View source for Delayed Effects

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''The effects of actions and events in games do not occur directly after the actions or events have started.''

[[Delayed Effects]] are those effects that are explicitly dictated by the rules in the game but take place some noticeable time after the actions and events that caused them; effects that are the results of combined actions or are unexpected or unplanned do not qualify as [[Delayed Effects]], even if the effects take place after some actions or events have taken place.

=== Examples ===
The effect of placing bets in [[Poker]] does not become apparent until a player folds or players show their card hands. The activation of the most powerful weapons in first-person shooters such as the [[Quake series]] often takes some time from activation to the time it fires, usually to balance them somewhat against the other weapons in the game.

Building manufactories in the [[Europa Universalis series]] take five years in game time where each turn or tick represents a day; in contrast, the amount of time between planting seeds in [[FarmVille]] until they can be harvested can take several real world days.

== Using the pattern ==
Irreversible Events (← links)
Interruptible Actions (← links)
Time Limits (← links)
Extended Actions (← links)
Action Programming (← links)
Social Dilemmas (← links)
Capture (← links)
Ludus Latrunculorum (← links)
Encouraged Return Visits (← links)

A simple way to create [[Delayed Effects]] with [[Predictable Consequences]] is to require [[Development Time]] for initiated actions. Others ways to introduce [[Delayed Effects]] into games include [[Betting]], [[Ultra-Powerful Events]], and [[Investments]]. While [[Collaborative Actions]] are usually done immediately they can be modulated to make use of [[Delayed Effects]].

Besides the actual cause for the delay, primary design choices for [[Delayed Effects]] are if players should be aware of when the effects will occur and how the period of delay is determined. Showing when effects will take place is usually done through [[Progress Indicators]], even when they are predetermined through [[Development Time]]. [[Randomness]] can be used to make information about when the [[Delayed Effects]] occur unknown, but so can other ways involving [[Uncertainty of Information]]. 

Fixed periods of delay give players the chance to use Memorizing to have a form of Strategic Knowledge. If the periods of delay are random, or if players do not have knowledge of the periods of delay, this can turn the use of other actions into Risk/Reward choices, if their success depends on the Delayed Effects.

Making some actions have Delayed Effects is a way of creating Balancing Effects between different actions when the more powerful actions take a longer time to perform.


When the [[Delayed Effects]] are also the cause of Extended Actions, it allows players to detect and try to stop them if they are Interruptible Actions.


[[Delayed Effects]] can make people have [[Anticipation]] and feel that they have [[Luck]] without requiring any other aspects of the game, this makes the pattern useful for modulate [[Quick Games]].

== Consequences ==
The more precise information about the [[Delayed Effects]] players have, e.g. by knowing when they take place due to being created through [[Development Time]], the more [[Predictable Consequences]] they provide, and this encouraged [[Stimulated Planning]]. When [[Predictable Consequences]] are absent, it instead provides players the possibility to start feeling [[Luck]] before the outcome is shown.  The wait for the effects to take place is a form of [[Hovering Closures]] once the events or actions that cause the [[Delayed Effects]] have been done, and waiting for them can create [[Anticipation]] or [[Tension]], especially when combined with [[Uncertainty of Information]]. Player may also be able to use this to create [[Combos]] by efficiently [[Timing]] actions.

When a part of the [[Delayed Effects]] is waiting for other players to do actions, as is the case when the pattern is use to change [[Collaborative Actions]] or [[Trading]], it gives rise both [[Delayed Reciprocity]] and the possibility of [[Betrayal]]. 

== Relations ==
=== Can Instantiate ===
[[Anticipation]], 
[[Hovering Closures]], 
[[Luck]], 
[[Tension]] 

==== with [[Collaborative Actions]] or [[Trading]] ====
[[Betrayal]], [[Delayed Reciprocity]] 

==== with [[Predictable Consequences]] ====
[[Stimulated Planning]]

==== with [[Timing]] ====
[[Combos]]

=== Can Modulate ===
[[Collaborative Actions]], 
[[Quick Games]]

=== Can Be Instantiated By ===
[[Betting]], 
[[Development Time]], 
[[Investments]], 
[[Ultra-Powerful Events]]

=== Can Be Modulated By ===
[[Randomness]], 
[[Uncertainty of Information]]

=== Possible Closure Effects ===

=== Potentially Conflicting With ===

== History ==
An updated version of the pattern ''Delayed Effects'' that was part of the original collection in the book ''Patterns in Game Design''<ref name="Bjork & Holopainen 2004"/>.

== References ==
<references>
<ref name="Bjork & Holopainen 2004">Björk, S. & Holopainen, J. (2004) ''Patterns in Game Design''. Charles River Media. ISBN1-58450-354-8.</ref>
</references>

== Acknowledgements ==
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