Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
A
A
A
B
B
B
1. Sprint foot race
(no feedback)
2. Unbalanced rules
in
3. Stalemate (insufficient
feedback to produce victory)
B's favor
A
A
A
B
B
B
4. Balanced rules, but
feedback operates too fast
5. Wild swings in the lead
(powerful negative feedback)
6. Ideal game progression
(lead changes hands, better
player wins eventually)
FIGURE 11.7 Graphs showing the effects of different adjustments to positive feedback
Consider the following observations about these graphs:
Graph 1 represents a game, such as a sprint foot race, in which no feedback loop
exists to augment player power. A, the faster runner, wins.
Graph 2's game lasts only a short time. B takes the lead and wins almost
immediately. A's few efforts to catch up allow A to gain ground temporarily but
ultimately fail. This graph describes an unfair game, badly balanced in favor of B.
Graph 3 depicts a stalemate, with neither side ever getting far enough ahead for
positive feedback to take hold and lead to victory. The game probably involves little
positive feedback (or possibly none) and closely matched competitors.
Graph 4 shows a game with fairly balanced rules but one in which positive feed-
back operates too quickly. B goes ahead, then A, then B again, and then A goes
ahead just enough for a dramatic positive feedback cycle to make A unstoppable.
Graph 5 indicates a game with a feedback cycle such that being in the lead
becomes a profound disadvantage, the effect of powerful negative feedback. A
and B gain substantial leads and then alternately fall substantially behind so that
the graph shows wild swings. Mario Kart and other multiplayer local games not
intended to be taken too seriously sometimes use this mechanism.
Graph 6 shows an ideal game progression: The lead changes hands and both
players have a good chance of winning the game for a while, but eventually A's
superior play places her in a leading position that she never yields. The action of
positive feedback ensures that B, the less-skilled player, cannot catch up, although
B has a pretty good chance for about two-thirds of the game and perhaps could
have won if A's attention had wavered; that is, the outcome wasn't a foregone
conclusion.
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