Re: PBM design and formulae - a fresh start

From: yangboy@math.ntu.edu.tw (Queen Hel)

Date: Thu, 08 Jul 1993 09:23:19 +0000

[Luis Sequeira to David desJardins:]
>>> a) I skip 90% of  the rules, and try to live with the rest [...]
>>To be honest, it seems to me that it should not make the least bit of
>>difference to you whether the formulas are published or not.  [...]
>Of course you're right [...]  However, [I know] this isn't the correct
>attitude.  If I'm ignoring those formulas, I _may_ be missing something.

Sure, because ideally each entry in the rulebook MEANS something.

>[...] I'll assume that [the author who released the rules think:] "[...]
>If I actually got the trouble to publish the formula, THEN MAKE SURE YOU
>DO USE IT!!!"  [A good player will therefore do number-crunching etc.]

No, it means, to this simple mind, that the author thinks that the players
should know about a certain behaviour of his(her) game as described by that
rule or formula.  It may be sufficient just to KNOW about that.

>This is specially true for games which discourage player interaction, and
>are more for the strategist type ...

Not clear, is it.  Phoenix and Galaxy are both very much diplomatic games
in the sense that you can't win singlehandedly, yet in both rules the clear
and copius.  I am not sure what kind of game is being discussed.

>Obviously, I hope there is no misunderstanding between "rules" and
>"formulas".  Some people seem to confuse them.  I'm not AGAINST rules
>[...]  What I'm basically against is a game based solely on formulas and
>more formulas. [...]

I must register my STRONG disagreement.  Basically, "rules"
describe the _behaviour_ of the game under all possible inputs, albeit
sometimes _PROBABILISTICALLY_.  Therefore, any rule is, ipso facto, a
formula.  Notice "behaviour" includes an order being _rejected_ (that is,
the Rules Class I as someone is trying to partition rules) is simply a
formula that describes IMMATERIAL orders.  It is therefore obvious that
rules and formulas are in theory completely synonymous.  Notice that it is
not the same as CODE.... the algorithm via which the formula is evaluated
makes no difference to the players and ought to be transparent.

References

Re: PBM design and formulae - a fresh start
bc@lnec.pt (Luis Miguel Sequeira)
Wed, 07 Jul 1993 09:06:56 +0000