Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games
From: jon3@quads.uchicago.edu (Jason Jones)
Subject: Re: PiD gripes
Message-ID: <1993Sep3.193614.22907@midway.uchicago.edu>
Sender: news@uchinews.uchicago.edu (News System)
Reply-To: jon3@midway.uchicago.edu
Organization: University of Chicago
References: <265aan$6qh@phakt.usc.edu>
Date: Fri, 3 Sep 1993 19:36:14 GMT
Lines: 41


In article <265aan$6qh@phakt.usc.edu> edju@phakt.usc.edu (Chilvarous and Confused) writes:
>root@spss.com (SuperUser) wrote:
>
>> So, where exactly is the challenge in this?  Any moron could make it through the
>> game by just fighting a monster over and over again, with no real fear of dying.
>> Because he can always easily fight the monster again.  Where is the fear of
>> death with such a game? 
>
>       According to your line of reasoning, there should be NO option to save
>the game at all!

I'm interested in feedback on this, but here are the reasons Bungie
changed the saved game system for Pathways between the demo and the
release version:

It is too easy to save in the demo.  Nobody thinks about saving-- they
just do it.  If you could save like this in the release version, it
would be too easy to brick yourself in a corner: "Uh, I don't know
why I saved with 0.2 vitality with that bone four inches from my nose."
(trust me, it's been done).

Or even worse, "Yea, sure I saved after I drank that Red Potion-- but
it didn't seem to do anything, what do you mean I need it?!"

The save dialog forces people to THINK about what they are doing,
and better yet it easily supports (and even encourages) players
to keep multiple saved games around without having to resort to
the Finder.

The save runes (as someone previously said) allow an additional
level of difficulty to be added to the game, but more importantly
they make dying mean something in the release version.  In the
demo, dying was meaningless: if you died, you just reverted to the
game you had saved a few minutes (or seconds) previously.

In the release version, dying sets you back.  So you don't want
to die.  IMHO, this makes game is more exciting when you're in
a dangerous situation.

jason.