Post by NAF1138 on Feb 9, 2009 12:42:12 GMT -5
So, I have been getting PMd a lot recently for help with game design. And I am more than happy to help, but I am starting to see the same things come up over and over again so when FCoD PMd me about looking at a setup that I thought I might want to play in, instead of looking at the setup I sent him a little post with some of what I think are the basic principles that a designer should be thinking about when putting together a game.
I was going to repost it to the Wiki, but then thought that maybe we should all take a look at it and refine it a bit before it goes up over there.
Here is what I wrote, tweaked a little bit by me already. What does everyone think? Anything you would change or add? (Again, this was done blind, I know nothing at all about FCoD's game setup)
What does everyone think? Good enough for the Wiki? Did I leave anything out? Is there anything that people seriously disagree with?
I was going to repost it to the Wiki, but then thought that maybe we should all take a look at it and refine it a bit before it goes up over there.
Here is what I wrote, tweaked a little bit by me already. What does everyone think? Anything you would change or add? (Again, this was done blind, I know nothing at all about FCoD's game setup)
Some Guiding Principle's
1) If you use the JSP (JSexton Points) system to balance don't be happy with a 2-3 point difference between sides. Think of each point as a player, not just points. You need both teams to have an even number of them to have the game be well and truly balanced. The game might survive a 1-2 point difference, on the town side (if any scum is non vanilla including a godfather), but the scum shouldn't have more points than town ever.
2) When you start powering up the scum, the entire scum team needs to get some bonus points IF there are four scum members or more AND morethan half the scum are non vanilla (one bonus point for scum) OR there are MORE than 5 scum and any of them have a power. (1-2 points)
3) Don't go by straight JSP. JSP is just a starting point. The biggest things that people miss when going by straight JSP
a) name claim masonries (See the terminator game)
b) uber masonries of self confirming town roles. Some self confirming roles are ok, but avoid them whenever possible.
c) Too much power in one player.
- As a general rule, don't have any town player pointed at more than 5 JSP or any scum player pointed at more than 7. It makes large sections of the game dependant on luck.
d) synergistic powers that make some roles unstoppable.
D above is the priniple for why you always need to give the scum team bonus points if there are too many of them with powers as the powers end up stacking on each other and the same is true of town roles. For example let's say that there is a game where there is a cop who has a Day power and a paranoid doc (i.e. a doc who roleblocks) with a Night power. These are two roles that have come up a few times. The Day power cop is a little more hampered than a Night cop because it is harder to get a claim out. A Paranoid Doc needs to look out for protecting power roles because they could make that role useless. But the two roles combine to create a synergy that could create an unstoppable cop. The cop needs only to claim on Day 1 and then the Doc will be able to protect that cop every Night until the mafia find the doctor allowing the cop to confirm enough town to effectivly break the game.
Look for and avoid things like the above when putting together your design. Synergies are ok if they are accounted for and balanced for, but are best avoided altogether. They give the game swing that could be bad. Swing can be fun, but it can also complicate things. I spoke with Mitey Mouse re: her Star Wars game recently about the same subject. When that game is over I would love to hear what happened with the swing in her design. I think it falls into the catagory of balanced and fun swing, but we can't really know until the game is over how it worked.
On that subject, what creates swing? When do you want to avoid it and how can you manage it? Every case is different, but in general swing is created when too much of the games balance rides on one player or one combination of players that can be eliminated from the game by random chance (random vig or lynching) drastically upsetting the balance of the game in one single kill. I think that the best way to balance this sort of swing is to have all sides have an equal amount of swing built into them. If one side has a massivly overpowered role, the other side needs an equally overpowered one. Obviously more goes into it than a simple "do the same thing to both sides" but without seeing specific examples it's hard to say with more certainty than that. First and best is the ability to identify swing when you see it and work from there. If you are not certain that you can balance for the swing, eliminate it.
A corrilary (sp?) to the talk about swing is, shoot for each side having between 30 and 40 JSP in a closed game. Any less than 30 and the scum have a starting advantage, any more than 40 and the game is either too large or rides too much on random chance.
Last thoughts, try to eliminate random chance if at all possible. It's not fun (usually, there are exceptions). Instead of coinflips give choices. The more the players have to make hard choices the more fun the game (potentially) is, and the more likely the setup is reusable. I like to have all power roles work as double edged swords whenever possible. Using a power that helps also runs the risk of hurting. Ceiling Cat in Gastard is a great example of how this can work really well. In order to win she had to play her rock paper scissors game, but every time she played she ran the risk of exposing herself as a PFK. This sort of thing creates a tension in the game that is palpable and keeps people engaged.
And finally, shoot for a game that will be no shorter than 6 Days in the worst case (maximum kills every Day/Night) but no longer than 10 Day with minimum kills every Day/Night. With Optimal kills every Day/Night it should be about 8 Days long, which is the perfect length for a good game.
What does everyone think? Good enough for the Wiki? Did I leave anything out? Is there anything that people seriously disagree with?