Balancing the Unbalanced

The Challenge RTS Level Design –Conventions Even Teams Symmetrical / Opposite Starting Positions Equal Opportunities Challenge: 2 vs. 3 RTS Level Design

The Result 12 Warcraft III Maps 4 Company of Heroes Maps Our Candidate Maps: –Warcraft III Invasion Caravan / Tug of War (Short) –Company of Heroes Defensive Forest City

Invasion Balancing concept –The third player on the 3p team is kept out of the fight at the beginning Resources (all maps) 3p team spread out (all maps)

Caravan / Tug of War (Short) Balancing concept –Moved the target of units from bases to the caravan. –2p team closer to caravan Resources (all maps) 3p team spread out (all maps)

Defensive Forest Balancing concept –Easier to defend –3p team spread out (all maps) –Resources (all maps)

City Balancing concept –Limited access to city at first for 3p team –Resources (all maps) –3p team spread out (all maps)

A Theory of Level Design Our approach Theory available –Byrne, Co, Crawford –Not genre agnostic

A Theory of Level Design Tools of analysis Descriptive GeneralOur analysis HooksBalancing concept Objects of interest Iteration and Testing StrategiesLevel of conventions BalanceConclusion

A Theory of Level Design Conventions General Game specific How we used conventions –Level design elements –Focus

A Theory of Level Design Conventional maps – Less workload – Less testing – All about player skill (You know it’s balanced) – Meets player expectations Non-conventional maps – Bigger workload – More testing to establish if the map is balanced – Difficult to assess if balance has been achieved (because of player skill) – BUT can make for more interesting maps.

A Theory of Level Design Analysis tool –Positive feedback –Other elements Patterns or Heuristics Agnostic?

Playing style How testers played differently from us Hypothesis: Tester would play this map as we played it i.e. go for the caravan Us: Played the map as it was intended (game mode) Seemed balanced Even fight Them: Played the map as the game was intended Destroyed bases rather than go for caravan Revealed imbalance Some complaints about ”this is not warcraft” –Player expectations Subsequently the map is no longer considered a candidate as a balanced map.

Playing style How testers played differently from us Hypothesis: Testers will play this map as we do, discovering new tactics and shortcuts as they get to know the map. Us: Played aggresively Used shortcuts Used a wide range of tactics Them: Didnt use shortcuts (never saw them) 2P team won on attrition once Used a wide range of tactics Map seems balanced all the way, but is essentially a 2vs2 fight for a while.

Playing style How testers played differently from us Hypothesis Tester would play this map as we played it, see illustration. Us Divide the map in the middle Go for bridge destruction Lots of artillery Lots of pushing back and forth

Playing style How testers played differently from us Hypothesis: Wrong. Testers: Split the town the ”other” way Lots of infantry Lots of pushing back and forth –Shifting sides Overall the map lead to hectic intense fighting and is deemed balanced by testing results

Playing style How testers played differently from us Initial movements by All

Playing style How testers played differently from us Us – Big pushes Pushing past defensive lines No fighting for points

Playing style How testers played differently from us Us – Big pushes Pushing past defensive lines No fighting for points

Playing style How testers played differently from us Hypothesis: Testers will go for big pushes as well Wrong. Testers Lot of small back and forth fighting No pushing past defense Fighting for points

Playing style How testers played differently from us Showed us valuable lessons Balancing for best-tactic means balance for regular players Valuable to witness other ways of playing maps that we know well New ideas spawn from this

Improving the levels further Improve collision areas Lot of fighting in the blue zone Flat terrain. Should improve to enhance the battle – collision To allow 3P to get closer To allow 2P to get further out

Improving the levels further Tweak resources. Increase map size a little

Improving the levels further WCIII maps are hard to improve further… Caravan Caravan speed Access to bases Distance Spread out 3P team Caravan path Invasion Defensive capabilities of the 2P team Utilize middle area

Level lessons How our level design evolved through the project

First levels Defense was important Aggression in WCIII The strength of a joint 3P team –(”dungeon” & ”easy defendable”) Lessons –Player styles –Spreading out

Our influence The early levels showed which playstyle the group favoured Spectrum of play styles (attack in WCIII) Cater to the rush players –Bring in rushers for testing –But balance has priority Rusher Basehugger

Joint forces The ability to join forces is VERY important Spread out 3P team Make ”one” base for 2P team

The 2P team The difference of 3vs2 in WCIII and CoH 2P team advantages –Bridges –Asymetrical icecrown –Kill the monkey

Considerations Spread out the 3P team 2P needs many advantages Defense is difficult Consider all play styles

Testing & Iteration Introduction Finding balance through quantifiable testing Constraints –External vs. Internal testers –Comparable skill –Testing environment –Time!!

Testing & Iteration Workload More than 300 manhours spent testing before deadline Tests spread out between the 4 phases Number of beta tests  Lack of (quantifiable) results

Testing & Iteration Further beta testing The 4 candidate maps are tested even further –Caravan (WCIII)  4 Beta tests (14 tests total) –Invasion (WCIII)  3 Beta tests (10 tests total) –City (CoH)  4 Beta tests (8 tests total) –Forest (CoH)  2 beta tests (8 tests total)

Testing & Iteration Beta results – WCIII Candidate Maps CARAVANGamesWinnerScoreBalance Rating Session I23P1, 2, 4, 3, 22.4 Session II23P3, 2, 3, 3, 22.6 Session III13P3, 2, 4, 1, 12.2 Session IV23P1, 3, 3, 1, 11.8 INVASIONGamesWinnerScoreBalance Rating Session I23P/2P3, 4, 4, 5, 44.0 Session II13P4, 3, 4, 3, 43.6 Session III12P3.5, 3, 3, 3, 22.9

Testing & Iteration Beta results – CoH Candidate Maps CITYGamesWinnerScoreBalance Rating Session I12P3, 3, 3, 3, 33.0 Session II23P3, 3.5, 4, 5, 43.9 Session III12P4, 5, 2, 3.5, 43.7 Session IV13P3, 3, 5, 2.5, 43.7 FORESTGamesWinnerScoreBalance Rating Session I12P3, 4, 3.5, 5, 33.7 Session II13P2, 3, 3.5, 4, 53.5

Testing & Iteration Conclusion First indicator of balance Very hard to achieve the initial criterias for entry and exit –Misinterpretation of questions asked –Subjective ratings –Most games are situational, which spawns irregularities –First time as test managers Added level of detail for further tests

Editting Tools Mutual interest in learning RTS editors World Editor (WCIII) –User friendly, easy to learn –Supports Level building Unit modification Game constants modification Scripting – triggers

Editting Tools II World Builder (CoH) –Technical, steeper learning curve –Purely a level builder Attention to aesthetic detail and interactive environments (cover) No method of scripting events built-in Mod tools such as Corsix’s Mod Studio ( allows for unit modification Movie-making support

Game Modes and Balance Classic RTS –Annihilation Resource management Level/terrain considerations (chokepoints etc.) Starting positions WCIII – New methods to obtain balance –Caravan Shift of focus to caravan and teamwork –Caravan speed –Caravan path length/shape –Co-op tactics –Kill the monkey Emphasis on attack or defense –Position and abilities of NPC –Timer –Enhancement of defensive capabilities CoH –Victory Points Spread out battles becomes advantageous for 3P team Time pressure

Choice of Games Considerations –Starcraft –Dawn of War –Age of Empires III Reasons –Similarity/differences –Editor availability –WCIII Heroes, number of races, air units –CoH Strategic points/resources system, doctrine system, interactive environments

The Future –Adjustable unit cap (Supreme Commander) –No assumptions about size of armies (3 large armies VS 2 large armies) –XP: resource/unit/special abilities boost (AoE3) –XP rate and rewards –Potential in further use of terrain –Interactive terrain –Advanced teamplay / different roles

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