Re: Gameplay theory: leaving object behind..


Sat, 9 Sep 1995 23:35:26 EDT

>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?

Having the game actively goose you into going back and finding what you
need seems rather intrusive -- though I understand that there ought to
be some way to handle this subtly. Perhaps, if the player is about to
depart an area permanently, a reminder that you'd better have done all
you want to do is appropriate at that time.

>BOARD THE STARSHIP
As you climb into the spacecraft the hatch grinds shut behind you. With
a whir of antigravity engines the ship hurtles skyward, and soon you're flying
off into space! As you watch Earth dwindle against the stars and vanish, you
realize you're unlikely to see home again for a while. Hope you brought
everything you needed with you...

Ideally, the player will "make the catch" at this point. If she's unsure
she actually brought everything she might have needed, she could then UNDO
one move and keep searching, or at least undo then SAVE in case, seven hundred
moves later, she finds out she should have brought along the gum wrapper from
the spaceport.

I'll agree with others that one-way passages like this ought to be avoided
as much as possible, especially if the game has an inventory limit. But
sometimes it's just necessary for the plot -- if you fly from Earth to
Serpiens X-7 you can't then just rush back because you forgot your toothbrush!

--
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