Depletable List Examples

On this page, we'll explore practical examples of using Depletable Lists to achieve unique outcomes in common game mechanics. Limited item availability can be a powerful tool in game design, enabling you to create diverse and engaging gameplay experiences.

Resource Collection

In many games, resource deposits are set up to yield a handful of common resources, along with a chance for a limited number of rare ones. This scenario can be effectively simulated using Depletable Lists, offering perfect control over the availability of each resource type.

Consider the well-known iron vein commonly found in game worlds, a staple resource for players that occasionally rewards them with precious gems.

This particular Iron Vein is designed to frequently provide unlimited Iron Ore and Heavy Stone, while also offering a rare chance of yielding a maximum of three Gold Nuggets and one Opal. The two main resources are set as non-depletable, meaning they remain consistently available for collection. In contrast, the rare gems are depletable; their availability is capped at 3 and 1 units, respectively.

Each mining attempt allows the player to extract 1 to 3 items, determined by the Pick Count setting. Picking the depletable items consumes their units until they are depleted, whereas the non-depletable items continuously remain accessible.

Depleting Deposit by Mining Attempts

Often, it's beneficial to limit a resource deposit and introduce a logic of depletion. One effective approach is to assign a fixed number of mining attempts before the deposit is considered depleted.

using System.Collections.Generic;
using RNGNeeds;
using UnityEngine;

public class ResourceDeposit : MonoBehaviour
{
    public ProbabilityList<Resource> resourceDeposit;
    
    public int miningAttempts = 0;
    public int maxMiningAttempts = 5;
    
    public List<Resource> MineDeposit()
    {
        miningAttempts++;
    
        if (miningAttempts >= maxMiningAttempts)
        {
            // Here, we would typically disable the depleted resource deposit
            // For example, disable this GameObject or make it non-interactable
        }
    
        return resourceDeposit.PickValues();
    }
}

In this code, we increment the miningAttempts counter each time the deposit is mined. Once the miningAttempts reaches or exceeds the maxMiningAttempts, the deposit is considered depleted and is thus made unavailable for further mining.

Depleting Deposit by Resource Availability

An alternative approach involves monitoring if a particular resource in the deposit is depleted. Consider the following resource deposit setup:

We have introduced a Check For Depleted Resource variable and changed the Iron Ore item to be depletable with 5 available units. The logic below checks if the specified resource is depleted and disables the deposit accordingly.

public Resource checkForDepletedResource;
public ProbabilityList<Resource> resourceDeposit;

public List<Resource> MineDeposit()
{
    var minedResources = resourceDeposit.PickValues();
    if (resourceDeposit.TryGetProbabilityItem(checkForDepletedResource, out var depositResource))
    {
        if(depositResource.IsDepleted)
        {
            // disable the depleted resource deposit
        }
    }

    return minedResources;
}

This particular deposit will allow mining until the Iron Ore is depleted, at which point the deposit will be disabled.

The great thing about this approach is that the game designer has full control over which resource will trigger the depletion of the deposit. By setting the individual items as depletable and assigning their units, each resource deposit can be customized to fit the game's unique mechanics or needs.