Comments on: The Difficulty Equation http://www.design.wrong.net/2008/07/07/the-difficulty-equation/ Musings on game design Wed, 07 Jan 2009 12:23:57 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5 By: kyoryu http://www.design.wrong.net/2008/07/07/the-difficulty-equation/#comment-29 kyoryu Fri, 11 Jul 2008 00:42:25 +0000 http://www.design.wrong.net/?p=20#comment-29 They're very arbitrary in designation :D I'm really trying to look at the relationships between them more than specific numbers. Interference vs. interruption: I'd say your Tetris example is more of an overall strategy issue, rather than directly interfering with your ability to perform the action. I'm not sure I'm right though. The Mortal Kombat example is probably a good one. I don't think that there are a lot of examples of this in video or computer games, which was kind of the point. I'm not really sure of how useful this will be for difficulty balance with new designs, at least in a predictive fashion. I think it will probably turn out to be more useful in a reflective fashion, helping to tune designs going forward or explaining why difficulty fluctuates. If it can actually be used predictively, I'd be really happy, though :D They’re very arbitrary in designation :D I’m really trying to look at the relationships between them more than specific numbers.

Interference vs. interruption: I’d say your Tetris example is more of an overall strategy issue, rather than directly interfering with your ability to perform the action. I’m not sure I’m right though.

The Mortal Kombat example is probably a good one. I don’t think that there are a lot of examples of this in video or computer games, which was kind of the point.

I’m not really sure of how useful this will be for difficulty balance with new designs, at least in a predictive fashion. I think it will probably turn out to be more useful in a reflective fashion, helping to tune designs going forward or explaining why difficulty fluctuates. If it can actually be used predictively, I’d be really happy, though :D

]]> By: Talia http://www.design.wrong.net/2008/07/07/the-difficulty-equation/#comment-28 Talia Thu, 10 Jul 2008 15:06:56 +0000 http://www.design.wrong.net/?p=20#comment-28 Interference, and interruption are two different things for the sake of the equations. Perceptually, the difference to the player is going to be, "Can I beat the player in an opposing skill challenge?" Something like this would be the Tetris in multiplayer, where the other player can interfere with you completing lines by dropping more blocks on your side by completing a combo. The thing is, these types of interferences are usually more complicated, multiple skill based things, I think. I thought maybe the old Test-Your-Might minigames in Mortal Kombat might qualify as a simplistic example, but I can't exactly remember if the other player jamming buttons faster than you would drive down your meter or not. On a meta level, your friend yelling obscenities at you from the couch could definately be interference. :D I like these concepts, cause they're quite well defined mathematically. I'm going to try doing some analysis of existing games using them, to see if the numbers I can come up with match expectations. My only concern is it seems like they might have to be somewhat arbitrary in designation. This will be useful if it works out for difficulty balance in new designs. Interference, and interruption are two different things for the sake of the equations. Perceptually, the difference to the player is going to be, “Can I beat the player in an opposing skill challenge?” Something like this would be the Tetris in multiplayer, where the other player can interfere with you completing lines by dropping more blocks on your side by completing a combo. The thing is, these types of interferences are usually more complicated, multiple skill based things, I think.
I thought maybe the old Test-Your-Might minigames in Mortal Kombat might qualify as a simplistic example, but I can’t exactly remember if the other player jamming buttons faster than you would drive down your meter or not.
On a meta level, your friend yelling obscenities at you from the couch could definately be interference. :D
I like these concepts, cause they’re quite well defined mathematically. I’m going to try doing some analysis of existing games using them, to see if the numbers I can come up with match expectations. My only concern is it seems like they might have to be somewhat arbitrary in designation.
This will be useful if it works out for difficulty balance in new designs.

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