Func_Msgboard: To Save Or Not To Save?

Posted by underworldfan on 2003/03/10 02:03:21

found this here:

http://www.planetquake.com/features/articles/classicpq/freedom.shtml

"In Joust, for instance, you could fly anywhere you wanted to - you had full run of the entire game universe, as small as it was. At the same time, however, players could only interact with ostriches in about seven distinct areas. Thus, the designer could take the time to tweak the game to ensure the interaction would be just as he wanted it to be. Contrast to this is Quake, an otherwise great game that has a few flaws, namely the fact that you can save the game at any spot and constantly, and keep re-loading, and pass the level without any tension of skill involved whatsoever. Purely the result in which, it seems the user has way too much freedom over what happens with given obstacles."

My question is hence: is Quake 1 Sp better when you dont save throughout the level, (or only save maybe once or twice at key points), or can you just save all the time and it makes no difference to your enjoyment?

My personal opinion is whether saving is good or not depends on the game type (genre). But it is interesting to remember all the so called "classics" such as pacman ,space invaders, asteroids, R-type (et al), which of course had no save mechanism at all.

Certainly i think *many* games today *ARE* spoilt by being able to save whenever you want (it reduces the challenge and tension), but i dont think that in Q1SP its a problem.

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Well,

#1 posted by . on 2003/03/10 02:33:59

I think the fact is people aren't really keen on startin a level over when they'd accomplished so much since beginning. Being able to save at any point in the game, yes has it's drawbacks - but no one is necessarily forced to use this complete freedom - if somebody want's to restrict this freedom to suit their own difficulty tastes, they can simply save at certain desired points much less often.

I think a good idea would be to have limited saving abilities when the player chooses a certain difficulty. If you were to choose Easy, you can save anywhere you want. Medium, save perhaps only every 3rd or 4th of the level. Hard, save only 1 or 2 times.

Didn't SoF incoporate this? I can't rememberr.

Open Saves Are Fine Because...

#2 posted by distrans on 2003/03/10 02:36:46

If you haven't gone from start to finish of a level without saving then you haven't actually completed the level: your just fooling yourself. :P

Distrans

#3 posted by underworldfan on 2003/03/10 02:41:48

are you being serious or not? i am interested in what you really think.

I might go back to some classic Q1SP maps and try to play them all the way through without saving.

Restricted Saves

#4 posted by nb on 2003/03/10 04:26:51

Restricting saves to n per level is a pain in the backside because you don't know how long the level is going to be, so you can't use them optimally. If you want to limit saves, "save points" are probably a better mechanism.

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