So I've had this idea sitting in the back of my head for a long time. I figured sooner or later Ill have to find a way to lay it all out. To kind of sum my idea up, I think it's about time for someone to develop a 30's period Gangster RTS/Sim. The last time, or perhaps the only time that this was done well was probably Gangsters 2, released in 2001. Featuring a small city of maybe a few hundred people, most moving along preprogrammed paths to add ambiance, it let you hire lieutenants, who could then lead up to 5 henchmen. You could buy legitimate business which would make a little money, then use the as a front for illegal ones. With that funding you could go after your opponents businesses and henchmen, before finally taking out his headquarters. There are too many things I enjoyed about this game, so let me go over some of the things I think should be included in a mob RTS.
Lieutenants/Captains
Hiring various thugs with certain skill-sets:
Stealth- Determines how much you can get away with before the police are onto you
Firearms-Accuracy when shooting
Driving- determines how fast your car can move
Special skills/violent- explosives expert, assassin, arsonist, steal cars, henchmen combat bonus
Special skills/business - specialty running stills, speakeasies, numbers rackets, gambling dens,brothels
Able to hire henchmen- cookie cutter thugs that escort your lieutenants.
Able to patrol areas and guard businesses
Police:
Police can add a random element to the game, as they would be an NPC faction
-patrolling the streets increasing the risk of being caught
-raiding your businesses if your illegal activities get out of hand
-raiding your headquarters and stealing money as a payoff
-arresting lieutenants requiring bribes to get them released.
-able to be bribed to go after other players, similar to the bounty for pirates in sins of a solar empire
Businesses:
Businesses would be the source of income for each faction. The original legitimate business could be purchased, then "upgraded"
-Could be intimidated into paying "protection money, which would generate the least income but wouldnt require the up front cost of purchasing
-Businesses that are not a front wouldnt generate as much income, but would be immune to being raised by police
-serve as a front for various illegal activities: numbers games, speakeasies, brothels, stolen goods, stills. illegal businesses income could be based being installed on the appropraite "front". Massage parlors for brothels, resturants for speakeasies, department stores for stolen goods.
-could be shut down for a few months by police raids, limiting the controlling factions upgrade.
-could require support businesses, such as stills.
Weapons:
Your soldiers could be upgraded with different weapons, each costing more
-handgun
-rifle
-shotgun
-dual pistols
-tommy guns
Cars:
What good would a gangster sim be without drive bys? and you would be able to upgrade them to be faster and/or take more damage. Also they could transport your people faster. here are some examples of what you could go with.
-Model T- basic vehicle
-Sedan
-Truck
-armored truck
-armored sedan
These are just some of the features I would love to see. So why would anyone look into making this? Well to start, I believe there is a market for it. Log into Facebook or especially Myspace and see how many people are playing Mafia Wars, which is really just a text based strategy game. Then see how many clones there are of that game based on the Mob. These games would basically be the only competition, with the sole advantage that they are free to play. As I said before, the last good game in this niche was made 8 years ago. Also, a game more focused on the economic/strategy element wouldnt require next generation graphics, and would be accessable to more consumers, not just high end gamers. Anyway I appreciate people taking the time to read this post. Let me know what you think.