GDC: Game Balance Through Intuition

http://www.edge-online.com/features/gdc-game-balance-through-intuition


Balancing the game so that its fun for everyone, and to accompany for the various play styles. Seems like a really tough tasks to try to find equilibrium within the game world. It seems that the balance has lots to do with how you train the player. Teaching the different tool sets and provide the player with right direction.

Halo did a Great job at the intro when they calibrate the look sensitive and whether or not the player prefers inverse. To get the proper feel for the game and teach the player is something more intuitive the player has to learn those skill sets, as a more hardcore game relies more on instincts for kills, more in the act of doing and not thinking which is more intuitive.

Balance is really tough to please everyone from the causal gamer to the hardcore. The old days of just increasing a bots accuracy and health, seems like a fading trend.

It seems like the scales of balance usually tips towards the casual, due to marketing and for drawing in a wider range of gamers.

To get the proper feel and use of intuition is needed to bring a games level of balance to that polished level. Most of the time, games are being tweaked and balanced up till and even after they ship.


Playtest, Playtest, Playtest...Repeat