I'm picturing a game where you take the role of an arcology planner and are given a certain number of ingame years to prove the viability of the concept as fully as possible. Game takes place on an isometric grid, where you build your arcology out of predefined modules such as living quarters, industries, power plants, greenhouses, etc. You have to manage things like the flow of resources between districts, transit, waste management. You can connect your arcology to the wider world to do things like import resources and export waste, and you will need to do so especially in the early game, but you also gain a growing ability to handle these things within your arcology as you expand its capabilities. Maybe also have the player have to deal with structural soundness and making sure the arcology doesn't collapse. Scoring would probably be based on population, land footprint (smaller is better), and self-sufficiency.
Hmm. Maybe after Guardian Cry.
I like the theme a lot. I don’t know that it would be that distinct from something like Planetside or Offworld Trading Company, mechanically speaking, but if you followed the concept to its logical conclusion there would probably be some unique elements that emerge. Arcologies are fun to think about, I would be broadly supportive.
Planetside, from what I can tell, is an FPS. Very different from what I had in mind! Not familiar with Offworld Trading Company, though. I'll have to check that one out.
Sorry, it wasn’t Planetside, it was Planetbase. Sort of a city builder/colony sim on another planet. It has some of the features you’re talking about. I quite like it because it has the potential for cascade failures if things like oxygen or food aren’t properly balanced. Very much in the spirit of building a self-sufficient arcology.