Originally Posted by
bikenh
One thought Raybo, have the user set up the scoring system himself before he starts the game. Give him options of certain situations...1%, 2%, 3%, 4%, 5%, etc...5 mph, 10mph, 15mph 20mph, 40mph, 60mph, headwind, crosswind, tailwind, etc. Let the use decide how he wants to reward or penalize himself and then let the game role.
This might be a much smarter way of handling the game. Sure their is no way to compare one person to another but in reality, on an actual multiperson tour no two people are going to have the same experience, so why have the game make two people have the same experience.
I originally wrote the game without points at all. The entire purpose was to let people do a bit of virtual bike touring and also a way to show off all my photos and provide links back to my journals. As I have mentioned before, creating things like this is something I like to do (right behind bike touring, in fact).
Then, I decided to add points to it as a way to demonstrate when someone had done a good/bad job of bike touring successfully. I tried to come up with reasonable penalties to show what kind of behaviors were detrimental. As I'd hoped, some people played the game repeatedly to try and get a high score.
I have thought of allowing people to do a lot of things: Creating their own routes (choosing scenery and terrain), combining the routes with Google maps so someone could "ride" a proposed real route, allowing people to select their own enjoyment values, among others.
Allowing someone to set their selections means either a) the settings need to be selected every time the game is player or b) I store them on my server and reload them every time the same person logs into the game. Frankly, neither of these options appeals to me.
The one modification I hope to add, but requires expertise I don't have, is to allow players to state their weight and then to select their gear. Camping options would only be allowed if someone chose to carry camping gear, however, the extra weight would also be factored in. The same would hold for cooking food (cooking gear).
There seems to be some confusion about my goals for this project. I am trying to provide a game that is both enjoyable and educational. I am not trying to make money on it. Nor am I concerned that some (most?) people will find the units I use, whether distance or monetary, confusing. But, I do want to make it as realistic as I can given those parameters. That is why I started this thread in the first place. I assumed that others would see my "enjoyment" factors differently. I just wanted a reality check on the numbers.
It has also proposed some interesting ideas that may get into future versions of the game, for which I am grateful.