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10 |
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11 |
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12 Elements |
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13 |
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14 |
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15 Elements of Complexity |
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16 |
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17 *by Brian Gleichman* |
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18 Sep 20,2002 |
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19 |
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20 |
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21 |
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22 |
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23 Elements |
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24 |
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25 Hi, everyone. Welcome to an experiment. |
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26 |
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27 Seems it was column search time at RPGNet again, and of all things I was |
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28 asked to contribute. Let's take a few moments for the cries of rage to |
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29 calm down a little... |
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30 |
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31 Now then, first thing up is "what should the column be about?" In my |
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32 case there is a rather obvious choice- the examination of game design |
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33 with a focus on complex and detailed rulesets. After all, that's what I |
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34 do. What are their characteristics? How does one highlight specific |
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35 concepts? How have others' games attempted various things, and where |
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36 have they succeeded and failed? |
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37 |
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38 At this point, one wonders if RPGNet has any need for such a column at |
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39 all. That's the experiment part. Let the guys in charge know if this is |
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40 a good idea or a waste of space; it's up to you. Isn't it wonderful to |
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41 be in charge? |
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42 |
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43 First up is a reprint of an article I did for Unclebear's. I've expanded |
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44 it a little (I was working under some space limits originally) and |
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45 present it here to kick things off by defining a few important terms. |
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46 |
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47 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
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48 |
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49 |
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50 Elements of Complexity |
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51 |
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52 Go onto any gaming forum and you'll quickly run into someone making the |
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53 comment that a certain RPG is "complex." It's not unusual for such a |
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54 statement to draw replies of disagreement, and it quickly becomes |
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55 obvious that we have yet another case of people using the same word for |
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56 very different purposes. |
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57 |
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58 Given how common it is to see the question "How complex is this?", I |
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59 think it would be useful to explore the term some. Not only might it |
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60 reduce some misunderstandings, it could even have a direct influence on |
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61 game design. |
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62 |
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63 It seems obvious to me that complexity in game design is the result of |
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64 various elements- for that is the heart of exchanges like "Rolemaster is |
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65 too complex!" "No it isn't, it's just a d100 roll with some charts!" |
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66 Both people are telling the truth from their POV, and what we're seeing |
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67 is a simple case of different people looking at different specific |
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68 sub-meanings of a single word. |
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69 |
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70 For my use, the complexity of a game's design can be broken down into |
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71 three elements: *Implementation*, *Mass*, and *Concept*. Each of which |
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72 has its own characteristics and appeal, the highlights of which I'll |
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73 detail below. |
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74 |
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75 |
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76 Complexity of Implementation |
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77 |
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78 This is how difficult the actual mechanical steps are. Let's look at a |
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79 couple of examples pulled out of the middle of damage resolution: |
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80 |
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81 / / |
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82 |
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83 * /Example 1: Roll 1d8 and add 1 for every point over 12 in the |
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84 character's strength. Subtract these points from the target's hit |
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85 points./ |
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86 * /Example 2: Determine which body location on the target was |
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87 struck, take the weapon's penetration factor and subtract the |
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88 armor rating for that location, multiple the result by the |
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89 weapon's impact factor which results in the final Damage |
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90 Potential, divide the Damage Potential by the target's location |
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91 Structure Points to get the damage ratio, cross reference the |
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92 damage ratio on the Ballistic impact chart to determine the wound |
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93 level and final effects./ |
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94 |
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95 In implementation terms, Example 2 is far more complex than Example 1. |
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96 It has more steps, and those steps include more types of operations |
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97 (multiplication and division as well as subtraction plus a table |
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98 lookup). And of course we're talking about more than single digit whole |
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99 numbers in the second example as well. |
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100 |
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101 Games like /Phoenix Command/ are representative of designs with high |
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102 Implementation complexity, as are elements of other systems- such as |
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103 /GURPS Vehicles/ or /Hero System/ Character design, systems that call |
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104 for many to reach for a spreadsheet instead of pen and paper. |
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105 |
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106 Some people love games with high Implementation Complexity. There are |
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107 entire websites devoted to characters worked up in HERO while others |
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108 spend days designing vehicles for their GURPS campaigns- much of this |
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109 seems to be simply inspired by the joy of creating something and in the |
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110 mastery of the method. |
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111 |
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112 Yet another common draw for this type of complexity is found in the |
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113 desire of some people to model in detail specific elements of a game. |
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114 Not content with the typical high level of abstraction used in many |
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115 games, they wish to see more detailed influences and a more detailed |
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116 breakdown of events. Combat in Phoenix Command is a prime example of |
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117 this type of thought. Here the desire for detailed objective simulation |
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118 drives the need for complex mechanics. |
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119 |
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120 |
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121 Complexity of Mass |
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122 |
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123 Rules may be simple to Implement in every case; however, there may be a |
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124 large number of very specific cases, each with their own simple rules. |
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125 |
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126 / / |
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127 |
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128 * /Example 1: The system defines all one-handed weapons as doing 1d8 |
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129 points damage with a +1 strike and +1 initiative bonus./ |
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130 * /Example 2: This system defines 50 different one-handed weapons |
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131 each with their own specific damage (a 1d3 to 1d20 range) with |
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132 strike and initiative bonuses independently ranging from +0 to +3./ |
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133 |
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134 Any game that defines large numbers of simple modifiers (say combat |
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135 modifiers for position and environment and/or attack options) has |
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136 increased its Complexity of Mass. Having large numbers of specific |
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137 powers or spells has the same result- individually each are easy, but in |
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138 total one is looking at a large number of rules, and for many that is |
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139 overwhelming in itself. |
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140 |
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141 Complexity of Mass is the easiest and quickest to judge; one can almost |
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142 weigh the rulebook (however, be sure to leave out the setting |
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143 information and other fluff). D&D is a good example of this type of |
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144 complexity, as is /Rolemaster/ with its dozens of charts, each of which |
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145 uses a simple d100 + bonus mechanic. |
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146 |
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147 Why would anyone want to deal with pages upon pages of rules? Two |
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148 reasons come immediately to mind. |
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149 |
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150 First, some people love options and different ways to approach things. |
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151 How often does one hear something like "My last character was a Paladin, |
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152 I think I'll run a Wizard this time..."? The best way to highlight |
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153 options is to include them in the rules and this produces a simple |
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154 relationship- more options mean more pages of rules. The very rules |
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155 themselves become a reason to expand play. For example, include an |
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156 extensive set of castle building mechanics and someone is going to play |
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157 with them just to do something different. |
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158 |
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159 A second reason is pride of mastery. It's difficult to master a lot of |
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160 rules and even more difficult to keep them all at your fingertips. To |
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161 some, knowing the rules and using them to achieve a desire outcome is a |
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162 major source of satisfaction in gaming. The more rules to master and |
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163 use, the greater the satisfaction. |
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164 |
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165 These two reasons drive the design concepts of entire game lines like |
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166 D20 and WoD, a fact easily determined by a passing examination of their |
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167 splat books and other expansions. Indeed, this one element is so |
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168 connected to D&D that the first reaction I typically see in reviews of |
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169 high Mass games is to call them a D&D copy, even if mechanically they |
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170 have little in common. |
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171 |
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172 |
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173 Complexity of Concept |
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174 |
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175 There are games with few rules, those rules very simple, that are still |
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176 viewed as complex in the extreme, with uncounted possibilities that take |
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177 even the greatest of players years to master. |
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178 |
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179 Think Chess. |
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180 |
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181 Mechanically, it's simple to move a pawn. The entire rules for the game |
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182 can be contained on a few sheets of paper. But which pawn to move? What |
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183 will the effect be? Those are questions that are far from easy to |
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184 answer, and the choice can be far from obvious. I refer to these games |
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185 as Complex in Concept to represent the fact that the difficulty isn't in |
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186 the "how does one do it," but rather in "what does one do and how much |
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187 will it affect." |
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188 |
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189 In one sense, all RPGs rate high in this area due to their open-ended |
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190 nature. Even so, I tend to limit this to those games where the player is |
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191 presented with a wide number of options under conditions that require a |
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192 great deal of thought in order to find an optimal choice. Games with |
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193 complex tactical environments like /Heavy Gear/ top the list here. |
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194 |
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195 Complexity of this type tends to draw players who value the importance |
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196 of individual decisions in a challenging environment. |
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197 |
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198 |
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199 Just Plain Complex |
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200 |
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201 Games can be complex in more than one way, and there is a tendency to |
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202 rate high in others if you rate high in one. |
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203 |
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204 Perhaps the ultimate example was SPI's game /Air War/, which pegged very |
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205 high levels in all three measures. Over two hundred pages of rules |
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206 concerned solely with jet era air combat, intricate mechanics to |
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207 represent the fine details of aerial maneuver, dozens and dozens of |
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208 aircraft with very specific stats and individual rules, and a very |
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209 complex tactical environment where each choice could alter the entire |
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210 course of the game. |
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211 |
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212 While any RPG pales in comparison to that Wargame, some examples include |
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213 /Hero System/ and /Age of Heroes/. A common combination is Mass and |
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214 Concept, with the prime example being D&D with its volumes of rules and |
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215 spell lists (Mass) combined with its detailed resource management |
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216 (Concept). |
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217 |
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218 |
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219 Eye of the Beholder |
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220 |
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221 Like everything, how complex a game is depends upon who is judging it. |
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222 Every person has different levels of tolerance for each of the above |
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223 elements. Below that tolerance, the game is easy - go above it and it |
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224 becomes complex. |
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225 |
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226 Additionally different people desire different mixes of complexity. One |
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227 person may like a fairly high level of Mass and Concept and as low a |
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228 level of Implementation as possible. Another may want a game that is the |
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229 complete reverse. Games suitable for each are going to look vastly |
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230 different from each other. |
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231 |
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232 And of course, there are people who desire low levels of Complexity in |
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233 all three elements. At their most extreme, games for such people become |
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234 completely free form. |
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235 |
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236 Knowing the complexity desires of your target players (and attempting to |
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237 fulfill them) will greatly impact the choice of what games to play, or |
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238 how to design your own. And hopefully knowing the core elements of what |
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239 makes games complex will also make it easier to talk about them to others. |
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240 |
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241 |
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294 this and fix things. Thanks! |
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295 |
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296 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
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297 |
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298 |
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299 Previous columns |
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300 |
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301 * Elements of Strategy </news+reviews/columns/elements11feb03.html> |
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302 by Brian Gleichman, 11feb03 |
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303 * Rationales for Mechanics (or the Case for Designer's Notes) |
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304 </news+reviews/columns/elements14jan03.html> by Brian Gleichman, |
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305 14jan03 |
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306 * Layers of Design </news+reviews/columns/elements11dec02.html> by |
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307 Brian Gleichman, 11dec02 |
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308 * Elements of Tactics </news+reviews/columns/elements01nov02.html> |
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309 by Brian Gleichman, 01nov02 |
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310 * Elements of Complexity |
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311 </news+reviews/columns/elements20sep02.html> by Brian Gleichman, |
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312 20sep02 |
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313 |
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314 |
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315 Other columns </news+reviews/columns.html> at RPGnet |
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