#imaginary

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stray matrix
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okay let's put imaginary numbers in balatro. i know game design i promise

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So, I'm currently just penning down my thoughts and current rough design outlines as I learn this. I know lua coding and have worked in it before, but I've never made a Balatro mod. I'm planning to keep my scope small and build features on as I go.

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People have talked briefly about imaginary numbers on this server, but I'm personally a huge fan of imaginary numbers. I think people overcomplicate imaginary numbers a bit, which doesn't help with it matching Balatro's generally elegant design philosophy.

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Currently, all I want to do is to make a handful of jokers which explore imaginary math. The concept being that they're really powerful if you can sequence it, as well as being "safe" to speculate on.

I can add on more mechanics to it after I get the bones down, but we gotta start small.

stray matrix
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Some general design goals:

  • The blinds are only going to care about real chips. Imaginary chips are not considered when beating a level. (This might be able to change with a voucher. For example, multiply the round goal by 1 + i. +1 Joker Slots)
  • The imaginary numbers will be localized to Chips, Score, and Mult.
  • Most of the game pieces should be completely usable on their own, without starting to engage with Imaginary Numbers.
  • It should be very rewarding to string together "combos" of imaginary number mechanics in a way that actually generates "real score" at the end, but normal balatro gameplay should still be on the table.
  • Negative points become 0. Imaginary points are just tracked negatively and can be negative. They would have synergies with jokers/effects, but not be useful on their own.
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The first iteration of this, just to keep this as "simple" as I can, is going to just be 8 jokers that interact with imaginary/negative numbers in some way.

  1. -40 Mult. +2 Joker Slots.
  2. -1 + 3i Red Mult.
  3. 3-30i Mult.
  4. +200 Chips. -20 Mult.
  5. +1 mult per hand played. xi mult per discard.
  6. Common jokers each give 2 + i Red Mult.
  7. -4 Red Mult if your mult is negative.
  8. 5 + 50i Mult.