Re: Gameplay theory: leaving object behind..


9 Sep 1995 06:00:26 GMT

[Followups to *.arts.* only]

In article <1995Sep8.233605.25903@news.cs.indiana.edu>,
Sam Hulick <shulick@guava.ucs.indiana.edu> wrote:
>
>Let's say you're playing a game, and you explore a place thoroughly (or
>so you think). Then a few minutes later, you take a ship to another
>country, but then realize that you needed something back in the other
>country! Would you RATHER have a game not let you board the ship
>without a few things? (i.e. a message prints "You get the odd feeling
>you forgot something") Or would you rather be able to leave anyway, and
>later find out you forgot an item or two, and restore an older game?
Obviously, the best sort of thing is to just not have any situations like this
at all in a game :P But that's pretty tough to do. If you must have them, I
would rather just be allowed to board the ship. Possibly, it might be a good
idea to suggest a save before the player sets sail, if it's obvious this could
be a one-way trip. In general, I prefer the author to stay out of the game as
much as possible. I wouldn't like getting a "strange feeling I'm forgetting
something" (and that could be *real* frustrating if you can't figure out what
it is), and in general, I don't like messages that say "The game would be
unsolvable if you did that. Better not." Let the player have all the rope
they want, that's my motto :P

>--- Sam Hulick ------------- shulick@indiana.edu ---------------------

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