# Scenario objectives

*Mechanic* · `scenario-objectives` · status: **sourced**

Preset maps or situations come with explicit goals, constraints, and often a deadline.

| field | value |
|---|---|
| aliases | scenarios, missions, challenge maps, campaign goals |
| family | Progression & goals |
| substrate | Rule system |
| math basis | Optimization |
| feedback | None |
| player interface | Observation only |
| legibility | 4 |
| emergence potential | 2 |
| authoring cost | 3 |
| compute cost | 1 |
| tuning difficulty | 3 |
| ai leverage | 3 |
| maturity | Classic |
| core count *(computed)* | 4 |
| earliest game *(computed)* | [Populous](../game/populous.md) |
| earliest year *(computed)* | 1989 |
| prevalence *(computed)* | 40 |
| prevalence rank *(computed)* | 5 |
| prevalence share *(computed)* | 0.226 |
| subgenre spread *(computed)* | 19 |
| technique count *(computed)* | 6 |
| technique exposure *(computed)* | 1.3 |

## Definition

A scenario bundles an initial state (map, buildings, budget, population, problem) with a goal predicate, optional constraints (banned buildings, fixed budget, no loans), and a deadline. State owned: the scenario definition and evaluation status. Update rule: each evaluation interval, test the goal and failure predicates; on the deadline or a failure condition, end with win or loss and often unlock the next scenario. Canonical forms: SimCity (1989), whose goal-oriented, time-limited scenarios were added at Broderbund's suggestion to make the toy more like a traditional game; RollerCoaster Tycoon, whose 21 base scenarios each unlock the next on completion, typically requiring a guest count and park rating by a date; Railroad Tycoon II's bronze, silver, and gold goal tiers; and Theme Hospital levels and Planet Coaster career scenarios.

## Player Experience

The sandbox gets a question. The player studies an inherited mess, plans against the clock, and feels accomplishment rather than open-ended satisfaction. Constraints force use of systems the player would otherwise ignore.

## Design Levers

- goal type: target value, survival, or rescue
- deadline length
- constraints and starting resources
- single goal versus tiered bronze, silver, gold goals
- scenario ordering and unlocks
- whether play continues after the goal is met

## Failure Modes

- Goals that reward a degenerate strategy, such as a guest count met by trapping guests in the park.
- Deadlines that leave no room for experimentation make scenarios feel like puzzles with one answer.
- Initial states that are trivially fixable or hopeless.

## Dynamics

- Scenarios function as structured tutorials for systems hidden in sandbox mode.
- Hard scenario lines become community challenges with shared strategies.
- Inherited problem cities expose systemic interactions the player did not cause.

## Open Questions

- Can scenarios be generated by searching initial states and constraints for a target difficulty using automated RL playtests?
- Can a language model generate a scenario brief and constraints from a real-world event that the simulation can actually evaluate?

## Backlinks (computed)

**affected by:** [Agent-based automated playtesting and balancing](../technique/automated-playtesting.md), [Automated generation of game rules and mechanics](../technique/automated-rule-generation.md), [Prompt-to-persistent 3D world generation](../technique/generated-3d-worlds.md), [Learned level and map generation (PCGRL, MarioGPT, LLM generators)](../technique/learned-level-generation.md), [Open-ended co-generation of environments and agents](../technique/open-ended-environment-generation.md), [Quality-diversity search (MAP-Elites) for content and balance](../technique/quality-diversity-search.md)

**involved in:** [Quality-diversity scenario libraries](../opportunity/qd-scenario-libraries.md), [Simulation games as agent benchmarks](../opportunity/sims-as-agent-benchmarks.md), [Specification programming games](../opportunity/specification-programming-games.md)

**used by:** [Against the Storm](../game/against-the-storm.md), [Arma 3](../game/arma-3.md), [BeamNG.drive](../game/beamng-drive.md), [Besiege](../game/besiege.md), [Big Pharma](../game/big-pharma.md), [Caesar III](../game/caesar-3.md), [Capitalism](../game/capitalism.md), [Command: Modern Operations](../game/command-modern-operations.md), [DCS World](../game/dcs-world.md), [From Dust](../game/from-dust.md), [Frostpunk 2](../game/frostpunk-2.md), [Gran Turismo](../game/gran-turismo.md), [Gran Turismo 7](../game/gran-turismo-7.md), [Harvest Moon](../game/harvest-moon.md), [Job Simulator](../game/job-simulator.md), [Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020)](../game/microsoft-flight-simulator-2020.md), [Mindustry](../game/mindustry.md), [Opus Magnum](../game/opus-magnum.md), [Pharaoh](../game/pharaoh.md), [Plague Inc.](../game/plague-inc.md), [Planet Coaster](../game/planet-coaster.md), [Poly Bridge](../game/poly-bridge.md), [Populous](../game/populous.md), [PowerWash Simulator](../game/powerwash-simulator.md), [Project Hospital](../game/project-hospital.md), [Prom Week](../game/prom-week.md), [Rebel Inc.](../game/rebel-inc.md), [RollerCoaster Tycoon](../game/rollercoaster-tycoon.md), [SimAnt](../game/simant.md), [SimCity](../game/simcity-1989.md), [SimEarth](../game/simearth.md), [SpaceChem](../game/spacechem.md), [Suck Up!](../game/suck-up.md), [Surgeon Simulator](../game/surgeon-simulator.md), [Teardown](../game/teardown.md), [Terra Nil](../game/terra-nil.md), [The Incredible Machine](../game/the-incredible-machine.md), [Theme Hospital](../game/theme-hospital.md), [Two Point Hospital](../game/two-point-hospital.md), [Zoo Tycoon](../game/zoo-tycoon.md)

## Claims

- SimCity (1989) included goal-oriented, time-limited scenarios that end in win or loss; Broderbund suggested scenarios to make SimCity more like a traditional game. *(confidence: medium)* [[73](../source/src-wikipedia-simcity-1989.md)]
- RollerCoaster Tycoon, designed and programmed by Chris Sawyer, shipped with 21 scenarios in which completing one unlocks the next. *(confidence: medium)* [[107](../source/src-wikipedia-rollercoaster-tycoon.md)]

## Sources

- [SimCity (1989 video game)](../source/src-wikipedia-simcity-1989.md)
- [RollerCoaster Tycoon (video game)](../source/src-wikipedia-rollercoaster-tycoon.md)

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Provenance: created in run `2026-10-24-taxonomy-m6`.