Go to the first, previous, next, last section, table of contents.

Complexity

Although GDL is a powerful language, you should avoid designing a game that is too complex to be humanly playable. A single game can literally define millions of different parameters, each with a range including 100 to 10,000 distinct values. It is clearly possible to spend many years exploring just a single set of these! For more playable and enjoyable games, either pick a single thing to treat in detail, or else do everything in a simplified way. For instance, if you want elaborate movement and combat rules, avoid or even eliminate materials and associated material handling rules.

Another thing to keep in mind is that the introduction of a new type may have far-reaching consequences. For instance, an additional unit type will need its interactions with all other unit types defined, as well as with terrain and materials, and those new interactions may in turn affect others. One approach is to introduce a new type as a slight modification of an existing type, then to share most of the definitions. Another thing you can do is to put complexity into the variants, so players with a taste for punishment can indulge themselves, while leaving the basic game as more of a fun thing.


Go to the first, previous, next, last section, table of contents.