Shall we have the same MPP concept in SC2?

[Shaka of Carthage]

The concept of a single economic unit has been around for many many years. Doesn't matter if you call it a BRP, MPP, WERP, Production Point, etc. Its an easy way to abstract out a complicated subject.

The problem with it, as was pointed out in one of the earlier posts, is that you lose the representation of what a loss or lack of certain resources meant to a nation. Lack of oil is why Japan went to war with the US. The resources of the Ukraine and the Caucasacus is one reason why Germany invaded the Soviet Union.

The problem is trying to reflect those economic realities is beyond the abilities of most game designers. Most gamers couldn't care less, and simply want the ability to grab more resources so they can build more stuff. The majority of your grognards will complain, because most games don't restrict what unlimited resources provide a nation, and from our (ie grognard) viewpoint, we might as well be playing Axis and Allies.

I've suggested for years, that SC should have multiple economic resources, which it already has in place by its icon representation (mines and oilwells). But it needs a differently designed economic system that what we are used to. Having units purchased based on a ratio of different resources, or limiting units based on the lack of a resource shows a lack of understanding as to the proper design of an economic system.

What needs to happen, is that Oil and Steel (the two majors) need to be the input into an abstracted economy, that produces MPP. A certain percentage of those MPPs need to be spent on your population (ie consumer goods), with the rest being available for military stuff. You'll also have to have some method of representating the fuel demand, but thats more a matter of choosing a method to use.

But now you have the next problem. The above is really only important to the Axis (and Japan). They were the only ones who had a oil shortage.

The UKs problems were Uboats and manpower. France isn't around long enough to have a problem. Russia's problem is staying alive long enough. And the US is just a matter of when it decides to get involved.

So most designers say forget it, and go with the single economic unit.