Improving player balancing in racing games

Abstract

In competitive games where players' skill levels are mismatched, the play experience can be unsatisfying for both stronger and weaker players. Player balancing provides assistance for less-skilled players in order to make games more competitive and engaging. Although player balancing can be seen in many real-world games, there is little work on the design and effectiveness of these techniques outside of shooting games. In this paper we provide new knowledge about player balancing in the popular and competitive racing genre. We studied issues of noticeability and balancing effectiveness in a prototype racing game, and tested the effects of several balancing techniques on performance and play experience. The techniques significantly improved the balance of player performance, were preferred by both experts and novices, increased novices' feelings of competitiveness, and did not detract from experts' experience. Our results provide new understanding of the design and use of player balancing for racing games, and provide novel techniques that can also be applied to other genres.

Removing the HUD

“…For instance, Cechanowicz and colleagues [11] tested a set of techniques to balance performance in a racing game by either assisting novices and/or providing a hindrance to experts. Balancing and dynamic difficulty approaches are important to consider in relation to configuring challenge within games, but our findings suggest there may be other ways to improve the player experience that relate more to how players think and process information.…”

Designing Brutal Multiplayer Video Games

“…For example, how can we design mechanics that don't consistently give advantage only to bigger and stronger players? Video game designers often create balance in multiplayer games through penalizing strong players and boosting weak players [4], but that strategy may not be appropriate in this environment. Indeed, one of the groups in our study incorrectly inferred that the technology was unfairly balanced against them and expressed disappointment, "because the green team were, automatically balanced towards them, we were, working harder" "I suppose it ' Participants frequently discussed the rules of the games in the interview sessions.…”

“…One of the biggest challenges in this domain is in designing mechanics that don't consistently give advantage to bigger and stronger players. Video game designers often create balance in multiplayer games through penalizing strong players and boosting weak players [4], and in non-contact exertion games by modulating effort required based on player fitness [20]. That strategy seems less feasible in brutal games, where there is no obvious way to handicap players.…”

KickAR

“…Further, player preferences regarding game balancing appear to differ based on game literacy. In a study exploring game balancing mechanics in racing games [10], some balancing mechanisms were rated as unfair by expert players, while there were no effects of balancing on subjective enjoyment for novices. It should be noted that game balancing in non-AR games often has to address effects of visibility and player perception of game balancing [5,43].…”