Schreiber uses a simple 2 player game in the beginning of his post to describe balancing. His idea is that a 'balanced' game means that one player does not have an unfair advantage over the other player. He also mentions that sometimes a game can be 'balanced' when it is simply against the game itself, with no second player involved and simply being a challenge. Finally he also mentions the idea of a card game being 'balanced' despite everyone having access to the same advantages.
Schreiber separates these into four sections :
1.Single player uses balance to decide what the difficulty is like and how appropriate it is to the audience.
This difficulty can change based on where the player is in regards to the games plot, for example end-game will have difficult enemies compared to the beginning. This is called Pacing and is done because as a player will explore the game and its mechanics they will begin to become more skilled at playing. By improving the difficulty as the game goes on it allows the balance to remain, without the game becoming too hard or easy.
Perfecting this is often done by utilising hundreds of play testers to create an average difficulty.
2. Multiplayer games with Asymmetry use balancing to decide whether one position is greater than the other.
If a game is symmetric then it does not require much balancing because players will start with equal resources and then the players advantages will come from their skill as a player instead of a game mechanic. An asymmetric game will require lots of playtesting in order to successfully balance each players starting positions.
3. If there are multiple strategies available in game then they must be balanced to prevent one from being more powerful than the others.
If a game has a single powerful strategy that beats all others then this becomes problematic for a game because it causes all other strategies that are worse than the optimal to become simple background noise. This makes it important to develop multiple, balanced, strategies that can effectively win a game in order to allow the players more choice and replayability.
4.Finally in card games each individual card is 'balanced', with its cost/benefit being take into consideration.
'Objects' can relate to different things such as units in an RTS, equipment in an RPG and cards in a CCG. We look at the idea of a 'deck' built with a set number of cards within the idea of CCG. Due to their being a large pool to choose from this requires a large amount of balancing to be done correctly. A correct method for this is to utilise a counter system, making certain cards more effective at others while being weaker against most. The method of balancing an object in a game is to look at its cost to benefit ratio. If two objects share this then they are, in theory, balanced.
To further expand upon the idea of balancing objects there are three different methods:
Transitive Or the Cost Curve
This is the direct method of balancing objects. The basic idea is that an object will have increasingly more beneficial effects the more it costs, or will have less detrimental effects the more it costs. A problem with balancing this is that if the designers math for the curve is incorrect, then it is wrong for every object in the game.
Intransitive or the Rock-Paper-Scissors
This method follows the game of Rock-Paper-Scissors, in the sense that a unit will be able to beat one other unit, draw against a similar unit and lose to another unit. This method can combine with the cost curve, allowing a certain type of unit to be better than all the others because it costs more, but is still matched by a unit of the same level. These methods require extensive use of math in order to discover the balance issues and resolve them without the game seeming too much like R-P-S.
Fruity
This is the most random of the methods given by Schreiber, which involves giving unique objects to every player. The only way to balance this is with extensive play testing.
There are generic methods to assist in balancing games and they are as follows:
Math
Using math allows for transitive and intransitive methods to be implemented into your game, but it is difficult to do math and can be completely wrong which in turn will destroy the balance found in your game. Some abilities and unique units may not work with Math, and require different balancing methods.
Instinct
Utilising your insinct allows you to determine when the game feels right to you. This method is very open to human error and can be argued with other designers because they will have different opinions and instincts.
Play Testing
One of the most reliable methods of balancing your game, this enables you to discover a variety of information in regards to your game. This method relies on acquiring quality play testers however, because the feedback is only as good as the individual doing the play testing.
There are more methods that can be used for balancing your game:
Be aware of the different objects and systems found in your game
For example remember the core aesthetic and remember the interconnections found within the game and be prepared to change more than one thing if you need to make a change.
Make 1 change at a time
By only changing one thing at a time it allows you to time to view what it affects and you will know what it breaks.
Excel
Excel allows you to create charts and graphs which can detail all of the information about your objects whether it involves the cost and stats of units in an RTS, the costs and effects of your cards, your weapons and gear in an RPG and more. Excel spreadsheets are versatile and useful in game design.
Excel is good at running equations as well, allowing the math side of balancing to be made simpler and is good for showing cause and effect.
Rule of 2
This rule decides that if a game has a variable that is too high you will half it, and if the variable number is too low then you double it.
Balance the first turn
This involves balancing out the first few turns of the game in order to see how players will go, and to remove any overpowered strategies that will beat all others.
Write down rules as you make them
This gives you a reference point for your rules, so that you are able to call upon them for changes when necessary.
Balance
After reading the article, and calling upon my experiences of playing card games and RTS games I am able to understand more in relation to the effort that is required to balance these games and prevent one player having a huge advantage.
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