Agreed, LaughingD - there needs to constantly be options to save your progress, so you can play the game in little 15-min increments.

Consider this - if you had to choose between a game that was short, but gave you many options (like say, for an RPG, many different points where the plot diverged), or a game that was long, but didn't give you much freedom (i.e., FFVII, where you basically progressed along the same plot no matter what you did), which would you choose?

I'm thinking I would rather have a "flexible" game than a "long" game, but that's just me.

Mason McCuskey
Spin Studios - home of Quaternion, 2000 GDC Indie Games Fest Finalist!
www.spin-studios.com

Edited by - mason on 2/8/00 5:05:25 PM

lemme get this straight. You''d actually rather finish a game quickly and be done with it then get tons of hours of enjoyment from it? Seems to me i buy games for something to do when there isn''t anything to do, not to just beat them and put the in the closet.
i agree that sitting there for 4 hours or whatever straight can be a bit much but who says you have to? you can always close it and start again later.
-my own two cents-

I think what mason was saying is that he'd rather have a game that was highly replayable than a one-shot drag-yourself-through-to-the-end deal.
. I finished FFVII on my friends Playstation two years ago [with two of each Master Materia ] and was disapointed with the storyline and the lack of desire to replay it for its core game. Still, I bought the PC version [sorry, my only console is an Atari 2600.]
. Why? It wasn't for the side-quests [there weren't nearly enough, especially compared to III.] It was for the mini-games. Sounds stupid, but they can be quite addicting. My point is, a game can dissapoint it's first time through, but it doesn't nescesarilly mean it lacks replay value.

Edited by - SonicSilcion on 2/8/00 5:52:36 PM

I rather like the puzzles that don''t have directions. Half the fun is trying to figure out what you''re suppose to do. After I finished TRII I played it again using no weapon other then her hand guns. To get anything under water, I''d have it follow me to a ledge, climb out, and shoot into the water. It was quite chalanging. But you have to make yourself do it, especialy when you have weapons all around you after killing people.

E:cb woof!

what i enjoy the most in a game is non-linearity. i don''t mind (and in fact quite enjoy) playing the same game many times if it provides for many different things happening. unfortunately, not many games provide this...at least, not as many as i''d like.

what i''d really like to see is a game like Daggerfall...only not quite as buggy or random.


aaron
-----------------------------
LeChuck! GRRRRRR.

The longer the game, the better! The longer it is, the longer it lasts and keeps me entertained for a LONG time! I look forward to the days of full interactive online RPGs, caus ethey offer endless amounts of playtime the future will indeed rawk

Peace Love Empathy
Kurt
E-Mail-ttlnirvana@aol.com
IRC-y2Kurt
AIM-MadeTheBedIDieIn

*Another day in a boring town with the same old crowd*

I can see why some people said that half - life was too long in some respects. I found that too. i think there are key ingredients to making a good game

1. story line - without it a single player game is definitly doomed.
2. replay value - marshmellow duel is an awsome game, even though it doesnt have fancy graphics or fancy weapons. there was a certain randomness to it, but even without it, the matches would almost never end the same
3. slower learning curve - half life had a pretty steep learning curve. a single land mine and you where toast. it is good to let the player get the feel of the game before you have him/her fight a 50ft high boss that is nearly invincible

games need to be of a medium length or the player gets bored stiff or gets sick of the game. a game that is too short can dissapoint the player. seeing a 1 hour movie is not as fun as watching a 2 hour movie with a really involving plot. watching the ten commandments or the star wars trilogy in one sitting is just plain nuts.

people play games for entertainment. entertainment should should be fun, or involving. if i ever make a game, i will be sure to have a medium lenght plot, a slower learning curve, and have the game for 45 minute sittings, not steady game play.

(even marshmellow duel could get munontenous if you played it for 4 hours straight)

- Moe -

ps you can get marshmellow duel at www.downloads.com under the arcade heading (i think)