Proposal for Introducing the "Pie Rule" to Enhance Game Balance

[Saibababa]

I have played this game several times and I believe there is a significant difference in the difficulty of winning between playing first and playing second. To start the game from more equal conditions, I suggest introducing the "Pie Rule" (it could also be an option). I think this is a simple change that won’t detract from the enjoyment of the game. I find the mechanics of this game interesting and I'm looking forward to changes that will make the matches more exciting.

[tchobello]

Random mode is actually already an option...
You're free to play in all other modes.

[ufm]

Pie rule is different from any mode currently implemented, as it has nothing to do with board setup.

Pie rule procedure in this game would be:
- Board setup (pie rule does not change this part, in contrast to currently implemented setup modes)
- The tentative first player plays the first move
- The tentative second player chooses the side to play (in this game, orange or blue)
- The player ended up with the second player side continues the game normally
Hence the name. The first player divides the pie, the second player chooses the piece to take.

Theoretically, this rule completely eliminates the player order advantage.
However, I'm not sure this game needs one.

[Jellby]

Theoretically, this rule completely eliminates the player order advantage.

Only as long as the winning strategy is equally unknown to both players. In a solved game, with perfect players, it just turns any game into a 2nd-player-wins game.

[ufm]

Theoretically, this rule completely eliminates the player order advantage.

Only as long as the winning strategy is equally unknown to both players. In a solved game, with perfect players, it just turns any game into a 2nd-player-wins game.

The point of this rule is forcing the first player to split the pie (the game situation after the first move) as equally as possible.
If the players try copying the solver move, well, then they get a second player auto win as you said.
This alone completely changes the opening moves, rendering the default mode solutions useless.
Of course this is not a bulletproof. However, what you said is simply wrong.

[tchobello]

If you wanna discuss politely about this.. create another topic: there won't be any Pie Rule in Orion Duel as the game is balanced.

[andreathejedy]

Hi all, I’m Andrea Mainini, one of the authors of the game.

On the multiple reasons explaining the lack of the first-player advantage, I have already discussed in the other post, and I will not repeat them here.
Developing a game where there is no first-player advantage (at least within satisfactory limits for 'humans') is not a result of chance but is the outcome of constant attention from the beginning of the development with my co-author Alberto Branciari; moreover, the statistics confirm this.
So there is NO need for the 'pie rule.'

In any case I'll add some considerations:
- when playing with the 'physical game,' the random setup made by the 2 players naturally leads to a distribution of galaxies and black holes that normally is quite 'uniform' on the board; without any need to make strategies or reasoning (which are also impossible and useless) during the placement of galaxies and black holes, the 2 players build a game field that normally is not (and DOESN’T SEEM) to grant a hypothetical advantage to the first player;
- when we used to play on BGA with the random setup (I'm going to explain why I used the past tense), occasional situations with significant 'accumulations' of galaxies or black holes could arise; and even though this didn’t lead to any first-player advantage, the perception one had might have suggested that such an advantage existed (for example, with the first player placing their 'first tile within an accumulation of galaxies'; in reality, even in that case, one could very well win or lose);
- to avoid this perception of a hypothetical first-player advantage in the random setup on BGA, we worked with the fantastic developer tchobello to refine and improve the random setup to limit the possibility of 'accumulations' of galaxies or black holes and thus 'simulating' as much as possible the real situation with the physical game;
- since yesterday, the new random setup is online... and therefore, the perception of a hypothetical first-player advantage should be nullified.

Thank you for your attention.