perfectpencil
9th Mar 09, 3:32 AM
I know every other tutorial will help you create your mod, but this one will help balance your mod. I'm hoping this one can help you make a good mod and not a cheat mod. After playing a good portion of the mods a lot of people have made, I've realized they break the balance of the game and made it much easier and less rewarding. So, I'm going to write a tutorial with some game design theory to help everyone make epic mods.
DISCLAIMER: THIS TUTORIAL APPLIES TO ALL MODS WHICH CAN BE DEEMED "NEW CONTENT". IT IS WRITTEN UNDER THE ASSUMPTION YOU ARE CREATING A MOD WHICH IS MADE TO EXTEND THE EXPERIENCE OF THE PLAYER. IF YOUR GOAL IS TO CREATE A MOD WHICH MAKES THE GAME EXTENSIVELY EASIER OR PROVIDE SHORT CUTS IN GAMEPLAY THEN YOU DON'T NEED TO READ ON.
(note: I've made mods for at least 6 titles over the past 10 years, as well as work on 2-3 commercial games as a designer or as an artist. Most of this tutorial talks about basic concepts which neither are required to grasp. Since I am not a programmer by nature, I'm hoping to present this tutorial in a way which can be easily understood by just about anyone)
Before we begin, a few things are assumed in this tutorial.
1) The game is balanced enough to work off of as a standard.
2) Mods which extend Game play step forward in difficulty, not backward.
3) Your mod is meant to have a lifetime long enough to warrant playing through the campaign from start to finish with it enabled.
4) Not all mods are made the same, but good ones are utilized long after they are made.
Lets start...
Step 1: Identifying your mod's goals
You want to make a mod that does X,Y, or Z and you can't wait to dig into the game files. First thing is to identify the exact goal of your MOD and pinpoint the changes needed. Lets say all you want to do is give Force Commander 2 subordinate units making him into a squad. That's a good place to start, but you need to balance anything you do to your marines to your enemy squads. If you don't intend to balance your mod, you end up with a cheat. Also, to reiterate, if your goal is to make a cheat, none of this tutorial applies to your project, although I encourage you read on regardless
Step 2: Balancing your idea
Think of the game as a sea saw, in perfect harmony with equal weight on each side. It lays flat even though only the center is actually touching something. Your idea, is effectively going to change the balance and put weight on one side, so to keep the balance you need to add something to the other. If your idea is simply adding units to your marines, you need to add a few units to your enemy squads. Why exactly you do this leads us to step 3...
Step 3: Understanding why
This is really important to know, because if you don't understand the difference between creating a balanced mod and a cheat, you will never understand why your finished product isn't recieved as you wish it to be. First remember the game was designed by professionals who had a host of people helping them get it right. As such, you need to realize there is a reason for everything they did. Anything you do to upset this balance actually becomes detrimental to the player (aka, the difference between new content and a cheat). If you add to space marines, you lower the over all difficulty of each battle and effectively lower the difficulty of the whole game. A player who is looking for a new experience is more likely not looking for an easier game, but rather a follow up to their previous game. In most cases this equates a more challenging game. On the other hand, if you make the game too hard you stand possibility of frustrating your player and making them uninstall your mod and going back to the stock game or trying someone else's mod. In both cases your outcome did not equal your goal. You can avoid this problem however, so read on.
Step 4: Implementing your idea
Almost anything you have planned not only can work, but it can be as awesome as you want it to be. You just need balance it out and it will make a rich and dynamic experience for the player
To start, you need to take your planned change and set it on that sea saw we mentioned earlier. The weight it gives can be broke down to %'s in most cases, so you only need to increase the enemy by that same percentage to get things working right. Lets say you increase the squad size of each of your squads by 1. This jumps your over all deployed marines from 12 to 16, resulting in a 30% damage increase. You can either raise enemy squad size by 30% (rounded up) or raise their damage output by 30%. Either scenario will restore equilibrium and make it fun to play while still being challenging and rewarding. The easiest way though, is to simply reduce the health and damage output of your newly enlarged squad to keep their output the same as before you added a unit.
Some mods however don't fit this basic formula and won't balance as easily. However anything you do to your marines, you can do something to your enemy to equal the changes. If you want force commander to wear an iron halo in terminator armor, you can calculate his general life expectancy and increase your enemy's output by that percentage, or increase their life expectancy by the same. This is tricky since force commander only gets the armor near the end, so you need to reduce the increase to your enemy squads. Ideally, you want the increase to only take place once terminator armor is acquired. You need to be creative here, since the changes you make do cause the game to be easier, and you want to keep the difficulty the same or slightly harder. Easier gameplay falls under the category of a "cheat" and is not the goal of this tutorial.
Step 6: The Good, the bad, the Ugly
You'll either love this tutorial or hate it based on this step, because chances are your idea fits into one of these categories. Rest assured though, anything you do wrong can be fixed, and anything you do right can be awesome. So lets start with the cheats, then move to the progressive mods.
Mods that count as "Cheats"
-Anything that increases the size of your squads and that's it. Since I have used this as an example earlier I won't go into detail, but increasing your numbers increases your life expectancy and damage output, lowering the difficulty of maps. Over all a good MOD doesn't make the game easier as it reduces the amount of strategy, tactics and critical thinking involved. Unless your goal is to create a tutorial campaign, you want to keep the difficulty up.
-Anything that increases the damage of your squads and that's it. Much like above, by making your marine's kill faster you lower the difficulty and speed up the entire game. Ideally you want the player to be more challenged not less.
-Anything that breaks armor/weapon/accessory requirements. Unfortunately this is one of those things that is so difficult to balance that it is best not to mess with it. There is a very good reason your level 1 Force commander can't wear lvl 20 terminator armor: it ruins the progression of the game.
-Anything that increases item drop rate or gives players armor flat out. Another one of those things that is impossible to balance, so i don't recommend it. If you increase the drop rate of items, you decrease the player's need/desire to do optional missions. Optional missions increase the difficulty of the final mission and make the end more rewarding (as well as increasing the final score and honors). Worst even, if you just give the the player everything at the start, there would be no need to play any mission aside from the one's required to advance the story. The player would beat the game in 3 hours and feel cheated.
Good / Progressive MOD ideas
-Anything that changes a cosmetic value of the game, from a change of unit colors/species to changes to the UI. Generally speaking, if you are just changing the way things look you don't mess with the difficulty balance at all. These MODs are almost always accepted with open arms by the fanbase.
-Any increase made to your marines size, damage or effectiveness that is accompanied by an equal increase to the enemy races. This is where most mods will fall, or need to. Whatever you want to do to your marines can be done to your enemy to keep the game challenging. So if you have a balanced mod it will have high replay value and players will want more releases by you.
-Any slight increase in difficulty. Not something you would expect to be listed in the good ideas section, but if you increase the difficulty of the game this can be balanced by the player himself and how he approaches each battle. The reason there are 4 difficulty levels is for when you beat the game on normal your next impulse is to try it on hard. If your mod is the jump from hard to expert, you're making something experienced players will enjoy. As long as you are careful to not make the leap from normal to impossible, your mod will be well recieved.
-Anything that forces the player to use new strategy in combat is a great idea. From lower squad size or fewer deployable squads, to different commander traits/special abilities or even new abilities for the enemy. If you keep your player on their toes, you create a fun and challenging experience. If you are changing the way the player applies tactics you will create a mod that allows them to see the game with a fresh perspective.
-And lastly, anything that creates a whole new story. If you are making new maps, and a new tale to be told, your idea is destined for success. The fact is, there are only so many times people can play the same campaign or map, by creating new content for them, you extend the life of the game. As long as you do it without adding the above cheats, you're going to be in great shape.
Step 7: Conclusion
Over all, every mod has potential for greatness. All you need to do is balance your addition with an equal addition to the enemy and you will keep things fun and playable. If your mod simply makes the game easier, it's just a cheat. It is pretty simple when you think about it, if someone is considering a mod, they probably have already beaten the game and want a new experience. So give them a good one.
For more ideas, below I have a few examples of balanced alterations. They add desired features while still maintaining a level of balance.
------------------
Examples
More item drops. Fairly simple change here, if you want to increase the rate in which items drop, you simply need to reduce the amount of additional XP the player gets for dumping items by the same %. 50% more items = 50% less xp for dumping items. This is still a beneficial mod since it helps players find appropriate items, however you aren't ramping up the rate of XP they gain and as long as items still have level limitations, players will be forced to use items appropriate for their level.
Stat increases. This one is rather tricky. Because the intended point gain goes hand in hand with enemy damage output and toughness. By increasing the points gained by even just 1 per level, you push your squads to level 20 output by level 15. This notably reduces difficulty. However there is a nice trick to this. If you increase the rate of XP gain, you effectively allow the player easier access to stat points to spend, while allowing for enemies to level up with the player. I recommend increasing the level cap to 30, and increase XP gained by 150% as well as the increasing the max stats per trait by this same percentage. With this, you should see players max out at about the same time they would be fighting the final level.
Deployable Squad increases. Lets say you want all 5 squads to be playable. Since you're increasing squads from 4 to 5, you just need to make enemy squad sizes 125% larger. usually adding 1 unit or so. This isn't prefect since the benefit of an additional squad far outweighs the effect of one extra nid per group. You might want to experiment with instead increasing the damage output and health of enemy squads by 125%. You will need to test this to see which method works better. Remember, increasing squads mean you add one extra unit to raise commanders which does a lot more to the survivability of your mission then you probably realize.
Deployable Squad Decreases. This is something which increases difficulty by a fairly large margin, for two reasons. First, force commander must be one of the two deployed squads and second, the possibility of failing a mission is higher due to less chances to raise fallen commanders. However you can compensate for this by granting an additional few stat points at lvl 1 to give them a "leg up" on the competition (5-10 sounds about right), and turn force commander into an actual squad with 2-3 subordinates It may also be recommended to increase the accessory slots by 1-2 to allow more items to be equipped, as well as turning each member of as squad into more of a unique soldier with unique weapons. I don't recommend increasing stat points per level (for the same reasons stated above) however the extra points at the start give your squads the boost they need to beat the difficulty curb.
Enemy squad size increases. This is one of the few things you can change that really can be left alone. The player himself will balance this with tactics. However, there is something you can change which will better allow your squads to handle the increase in enemy numbers if you want. Since squads stay together, explosives/splash damage do a lot to destroy them. Depending on how much you are increasing squad sizes will mean a few different things but, by boosting either your explosive damage or recharge time you can effectively give the player the tools to meet the challenge. Even a small change like having Tarkus' grenade ability effect flash grenades as well will do more then enough to even this out.
DISCLAIMER: THIS TUTORIAL APPLIES TO ALL MODS WHICH CAN BE DEEMED "NEW CONTENT". IT IS WRITTEN UNDER THE ASSUMPTION YOU ARE CREATING A MOD WHICH IS MADE TO EXTEND THE EXPERIENCE OF THE PLAYER. IF YOUR GOAL IS TO CREATE A MOD WHICH MAKES THE GAME EXTENSIVELY EASIER OR PROVIDE SHORT CUTS IN GAMEPLAY THEN YOU DON'T NEED TO READ ON.
(note: I've made mods for at least 6 titles over the past 10 years, as well as work on 2-3 commercial games as a designer or as an artist. Most of this tutorial talks about basic concepts which neither are required to grasp. Since I am not a programmer by nature, I'm hoping to present this tutorial in a way which can be easily understood by just about anyone)
Before we begin, a few things are assumed in this tutorial.
1) The game is balanced enough to work off of as a standard.
2) Mods which extend Game play step forward in difficulty, not backward.
3) Your mod is meant to have a lifetime long enough to warrant playing through the campaign from start to finish with it enabled.
4) Not all mods are made the same, but good ones are utilized long after they are made.
Lets start...
Step 1: Identifying your mod's goals
You want to make a mod that does X,Y, or Z and you can't wait to dig into the game files. First thing is to identify the exact goal of your MOD and pinpoint the changes needed. Lets say all you want to do is give Force Commander 2 subordinate units making him into a squad. That's a good place to start, but you need to balance anything you do to your marines to your enemy squads. If you don't intend to balance your mod, you end up with a cheat. Also, to reiterate, if your goal is to make a cheat, none of this tutorial applies to your project, although I encourage you read on regardless
Step 2: Balancing your idea
Think of the game as a sea saw, in perfect harmony with equal weight on each side. It lays flat even though only the center is actually touching something. Your idea, is effectively going to change the balance and put weight on one side, so to keep the balance you need to add something to the other. If your idea is simply adding units to your marines, you need to add a few units to your enemy squads. Why exactly you do this leads us to step 3...
Step 3: Understanding why
This is really important to know, because if you don't understand the difference between creating a balanced mod and a cheat, you will never understand why your finished product isn't recieved as you wish it to be. First remember the game was designed by professionals who had a host of people helping them get it right. As such, you need to realize there is a reason for everything they did. Anything you do to upset this balance actually becomes detrimental to the player (aka, the difference between new content and a cheat). If you add to space marines, you lower the over all difficulty of each battle and effectively lower the difficulty of the whole game. A player who is looking for a new experience is more likely not looking for an easier game, but rather a follow up to their previous game. In most cases this equates a more challenging game. On the other hand, if you make the game too hard you stand possibility of frustrating your player and making them uninstall your mod and going back to the stock game or trying someone else's mod. In both cases your outcome did not equal your goal. You can avoid this problem however, so read on.
Step 4: Implementing your idea
Almost anything you have planned not only can work, but it can be as awesome as you want it to be. You just need balance it out and it will make a rich and dynamic experience for the player
To start, you need to take your planned change and set it on that sea saw we mentioned earlier. The weight it gives can be broke down to %'s in most cases, so you only need to increase the enemy by that same percentage to get things working right. Lets say you increase the squad size of each of your squads by 1. This jumps your over all deployed marines from 12 to 16, resulting in a 30% damage increase. You can either raise enemy squad size by 30% (rounded up) or raise their damage output by 30%. Either scenario will restore equilibrium and make it fun to play while still being challenging and rewarding. The easiest way though, is to simply reduce the health and damage output of your newly enlarged squad to keep their output the same as before you added a unit.
Some mods however don't fit this basic formula and won't balance as easily. However anything you do to your marines, you can do something to your enemy to equal the changes. If you want force commander to wear an iron halo in terminator armor, you can calculate his general life expectancy and increase your enemy's output by that percentage, or increase their life expectancy by the same. This is tricky since force commander only gets the armor near the end, so you need to reduce the increase to your enemy squads. Ideally, you want the increase to only take place once terminator armor is acquired. You need to be creative here, since the changes you make do cause the game to be easier, and you want to keep the difficulty the same or slightly harder. Easier gameplay falls under the category of a "cheat" and is not the goal of this tutorial.
Step 6: The Good, the bad, the Ugly
You'll either love this tutorial or hate it based on this step, because chances are your idea fits into one of these categories. Rest assured though, anything you do wrong can be fixed, and anything you do right can be awesome. So lets start with the cheats, then move to the progressive mods.
Mods that count as "Cheats"
-Anything that increases the size of your squads and that's it. Since I have used this as an example earlier I won't go into detail, but increasing your numbers increases your life expectancy and damage output, lowering the difficulty of maps. Over all a good MOD doesn't make the game easier as it reduces the amount of strategy, tactics and critical thinking involved. Unless your goal is to create a tutorial campaign, you want to keep the difficulty up.
-Anything that increases the damage of your squads and that's it. Much like above, by making your marine's kill faster you lower the difficulty and speed up the entire game. Ideally you want the player to be more challenged not less.
-Anything that breaks armor/weapon/accessory requirements. Unfortunately this is one of those things that is so difficult to balance that it is best not to mess with it. There is a very good reason your level 1 Force commander can't wear lvl 20 terminator armor: it ruins the progression of the game.
-Anything that increases item drop rate or gives players armor flat out. Another one of those things that is impossible to balance, so i don't recommend it. If you increase the drop rate of items, you decrease the player's need/desire to do optional missions. Optional missions increase the difficulty of the final mission and make the end more rewarding (as well as increasing the final score and honors). Worst even, if you just give the the player everything at the start, there would be no need to play any mission aside from the one's required to advance the story. The player would beat the game in 3 hours and feel cheated.
Good / Progressive MOD ideas
-Anything that changes a cosmetic value of the game, from a change of unit colors/species to changes to the UI. Generally speaking, if you are just changing the way things look you don't mess with the difficulty balance at all. These MODs are almost always accepted with open arms by the fanbase.
-Any increase made to your marines size, damage or effectiveness that is accompanied by an equal increase to the enemy races. This is where most mods will fall, or need to. Whatever you want to do to your marines can be done to your enemy to keep the game challenging. So if you have a balanced mod it will have high replay value and players will want more releases by you.
-Any slight increase in difficulty. Not something you would expect to be listed in the good ideas section, but if you increase the difficulty of the game this can be balanced by the player himself and how he approaches each battle. The reason there are 4 difficulty levels is for when you beat the game on normal your next impulse is to try it on hard. If your mod is the jump from hard to expert, you're making something experienced players will enjoy. As long as you are careful to not make the leap from normal to impossible, your mod will be well recieved.
-Anything that forces the player to use new strategy in combat is a great idea. From lower squad size or fewer deployable squads, to different commander traits/special abilities or even new abilities for the enemy. If you keep your player on their toes, you create a fun and challenging experience. If you are changing the way the player applies tactics you will create a mod that allows them to see the game with a fresh perspective.
-And lastly, anything that creates a whole new story. If you are making new maps, and a new tale to be told, your idea is destined for success. The fact is, there are only so many times people can play the same campaign or map, by creating new content for them, you extend the life of the game. As long as you do it without adding the above cheats, you're going to be in great shape.
Step 7: Conclusion
Over all, every mod has potential for greatness. All you need to do is balance your addition with an equal addition to the enemy and you will keep things fun and playable. If your mod simply makes the game easier, it's just a cheat. It is pretty simple when you think about it, if someone is considering a mod, they probably have already beaten the game and want a new experience. So give them a good one.
For more ideas, below I have a few examples of balanced alterations. They add desired features while still maintaining a level of balance.
------------------
Examples
More item drops. Fairly simple change here, if you want to increase the rate in which items drop, you simply need to reduce the amount of additional XP the player gets for dumping items by the same %. 50% more items = 50% less xp for dumping items. This is still a beneficial mod since it helps players find appropriate items, however you aren't ramping up the rate of XP they gain and as long as items still have level limitations, players will be forced to use items appropriate for their level.
Stat increases. This one is rather tricky. Because the intended point gain goes hand in hand with enemy damage output and toughness. By increasing the points gained by even just 1 per level, you push your squads to level 20 output by level 15. This notably reduces difficulty. However there is a nice trick to this. If you increase the rate of XP gain, you effectively allow the player easier access to stat points to spend, while allowing for enemies to level up with the player. I recommend increasing the level cap to 30, and increase XP gained by 150% as well as the increasing the max stats per trait by this same percentage. With this, you should see players max out at about the same time they would be fighting the final level.
Deployable Squad increases. Lets say you want all 5 squads to be playable. Since you're increasing squads from 4 to 5, you just need to make enemy squad sizes 125% larger. usually adding 1 unit or so. This isn't prefect since the benefit of an additional squad far outweighs the effect of one extra nid per group. You might want to experiment with instead increasing the damage output and health of enemy squads by 125%. You will need to test this to see which method works better. Remember, increasing squads mean you add one extra unit to raise commanders which does a lot more to the survivability of your mission then you probably realize.
Deployable Squad Decreases. This is something which increases difficulty by a fairly large margin, for two reasons. First, force commander must be one of the two deployed squads and second, the possibility of failing a mission is higher due to less chances to raise fallen commanders. However you can compensate for this by granting an additional few stat points at lvl 1 to give them a "leg up" on the competition (5-10 sounds about right), and turn force commander into an actual squad with 2-3 subordinates It may also be recommended to increase the accessory slots by 1-2 to allow more items to be equipped, as well as turning each member of as squad into more of a unique soldier with unique weapons. I don't recommend increasing stat points per level (for the same reasons stated above) however the extra points at the start give your squads the boost they need to beat the difficulty curb.
Enemy squad size increases. This is one of the few things you can change that really can be left alone. The player himself will balance this with tactics. However, there is something you can change which will better allow your squads to handle the increase in enemy numbers if you want. Since squads stay together, explosives/splash damage do a lot to destroy them. Depending on how much you are increasing squad sizes will mean a few different things but, by boosting either your explosive damage or recharge time you can effectively give the player the tools to meet the challenge. Even a small change like having Tarkus' grenade ability effect flash grenades as well will do more then enough to even this out.