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

From: bruno@cerberus.csd.uwm.edu (Bruno Wolff III)

Date: Wed, 23 Jun 1993 18:19:45 +0000

From article <srt.740855350@aerospace.aero.org>, by srt@aero.org (Scott 'Dr. Pain' Turner):
] Formulas suck.
]
] There's nothing worse than playing a game with the kind of
] calculator-toting weenie who spends weeks reading the rules and
] calculating every iota of advantage.  That kind of single-minded,
] anal-retentive min-maxing of a game is no fun for anyone involved.
] There's certainly nothing that will kill the "sense of wonder" that
] games like Atlantis can instill faster than a detailed description of
] the game mechanics and a couple of mad optimizers for players.
]
] And for what gain?
]
] The single advantage of detailing all the mechanics involved in a game
] is that it allows the min-maxers to calculate exactly what the results
] of their actions will be.  So what?  That lets the min-maxers be
] happy?  That's a very small gain as far as I'm concerned.  Let the
] min-maxers play Chess for all I care.  (Not that they will; their real
] enjoyment comes from "beating" the other players in analyzing the
] rules, not from playing the game itself, or they'd all be off playing
] Chess all the time.)
]
] My faction in "Olympia I" got crushed because I didn't predict
] accurately what the result of a battle would be.  Had Rich published
] an extensive description of the combat system that wouldn't have
] happened - but I would have enjoyed the game a lot less.  I don't want
] to pick on Russell here, because I like Russell and think he's doing
] some interesting things, but the consensus I've heard from people who
] played in both Olympia and Atlantis is that even with all its bugs,
] Olympia was more interesting and involving that Atlantis.  And I trace
] that directly to the fact that Atlantis isn't a game about a fantasy
] world; its a game about manipulating an abstract set of rules to your
] advantage.
]
] If you want a pure game, in the abstract sense of maximizing some
] success function based upon a set of constraints, then by all means
] publish the formulas.  Done well, like in Galaxy, that can be an
] enjoyable puzzle.  But for me, I'll take a little sub-optimal play in
] exchange for a sense of wonder and the excitement of discovery.
]
] 					-- Scott t.

You are mistaken about where the "sense of wonder" should come from. It should
not come from characters under your control doing totally stupid things
because you really don't know the rules. This normally isn't much of a
simulation or much fun.
The fun in the game should come from discovering reasonable things about the
world, building up your characters/empire, making friends and enemies, helping
your friends and defeating your enemies. Knowing the rules does nothing to
take away from this.
Knowing all of the rules does not mean knowing everything about a single
instance of a game. There can be much to discover within a known framework
of rules.

References

Re: PBM design: give away the formulas? (*FORMULAE !)
srt@aero.org (Scott 'Dr. Pain' Turner)
Wed, 23 Jun 1993 17:09:10 +0000

Referenced By

Re: PBM design: give away the formulas? (*FORMULAE !)
srt@aero.org (Scott 'Dr. Pain' Turner)
Wed, 23 Jun 1993 17:09:10 +0000