1. Balanceamento e Monitorização de Jogos Digitais Pedro de Almeida www.di.ubi.pt/~palmeida palmeida@di.ubi.pt

2. Game balancing - what is it? “Game balancing” is not some very specific, well established, easily defined concept! It is an attempt to bring some formalization into the choices that need to be done during the design and development of digital games! 2

3. Game balancing - what is it? Some (many) authors don’t use the expression “game balancing”. E.g. Game Feel, by Steve SwinkGame Feel, by Steve Swink In short, “Game balancing” is just an expression. It would probably be better to use: “Game optimization” Or (to explain what is really at stake): “Choices that need to be done during game design and development”… 3

4. Game balancing - what is it? In a very restrictive formulation, game balancing could be regarded as the effort to equalize chances in asymmetrical games. One alternative view is to consider that game balancing is the choice of the correct numerical relations in the game (but this is assumedly a simplification): Game Balance Concepts, by Ian SchreiberGame Balance Concepts, by Ian Schreiber< Must see this… In the broad sense, it relates to the art of deciding on the correct (i.e. most attractive) “points of equilibrium” in several game “dimensions” (or game aspects/issues). 4

5. Game balancing - dimensions Using game balancing in the broad sense, Schell [2008] presents a list of 12 dimensions that need to be “balanced”. [ SCHELL, Jesse. The Art of Game Design – A Book of Lenses. California: Morgan Kaufmann, 2008. ] 1.Justice between players 2.Degree of difficulty 3.Significance of player choices/actions to game outcomes 4.Importance of luck (vs. player skill) 5.Importance of thinking vs. fast and efficient control action 5

6. Game balancing - dimensions 12 dimensions to balance, from Schell [2008]: 6.Competition and/or cooperation 7.Game length (in time) 8.Balancing of game rewards 9.Balancing of game punishments 10.Greater freedom of player action vs. less rich choices 11.Simplicity vs. complexity (in overall game, and in specific game actions) 12.Greater content detail vs. more room for player imagination 6

7. Game balancing - dimensions But we could (and should) add many other dimensions: Number of players; Dimensions of the playing field (see the example of Tetris, in [“Game Feel”, Swink, 2009, p.93], or consider a map game); Fast/slower; Turn-based/”real time”; Casual/hardcore (in terms of gamer dedication required) Permanent universe/recurrent isolated games Etc.. 7

8. Game balancing - implementation Game balancing can be thought of in different perspectives: “Static balancing”: Decisions/choices done/set during game development, or out of the game (e.g. choice of difficulty level, by the user…). “Dynamic balancing”: Changes in the game dimensions/parameters implemented automatically during normal gameplay, to adapt to the skill level of the gamer, etc.. Note: Obviously, the “dynamic balancing” dynamics/rules must be decided (and coded) in/at the game development phase. So, in a sense, the static balancing already includes the dynamic balancing… 8