Armed with nothing but a credit card, you set out to purchase a second-hand kettle, fermenting bucket, tubing, bottles and caps, sanitizing chemicals, and all the ingredients to get your first batch of brew going. If you do everything right, you will avoid a bacterial infection and produce a few gallons of tasty beer. Sell this to your friends and earn enough to make another batch.
Gradually, you upgrade your equipment and get higher-quality ingredients and start building contracts with local bars and liquor stores. Be very careful as you start hiring employees, as your competitors may be sending goons to sabotage your operations. (Though you can do the same to them when you've got enough money and some trusted devotees.) At some point you will also need to have an adequate security system and staff to fight off the terrorists from MADD and AA.
You get the idea... The main purpose is to teach people how to make great beer and have fun until they're able to really do it.
If this is baked, I want it.-- DarkEnergy, Mar 14 2006 The Goons originated in a pub, of course. http://www.whirligi.../radio/goonshow.htm [po, Mar 14 2006] Send A Virtual Beer! http://www.virtualb...vb/send/index.shtml [skinflaps, Mar 16 2006] Sounds like a microbrewery if I'm not mistaken, presses the green button then proceeds to sup on a 18 pint glass of virtual heaven.-- skinflaps, Mar 14 2006 mmmmmmmmm.........virtual brewery-- the fiddler, Mar 14 2006 OK, I don't really see anything "virtual" in this... it sounds like old fashioned home brew to me. And I hate to be a wet blanket on the idea, but if you're going to brew your own beer (one of my hobbies by the way), why on earth, would you use anything but the best quality ingredients from the beginning?-- zigness, Mar 16 2006 //mmmmmmmmm.........virtual brewery [the fiddler]//
Didn't you say you were only 13 years old in a different thread? If this idea and games of this type are going to have that kind of effect on minors, then that would seem sufficient reason to disapprove of it.-- jurist, Mar 16 2006 zigness, check out the idea category.-- DrBob, Mar 16 2006 //I'm not sure I'd like to put all this effort in, only to result in virtual beer// What? Like Kaliber?-- DrBob, Mar 16 2006 Ian, yeah it could be kind of depressing to spend all that time and end up with nothing to sip. Of course, that's the same with any simulation game. Spend months building your Sim City, but unfortunately, you don't really get a city.
The difference here is that while many sim games are a big waste of time with no redeeming value, this one would be educational in a real sense. The reason I even thought about it is because I'm in the process of learning how to brew through websites, tutorials, etc. It seems like the processes can be modelled very accurately, and it would be an entertaining way to learn how to do things RIGHT before jumping into the real thing.
At least if you screw up a virtual batch of beer, it's less discouraging to restart a game than to physically dump the fruits of your labor down the drain. It would also only take a few seconds rather than several weeks to find out how well things went. Once you master brewing in the game (assuming it's designed realistically), you can confidently go forward and do it for real. It seems like you're already at that point, so I can see where this idea isn't very exciting for you.-- DarkEnergy, Mar 16 2006 [DarkEnergy] and [DrBob], It was late... I totally missed the category. (It's a rare idea that doesn't stand on it's own without the category being relevant).
Vote changed to bun made with brewer's yeast! This IS a good idea.-- zigness, Mar 16 2006 random, halfbakery