Playing with chance good luck marc pestka
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description
The talk will expose the value of randomness as a gameplay component from a high level point of view and then will present two ways to deal with it based on the experience of the speaker, who has worked on match-3 games and a hack'n slash, among others. Level design levers and tools for casual games will be discussed as well as content generation through Treasure Classes.
Transcript of Playing with chance good luck marc pestka
Alea is part of the game
• Roger Caillois: Man, Play and Games• Uncertainty is not boring• Equality• Playing with luck is so human• From roulette to chess• Can you learn chance? Is it fun?• Enter the occurrence dimension: repetition
makes the fun and controls chance
Some maths are needed
• Permutations• Mean / Expected value• Standard deviation• Gaussian distribution• Random without replacement (deck structure)• Non-uniformly distributed numbers –
cheating?
Chance in casual games
• Some casual games use chance because the concept is accessible
• Random generation of elements means endless replayability and ‘gameplay’ stories
• Balance between skill and chance: every one can enter the game
Dealing with randomness
• Size of the board = field of possibilities• Amount of colors = one key component.
Readibility, amount of possible matches• On the LD side: build, play, repeat• If you’re lucky: use metrics, optimize through
data analytics• If you’re super lucky, use AI.
Chance in RPG
• Roll a dice = all actions have a chance element• Reducing uncertainty is part of the essence• Random generation = huge content• Loot: reward and diversity• Loot is a long-term motivation in itself, mixed
with collection appeal
Dealing with complex randomness
• Objective: Make the most out of a limited pool• Only picking one in an array is not enough• Organizing the possibilities• Diablo: Treasure Classes
QUESTIONS?
THANKS
