educational games (Freeciv)?
I really want to look at Freeciv. Perhaps I will next week when I take some vacation time. I really think that there should be a game that has the player make decisions about the usage of various technology/resources and models possible effects. Ie, if a type of transportation requires a nonrenewable resource and decisions are made that cause a society to become dependent on this type of transportation, then the player will see effects of this decision when the resource becomes scarce. The degree to which the society became dependent on the resource would depend in part on decisions that the player makes, such as the extent to which the resource is taxed (this might lead to decreased usage and increased private investment in research into other technologies) and the extent to which public research is funded. The player could choose where and under what conditions to allow drilling for resources (if regulation is minimal, then this would reduce the price of the resource slightly for a little while and thus cause a small amount of relief but might also contaminate the water supply in some places). The outcome of research would be somewhat random, like Warring Factions, so no two replays of the game would be exactly alike, meaning that the effects of a decision could be very different from one game to another. So I wonder if Freeciv has anything like this. Modeling these kinds of things seems challenging and inherently limiting, though, since it isn't possible for anyone to predict the effects of a decision with certainty, much less write a model that would be completely accurate. So such a game would always be subject to criticism that the model isn't accurate or realistic. But I think it could be educational for people to play a game that involves making such decisions and trade-offs, which can be difficult at times, and seeing what the results might be. I have a vague recollection of someone talking about learning some things about urban planning or becoming interested in it from playing SimCity.
But I doubt that the game is completely accessible, so I'd need to look for a way to make it accessible before I think about improving it in general, since otherwise I couldn't test my work. To borrow a friend's metaphor, it's like I want to play in the playground but can't right now because the playground isn't accessible, so _that_ would need to be addressed first.