Jun 25 2009

Diminishing Returns… the summary

Published by Nerdmaster under Uncategorized

Okay, so I pretty much forgot about this until I got an email about the logarithms article. And I realize there’s not a lot to say that hasn’t been said already… or, at least, not a lot for me to say, as a mediocre-at-best game designer :P

So anyway, I’ll just recycle the same stuff I’ve already said.

Diminishing returns are essential to just about any complex game. They can give a more realistic feel to a game, such as modeling human learning or supply and demand economics. They can bring a level of balance into a game with almost no effort. And if nothing else, they add a level of mystery to the game.

In some situations, it’s better to choose the wrong diminishing returns formula than to not have one in your game at all. Look at bloodsport colosseum’s fame system, for instance - it just goes up forever, and is almost entirely meaningless once it breaks about 1000. I think any of the formulae I’ve discussed here would have been a dramatic improvement over that system.

Enjoy!


Diminishing returns articles on Nerdbucket:

2 responses so far

May 26 2009

Diminishing Returns in Game Design: Exponential Decay and Convergent Series

Published by Nerdmaster under Programming

Finally, another exciting episode of NAME… THAT… DIMINISHING RETURNS FORMULA!!! Today we look at exponential decay and the convergent series, both of which are in my mind the only limit-based formula that should be considered for 99% of situations. Continue Reading »

2 responses so far

May 11 2009

Diminishing Returns in Game Design: Roots and Negative Exponents

Published by Nerdmaster under Programming

Okay, first off, this was supposed to be up a good while ago, but a combination of real life and work got in the way far more effectively than I had planned. Anyway, today’s diminishing returns formula is roots. Continue Reading »

3 responses so far

Apr 24 2009

Diminishing Returns in Game Design: The Logarithm

Published by Nerdmaster under Programming

For the first topic in programming a diminishing returns formula, I present: logarithms! Continue Reading »

4 responses so far

Apr 20 2009

Diminishing Returns in Game Design

Published by Nerdmaster under Programming

Diminishing what?!?

Okay, first of all, what is this concept of “diminishing returns”? Put simply, “diminishing returns” is the concept of getting less out of some system the more times you put in a constant amount. In the real world, diminishing returns are all over the place. Take, for instance, your body’s tolerance to alcohol…. Continue Reading »

4 responses so far

Apr 08 2009

myAutToExe and Ruby for the win!

Published by Nerdmaster under Programming, Security

As I’ve mentioned maybe once or twice before, I like myAutToExe a good deal. It’s great for tinkering around with AutoIt programs that have been “secured” by compiling to tokens. In some situations, being able to decompile these scripts is an absolute necessity Continue Reading »

2 responses so far

Nov 06 2008

Just a quick reminder that I’m not crazy, but I’m not sane, either

Published by Nerdmaster under Random Shit

Took the Postal quiz and answered everything as truthfully as possible given the multiple-choice nature. 38% likely to go postal. Continue Reading »

No responses yet

Oct 16 2008

CBS bot for Magic Online (mtgo) publicly proven guilty!

Published by Nerdmaster under Bad Programmer!, Games, Security

Score one for the good guys

I’d like to thank everybody on the forums who helped out in the investigation, and I hope this can be a lesson to greedy bot authors everywhere.

2 responses so far

Oct 10 2008

CardBoosterShop Bot (CBSBot) for Magic Online (mtgo) has an account-stealing backdoor!

Published by Nerdmaster under Bad Programmer!, Games, Security

HUGE UPDATE: Read my updated article and wotc’s official statement. Great work, wotc, for your willingness to investigate this matter, and thanks to everybody who helped prove this scam. Continue Reading »

14 responses so far

Jul 02 2008

IRC in Ruby still sucks? Check out Net::YAIL, the choice of a new generation

Published by Nerdmaster under Programming

After posting my super-deluxe-awesome-sexy actionscript hover tooltip code, I felt dirty. I mean, me, giving away the source code to something that I could surely have sold for at least $1.50 a shot! It was really disgusting to see such charity from the likes of myself. Continue Reading »

5 responses so far

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