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| 27 AUG 2010 at 6:35pm |
Terry PenrodGrand Inquisitor
Posts : 6693
Joined: 16 OCT 2004
Location: US, Texas
Status : Offline | .
I agree that an option like that or a simple hint / solve button would help in many adventure games - especially for novices and casual players.
Fact is there are cheat codes in almost every popular PC action game and RPG. The player never has to use them, but once in a while, even we seasoned game fans welcome the option to get out of an extremely frustrating situation and move on.
So why not offer the same choice to AG players?
Cheers, Terry
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| 27 AUG 2010 at 6:50pm |
colpetSchattenjger
Posts : 1630
Joined: 12 APR 2003
Status : Offline | I think that there should be a PASS button only for puzzles that you cannot get a solve for - action or twitch challenges. With sliders, mazes, codes, logic puzzles, you can always follow someone else's solve (steps). It's far more frustrating to know what to do, but be unable to accomplish it due to lack of reflexive timing.
Occasionally visiting Uru Live (KI 0063722 .&&
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| 27 AUG 2010 at 7:00pm |
Terry PenrodGrand Inquisitor
Posts : 6693
Joined: 16 OCT 2004
Location: US, Texas
Status : Offline | .
That's a great point, Colpet. Some people simply lack the basic skills needed to get past timed / action sequences. Plus there are many AG titles with very sluggish, clumsy controls / camera angles for that kind of gameplay. Some are so bad that even the most experienced of us 3D action-game fans get frustrated.
Cheers, Terry
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| 27 AUG 2010 at 7:37pm |
JelenaPrivate Detective
Posts : 587
Joined: 30 SEP 2007
Status : Offline | Originally Posted By colpet (27 AUG 2010 6:50pm)
I think that there should be a PASS button only for puzzles that you cannot get a solve for - action or twitch challenges. With sliders, mazes, codes, logic puzzles, you can always follow someone else's solve (steps). It's far more frustrating to know what to do, but be unable to accomplish it due to lack of reflexive timing.
I agree Colpet! I've played games where my son had to help me accomplish timed sequences I just wasn't able to manage on my own.
But when it comes to getting stuck because of a puzzle, I think I prefer the good old UHS hint system or possibly a w/t. I never use them until after being stuck at least a couple of days. With the puzzles taken care of with just a 'click' I'm afraid I'd use the possibility to 'get out' of the difficult puzzle too soon and then deprive myself of the wonderful satisfaction of finally solving a puzzle. Mind you, I haven't thought this one thoroughly through yet....
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| 27 AUG 2010 at 7:48pm |
TravellerGuild Master
Posts : 4038
Joined: 3 JUL 2010
Location: US
Status : Offline | Yes, I'm not sure how strong my willpower would be in resisting ready-at-hand hints, I did resist for most of the time in Drawn: The Painted Tower, but admittedly, I did use the hints once or twice.
I felt that the latter game's hint system was too obvious, though I'd found the graduated hint system in Keepsake rather brilliant.
Now, I would really, really have wanted a button to bypass the timed sequences in Indigo Prophesy... :-/
* * * Just call me Trav. * * *
“Despite my ghoulish reputation, I really have the heart of a small boy. I keep it in a jar on my desk.” - Robert Bloch
"They are not reciprocally sublated--the one does not sublate the other externally--but each sublates itself in itself and is in its own self the opposite of itself" (Hegel, from The Doctrine of Being)..."
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| 27 AUG 2010 at 8:13pm |
CrisGerSchattenjger
Posts : 2538
Joined: 28 APR 2007
Location: US
Status : Offline | I just out and out refuse to play timed sequences..mostly, as they are just unfair and forced game play.... i use save games or cheats or whatever but i wont give in to their tyranny. games are for fun, not frustaration and angst and stress..there is enough of that in real life
so i enjoy my games in luxurious comfort ....and use the aides and tools to get past the tough spots....with no guilt whatsoever
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| 27 AUG 2010 at 9:00pm |
Terry PenrodGrand Inquisitor
Posts : 6693
Joined: 16 OCT 2004
Location: US, Texas
Status : Offline | .
Whether you like difficult puzzles or challenging action (I happen to like both as long as they are well executed), there are many examples of both categories that are poorly designed / poorly implemented / unbalanced / unfair.
So regardless of personal preference, games should have at least some option for getting around the toughest spots.
As for willpower, I've never once been tempted to use a cheat code, walkthrough or a puzzle solution to get past a moderately difficult spot in a well-conceived. well-produced game. But I have often used those tools to get around poor programming and/or bad design in otherwise easy situations. I've also used them in ridiculously difficult, tedious situations.
What I prefer in general is the sliding difficulty scale that's been used in many PC action titles and RPGs. It allows a high degree of player control and can be adjusted as one sees fit for any given part of the game.
Too bad that, by nature, traditional puzzles are hard to design that way. However, there have been a few attempts to give the player a choice of action, stealth or dialog / puzzle solving in AGs. But they were not done very well in most cases and providing optional paths throughout a game does add a lot of extra time / cost. So that presents a big problem for small studios and indies in this particular niche genre.
By contrast, adding a hint / solution / skip-ahead option is not that hard or expensive.
Cheers, Terry
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