Two people want to play a game together online. Person A has played the game non-stop for months and is almost preternaturally skilled. Person B just got the game and is looking to learn the ropes. Playing online together is bound to be a frustrating experience for both these players.
That's where parallel game universes come into play. As described in a Gamasutra feature, parallel game universes allow two players of different skill or ability levels to each play their own, difficulty-adjusted version of the same game. In one downloadable example, a competitive Space Invaders clone gives one player a constantly moving, auto-firing ship, while the other has to maintain full control. The focus of the research seems to be on making games accessible to the disabled, but the techniques can also be used to bring together gamers with different skill levels or differently-powered machines (see image above).
The eight-page paper is a little dry for a non-technical audience, but the ideas presented in it should be interesting to any newb who's been totally pwned by some lame camper online. How would you redesign your favorite online game to be more balanced?
