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How Games Get Balanced | Game Maker's Toolkit (Patreon)

Published:
2019-04-10 13:05:28
Edited:
2019-06-28 04:34:38
Imported:
2020-03

Content

Hello! 

I've been wanting to make a video about balancing multiplayer games for a while. I think this is a really interesting topic, and yet there's not much information out there. Especially on YouTube - there's a few design-y videos, but nothing that explains the nuts-and-bolts of balance.

If you're immersed in the multiplayer scene this might be a bit basic, but I hope it will prove interesting to those who are less experienced. I know that I learned a lot about balance while making this video, which is always a good sign.

I want to apologise for how long this one took.

I had a lot of trouble with it, because the topic is just so darn complicated. There's a million rabbit holes you can jump down, like more stuff on shifting metas, or more stuff on how counters work with react-ability. So finding the right focus was tough.

I also struggled with the question of whether this is too simple and surface level: but ultimately decided that everyone's experience level is different and I reckon there will be many people who will find this valuable.

Oh and also I went on holiday with my girlfriend - and prepared that surprise engagement party!

Anyway. Happy to finally have this done. And now looking forward to the next one. I've been chatting with the dude who made Baba is You, and might have something on that game. But got some other ideas to explore, too. Even after a really difficult video, I'm excited about the next one. That's the sign of loving what you do ;)

Mark

Files

How Games Get Balanced | Game Maker's Toolkit

Balancing a game is one of the most complex pursuits in game development - especially when you’re dealing with a cast of completely distinct and diverse characters. So how do devs do it? Support Game Maker's Toolkit on Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/GameMakersToolkit Have Mark talk at your studio, university, or event - https://gamemakerstoolkit.tumblr.com Sources Jeff Kaplan | Battle.net Forums https://us.battle.net/forums/en/overwatch/topic/20757706588?page=2#post-24 Jaime Griesemer | GDC 2010 (“Design in Detail: Changing the Time Between Shots for the Sniper Rifle from 0.5 to 0.7 Seconds for Halo 3”) https://www.gdcvault.com/play/1012211/Design-in-Detail-Changing-the Rob Pardo | GDC 2010 (“Making a Standard (and Trying to Stick to it!): Blizzard Design Philosophies”) https://www.gdcvault.com/play/1012291/Making-a-Standard-(and-Trying Kosuke Yabuki | GDC 2018 (“ARMS: Building Mario Kart 8 Insights into a Showcase Nintendo Switch Fighter”) https://www.gdcvault.com/play/1024907/-ARMS-Building-Mario-Kart Akali’s win rate has plummeted—here’s why | Dot Esports https://dotesports.com/league-of-legends/news/akali-win-rate-plummeted-league-of-legends Developer Update - Symmetra Redesign | PlayOverwatch on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elN-QGyToxM Leroy Athanassof & Geoffroy Mouret | GDC 2018 (“Intelligent Game Design on Rainbow Six Siege”) https://www.gdcvault.com/play/1025323/Intelligent-Game-Design-on-Rainbow Stefan Engblom | GDC 2017 (“Quest for the Healthy Metagame: Balancing Cards in Clash Royale”) https://www.gdcvault.com/play/1024272/Quest-for-the-Healthy-Metagame Analysis: Why We Should Buff More Than Nerf | Core-A Gaming on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsC8io4w1sY Epic pulls overpowered Infinity Blade from Fortnite, says it ‘messed up | Polygon https://www.polygon.com/fortnite/2018/12/14/18141134/fortnite-infinity-blade-removed Live Gameplay Q+A Issue #1 | League of Legends Boards https://boards.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/c/gameplay-balance/xwOObpq2-live-gameplay-qa-issue-1-feat-feralpony-smashgizmo?sort_type=recent Find out more Developer Insights: Arena Balance Through Science | Hearthstone https://playhearthstone.com/en-gb/blog/22788308/ Rock Paper Scissors - A Method for Competitive Game Play Design | Gamasutra http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/130150/rock_paper_scissors__a_method_for_.php The Unbalanced Design of Super Smash Brothers | ForrestTheWoods https://medium.com/forrest-the-woods/the-unbalanced-design-of-super-smash-brothers-3fbc9b346e15 Games shown in this episode (in order of appearance) Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare (Infinity Ward, 2016) Overwatch (Blizzard Entertainment, 2016) Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Sora, 2008) The King of Fighters XIV (SNK, 2016) Tetris 99 (Arika, 2019) StarCraft II (Blizzard Entertainment, 2010) Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Sora, 2018) League of Legends (Riot Games, 2009) Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege (Ubisoft Montreal, 2015) Street Fighter V (Capcom, 2016) Call of Duty: WWII (Sledgehammer Games, 2017) Splatoon (Nintendo, 2015) Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Nintendo, 2017) Hearthstone (Blizzard Entertainment, 2014) Halo 3 (Bungie, 2007) Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Infinity Ward, 2007) The Walking Dead: 400 Days (Telltale Games, 2013) Arms (Nintendo, 2017) Dead or Alive 6 (Team Ninja, 2019) Halo Wars 2 (343 Industries / Creative Assembly, 2017) Pokémon: Let's Go Eevee! (Game Freak, 2018) The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (CD Projekt, 2015) Life is Strange 2 (Dontnod Entertainment, 2018) Team Fortress 2 (Valve Corporation, 2007) Clash Royale (Supercell, 2016) Dota 2 (Valve Corporation, 2013) Fortnite (Epic Games, 2017) Killer Instinct (Double Helix Games, 2013) Rocket League (Psyonix, 2015) Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Infinity Ward, 2009) Monopoly Plus (Ubisoft Pune, 2014) Apex Legends (Respawn Entertainment, 2019) Prismata (Lunarch Studios, 2018) Music used in this episode Race Driver GRID, ARMS, Wii U System, TowerFall Ascension, 3DS System Other credits The Simpsons © Fox KatEvolved VLADIMIR vs KATARINA (MID) | KDA 7/2/5 | NA Challenger | domisumReplay https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkh53h3eTGQ *NEW* Fortnite - Complete Guide on how to MASTER the INFINITY BLADE! | postboxpat https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86HXUpRMyNk 6 Kill Game | Free To Use Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege | Freedom GamePlays https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KO0sIXc_0U Normal match in DOTA 2 as Zeus | bravenetcowboy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IoGc8eqo1Xo Jason, The Undefeatable Giant Hog Deck Montage | Clash Royale Tournament Highlights https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EF2sOErNRZo DOMINATING Halo 3 Team Snipers Gameplay | Domey https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAlUyCaLmA4 Shuffle V - Vinnie (Ice Climbers) Vs. ZeRo (Meta Knight) - Grand Finals - SSBB VGBootCamp https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvpJvi5xIj4 G2 (Perkz Akali) VS PVB (Zeros Jayce) Highlights - 2018 World Championship Group D6 | OPLOLReplay https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tw8DEQIPvQU

Comments

Anonymous

Would be interesting to see a video on the same idea but for singleplayer games too, how do you keep a game rewarding but still challenging as the player gets better? Ramp up the difficulty, or change the level of the enemy in an RPG like Octopath Traveller or Skyrim, etc. There must be a fine balance needed there too, and other ideas that do the same thing while still making the player feel rewarded for overcoming the challenge.

GameMakersToolkit
>>21645708

Yeah, balance is a subject that impacts single player too. Especially things like "how do you stop the player using the same tactic over and over". So it's a topic I'll come back to, for sure

Anonymous

When I was getting my Masters in game design, we had to do an assignment about game balance, where we supported out hypothesis about a game’s balance or imbalance by using mathematical models. I was the only one that focused on a single player game (Pokemon ORAS) where I sought to show that the game indeed had “too much water”. What I found interesting was how the imbalance didn’t make the game any easier or harder, but greatly decreased the viable options for Pokemon you could use throughout the story. So, as you said, balance is also psychological since it can alter a player’s enjoyment regardless of difficulty; or, it can make certain design decisions moot since players will avoid or never consider certain decisions. Great video, by the way!