So in my 4X space game you explore different sectors or locations, and there is a chance that you can find different NPC alien races, But what I have found is the random nature of this means you can be unlucky and have a pirate base next to your homeworld whom then attacks your workers putting you too far behind, I like the NPC races and their interactions with each other and how they interact with the players but balance is an issue, the current fix is that I put 6 "Non NPC" cards at the top (3 for every player) so that for "At least 3" sectors there will be nothing that could instadestroy you. But this just makes it a longer process and it can still happen. So any thoughts on balancing randomness?
Balancing randomness
Mon, 01/05/2015 - 10:13
Mon, 01/05/2015 - 11:52
#1
Without really knowing more
Without really knowing more details about the game or its board, I'm going to go out on a limb with my answer.
The key with this type of situational randomness (and the meta-theory behind the situational randomness you describe) is to give a strategic counter. I love situational randomness in a game, as long as the players are given fair ability to handle it.
For each of the ideas below, I give the players a way to handle it.
1) How fixed is the board? Can you make the NPC races have fixed locations on the board, like starting zones?
In this case, the players know that the hard stuff is out there, but there is a fixed amount of time before it is in your front yard. Up to you to expand towards it or not.
2) Could you keep the randomness, but provide offsets? IE: Reveal the surrounding zones. If you have xyz next to you, gain abc.
In this case, players may have to overcome something harsh, but they are paid in some other way. This can be difficult to balance, but the players could use their newfound resources to combat the opposition, or they could try to gamble it towards something involving the other players.
3) Could you completely tone down the starting possibilities, but then have an event at XYZ time that introduces these NPC's at random tiles, replacing what was previously there, or adding to it?
4) Could you make your NPC's scale with the game phase? If they appear early on, they are pretty benign and unable to do much, but after XYZ event, they get amped up. This gives players awareness of what they have to deal with, and then it is up to them if they want to respond to it.
In both of these cases, you keep the situational randomness, but you have added a timed event players can plan around. I know I have 3 turns before I have to deal with this. It's up to me with how I play.
Hope those ideas help jog something forward!
-Jon
Tue, 01/06/2015 - 10:01
#2
Arrrr, Space Pirates!
Is it just the space pirates that are the problem or all of the NPC races?
Can you just add text to the space pirates that says you can pay them $X and they'll go away (with perhaps X being equal to the game turn)? This way running into them right away would be only a minor setback.
Tue, 01/06/2015 - 15:49
#3
In addition
In addition to the other comments already posted (which have been excellent advice, by the way), I offer this:
When you do board set up, do all hexes have identical backs? Could you make some hexes have different backs, like 1s and 2s, which are placed 1 or 2 hexes away from a starting position? This would allow you to put some blank space or empty hazards in position around homeworlds without really hurting balance much, and then place the harsher stuff a fixed distance away from anyone.
Could you allow other players to place the hexes as they're discovered? for example, you could hold a number of hexes in your hand that can be played, and play them when an opponent explores a territory. However, you have only so many hazards to place, and sometimes you'll be forced to give away some good stuff to an opponent. You'll never play a hex for yourself unless some other event (like an astronomer discovering an ideal sector, represented on an event card) say so.
Just some thoughts that might help.
Wed, 01/07/2015 - 20:59
#5
Dice
Something interesting I noticed when working on dice probabilities. Now when you add to what you need to get a "hit" (Such as going from 1s and 2s hitting to 3s also). I noticed the "luck" Does not change how you would expect it. (This is my first time actually looking at probabilities also.
So on a D6 here is the #'s
If you need to roll a 1/6 then you need 6 dice to succeed.
2/6 needs 3 dice
3/6 needs 2 dice
4/6 needs 1.5 dice
5/6 needs 1.2 dice
6/6 needs 1 die
this is a 6-3-2-1.5-1.2-1
This is just interesting, because as you upgrade and become more your chance upgrade gets less helpful exponentially, meaning it is MORE helpful to upgrade early and not. Any ideas on how to mitigate this?
Sat, 01/17/2015 - 14:15
#6
The Lord of the Rings Card
The Lord of the Rings Card game had a real interesting way of balancing overpowered random opponents.
It had a threat meter that went up every turn (or when certain events happened). Assuming you get more powerful as the game goes on, the enemies that came out of the encounter deck had a threat number. If the threat number was lower then your threat, the enemy attacked. If the threat was higher, it stayed in the staging area until either YOU attacked it, or when your threat was equal or higher than your threat number.
While that game had, more or less, a ticking time bomb, you could have threat like the Grand Theft Auto series of games where there's only 6 levels of threat. Doing certain things raised your threat, therefore attracting the meaner enemies. That way hitting pirates at the beginning won't break the game; sort of like the reavers in Firefly in one of the episodes; they drifted past the crew at the beginning, but near the end they showed up.
I hope this helps
Sat, 01/17/2015 - 20:12
#7
Another way to score successes
Canyoncl,
Instead of a standard "to hit" like you would find in many games, especially with a d6 which doesn't scale well with plusses/minuses, you may want to consider using multiple dice ala Star Wars RPG or Arkham Horror, where your abilities allow you the chance to roll multiple dice to score 'x' number of successes.
Cheers,
Joe
Thanks for the responses, I think I am going to try the "give the player a boost" tactic, as this fits most in my game. The changes I am thinking of also gives a boost to the exploring tactics! (which did not really exist) So ++ but now I have to fix my prototype. :P Oh well something to work on while at school! Any other comments are appreciated. It is hard to balance randomness (And I doubt I am anywhere near done.)