Re: PBM design: give away the formulas? (*FORMULAE !)

From: rwallace@cs.tcd.ie (Russell Wallace)

Date: Wed, 23 Jun 1993 10:52:00 +0000

srt@aero.org (Scott 'Dr. Pain' Turner) writes:

>Generally, I'm against putting specific formula in the rules.  For one
>thing, it means the game designer can't tune the game without
>constantly publishing new rules.

The issue is whether the formulas *should* be there, not whether it is
practically convenient for the designer to write them up.  Anyway even
an out of date version of the formula is generally better than none.

>But more importantly, Life doesn't
>come with formula, so there's no real reason a game that models Life
>(like Atlantis) should come with formula either.

Sorry Scott, but the sad fact of the matter is that no game that has
ever been created, and probably no game that ever will be created, has
enough to do with reality that one can rely on intuition.  Example from
Atlantis: what happens if 200 peasants attack a powerful magician?
Intuitively one could argue one of 2 ways:

1) Even if the magician toasts some peasants, the others will swamp him
   by weight of numbers.

2) By the time the magician has flash-fried 20 peasants, the other 180
   will decide it's time to take a vacation.  The magician wins.

In reality, one would have enough information, mostly acquired
non-verbally (getting a feel for the mood of the place, etc.) to make a
reasonably informed prediction on this matter.

In a game, this is not the case.  The best you can try to do is make a
guess, based on your knowledge of the game designer's psychology, on
which way would have been implemented.  Even this can easily be wrong.
(I personally like powerful magic but a perusal of the Atlantis rules
reveals that 1) not 2) will generally be the case, unless the magician
has some combat troops with him.)

So it is precisely because games are *not* much like real life, that you
need explicit documentation of the formulas, because you *can't* rely on
the intuition that gets you through real life.

--
"To summarize the summary of the summary: people are a problem"
Russell Wallace, Trinity College, Dublin
rwallace@cs.tcd.ie

References

PBM design: give away the formulas?
skrenta@rt.com (Rich Skrenta)
Sat, 19 Jun 1993 18:12:59 +0000
Re: PBM design: give away the formulas? (*FORMULAE !)
rob@ccc.govt.nz (Rob McNeur)
Mon, 21 Jun 1993 12:00:33 +0000
Re: PBM design: give away the formulas? (*FORMULAE !)
ulim@coli.uni-sb.de (Ulrich Mayring)
Tue, 22 Jun 1993 10:41:26 +0000
Re: PBM design: give away the formulas? (*FORMULAE !)
gl8f@fermi.clas.Virginia.EDU (Greg Lindahl)
Tue, 22 Jun 1993 21:26:47 +0000
Re: PBM design: give away the formulas? (*FORMULAE !)
srt@aero.org (Scott 'Dr. Pain' Turner)
Tue, 22 Jun 1993 22:50:14 +0000

Referenced By

PBM design: give away the formulas?
skrenta@rt.com (Rich Skrenta)
Sat, 19 Jun 1993 18:12:59 +0000
Re: PBM design: give away the formulas? (*FORMULAE !)
rob@ccc.govt.nz (Rob McNeur)
Mon, 21 Jun 1993 12:00:33 +0000
Re: PBM design: give away the formulas? (*FORMULAE !)
ulim@coli.uni-sb.de (Ulrich Mayring)
Tue, 22 Jun 1993 10:41:26 +0000
Re: PBM design: give away the formulas? (*FORMULAE !)
gl8f@fermi.clas.Virginia.EDU (Greg Lindahl)
Tue, 22 Jun 1993 21:26:47 +0000
Re: PBM design: give away the formulas? (*FORMULAE !)
srt@aero.org (Scott 'Dr. Pain' Turner)
Tue, 22 Jun 1993 22:50:14 +0000