Indicator

After reading this page

• You've learned what indicators are
• You've learned what predefined indicators exist in the Tygron Engine
• You've learned what other parts of a game can influence indicators
• You've learned how to alter existing indicators in your game
• You've learned how to add and remove complete indicators

Indicators

Indicators are the targets which exist in a game. They are named after Key Performance Indicators, a measure by which organizations evaluate their success. Indicators are a primary part of your game, and serve as the guiding element by which players can determine whether they are making progress.

Indicators are visible in-game in the top of the interface. Each indicator is represented by a short name, and (with exception of the budget) is accompanied by a small progress bar to indicate how well you are performing on that indicator.

File:Ui - topbar.jpg

The top bar of the interface. The indicators are Budget, Building and Progress.

Types of indicator

A number of indicator types already exist in the Tygron Engine. The available indicator types are dividable into 2 groups, namely indicators that are stakeholder-specific, and indicators that apply globally. The following predefined indicator types exist:

• Stakeholder-specific indicators
  • Budget
  • Building
• Global indicators
  • Green
  • Parking
  • Livability
  • Water Storage
  • Qualitative

Please read more about the various Indicator types.

Indicator Properties

Each indicator has a number of properties. Changing these properties will change the appearance of the indicator for the players.

Name

The full name for indicator. This is the name that will appear as the title of the indicator in game.

Short name

The short name for indicator. This will appear in areas where multiple indicators are summed up.

Color

The color for the indicator. The color will be used to display the indicator in graphs and charts.

Description

The description for the indicator. Most indicator have a fitting default description, but by customizing this text it is possible to guide the players towards specific actions, provide hints or refer to other sources of information.

Target

The goal to reach for this indicator. This is the most important property, because by setting the target, you are directly instructing the stakeholder what they should strive for in the game. Depending on the selected indicator type, one or more values can be entered for targets. For example: for a budget indicator, you only need to set the amount of money the stakeholder should have remaining. For the building indicator, you can enter a separate goal for each type of building.

Influencing Indicators

During the game, players are able to influence indicators by taking actions. Almost every action has an effect on at least one indicator. It is up to the players to apply their actions appropriately to increase the score on their indicators. It is possible to adjust the effects actions have on indicators. For more information on this, please read about changing function values.

Editing Indicators

To change the properties of indicators listed above, you can open the "Indicators" tab in the "Indicators" menu.

File:Editor - indicators.jpg

The indicator screen of the editor.