Principle : Make die rolls random, but outcomes statistical. While dice and other random number generators may appear to go against the notion that players should be in control of their fate, they are, in fact, a great way to mimic complex systems without having to simulate the myriad elements that make up the real thing. You don't make a game like Civilization by constructing accurate models of medieval weapons, or by modeling the human musculoskeletal system and pitting simulated humans against each other; what you do is come up with a statistical model for battles and incorporate that into your game's mechanics. Think of a roll of the dice as obtaining a single sample from a statistical model: The number that comes up is determined at random, but it's the state and rules of the game which determine what happens when that particular number comes up. Players win by making choices, manipulating the game state (or, sometimes, the rules) in such a way that random outcome...
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Excellent machine.
I still use it as my main workhorse, in 2015, for wrting, emailing, developing, presenting, etc. as a university professor. Protext is still the best word processor ever.
What's that got to do with games? Well, the Amiga engendered an ethos of careful, good, efficient design that was goverened by what the user (player) wanted and needed. Amiga designers and develooers thought well, widely, deeply, holistically. And this spilled over into most game design.
See me discussion of the Amiga on "http://kgsvr.net/andrew/amiga/".
Blessings,
Andrew.
4 August 2015