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What is game balance? Getting the numbers right Some explicit, some implicit All about relations between numbers Nuance of relationships Game and metagame Metagame examples Poker tells Sports leagues rules
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Aspects of Game Balance Single-player Multi-player Within game Objects
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Types of Balance Challenge/Success Fairness Meaningful choices Skill /Chance Head/Hands Competition vs. Cooperation Short/Long Rewards Punishment Freedom/Control Simple/Complex Derail?imagination
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Determinism Determinism: given a move in a particular context, will always have the same result Chess, go deterministic, but very large state space Original Pac-man AI too deterministic – became a game of memorization (added ransdomness isn Ms Pac-man)
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Solvability Trivial Tic-Tac-Toe Theoretical complete Chess, go Checkers? Non-deterministic: maximize probability Perfect vs. privileged information
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In the Flow Individual differences Choosing difficulty level Pacing Levels: increase difficulty with success Go through easy parts quickly
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Why Asymmetry Real world Exploration Personalization Level playing field Interest
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Dealing with Asymmetry Asymmetry of starting position Turn-based: who goes first Balancing asymmetry Class equivalence Different objectives
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Balancing Strategies Dominant strategy Eliminates all other decisions Multiple winning strategies
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Game Objects Cost/benefit ratios Purchases of spells, units, … Each object Too weak: useless Too powerful: makes other object useless Techniques Cost curve (transitive) Rock-paper-scissors (intransitive) Rock-paper-scissors Incomparable
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Object Relationships How significant Linear … (Pascal’s Triangle)Pascal’s Triangle Exponential One-way or two Gold may buy food but has other purposes as well Do you have a central measure?
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Helpful Hints One change at a time Rule of 2 Balancing first-turn advantage Resource: Ian Schreiber on-line course (blog)on-line course
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