LMS – Retrospective #8 – Contract Penalties
Today we’re looking back at another one of those elements that everybody’s faced at some point: Contract Penalties! Those pesky deductions from your hard-earned rewards… just because I may have accidentally mowed down some prized begonias…
Nobody likes them, but once you’ve transgressed a couple of times, you know what to expect – and it’s your choice if you want to try that bit harder in future to avoid them! But how did the idea for contract penalties come about? Here’s Game Director, Rick Payne!
Q: So you’ve chopped up a few flowers, dumped grass clippings all over the place and performed a perfect handbrake turn on that immaculate front lawn… none of that will go down well with those lovely people paying you to take care of their greenery, will it?
Rick: Not so much, no. Contract penalties is one of those features that divides opinion, quite honestly. But from a design standpoint, as with many other things, we’re trying to reflect the consequences you might expect for a job done poorly in real life.
We spent quite a while thinking about how to apply these consequences – but ultimately, the most practical way was to model this financially.
Q: The penalties are proportional to the destruction or mess caused, but were you tempted to be more harsh at any point?
Rick: Early in development they were much harsher than what the game launched with! Post-launch as well we have lessened their impacts a few times based on feedback from our amazing community.
Behind the scenes it is a very granular set of systems. Collision fines, for example, are different per object. So if you crash into the Rowleys’ prize classic car you will be fined a lot more than bumping into a bin in Ripley Park.
They add a little risk and reward to the game as well. Do you go fast to try and get a better early finish bonus at the risk of causing some ground damage? It is all up to the player and their skill level.
Q: And will contract penalties be part of LMS2, or are you thinking of reflecting consequences differently this time?
Rick: They will definitely be part of LMS2 that can affect your financial earnings, but we learned a lot with LMS1 and the community reaction, so we won’t be quite as harsh this time.
I’d still recommend that players avoid crashing into expensive looking cars though 😉
Once again, remember we’re still in development, so design specs may well change in the coming months. Meanwhile, if there’s something from the original game you’d like us to talk about, let us know!
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