Balance of the Planet
★
N/A
0 user ratings
★
N/A
0 critic ratings
Summary
Balance of the Planet is an environmental strategy simulation. It follows in the footsteps of Balance of Power. Chris Crawford appears to have a particular fascination with global issues. Balance of Power focused on Cold War politics, while its successor, Balance of the Planet, tackles the simulation of Earth's entire ecosystem. Although Maxis' Sim Earth is frequently cited as the first "ecosim," the true pioneer is Crawford's game. Both remain compelling, however, as they approach the same complex topic through entirely different methods. Sim Earth attempts to model natural processes—such as plate tectonics, weather patterns, and global temperatures—with a high degree of accuracy, calculating the world's response based on these fundamentals. Balance of the Planet, on the other hand, simplifies the ecological system into 150 distinct variables, all linked in a web of cause and effect. Rather than presenting the ecosystem as a unified whole, it reveals a series of interconnected issues. For instance, when addressing global warming, the game directs your attention to carbon dioxide and methane emissions (the causes) and rising sea levels (the effects). By tracing these connections, you can uncover how something as seemingly unrelated as beef production might contribute to flooding. However, the game doesn't offer a fully accurate simulation of global ecology, but rather a detailed schematic of factors and their relationships. Unlike Sim Earth, you don't alter the natural processes themselves. Instead, your role is to influence society through funding and subsidies. Raising taxes on coal, for example, may reduce carbon emissions, but it could also place greater pressure on alternative energy sources. It's often best to support renewable energy, though this diverts funds from other urgent issues. Your challenge is to manage the balance between ecological health and the traditional system of incentives and penalties. You have only nine turns to do this, and your score will reflect your success or failure accordingly. Balance of the Planet is highly adaptable. Not only can you load "biased" scenarios where you play with a specific ideological stance (such as pro-nuclear), but you can also modify all the calculation formulas to suit your preferences.
