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October 11, 2006
Passenger or lemmings
I recall playing 'lemmings' a number of years ago ... and I was reminded of the game when I saw someone playing a similar game with penguins the other day. The idea is that you have a flow of lemmings coming from "A" and needing to get to "B" passing all sorts of perils on the way. A certain percentage need to make it in a certain time for you to pass. Other get lost on the way / die in the interest of others.
Reading about Great Central having trouble getting trains from the leasing companies for their services, and seeing how desparately short we're going to be in this area in a couple of months, I drew a parallel between a level of lemmings and the current system.
The operators of the trains are running the game, and the lemmings are the passengers. Mucking up the odd journey / timing out some passengers is no big deal - there's plenty more coming and provided you do enough to meet your target, you'll be congratulated rather than penalised.
The game itself is written by the ROScos and Network Rail, where they provide just enough (and at a high price) for it to be possible to meet the target of a level.
And pity the poor lemmings. Late, lost, overcrowded ...
Posted by gje at October 11, 2006 08:46 AM