www..(+) Balance Guide (-)
wwwwwww...Written by MetalGear
wwwwwwwOverview
Over the last 18 months, I have studied balancing
and math. Trying to figure out the eternal codex
(solution manual) to all Game Design building
bricks.
ww..Three basic components
All fighters in every game are made of three basic
elements: Attack, Defence, and Run speed.
It took me a while to figure out the types of
relationships between them.
wwwwwwRelationships
Defence or HP in other words is the primary divider
of all 3 elements, because without HP, the unit does
NOT exist .
Attack is the second component to order because
it has a direct relationship with Defence in its ability
to deal hit points.
Run speed is the third component and is tricky to
determine its value (mainly because its effects are
situational).
wwwwwwww.Time
Between the relationship of HP and Attack is the
dimension of time. There is NO exact rule on the
mechanics of time measure (like calculating how
long it takes to kill a unit of the same properties)
because the time value is purely psychological;
its function is to set the pace for the game.
Example:
The values (cost) of HP and Attack do not matter.
But the cost of HP needs to be less than Attack
to create the measure of time.
Cost of 1 HP: 1
Cost of 1 damage (per second): 8
Let's create a Marine with these statistics:
HP: 100 (value: 100)
Damage (per second): 12.5 (value: 100)
Equal values (100) have been assigned to HP
and Attack (however this is not necessary). If
2 Marines were created with these values, it
would take them 8 seconds to kill each other.
If the cost of HP was changed to 0.5, this
would increase the Marine's hit points from
100 to 200 and slow the pace of the game
(taking 16 seconds to kill rather than 8).
wwwwRevelation in Math
Suppose you have a super unit that is worth
200 (combined value of HP + attack), and 2
basic units that are worth 100 each.
Your objective is to make the super unit oppose
the 2 basic units and make them die at basically
the same time (to balance their equal values).
Experiment:
Your expectation would be to divide both values
(HP + attack) by half for the 2 basic units, right?
Let's see:
Super unit: 400 HP / 80 damage
Basic unit: 200 HP / 40 damage
Premise #1
How long does it take a super unit to kill a basic
unit?
200 (basic unit HP) / 80 (super unit damage)
= 2.5
The super unit kills a basic unit in 2.5 seconds .
Premise #2
How much damage will 2 basic units deal to
the super unit in 5 seconds?
First basic unit = 2.5 seconds
Second basic unit = 5 seconds
7.5 (seconds of basic damage)
x 40 (basic damage)
= 300
The basic units deal 300 damage, leaving the
super unit with 100 (25%) HP.
Conclusion
The super unit is more powerful than the basic
units in a fight (even though the values were
distributed evenly).
Solution
We're looking at the values incorrectly.
Presuming that the values are the same for HP
and attack, then HP and Attack should both be
calculated at 50%, forming a total unit
composition of 100%.
Therefore, keeping in mind that HP is worth 50%
of the unit composition, then if the HP is reduced
by half (as we did with the 2 basic units), we need
to take the value 50 and reduce it to 25. Now the
unit composition = 75% (25% HP / 50% damage).
This explains the super unit being left with 25%
HP.
To balance the basic units, we need to bring the
75% unit composition up to 100%.
Take the 50% damage component and multiply
by 1.5 to make a 25% / 75% composition factor.
Now the units are balanced, with the basic units
dealing 60 damage (50% value increase).
wwwwww..Run Speed
There are multiple ways to calculate the value
of Run speed.
My personal choice is to take the values of HP
and Attack , and add them together to form
the value of Run speed.
The reason I do this is because applying a static
value to unit movement doesn't work. Imagine a
fast unit with a high movement speed value but
only 20 HP and no attack. For this reason, the
run speed must be proportional to the overall
constitution of the unit.
wwwwwwAssigning MP
Magic points should not be considered something
that takes away from a unit's value; but rather,
something that adds.
Okay? So, when you create and balance your spells,
make them without the requirement of MP first, and
then add MP to increase their power.
If it costs 500 rupees to add +1 magic regeneration
per second, this is 60 MP per minute. Therefore,
increasing the spell's MP requirements by +60
per minute, increases the value of the spell by
+500 rupees.
wwwwwww...Written by MetalGear
wwwwwwwOverview
Over the last 18 months, I have studied balancing
and math. Trying to figure out the eternal codex
(solution manual) to all Game Design building
bricks.
ww..Three basic components
All fighters in every game are made of three basic
elements: Attack, Defence, and Run speed.
It took me a while to figure out the types of
relationships between them.
wwwwwwRelationships
Defence or HP in other words is the primary divider
of all 3 elements, because without HP, the unit does
NOT exist .
Attack is the second component to order because
it has a direct relationship with Defence in its ability
to deal hit points.
Run speed is the third component and is tricky to
determine its value (mainly because its effects are
situational).
wwwwwwww.Time
Between the relationship of HP and Attack is the
dimension of time. There is NO exact rule on the
mechanics of time measure (like calculating how
long it takes to kill a unit of the same properties)
because the time value is purely psychological;
its function is to set the pace for the game.
Example:
The values (cost) of HP and Attack do not matter.
But the cost of HP needs to be less than Attack
to create the measure of time.
Cost of 1 HP: 1
Cost of 1 damage (per second): 8
Let's create a Marine with these statistics:
HP: 100 (value: 100)
Damage (per second): 12.5 (value: 100)
Equal values (100) have been assigned to HP
and Attack (however this is not necessary). If
2 Marines were created with these values, it
would take them 8 seconds to kill each other.
If the cost of HP was changed to 0.5, this
would increase the Marine's hit points from
100 to 200 and slow the pace of the game
(taking 16 seconds to kill rather than 8).
wwwwRevelation in Math
Suppose you have a super unit that is worth
200 (combined value of HP + attack), and 2
basic units that are worth 100 each.
Your objective is to make the super unit oppose
the 2 basic units and make them die at basically
the same time (to balance their equal values).
Experiment:
Your expectation would be to divide both values
(HP + attack) by half for the 2 basic units, right?
Let's see:
Super unit: 400 HP / 80 damage
Basic unit: 200 HP / 40 damage
Premise #1
How long does it take a super unit to kill a basic
unit?
200 (basic unit HP) / 80 (super unit damage)
= 2.5
The super unit kills a basic unit in 2.5 seconds .
Premise #2
How much damage will 2 basic units deal to
the super unit in 5 seconds?
First basic unit = 2.5 seconds
Second basic unit = 5 seconds
7.5 (seconds of basic damage)
x 40 (basic damage)
= 300
The basic units deal 300 damage, leaving the
super unit with 100 (25%) HP.
Conclusion
The super unit is more powerful than the basic
units in a fight (even though the values were
distributed evenly).
Solution
We're looking at the values incorrectly.
Presuming that the values are the same for HP
and attack, then HP and Attack should both be
calculated at 50%, forming a total unit
composition of 100%.
Therefore, keeping in mind that HP is worth 50%
of the unit composition, then if the HP is reduced
by half (as we did with the 2 basic units), we need
to take the value 50 and reduce it to 25. Now the
unit composition = 75% (25% HP / 50% damage).
This explains the super unit being left with 25%
HP.
To balance the basic units, we need to bring the
75% unit composition up to 100%.
Take the 50% damage component and multiply
by 1.5 to make a 25% / 75% composition factor.
Now the units are balanced, with the basic units
dealing 60 damage (50% value increase).
wwwwww..Run Speed
There are multiple ways to calculate the value
of Run speed.
My personal choice is to take the values of HP
and Attack , and add them together to form
the value of Run speed.
The reason I do this is because applying a static
value to unit movement doesn't work. Imagine a
fast unit with a high movement speed value but
only 20 HP and no attack. For this reason, the
run speed must be proportional to the overall
constitution of the unit.
wwwwwwAssigning MP
Magic points should not be considered something
that takes away from a unit's value; but rather,
something that adds.
Okay? So, when you create and balance your spells,
make them without the requirement of MP first, and
then add MP to increase their power.
If it costs 500 rupees to add +1 magic regeneration
per second, this is 60 MP per minute. Therefore,
increasing the spell's MP requirements by +60
per minute, increases the value of the spell by
+500 rupees.
Post has been edited 10 time(s), last time on Jul 31 2024, 5:41 am by MetalGear.
None.
Haha! Anyway, I might present this research in a better way soon, if I have enough free time/motivation to put it in LaTeX document.
