modelling game economy with neo4j
TRANSCRIPT
Modelling game economy !with Neo4j
agenda
Hi, my name is Yan Cui.
1MILLION USERS
ACTIVEDAILY
250MILLION DAY
PERREQUEST
location
500+ Spots
locationepisodic
London 2012
Nan Jing 2013
locationepisodicmulti-player
herebemonstersgame.com
iPad
buddies
locationepisodicmulti-playerRPG
4000 Items
800 Recipes
1500+ Quests
100+ Monsters
gamebalancing
itemPricing
itemPricing
itemPricing
itemPricing
manual game balancing is SLOW
it is REPETITIVE
ERROR-PRONE!SUBJECTIVE
there must be a better way...
Hello, Neo4jThe rabbit hole sounds pretty good right about now!
BIG
FOO
Tca
tchi
ng
location baitattraction rate
catch rate
as a graph in Neo4j
Bigfoot
Alice Lake
exists_in
Alluring Goat
can_attract
Bigfoot Toenail Clippings
Musket-teer Trap
lootscan_catch
Omar Lake
exists_in
Bigfoot
Alice Lake
exists_in
Alluring Goat
can_attract
Bigfoot Toenail Clippings
Musket-teer Trap
lootscan_catch
Omar Lake
exists_in
Strength = 502!Speed = 201!Intelligence = 184
Strength = 420!Speed = 210!Technology = 240
Bigfoot
Alice Lake
exists_in
Alluring Goat
can_attract
Bigfoot Toenail Clippings
Musket-teer Trap
lootscan_catch
Omar Lake
exists_in
CatchRate = 0.774
Bigfoot
Alice Lake
exists_in
Alluring Goat
can_attract
Bigfoot Toenail Clippings
Musket-teer Trap
lootscan_catch
Omar Lake
exists_in
Buy Price = 20BN!Sell Price = 482 Gold!Sellable = true!…
Bigfoot
Alice Lake
exists_in
Alluring Goat
can_attract
Bigfoot Toenail Clippings
Musket-teer Trap
lootscan_catch
Omar Lake
exists_inDropRate = 0.1
Bigfoot
Alice Lake
exists_in
Alluring Goat
can_attract
Bigfoot Toenail Clippings
Musket-teer Trap
lootscan_catch
Omar Lake
exists_in
BigfootAlice Lake
exists_in
Alluring Goatcan_attract
Bigfoot Toenail Clippings
Musket-teer Trap
loots
can_catch
Omar Lakeexist
s_in
Yowie
Yetican_ca
tch
can_catch
Apprentice’s Workshop
can_make
GoatHoney
Yeti Fur
requires
loots
makes
Alluring Goat Recipe
requires requires
Beeswax
loots
Bee Hiveharvests
McDonald’s Farm
sells
loots
Goat’s Milk
harvests
London
exists_in
Peryton Fawn Decoy Recipe
requires
Peryton Fawn Decoy
makes
BigfootAlice Lake
exists_in
Alluring Goatcan_attract
Bigfoot Toenail Clippings
Musket-teer Trap
loots
can_catch
Omar Lakeexist
s_in
Yowie
Yetican_ca
tch
can_catch
Apprentice’s Workshop
can_make
GoatHoney
Yeti Fur
requires
loots
makes
Alluring Goat Recipe
requires requires
Beeswax
loots
Bee Hiveharvests
McDonald’s Farm
sells
loots
Goat’s Milk
harvests
London
exists_in
Peryton Fawn Decoy Recipe
requires
Peryton Fawn Decoy
makes
BigfootAlice Lake
exists_in
Alluring Goatcan_attract
Bigfoot Toenail Clippings
Musket-teer Trap
loots
can_catch
Omar Lakeexist
s_in
Yowie
Yetican_ca
tch
can_catch
Apprentice’s Workshop
can_make
GoatHoney
Yeti Fur
requires
loots
makes
Alluring Goat Recipe
requires requires
Beeswax
loots
Bee Hiveharvests
McDonald’s Farm
sells
loots
Goat’s Milk
harvests
London
exists_in
Peryton Fawn Decoy Recipe
requires
Peryton Fawn Decoy
makes
BigfootAlice Lake
exists_in
Alluring Goatcan_attract
Bigfoot Toenail Clippings
Musket-teer Trap
loots
can_catch
Omar Lakeexist
s_in
Yowie
Yetican_ca
tch
can_catch
Apprentice’s Workshop
can_make
GoatHoney
Yeti Fur
requires
loots
makes
Alluring Goat Recipe
requires requires
Beeswax
loots
Bee Hiveharvests
McDonald’s Farm
sells
loots
Goat’s Milk
harvests
London
exists_in
Peryton Fawn Decoy Recipe
requires
Peryton Fawn Decoy
makes
8000+ Nodes
40000+ Edges
gamebalancing(revisited)
impact analysis
What’s the impact of upping
the price of “White Bread”?
CRAFTS
RECIPE
ITEMITEM
IS_USED_IN
MATCH!
(wb:BaseItem { Name:"White Bread"})!
-[rel:CRAFTS | IS_USED_IN*1..]!
->(i:BaseItem)!
RETURN i, rel, wb
MATCH!
(wb:BaseItem { Name:"White Bread"})!
-[rel:CRAFTS | IS_USED_IN*1..]!
->(i:BaseItem)!
RETURN i, rel, wb
Node-[rel]->Node
MATCH!
(wb:BaseItem { Name:"White Bread"})!
-[rel:CRAFTS | IS_USED_IN*1..]!
->(i:BaseItem)!
RETURN i, rel, wb
MATCH!
(wb:BaseItem { Name:"White Bread"})! -[rel:CRAFTS | IS_USED_IN*1..]!
->(i:BaseItem)!
RETURN i, rel, wb
MATCH!
(wb:BaseItem { Name:"White Bread"})!
-[rel:CRAFTS | IS_USED_IN*1..]!
->(i:BaseItem)!
RETURN i, rel, wb
MATCH!
(wb:BaseItem { Name:"White Bread"})!
-[rel:CRAFTS | IS_USED_IN*1..]! ->(i:BaseItem)!
RETURN i, rel, wb
MATCH!
(wb:BaseItem { Name:"White Bread"})!
-[rel:CRAFTS | IS_USED_IN*1..]!
->(i:BaseItem)!
RETURN i, rel, wb
scarcity analysis
How scarce is “Durian”
compared to “Dragonfruit”?
EXISTS_IN
FRUIT TREE
SPOTFRUIT
FORAGES
MATCH! !
(fruit)<-[:FORAGES]-(tree)!
-[:EXISTS_IN]->(spot)!
WHERE! !
fruit.Name=‘Durian’ OR!
fruit.Name=‘Dragonfruit’!
RETURN fruit, tree, spot
MATCH! !
(fruit)<-[:FORAGES]-(tree)!
-[:EXISTS_IN]->(spot)!
WHERE! !
fruit.Name=‘Durian’ OR!
fruit.Name=‘Dragonfruit’!
RETURN fruit, tree, spot
Node<-[r1]-Node-[r2]->Node
MATCH! !
(fruit)<-[:FORAGES]-(tree)!
-[:EXISTS_IN]->(spot)!
WHERE! ! fruit.Name=‘Durian’ OR! fruit.Name=‘Dragonfruit’!RETURN fruit, tree, spot
quest lines
AWARDS
QUEST
ITEMITEM
REQUIRES
UNLOCKS
What quests come after “Year of the Horse”?
MATCH!
(q1:Quest { Name: “Year of the Horse” })!
-[:UNLOCKS]!
->(q2:Quest) !
RETURN q1, q2
How do you model quest progression?
1. Price Items
2. Enrich Model
3. “Price” Quests
monster hierarchy
Catch me first.
No, catch ME first.
IS_USED_IN
ITEMMONSTERCAN_ATTRACT
ITEMMONSTERLOOTS
RECIPECRAFTS
MATCH!
(monster1:Monster)-[:LOOTS]->(loot)!
-[r:IS_USED_IN | CRAFTS*0..]->(bait)!
-[:CAN_ATTRACT]->(monster2)!
RETURN monster1, monster2
∑(Bait Price * Attraction Rate)
Input = Output∑(Loot Price * Drop Rate) + Gold
IS_USED_IN
ITEMMONSTERCAN_ATTRACT
ITEMMONSTERLOOTS
RECIPECRAFTS
NEW monster !
= More competitor for bait!
= Lower attraction rate for
all monsters
getting data into NEO4J
version control Game Design data
What changed!When did it change!Why did it change!Who changed it
allow multi-user editing
GitFlow!!- branching strategy for Git!- used by all our developers!
Publisher- Validate!- Localize!- Publish
Publisher
Flash iOS Server Neo4j
test data changes in isolation
preview changes on live
Localization
more text than first three Harry Porter books!
Step 1. !ingest gettext file
Step 2. !intercept string property setters
Step 3. !replace string
Step 4. !repeat for next language
intercept string property setters
intercept string property setters
replace string
replace string
target all DTOs!
auto-tuning trapping stats
Monsterstrength!speed!
intelligence
Trapstrength!speed!
technology
Monsterstrength!speed!
intelligence
Trapstrength!speed!
technology
Catch Rate %
trial-and-error
trial-and-errorlaborious
error-prone
sub-optimal
genetic algorithms(in F#)
auto-tuning baits
auto-tuning baits
LONDON 2.0we rewrote the entire season 1 !
quests to make them better.
TWICETHE FUN
SEASON 1
SEASON 1!(POST-REWRITE)
SEASON 2
STREAMLINEDMORE
QUALITY > QUANTITY
TWICETHE AMOUNT
SUPPORTTO
Neo4j to the rescue!
Thank you!
@theburningmonk
github.com/theburningmonk
theburningmonk.com