Following on from the Wargame Development Annual Virtual Gathering, I shared my thoughts about wargame design on Facebook, Twitter, and the Wargame Developments io.group.
The responses were very interesting. There were quite a lot of detailed comments about my thinking, some of which were more supportive and in agreement with me than others.
My thoughts about wargame design were included in my book, THE PORTABLE WARGAME, and are shown below:
The main steps in the wargame design process
- Identify the main objective.
- Analyse the design parameters.
- Design the game’s structure and select and/or design the necessary game mechanisms.
- Implementation of the game’s structure and game mechanisms.
- Testing and Evaluation of the game’s structure and game mechanisms ... and – if necessary – go back one or two steps in the process.
Some guidelines for wargame designers
- Set out what you want to achieve before you start. This should determine the basic structure your rules will follow and will help you to identify the mechanisms you want to use.
- Try to keep the structure to your rules logical.
- Always try to devise the simplest method of achieving the results you want to achieve.
- Always err on the side of simplicity rather than complexity.
- Always remember that less is more.
- Use the psychology of numbers (i.e. high is good, low is bad) when using dice to generate results.
- Try to ensure that each mechanism is not dependent upon another mechanism otherwise changing one can end up affecting everything else. In other words use ‘plug in’ mechanisms that can be ‘unplugged’ if they don’t work.
- Play-test each mechanism before you add it to the rules.
- Keep the language you use simple and consistent.
- Remove anything that does not contribute to the rules. In other words, if players keep forgetting to use a mechanism and the game is not affected by its absence ... then ask yourself whether you need that mechanism. (This is sometimes referred to as Cordery’s First Rule of Wargame Design.)
These thoughts and guidelines are the result of many years of trial and quite a few errors ... but they seem to work.
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BOB,
ReplyDeleteThis is very good advice that you have listed. I've just relised with my Sci-Fi 'STARBURST' Rules that instead of rolling 2 x D6 and adding together the result...I can use one D12...this will help as there is a lot of single figure dice rolling to do during each skirmish. Also, I like the idea that a low dice score is generally poor and a higher dice score is better. Anyway- hope your well there Friend. Cheers. KEV.
Kev Robertson (Kev),
DeleteCheers! I’m pleased that you found my thoughts helpful.
Keep safe and keep well,
Bob
Except that of course substituting 1D12 instead of 2D6 changes the dice score probabilities.
DeleteMike,
DeleteI assumed that is what he wanted.
All the best,
Bob
Bob -
DeleteOn the 2D6 vs D12 thing, it all depends upon what sort of distribution he's looking for. If it's a simple 'score N+ to hit, otherwise miss' a D12 might actually be more appropriate (e.g. in the board game 'Shogun'). But another mechanism might require something close to a 'normal' distribution, in which case, 2D6 would be the better choice (actually a binomial, but that's close enough).
When developing rules mechanics, it is often a pretty good idea 'to do the math'. My combat mechanics for my own 'old school' sets involved quite a lot of time investigating probabilities - got to know a fair bit about the probabilities associated with the good old D6!
I also think, as I believe Charles Grant did, a good idea is to begin with a fairly good idea of the scales - figures, man/model, ground and time - that you want to employ.
Finally - and this might be 'Dowman's First Rule of Wargames Design' - Do Your Own Thing. Of course, I talking making your own sets for yourself, here. Pinch, swipe, steal, purloin the ideas of others if they fit, but don't believe anyone's diktat about what you must or must not include. If you want it, you like it, and it works (important, that), keep it. But I agree that, like a good author, you must be prepared 'to murder your babies'. An thing might looks very thingish, but if it doesn't add to the game, ditch it.
Cheers,
Ion
Archduke Piccolo (Ion),
DeleteI agree with pretty well everything that you state in your comment. I personally don’t like to use non-D6 dice, and can get most of the probabilities I want to generate using combinations of D6s.
In the forthcoming 3rd edition of the WD Handbook, probability tables have been included as an appendix, and I’m sure that wargamers will find them useful.
I’ve always done my own thing when it comes to designing wargame rules … and like you, over the years I have borrowed other people’s ideas and I know that people have borrowed some of mine … and long may this continue.
One thing that I did not include in my list was simplify, Simplify, and SIMPLIFY! Too many wargame designers are still equating complexity with accuracy/reality. I once had a long discussion with a designer whose rules contained movement rates where everything moved at maximum speed. For example, he had done lots of research into the different top speeds of various models of the ‘Sherman’ tank, and included them in his rules. When I asked him why, he said that it was because it made them more accurate. When I pointed out that in real life tanks very rarely moved at full speed (especially when in combat), he told me that was irrelevant.
You cannot discuss wargame design with people whose understanding is so blinkered.
All the best,
Bob
I would have enjoyed seeing the debate and commentary on your list of design guidelines.
ReplyDeleteJonathan Freitag,
DeleteI’m not sure if I can copy them over from Facebook, but I’ll see if I can.
All the best,
Bob
Great thoughts on game design. Can you elaborate on the second main step: "Analyze the design parameters"? I am not sure what that means.
ReplyDeleteChris,
DeleteI’m glad that you enjoyed reading my thoughts.
‘Analyse the design parameters’ means setting down whether the rules are for a low-level game, an operational-level game, a game that uses 15mm, 28mm, or 54mm figures, the intended duration of the game, the size of tabletop required, will the tabletop be a gridded or non-gridded tabletop etc.
I hope that explains it fully enough.
All the best,
Bob