Options for Frustration Reduction and Age/Ability Fairness

[Loktofeit]

Again, for me the game is actually perfect as-is (except possibly the timed puzzles, which are still doable but not really all that fun on a subjective basis). But I do think having options to reduce the demand for fast-twitch reflexes would improve the game for a lot of people who want to or need to tweak the speed in order to enjoy the game.

The timed puzzles have been a major source of frustration for me. It isn't so much that to complete it one needs good reflexes, but that you need that level of dexterity just to figure out what it is you need to do in the first place. This compounds the frustration because even though one wants to genuinely figure out the solution for themselves, the timers are so short that it makes an otherwise fun puzzle near impossible to solve, let alone execute after that.

Adding player skill to a classic style CRPG (referring to physical skill, not puzzle solving as that was always a major part) is an interesting and unique twist. I like that extra dimension to the game a lot. An option to adjust it though, especially when your core audience is now 20 years older, would be a cool option to have for those that may want to or need to use it.

[seebs]

Did you really fill up 10 pages of posts just because someone's playing the game on a 386 at 16 mhz and can't get past a puzzle because of it?

I dunno about system time, I know that I have particular kinds of timing problems which make some puzzles pretty hard for me. Mostly I just save before I try anything that requires me to time a throw. I've gotten used to it.

Seriously, though, the bulk of the thread consists of people who are outraged that someone with a worse computer or worse reflexes might want a difficulty knob to let them play, and rebuttals to that, and that's all really pretty pointless. The devs are likely to make the decision on the merits, not based on message board volume.

Me, I'd love a +/-50% or so timing adjustment for the entire game -- food, torches, movement, spell travel, etcetera.

[Loktofeit]

I think a simple game speed slider would help greatly. Being a single player game, to me it is all about the players experaince.

That was actually a big part of the design philosophy behind Prince of Persia.

[Curunir]

Me, I'd love a +/-50% or so timing adjustment for the entire game -- food, torches, movement, spell travel, etcetera.

Me, I'd love it if Doom 3 had a bullet time feature like Max Payne, that would sure make dodging fireballs a lot easier...

Do you even listen to yourself when making these suggestions?

[seebs]

Me, I'd love a +/-50% or so timing adjustment for the entire game -- food, torches, movement, spell travel, etcetera.

Me, I'd love it if Doom 3 had a bullet time feature like Max Payne, that would sure make dodging fireballs a lot easier...

Do you even listen to yourself when making these suggestions?

Yes.

Did you notice the part where I suggested plus or minus 50%?

Thing is. I don't actually need to prove how hardcore I am to feel good about myself. I just don't care. Sometimes I want to really push myself, make things as hard as I can. Other times I want to faceroll stuff and find out what happens. And so on.

If the puzzle's challenge is completely eliminated by making it slower, it's not a puzzle, just a reflex test. Keep in mind, everything. It's not necessarily that much easier to dodge a fireball moving at half speed if you are also moving at half speed...

Look. I'm an autistic guy on amphetamines. The range of things I find easy or hard is so far from what everyone else experiences that it's not even remotely comparable. And I also simply don't care. I just like it when there are more options so people can have fun playing the game the way they most like it. Maybe I'd use a +25% speed mode for a speed run. Maybe I'd use a -50% mode to play the game while quitting caffeine. WHO CARES? Adding a timer slider would probably not be very hard, I'd guess -- this isn't the DOS game era, games are already managing their time separately from their rendering engine and such.

[regomar]

Me, I'd love a +/-50% or so timing adjustment for the entire game -- food, torches, movement, spell travel, etcetera.

Me, I'd love it if Doom 3 had a bullet time feature like Max Payne, that would sure make dodging fireballs a lot easier...

Do you even listen to yourself when making these suggestions?

Oh to be able to +rep you.

But seriously. Gold. These requests are getting more and more ridiculous.

[seebs]

Again, for me the game is actually perfect as-is (except possibly the timed puzzles, which are still doable but not really all that fun on a subjective basis). But I do think having options to reduce the demand for fast-twitch reflexes would improve the game for a lot of people who want to or need to tweak the speed in order to enjoy the game.

The timed puzzles have been a major source of frustration for me. It isn't so much that to complete it one needs good reflexes, but that you need that level of dexterity just to figure out what it is you need to do in the first place. This compounds the frustration because even though one wants to genuinely figure out the solution for themselves, the timers are so short that it makes an otherwise fun puzzle near impossible to solve, let alone execute after that.

Adding player skill to a classic style CRPG (referring to physical skill, not puzzle solving as that was always a major part) is an interesting and unique twist. I like that extra dimension to the game a lot. An option to adjust it though, especially when your core audience is now 20 years older, would be a cool option to have for those that may want to or need to use it.

It's a sore point for me because the reason I won't play Elder Scrolls games is that they require the player to aim above something to shoot it. I find this offensive in a stats-based CRPG, because the entire point of that is that I want to play a character who is an archer, not that I want to be an archer.

This is why I consider DM, and now LoG, to be in a very different genre from Might & Magic, Wizardry, and such. They're fundamentally dungeon sims which are more about your choices than about your stats.

[Halk]

I find this offensive in a stats-based CRPG, because the entire point of that is that I want to play a character who is an archer, not that I want to be an archer.

This is why I consider DM, and now LoG, to be in a very different genre from Might & Magic, Wizardry, and such. They're fundamentally dungeon sims which are more about your choices than about your stats.

This is exactly right. We're telling our characters what to do, and they do it. That's the enjoyment. Skyrim is a fantastic game, it's massive and deep etc, but there are some flaws. Around the time of Ultima Underworld first person RPGs acquired, from seemingly nowhere, a desire to become fighting simulators. The mouse had then to be used to simulate combat moves. That sucked and added nothing to the game in my opinion.

[regomar]

I find this offensive in a stats-based CRPG, because the entire point of that is that I want to play a character who is an archer, not that I want to be an archer.

This is why I consider DM, and now LoG, to be in a very different genre from Might & Magic, Wizardry, and such. They're fundamentally dungeon sims which are more about your choices than about your stats.

This is exactly right. We're telling our characters what to do, and they do it. That's the enjoyment. Skyrim is a fantastic game, it's massive and deep etc, but there are some flaws. Around the time of Ultima Underworld first person RPGs acquired, from seemingly nowhere, a desire to become fighting simulators. The mouse had then to be used to simulate combat moves. That sucked and added nothing to the game in my opinion.

A few million people disagree with you. Myself included.

[Curunir]

The very fact you can use Ultima Underworld in a sentence implying some negativity, invalidates everything you may ever have to say about games. I am sorry