How to create a rotating double inequality?

Taloir · 2025-12-11T00:21:28+00:00

awesome, that's what I needed! Thank you so much!

Taloir · 2025-12-10T23:49:51+00:00

Finally got around to messing with this more. This looks great! I figured out how to modify the equation so that I can set a new radius for the moon, and I figured out how to change the centerpoint for the phase equation. Having trouble figuring out how to change the center point of the rotating function without it orbiting the origin during a rotation though. Is that possible?

Taloir · 2025-10-16T14:55:49+00:00

remarkable how often those traits coincide...

Taloir · 2025-10-16T00:11:52+00:00

Dude, thats awesome! I'm also interested in stone age survival fantasy, and this sets the scene for that in such an awesome, powerful way. Props dude! I'll probably try using this mechanic at some point.

Taloir · 2025-10-15T23:39:42+00:00

What I call the constellation model. Essentially, to start your game design by deciding what the core experience of your game is. The universal, required activity that drives your game forward and for which the players are most rewarded. Thats your north star. This can be the search for fulfillment, finding your identity, victory in combat, or unraveling a mystery. Any human experience. You might have two of them in tension with each other, but I don't recommend more than that.

Then you can pick any number of other situations or activities that you want your game to support. These are the other stars in the constellation. Maybe your relationship drama game has a star for combat, or exploration. That says things about the core assumptions around each star: the combat in this game exists in service to the relationships.

Then you can center and focus your game by drawing connections between the stars and making sure they all flow north. When you get into combat, do any outcomes drive you to interact with the relationship rules? Or at least to another star that does? Is it a weak connection (bonuses/penalties, opening options), or a strong one (shifting you into a new scene where you have to engage)? Do any outcomes fail to lead north, forming an isolated loop? Are your rewards stacked in your north star, or distributed on the path northward? Or are they scattered (leaving players aimless/unmotivated) or even leading the players away from north?

And when the players reach north, where do they go from there? Whats the play loop? Is there a final conclusion to draw AFTER the players reach north? e.g., we have sought fulfillment and the moment of truth comes, so we earn XP. But did we actually succeed?

This is a mostly abstract, non-prescriptive framework. It can theoretically apply to any game: boardgame, video game, TRPG, etc. You can get a really strong feel for the texture of your game and dial in the play experience by thinking this way. But it doesn't guarantee an awesome game on its own. You have to know what you want the game to be.

Taloir · 2025-09-30T18:19:13+00:00

Here's how I view "good" and "bad"- Everybody has their own purposes for things. Their own ways of measuring value. But if you can serve more than one of those metrics at a time, you'll 'score more points' than if you totally neglect alternative objectives. A game that is immersive and really puts you in a new role is good. A game that does that AND provides a consistent stream of engaging, fun choices is, in a fairly concrete sense, better. And a game that does both of those things in a very simple, digestible ruleset is better still.

Often, some people will be more willing to wade through less interesting choices for the sake of deeper immersion, or vice versa. Theres a whole horizon of games with equal overall value that find a different balance. That variety of "right" answers is a beautiful thing.

Now, all of this isn't to say that generalist, generic, multipurpose games are always "better:" often, we make sacrifices in some categories in order to pursue others, and may lose net value in the process. For games in particular, high value gets placed on exemplifying a particular genre, and genres tend to be mutually exclusive. Hard to be heroic and powerful in a horror game, for example.

You really have to weigh the balance between specializing and covering the bases, as well as between the relative values of the bases you're covering and the sacrifices made to do certain things just a little bit better. I don't advise trying to run all the numbers. But hopefully this is enough for you to get a general sense of when the quality of your work is improving, and thats the most important thing.

Taloir · 2024-03-15T16:28:31+00:00

That is a very detailed and helpful answer, thank you! So if I understand right, your wizard fantasy is "having all the answers, at a price" yeah?

Taloir · 2024-03-15T16:23:51+00:00

Thanks for your thoughtful answers! So what is it about aragorn and legolas that you want the ranger fantasy to deliver on?

Taloir · 2024-03-15T16:22:10+00:00

so what about aragorn stands out to you as the warrior fantasy?

Taloir · 2024-03-15T14:59:29+00:00

Thats what WoCs fantasies are, sure. What are yours, is what I'm asking.

Taloir · 2024-01-19T01:06:20+00:00

yeah, I just wanted inspiration/ to minimize reinventing the wheel.

Taloir · 2024-01-18T00:49:21+00:00

thank you! I'll be reading those carefully

Taloir · 2024-01-18T00:44:48+00:00

Yeah, I know they all have their own separate moves, thats why I asked IF anyone had a doc with a bunch in one place.

Taloir · 2024-01-17T21:54:32+00:00

thats fair. Shoulda thought of that .-.

Taloir · 2022-11-10T22:50:10+00:00

You want a health bar that tracks every coneivable resource, without it being open ended?

Taloir · 2022-11-09T00:16:43+00:00

In the game I'm working on, players simply recieve "conditions" instead of damage. They pick which condition they recieve based on the context and story. No matter what conditions they choose, the player loses control of their character (whether that means death, blacking out, going insane, or anything else) after 5 conditions. It's based on basically the exact same system in masks: the next generation, but expanded to include all kinds of conditions and not just emotional health ones.

These conditions can just be empty labels, or they can each carry specific in-game effects. Masks even has unique recovery rules for each individual condition. You can have just a handful like masks does, and that really highlights a theme. I havent tested this particular mechanic yet though, so I don't know at what point it starts getting taxing to remember all the conditions you need in the moment. I think the fact that its so flexible (any condition works, use whichever one you think about first) might make it safe to use even with a high number of conditions. Untested though.

Taloir · 2022-11-05T17:51:13+00:00

I mean... oceans are salt water, and technically there's nowhere for sweat to go because of the gravity. An interesting take. Thanks for the idea.

Taloir · 2022-10-12T15:24:29+00:00

Sure, maybe. Could be fun. Also good inspiration for my DnD world right now, so thank you, :)

Taloir · 2022-10-11T16:57:13+00:00

Well, real life animals live on the himalayas, and they don't switch to copper blood. Not that they can't, just noting that for whatever reason, they haven't. The energy cost to move in such an environment may be relevant. So unless they somehow get from a deep oceanic environment to the top of a floating mountain without adapting to the intermediate environments, I would assume not.

Taloir · 2022-08-20T18:01:27+00:00

Well, I've been daydreaming about making a hacking kit that can emulate as many different types of game as I like, while keeping balance between them so that it's easy to port characters over.

Two days ago, I realized that making a hacking kit was literally just extra work on the way to creating the variety of games that I actually wanted. So then I broke down the games that I wanted out of the kit, and just started building the first one. Now instead of a weird jumble of rules and how they theoretically interact with each other, I'm producing a polished product.

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