Day 20: Determining How Long Powerup Effects Should Last

When creating a game there is a lot to worry about. One aspect to think about is balancing the power ups. Deciding on how long a power up should last will have to depend on many aspects.

How quick do the power ups Spawn? How many enemies are currently spawn? How hard is it to kill the enemies?

With these in mind it’ll help decide how long one power up should last. If the power ups spawned every 10–15 seconds, it might help having the power ups last a little bit longer. If there are only 3 enemies spawning every few seconds a long power up may feel to over powered compared to 7–10 spawning ever few seconds. If the enemies have crazy high amount of health, longer power ups may help the player win the game. If the enemies spawning are only a 1 hit dead deal, long power ups could turn the game boring.

To help make it easier for the designers, setting up serialize fields for timers will allow for adjustments later in the production when balancing is a top priority.