34 réponses à ce sujet

[WillieStyle]

There were effective timers on Surkesh. The stasis pod would be breached if you didn't kill the Cerberus soldiers fast enough. Now, after playing that level several times, I know when and where the effective timers begin. But having the NPCs tell you to hurry impressed on me the first few times I played it that I should press ahead quickly.

So I appreciate the NPCs comments. Furthermore, I think part of the problem Ishtar fans judge games after they've beaten them several times and thoroughly gleaned all there secrets. But when designing a level like this, you can't design it for the player who's seen tons of walkthroughs. You have to design it for a player who's never played it before. And for such a novice player, pointing out that "you have to hurry, but only when you cross certain points in the map that trigger certain scripted events" would be confusing.

[Sylvius the Mad]

Bottom line, I have a distate for such levels but also, I have no alternative answer to level design whose funtcion is to create "pressure" in a critical mission.

The solution is not to do it. Or make failure non-lethal. If there's a real time-pressure, then failure should have consequences, but those consequences don't necessarily have to be a Game Over screen.

[AlanC9]

Exactly.  Isn't all of ME3 like this?  "The Reapers are imminent!  We're losing the war!  We must hurry!.........But I think it's time for shore leave for you and your team......"

I think that's a better fit for ME1, myself. In ME3 you're not really under time pressure per se, since the Crucible needs months to complete whether or not Shepard does the sidequests and whatnot.

[KaiserShep]

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Which begs the question " What's the criteria on time crunches when designing a level/mission?".  Weapons, armour, skill levels, squad mix, all of the above? Don't forget level testing. Who and with what skills and with what gear is the level tested with?
 
Level testing with pros, or experienced users (such as the game developers) will achieve one result. Newbies testing the same level will probably fall flat on their face. I'd be interested in knowing the creteria for accepting level designs with time crunches.
 
Bottom line, I have a distate for such levels but also, I have no alternative answer to level design whose funtcion is to create "pressure" in a critical mission. Though, background music helps.

Personally I don't mind them, and so long as the mission is fun and the music is good I'm fine. I thought Sur'Kesh was a good mission, albeit marred by getting no real follow-up into why Cerberus was there in the first place. Even if the reason was a tad cockamamie, I'd take it over nothing at all.

[Sidney]

Personally I don't mind them, and so long as the mission is fun and the music is good I'm fine. I thought Sur'Kesh was a good mission, albeit marred by getting no real follow-up into why Cerberus was there in the first place. Even if the reason was a tad cockamamie, I'd take it over nothing at all.

I think a lot of the problem is that most missions are so routine and with a rapidly approaching zero chance of failure that the timer at least creates the perception you could fail. The feeling that I am in no dangerous not completing most missions is a lousy feeling but in games where failure = death that is sort of inevitable.

[Sartoz]

I think a lot of the problem is that most missions are so routine and with a rapidly approaching zero chance of failure that the timer at least creates the perception you could fail. The feeling that I am in no dangerous not completing most missions is a lousy feeling but in games where failure = death that is sort of inevitable.

 

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Good news,then, regarding ME:A combat. A tweet from a dev indicates that combat will be wratched up, "as his ass was handed back to him".

 

Let's hope this combat still allows for a win for those less  mechanically dextrous... but no too easy.  For example, the other day I replayed ME3 on EASY mode because I wanted to check out something with a femShep while the "main" game was with maleShep. That EASY mode was effortless. As in, why did the enemy even bothered?

[N7Jamaican]

I wouldn't mind a timed mission that is optional.  Like a time trial.  Sure it makes it a bit arcadey, but it should be an option to turn on or off, then you can compare best times on the leaderboard (there is a growing community that does speed runs).

[Torgette]

The answer is don't put collectibles in a time-pressure level.

[karushna5]

i don't mind it at all, it's just narrative agency, because people call out the writers when there isn't. But yeah, when I RP I always skip those things when it says hurry, i find it fun, and many people realize if it is actually timed, they put up a timer.

 

What I don't like is Bomb on Tachunka where i don't know how long I have. But then no one would do anything if they did know.

[Sidney]

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Good news,then, regarding ME:A combat. A tweet from a dev indicates that combat will be wratched up, "as his ass was handed back to him".
 
Let's hope this combat still allows for a win for those less  mechanically dextrous... but no too easy.  For example, the other day I replayed ME3 on EASY mode because I wanted to check out something with a femShep while the "main" game was with maleShep. That EASY mode was effortless. As in, why did the enemy even bothered?

Well and my issue with most difficulty levels isn't that the game gets more intellectually taxing, it just becomes doing the same things more often or longer. The AI doesn't change, the hit points do.