[spoon]

JLS, in other words...

Originally posted by PvK:
1) Whatever values you choose for each ability modifier, should be in line with the point costs for directly improving those abilities.

It might be better to use the point values from the characteristic point-buy system to balance the culture traits. Of course, that involves balancing Characteristics system first...

2) There is no way to mod a point value for culture settings, unless you can get your players to understand that they need to alter their total expenditures based on the culture they choose.

I think he's just making sure you realize that you can't let each player customize his own culture (well, really, you can, but they would have to submit their culture design using the point buy system you created, and have it modded into the game-creators cultures.txt file. (Though that strikes me as a very bad idea, unless it is for a strictly Role-Playing game)).

3) Consider that you can balance bonuses to desirable abilities by combining them with negatives to other desirable abilities, and hopefully ones that make sense for the culture described.

Culture types with both advantages and disadvantages are more interesting. Though I think the basic ones (Scientists, Workers, etc) still have their place.

4) Realize that some abilities tend to me maxed or minimized, and some don't, and realize cultures can be used to extend the limits, and/or the threshold point, and adjust costs appropriately.

This is one of the reasons SpaceCombat should cost a lot - people use them to extend beyond the normal characteristic maximums. With Maint Reduction, people use Merchant to get past the very expensive threshold value.

5) See Proportions mod (and soon, PvK Balance Mod) for an example of adjusting all of the cultures so that they provide a net zero advantage, compared to buying the same abilities directly.

PvK's balancing is great, steal his examples where you can... As to the "net zero advantage", I'm not sure if he means he thinks cultures should add no advantage overall, or if they should all be balanced against each other. I like having cultures give you a small boost, rather than a net zero gain. (like around 500 characteristic points).

-spoon

[ February 09, 2003, 19:35: Message edited by: spoon ]