Homework 10: Balance

There are 12 major types of balance in a game. Let us discuss them! 

The twelve types of balances

1.       Fairness

o   Symmetrical/assymetrical games

o   It seems like games can only be symmetrical if there are multi-player

o   Our game is assymetrical because different aliens that the player will fight are more powerful than the player and the player has to find a clever way to defeat them.

o   While the aliens will be more powerful, they might have some glaring weakness that the player can exploit to defeat the alien.

§  An example of this is an alien that does a lot of damage when it hits, but it cannot jump.

o   This is balanced because one side (the player or the aliens) does not have the advantage the entire time. 

2.       Challenge v success

·         There is a way to solve each puzzle, even if it looks challenging at first. The puzzles do not necessarily increase in difficulty; they are just different types of puzzles so it is difficult to compare them.

·         The aliens that the player fights do increase in difficulty; which makes the game harder, but they are worth more points.

·         The player will be motivated by the potential for more points and items.

3.       Meaningful choices

·         We have considered allowing the player to choose between a couple of characters at the beginning. Each of the characters would have a different skill: one is faster, one is stronger, etc. however, we have not come to a conclusion on this idea.

·         The player also has the option to not solve any of the puzzles, but they would not get many rewards. In this way the game has triangularity. It is more risky to move around the level (and possibly running into aliens) and solve puzzles, but then the player gets more points and more items. It is less risky to not solve the puzzles, but then they do not get rewards.

4.       Skill v chance

·         I think our game has a good system for this. The puzzles are skill based because they involve creative thinking and minor skills like jumping and memory.

·         The random encounter fights are part chance because it is unknown when they will occur, but the actual alien fighting is skill. Although it does not involve much thought, the player should get better each time they fight an alien.

5.       Heads v. hands

·         Our game is about half heads and half hands. The player will need to use creative thinking to figure out how to maneuver the puzzles , but the random encounter fights will test the player’s dexterity. A level of skill will also be required to do the platform jumping puzzles because the player will need to time the jumps correctly.

6.       Competition vs cooperation

·         This does not apply to our game because our game is a single player game.

7.       Short vs long

·         It is hard to figure this lens out because nobody has test played our game yet.

·         we could add a time constraint to the tasks given by the Obama-bot and not completing them in the time limit would result in punishment.

·         If our game is too shot we could add more humans that need to be saved from each level, or make some of the puzzles more complex.

·         Hopefully we will know more about this balance once our game is more developed.

8.       Rewards

·         Our game uses several of the reward systems.

·         The Obama-bot will congratulate you when you complete a task such as a puzzle, finding a lost document or rescuing all of the humans in a level.

·         It would be exciting if there was also a noise that sounded when the player accomplished a specific task, but we have not discussed the music aspect of our game yet.

·         The player can only get to the next level through gateways. Once they complete a set of tasks in a level, they are teleported back to the main stage and from there can advance to the next level, not before.

·         The player will have the ability to cause more damage to the aliens they fight after they rescue a set number of humans during each level. There is also the option to be able to go faster for a short period of time if they accomplish a number of tasks. This reward will be given by the Obama-bot.

·         There is a point system that rewards points for fighting aliens, finding lost items, saving humans and completing puzzles. The number of points given depends on the speed at which the player completes each task.

9.       Punishment

·         I think the Obama-bot will be useful in this respect. For example, if the player does not complete a task, the robot would look disappointed.

·         There does not need to be a loss of points if the player does not complete a puzzle or loses a fight, but the lack of added points would motivate them to complete tasks and do better.

·         The punishment for losing a level (which happens when the player loses a fight) is ‘death’. This is not a terribly severe sentence because the character appears at the beginning of the level again or at the last save point. They also lose any powers they might have had.

10.   Freedom vs. controlled experience

·         The player has a lot of freedom in the game. They can walk around the level and choose whether or not they want to complete tasks and solve puzzles. They also have the option to choose what moves and combinations to use while fighting.

·         The experiences that are out of the control of the player are when the fights occur, which alien they fight, what items they get and which level they go to.

·         This is balanced because the player has a lot of freedom to explore and have fun, but not so much freedom that they would feel directionless and bored.

11.   Simple vs complex

·         There are a lot of opportunities to do things in our game, but I do not think that it is too complicated. There are not a bunch of rules to follow. The player explores the level and when they want more direction, they ask the Obama-bot what to do. When they ask he will give a task or suggest a puzzle.

·         This is balanced well because, there are enough things to do to keep the game interesting, but what needs to be done does not require many rules.

12.   Detail vs imagination

·         Some levels take place in Washington D.C. which is a relatively familiar world, so this world will not need as much detail for the player to understand where they are. There are some famous buildings and monuments, but they are not painstakingly detailed.

·         Levels that are unfamiliar, such as the alien mothershi, have more detail.

·         The Obama-bot does not follow the player around all the time, the bot appears at the press of a button and where he is in between these times is up the imagination of the player.

·         The player knows that aliens are invading Earth, but it is up to their imagination to determine the motivation of the aliens and when the clause about the President fighting the aliens was added. These types of story elements will be things the player thinks about as he or she plays the game.

·         This will be balanced because half of the levels will be familiar worlds, and half will be unfamiliar.

·         Our game also has a lot of character because all of the aliens are unique. They all look different and have different powers. Our game also has humorous pop culture references. The part of the story about the president fighting the aliens is hilarious.