The basic idea is: Why is magic & sci-fi tech used in so many games? Because it is flexible in definition and thus allows for design to veer off in any direction needed to improve/expand gameplay. The prison game concept is very interesting, though seemingly limited by the real-world simplicity of its nature. (We're already talking about escape tunnels, how much further can it go? Building more bedrooms is the least fun I ever had in Dwarf Fortress) Instead, consider the less limiting context of an alien prison camp. An Alien Slave Colony.
As the overseer of the slave colony, your challenges include:
- Manage escapes with the player built automated laser defense system, but energy consumption upon heavy use could lead to cataclysmic power outage, micromanagement of resources will be critical at times.
- The Robots (aka Guards) will be routinely destroyed by prisoners and need to be replaced with newly manufactured robots.
- Escapes cause delays with the Supply Shuttle, more escapes = more danger = more delay. Naturally as time goes on the delay would increase, ratcheting up the challenge as 'emergency deliveries' to deal with emerging problems would be less quick to arrive.
- Manage resource acquisition and manufacturing via mining pits and alien labor assignments.
- Discover new technologies and secrets of alien psychology through interrogation, leading to new manufacturing options and efficiency upgrades in all areas.
- Pacify revolts with emotion suppression beam, preempt revolts by medicating the food supply.
- Manage power production to maintain functions like the containment force-fields, laser defense perimeter, both temporary and permanent.
- Ward off occasional attacks by hordes of 'free' aliens, who attack walls to free prisoners, by directing power to defense systems in the vicinity of attack.
- Send out 'away teams' to retrieve aliens (of varying aggressiveness/destructiveness) from the (off-map) world. Take care to keep particularly aggressive prisoners segregated from the general population and in more secure cells.
- Staff the facility with engineers, scientists, and researchers, all of whom must be in harms way to do their work.
- Manage groups of alien prisoners, assigning them to work brigades, and cell blocks which each have their own regime.
- Manage logistics for supply-ship deliveries carefully. An alien raid, revolt of supply ship delay could throw your supply chain into a downward spiral.
Utilize slave labor to:
1. Harvest the alien planet for materials used for manufacturing and expanding the prison base, and foods consumable by the aliens.
2. Extract the alien blood and convert it to a priceless super drug favored back on earth.
3. Train the prisoners to manufacture equipment to be used on site.
4. Force them to run cranks that power the facility.
5. Interrogate the aliens to reveal their secrets.
Think about it. The abhorrence of human rights violations is something few take lightly. But nobody cries over the oppression of a violent alien species. The tech angle & imaginary alien world opens game development to any direction.
OK that's just some ideas. You guys are fantastic! And I hope my words are taken in the spirit they are intended. Run with it, run away from it, it's all good. In any event, I'm looking forward to watching the game develop and having a lot of "FUN" with it
