Grimrock - What I Do Not Like

[rakenan]

Not everybody is young and swift on the keyboard.

I'm 40, have RSI and early onset arthritis in my hands, and I managed to beat the game no problem.

OK, I just don't get this attitude. Bully for you - you managed to beat the game no problem. That does not address the issues of any of the people having issues with the timed puzzles. Suggesting that people turn video options down from levels that are entirely acceptable everywhere else is a bad suggestion, and at that, it's still better than the normal responses these complaints get, which range from "It's fine, learn to play," to "Cheat your way past them." It's kind of sad when a suggestion of using a third party hack to beat a videogame is actually the most helpful suggestion people can count on receiving to their problems.

I seriously doubt that anybody has any respect for people just for being able to beat timed puzzles in Legend of Grimrock, so I'm not sure what people think they have to lose from having a difficulty setting for the timers on puzzles in the game. If your epeen is inflated by knowing you beat timed puzzles other people couldn't, that's actually pretty sad, but I cannot see any other justification for actually opposing a timer difficulty setting players could suggest just like they can select combat difficulty settings.

[King Semos]

Well, when I was a kid there were lots of video games I couldn't fully beat. Lots of em. I'm sure that is the case for many people. Didn't complain about it, wasn't feeling like the game was not considerate of different skill levels. Because well, that wasn't and never will be the case.

All games are built with a certain level of difficulty. No matter how easy they make it, I'm sure there will be some people who just won't be able to do it regardless. Difficulty is a very important thing in a game, and a very difficult thing to balance.

I really don't know what people expect posting things like this.

Sure some in game cheats would work or a disable timed puzzles option. I really wouldn't care if they existed, it wouldn't bother me. They don't though. I can't program any. But what I can do, is give my opinion on the forum. That is, try harder. It's worked for me in the past. I really don't see why that is rude, it's anyone's best option at this point in time. And if people don't feel like it, well, I wish you luck and enjoyment when you find your bypass.

[Zero]

"trainers don't work" yeah, that's brilliant. Diss the game because you can't cheat.

And what video/audio options do you want? It has all it needs.

This might be more your speed.

[Merethif]

Well, when I was a kid there were lots of video games I couldn't fully beat. Lots of em. I'm sure that is the case for many people.

Life would be so much easier if Ghosts'n Goblins had difficulty setting

Anyway I'm not against difficulty settings in games and I understand they were introduced to turn gaming industry into more profitable business and make more games available to everyone. But all those "learn to play" comments are not necessarily about epeen, but more about fair-play. Let's face it - I'm short and I have poor aim - thus I will never be good at basketball. If I'll ask my friends to lower the basket and double its radius, and they won't agree for such modifications does it mean they are rude and have oversized ego? Every game, be it computer game, board game, card game or sport game, has been designed with a certain level of difficulty, and lowering its difficulty may break the design.

[Lethaemis]

If a game isn't hard, it really isn't worth playing imo.

[gambit37]

Not everybody is young and swift on the keyboard.

I'm 40, have RSI and early onset arthritis in my hands, and I managed to beat the game no problem.

OK, I just don't get this attitude. Bully for you - you managed to beat the game no problem. That does not address the issues of any of the people having issues with the timed puzzles.

You read my response in an entirely different way from my intention. @tecknomage implied that I was young and fit and able to twitch around my keyboard like there was no tomorrow. I merely corrected what was a probable mis-assumption on his/her part.

[rakenan]

I'm 40, have RSI and early onset arthritis in my hands, and I managed to beat the game no problem.

OK, I just don't get this attitude. Bully for you - you managed to beat the game no problem. That does not address the issues of any of the people having issues with the timed puzzles.

You read my response in an entirely different way from my intention. @tecknomage implied that I was young and fit and able to twitch around my keyboard like there was no tomorrow. I merely corrected what was a probable mis-assumption on his/her part.

Fair enough. I'm no young thing either. What I was reading was the common response to this issue, which is basically "It's fine, lrn2play." It's plainly not fine for everybody, and coming up with examples of people for whom it *IS* fine does not deal with this problem. While youthful quick reflexes help with this kind of thing, they are plainly not the be-all and end-all of dealing with timed puzzles. That does not mean that there are not people for whom they are inordinately difficult. Any argument that a timer difficulty setting would trivialize the game needs to deal with the fact that, apparently, a combat-and-food-consumption difficulty setting, which is already there, does not trivialize the game in their eyes. Timers, like combat and food management, are largely there to apply pressure to the player while he takes his party through the exploration and puzzle solving that feel, to me at least, like the heart of the game. Not everybody can deal with the same amount of pressure and still find the experience enjoyable. Thus, I think timers, like combat and food management, deserve to have a difficulty option for people who just don't want to deal with so much of that particular kind of pressure while they are exploring a dungeon and solving its puzzles.

[UglyBastard]

To be honest, the timed puzzles weren't THAT hard and the most difficult of them were completely optional, so what's the big deal?

If you can't get an optional item because you are too slow, so be it. These games are not about anyone beating them without trouble. Especially the optional challenges are implented to push you to the limit, if you can't get there, skip it and move on OR try harder and finally beat it (which shouldn't be the problem after all, those timed puzzles were definitely not the most finger-twisting thing I encountered in my gaming career, the only peculiar one is actually the Sword of Nex, which is not required to move on by the slightest).
If the sequences were dumbed down until your dog could beat them without retry, the feeling of joy for actually beating them would be nonexistant. THAT is the charme of a high difficulty: the satisfaction after you manage to overcome the odds. This does not have to do with ePeen but with brain physiology.

If you don't like games that require control or actual movement and combat skills besides the puzzles, why not go for a point and click adventure, there are many excellent titles out there.

Some people get MAD about Grimrock for what it is and other people LOVE it for what it is. If you decide it's not your kind of game with combat and timed puzzles, move on.

[gambit37]

Not everybody can deal with the same amount of pressure and still find the experience enjoyable. Thus, I think timers, like combat and food management, deserve to have a difficulty option for people who just don't want to deal with so much of that particular kind of pressure while they are exploring a dungeon and solving its puzzles.

Or, alternatively, simply accept that the game isn't going to completely suit every individual. I mean, I know it might sound shocking, but not everyone can play every game...

I would loved to have played soccer as a kid, but I had health issues which made it impossible. A couple of rule changes would have allowed me to play, but I never once felt entitled to ask for the soccer rules to be changed for me so that I could play it. I went and found other games I could play instead.

The sense of entitlement around these forums is astonishing. I had thought that those articles about the "entitlement generation" had been over exaggerated, but it appears that I was wrong. The game is what it is, it doesn't and shouldn't pander to every type of gamer at every difficulty level. Frankly, If you can't play it, tough luck, move on. There are hundreds of modern games that I can't or won't play for various reasons; I don't whine about them or ask for difficulty settings to be added, or whatever. I just don't play those games and I find games that do suit me instead.

There were games back in the day that were 10 times as hard as Grimrock and we persevered with those; why can't this generation do the same?

[owl905]

Agreed that the timed puzzles can turn a fun run into a frustrating brick wall. The fact that they relate to side quests is irrelevant - in some ways, that makes the frustration factor worse: the choice is out there to slink away with an L on your forehead.

The game needs something that slows down the reactions required just a tad after N attempts. It would trigger the way the "I need a sacrifice" plate works.

Alternatively, here's a technique that got my clumsy thumbs through a few tick-tock tantrums:

SpoilerShow

Set up for the solve-run and save to a new slot. Start at it, and save as soon as a portion of progress is reached (a button or a few blocked shots). Save to a new slot or quicksave. Now load from that spot with the next movement step pressed: it kicks in as the load completes. Reload on failure; save newslot on 'gotit' progress. 'This breaks down the big disappointment into little baby-steps that can put your tantrum out of its misery. Delete all the increments with a victory grin. Btw, this is also a great way to speed up kranky monster-kills.