that direction, though that's at least a year off and will seemingly need very high computer specs.