Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
n
Most feedback loops are fundamental parts of their game's economy, so their
durability
is extended or permanent. To identify a feedback loop with limited dura-
bility, see whether any part of the loop depends on limited resources that can never
be recovered or are recovered only at long intervals.
n
The feedback loop's
type
is probably the trickiest characteristic to determine
simply by looking at a Machinations diagram. Positive label modifiers affecting the
flow of production mechanisms create positive feedback, but positive label modifi-
ers affecting the flow toward a drain or a converter tend to create negative feedback.
The type of feedback is much harder to determine when the feedback loop involves
activators. To determine the type of a feedback mechanism, you must really con-
sider the entire mechanism and all its details.
Determinability
In many games, the strength of a feedback loop is affected by factors such as chance,
player skill, and the actions of other players. Machinations diagrams represent these
factors by different symbols that stand for nondeterministic mechanisms.
Table 6.2
lists the symbols used to indicate different types of nondeterministic behaviors.
You can use these icons to annotate connections and gates in a diagram. A single
feedback loop can be affected by multiple and different types of nondeterministic
resource connections or gates. For example, the feedback through cards in
Risk
(Figure 6.25) is affected by a random gate and a random flow, increasing its unpre-
dictability. The loss of territories is affected by a multiplayer dynamic, namely,
attacks by other players.
TAble 6.2
Types of
determinability
