Bay 12 Games Forum

Before it's too late, Merry Christmas, everyone.

Sorry to necro my own thread, but my interest in this area of math/gaming has returned, to a degree.


Rant aside, I feel like we can expand upon this by sorting out what math works for what genres and the like. It doesn't always have to be about optimization. We can always run experiments with the math systems, or with the games as the subjects of some mathematical tinkering.

Obviously, for some games like Age of Empires, where optimizing is accounted for, I already learned that 4 villagers working on a single building project is the most optimal speed to work on anything (square the amount for a wonder); and having 4 of the same building type will make an army (of same class) in a jiffy, provided the resources. But what about using geometry to make an optimal layout of an empire's land (or maximizing income from trade caravans by learning pathfinding, and making the longest (legal (e.g. no palisade wall maze fake distancing for a few extra gold)) route possible?)? How to harvest a forest in the least time (to make more buildings, or carve out a path to another opening, without using catapults to carve the paths; excellent for early-game plotting), or geometrically plotting a strike pattern to maximize damage sans upgrading units (strike with fewer, not always better; if you're a penny-pinching monarch)? With that in mind, any other mathematical angles we can apply to these kinds of games?

In short, more experimenting and learning, less munchkin-based optimization:
-RTS games have potential uses for Geometry and basic Algebra. Similar could be said of city-building/god games.
  =You can rig elections on Tropico better than our own candidates in recent elections even. Rock the vote in your favor by manipulating the odds, or promising something you're almost done doing anyway, but leave it incomplete until election day for promising it. Easy votes. (Just calculate the time of completion, influence impact, and costs, and you're set. I always win with 95% or better political ratings minimum by the end of my games; despite crashing the economy early, and all other crap here and there I've pulled when playing. Including having a landfill as town square.)
-Turn-based games like XCOM and Civilization can also use some math tricks, if you know where to apply them properly.
  =Gradually adding more engineers as you supply your income making motion detectors is a nice accelerator to fortunes (+1 engineer every time the ticker hits $70k helps (+$20k overhead for materials). So you basically gain 1 engineer every 12-24 hours (instead of a cluster of them every 72 hours straight up), and every 9 engineers steps up your daily profit by another unit. Meaning your profit margin increases roughly weekly at this rate; speeding up the hire rates as well as constructions in the long run.
  =Comparing profitable items, motion detectors make great early-game income, while laser/gauss cannons work even better later on.
-Even RPG(-like) games like Starcon makes good use of the Pythagorean Theorem for navigation. Fuel/time cost, Quasi-space taken into account even.
-Action games, and anything realtime uses the DPS system, naturally. But what else can be abused mathematically?
-Simulation games can make good use too, especially if you're into doing some tricks; be they trick shots, stunts, or otherwise.
  =Heck, how much theorycrafting has been put to use to make more exotic spacecraft for Kerbal Space Program that still follows basic rocket science?
  =Of course, like I stated above, have fun looking for anything along those lines, because you'll have nothing but competition games plaguing the results.
  =Ever optimize a Suzuki Escudo to do a wheelie? They did. And so did I. Here it is in action.
  =Alternatively, engineering the ultimate drifters/racers/dragsters, with some (not as) simple maths.
-Experimental crafting/physics puzzle games, like Besiege or Powdertoy, can make some good use of some basic physics and geometry.
  =I mean, my 'Carnival Ride of Doom' can always use some additional tinkering to make it even more menacing.
  =Though not gaming, exactly, I did learn the miracle as to why my house is so hurricane-proof, despite all the close calls that nearly hit us. I researched the miracle. Like a cheap wind-tunnel.
  =Bridge it with reality, if you want, and see how accurate simulators are to the real thing; and if you have more/better math, submit it for the next updates.

There has to be more than what has already been mentioned in this thread. Heck, even pull up a sparknote/cliff's note, and see what's listed could be used for what games. What I like to see is more unorthodox/lateral thinking. Think outside the box, and beyond the obvious. What is there that we have yet to screw around with? Even with games we already theorycrafted to death (think cheat codes/cheat engine and such)? With cheating involved, what other nonsense can be pulled off, just by calculating a few things and tinkering a bit here and there?

EDIT:
I'm sure anyone doing a let's play can make use of this for narration purposes too. Shadow President could use some help, if anything can be quantified for crafting with. Is a nation not willing to follow any policy you have in place? Crunch some numbers, and make them follow it, and make them think it was their own idea in the process (Sorry, I haven't actually played it, but I figure it would be in the cards if you know how. Just see my Tropico example above.).

EDIT EDIT:
A good combo I've been trying out was Final Fantasy XII, some Cheat Engine, and some theorycrafting, to make for some fun battles. So far, not so much luck in that field; and that with the guidebook helping. Although I can affect enemies one way or another, I can't seem to spot their creature ID and change them into something else. For example, the Garamscythe Waterway being plagued with Yiazmats. So far, I can only make dire rats as deadly as a Yiazmat, however.

Since earlier this month (and according to news articles, earlier than that), Apple$oft decided, amongst the many "upgrades" to attach to it's major update at the time, to demolish everything that made their sticky notes awesome; following Apple's lead of advancement through stupidity. I think I mentioned it in the WTF thread some time ago.

Anyway, I decided to take a moment again, after waiting long enough in hopes someone found a solution, to look for it. After trying this myself, and knowing it works, here's a link for anyone else with Win10 that suffered that same fate of losing all their info and such from the "upgrade". You can have your old/classic notes back (plus functions that function), with hopefully no data missing.

Here you go, and enjoy using something that actually works again: (Link includes comparison)
Link: http://www.winhelponline.com/blog/get-classic-sticky-notes-windows-10-anniversary/

EDIT:
Feel free to compare it to their latest version, and see why I was so aggravated by the "upgrades".
Article for reference: http://windowsreport.com/sticky-notes-update-windows-10/

EDIT EDIT:
For what it's worth, crappy as the modern version is, I now can store twice as many notes, doubling-up my humdrum activities; seeing as I have both modern (crap version) and classic (awesome version) able to work in tandem.

I suddenly have a new supply of free time I want to spend on playing some games. Since it's October/Halloween Season, I'm looking towards some more horror-based, or Halloween-ish games or games that follow that theme/options. Ideas?

Some ideas:
-Dead Space Series (Necromorphs)
-Left 4 Dead (Zombie hordes)
-Zombie Master (More zombies, online multiplayer, but with players being directors too)
-Hidden: Source (Invisible vs. squad Multiplayer fun)
-Party Hard (You play as a slasher movie character, taking out innocent partiers)
-Axiom Verge (Has the right atmosphere)
-Castlevania Series (Of course)
-Viscera Cleanup Detail (Blood. Blood everywhere.)
-Quake 1 (What better atmosphere than nuking monsters in the Elder Dimension?)

As for art ideas and such for crafty games and the like, I'll provide an idea or few for anyone to take on if they feel up to it:
-Jack-o-Lantern House (DONE: Minecraft)
-Haunted Castles/towns
-Nether Hellscaping

More happy since hurricane: Turns out my cat survived the storm. We tried to take them with us for evac, but they kept running off every other chance we had. Nice to see the little fuzzball's still alive and in good shape. They're pretty shaken up, but nothing too bad.

Everything's pretty good over here (house and town). Turns out my calculations and such I mentioned earlier were pretty darn consistent, according to the mess I had to clean up around the house and yard. House took minimal damage (basically the vinyl siding we had served as protective armor for the house, and a great deal of it got torn off), no flooding, surges apparently didn't even make it past the house closer to the beach than ours, and all the windows are intact. Exactly as calculated; well, more or less.

Had the hurricane maintained it's original course, we'd be far worse off (becoming a ground-zero location instead), of course. But thank goodness we dodged a cannonball there. Went about a day or so (slightly longer than a day since it came back a couple hours ago (I think around 9-ish)) sans power and internet. Had a generator keep us going for the time being at minimal operation, refreshing the house and such, and keeping our food and such from going rotten. Now I'm just spending what remains of my unofficial days off from work (Hurricane Party Vacation) cleaning up the place, and have just now re-set my computer setup and such.

It's nice to keep tabs on a bigger screen again. Nice to see everyone else has come off pretty well, as well.

EDIT:
I may have been on the news, since I saw at least 2 news choppers fly over my house (NBC and Channel 9, I think), and hold still for a bit; probably giving everyone else watching a good look at the mess. If you saw a pink house that was once white on the viewscreen, I may have waved at the camera either time.

EDIT EDIT:
Got a bit more yard cleaning done (getting it ready for pickup). Definitely got my work cut out for me here. Much more crap lying about the place than I thought.

Seems about right. It seems mandatory evacuation orders have been set for Volusia County Beachside now (my location, actually). So, deadline to get out before bridges are closed is 6PM tomorrow. Of course, I'll be out earlier before traffic decides to clog the exit. Gonna chill out at my brother's a bit further inland for awhile.

At least I have the next few days of work off. Plus, I've bought myself some time with my other job developments for the time being (something way better than my old job), thanks to the weather. So, hurricane board game party it is for the weekend.

EDIT:
Friday update there makes me feel a whole lot more comfy about my situation. Now I definitely know my house will still be here upon return. But of course, the power might be a different issue.