1. CIS 487/587 Bruce R. Maxim UM-Dearborn
Gameplay and Balance
CIS 487/587
Bruce R. Maxim
UM-Dearborn
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2. Goals List 5 games What in one sentence what is the objective of each?
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3. Rules, Play, Culture Rules Play Culture
Organization of the game system
Play
Human experience from the game system
Culture
Larger contexts engaged or inhabited by the game system
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4. Implementing Gameplay
Gameplay is the union of the game environment and game rules
A game is a series of choices
To be worthwhile gameplay must provide players with non-trivial choices
Choices should have both good and bad consequences to ensure that no one strategy can become dominant
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5. Rules Operational Rules Constituative Rules Implicit Rules
Guidelines to allow for orderly play
Constituative Rules
Logical or math basis of the game
Example: Nim or Taxman
Implicit Rules
Etiquette or sportsmanship
Example: everyone can reach the board
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6. Rules Can you think of a game with no rules?
How about a game with only one rule?
Why is it hard to find a game without many rules?
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7. Strategy vs Tactics Strategic choices Tactical choices
Affect the course of the game over the medium or long term
Tactical choices
Apply to the immediate situation
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8. Dominant Strategy Problem
Dominated strategy
option so bad that is is never worth using
Dominant strategy
option so good that it is always used
Games with lasting appeal will avoid the use of near dominated (limited use) and near dominant (excessively used) options
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9. Choice and Outcome Choice Outcome Possibility space
A question asked of the player
Outcome
The end result of a given choice
Possibility space
Represents the set of possible events
A “landscape” of choice and outcome

10. Choice and Outcome Well-designed choice
Often desirable and undesirable effects
Should relate to player goals
Balanced against neighboring choices
Too much weight to every choice is melodrama
Orthogonal choices – distinct from others
Not just “shades of grey”

11. Ensuring Interesting Choices
Avoid paper-scissors-rock type absolute transitive relationships
Players should be required to make a judgment to select an optimal strategy only after taking into account the aspects of each game situation (e.g. terrain, weather, time, opponent actions)
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12. Tradeoffs Option does the most damage but it is the slowest
Option is fastest to use but leaves player defenseless
Option is best defense but does little damage
Option is never the best or worst, but is the most versatile
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13. Supporting Investments
To reach the primary game objective (destroy enemies) players may have to attend to secondary aims (like building farms to produce food to encourage trade to make money to recruit soldiers)
By including multilevel decisions creates the need for players to think strategically
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14. Compensating Factors
Costs that any be added to game to make selection of option less attractive
Example:
Helicopters can cross any type of terrain
Make them slow
Make them easily destroyed
Limit their ability to look far ahead
Make them expensive
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15. Impermanence
Sometimes an advantage associated with a strategy might only be temporary
Destroyed by enemies
Stolen or converted
Require the use of something not always present
Limited number of uses
Time limit on use
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16. Shadow Costs
The underlying costs to the player associated with making a decision
Resources or experiences required to be able to use some option
Can be costs related to make supporting investments
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17. Game Balance Types Player/Player Player/Gameplay Gameplay/Gameplay
Player’s performance is based on skill and a little “luck”
Player/Gameplay
Player should not feel the game is too hard or too easy
Gameplay/Gameplay
The cost of a game’s features must match the power of acquiring the feature
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18. Achieving Game Balance
Ensure that skill matters, do not allow a few random elements to determine outcome
Give all players access to the same features having varying power/cost
Good game play involves allowing the players to make interesting choices
Need to make sure that no strategy is unbeatable
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19. Golden Rules Player/Player Player/Gameplay Gameplay/Gameplay
Players should never be put in unwinnable situations through no fault of their own
Player/Gameplay
Game should be fun to learn and fun to play (game is more fun when more is learned)
Gameplay/Gameplay
All game options must be worth using sometimes and the cost must be commensurate with payoff
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20. Balance in Capture the Flag
Describe how you might ensure player/player balance? Is it important?
How would you ensure player/gameplay balance?
How would you ensure gameplay/gameplay balnace?
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21. Player/Player Balance
Symmetry in opponent skills and resources
player have the opportunity to do the best with what they start with
Symmetry in level design
levels are functionally equal in difficulty for each player
Symmetry in game design
all players have functionally equivalent choices presented during gameplay
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22. Player/Gameplay Balance
Want a fair game where the player feels that all features are worthwhile
Balance game challenges against player’s improving abilities
Reward the player
Let the machine do the work
Let player play with the game not against it (this is a usability issue)
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23. Gameplay/Gameplay Balance
There should be an interesting set of non-dominant player choices
Optimum choices are not easy to recognize since the require knowledge of previous player choices
Not easy to see how frequently different choices will be worth making
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24. Save Game Problem
Often players complain about how hard it is to get the a “save” point
Problem is not the mechanism used to allow a save
Problem is symptomatic of arbitrary game behavior or a steep learning curve that makes it hard to progress using skill alone (i.e. trial and error with starting over at beginning the punishment for failure)
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