Detroit (computer game)

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Detroit
Developer(s)	Impressions Games
Release date(s)	1993
Genre(s)	Turn based strategy
Mode(s)	Single player, Multiplayer (hotseat)
Platform(s)	DOS
Media	Floppy disk
Input	Keyboard, Mouse

Detroit is an economic simulation game that places you in charge of a fledgling automobile company starting at the dawn of the 20th century. The player is responsible for the financing, research and development, design, testing, production and marketing of automobile product lines with the aim to become the most successful automobile business in the world.

Detroit is named after the American city of Detroit which is nicknamed "Motor City" due to the concentration of American automobile manufacturers in the city during the 20th century.

1 Gameplay
2 Trivia
3 References

[edit] Gameplay

The player starts off with a factory and a number of distributors. The game tends to follow common steps in a project lifecycle which involves the planning of a product, development of a product, testing of a product and its release to the public. The player is expected to follow this process whenever they wish to develop a new automobile.

The different aspects of the business are covered by different buildings at your factory (which is actually a pictorial representation of the main menu). Clicking on one of these buildings will bring up the following departments:

[edit] Manager's office

This is where most of the work is done. From here, the player can access the company's finances and can hire/fire new personnel. This is where you go when you wish to view profit graphs and to read reviews on the performance of your vehicles compared against the competition.

[edit] Research and Development

Research and development allows you to research new features for your vehicles. This can range from aesthetic changes (such as body shape) to more technical ones such as new engines, suspension, brakes, safety and luxury features. Keeping your R&D department well funded is crucial to your success as the public quickly gets bored with obsolete designs.

[edit] Design

In this department you basically choose a blueprint for your vehicle. The body designs available to you will change provided you have assigned enough researchers to investigate them. The player is then able to choose the appearance of the rear, centre and front of the vehicle with the designs available. After picking a colour and adding the engine, brakes, suspension, safety and luxury features, the player can commission a prototype of the vehicle to be used in the testing phase.

[edit] Prototype Testing

During the testing phase the car is put through its paces and aspects such as handling, braking, fuel economy, safety, etc. are tested and given a rating. This helps the player gauge if the current design will be a total flop or a commercial success if he/she decides to go into full production (although this is also dependent on marketing).

[edit] Manufacturing and Sales

Once you've accepted a new product line you then need to start mass production of the vehicle. On this screen the number of factories and showrooms you have across the globe are displayed. Here you can open or close down new factories and showrooms or upgrade the level of your factories to make them more productive. Supply routes between factories and showrooms are also set and prioritised on this screen. The price of vehicles in each territory can also be set here.

[edit] Marketing

Here the player can invest funds into marketing of vehicles through various forms of media. Some will be more effective than others depending in which year you are currently at in the game. Examples of media you can advertise on include billboards, newspapers, women's magazines, radio and television.

[edit] Trivia

When viewing reports in Detroit there is often a "Print Report" button which gives you an extra degree of immersion in the game since pressing the button prints an actual copy of the report off your printer (provided you have one set up). This is a rare feature in games and especially so for DOS ones.