So, my current game is a retro-styled platform game, based loosely on the Manic Miner / jet Set Willy games. here are a couple of videos to give you an idea:
I've obviously modernised the controls and a lot of the core gameplay elements, but one thing I've kept from the "good old days" is the lives system. The player has 5 lives to start with and there are extra lives hidden throughout the game... HOWEVER, that means that if you lose all your lives the game is over and you'll have to start again. That's pretty damn hard-core, but then, that's also the way it was with the games that inspired this creation and yet people still played them and completed them!
Thing is, I don't think the modern gaming marketplace really wants that kind of super-hard challenge, or at least the majority of gamers probably don't? But, on the other hand, the whole game revolves around the challenge of recovering all the "dark matter" as quickly as possible and without dying, so not having this lives system feels like it might make things too easy.
So what's the solution? I can think of a few things to have:
Also note that the game has an online leaderboard, so how do I deal with that if I impliment any of the options above? At the moment rankings are based on % of the game explored, time taken, and amount of dark matter recovered... Should online rankings only be permitted if the user plays in the default "hard-core" mode? Or should I have an optional field for "continues used" or even a separate leaderboard for people that require the use of checkpoints or more lives or whatever?
Keep in mind, that I kinda like the idea of people speed-running the game, or trying to 100% it and stuff, so there HAS to be a hard-core challenge, but at the same time I don't want to alienate casual players.
So, what does the GMC think about this? Any and all suggestions are welcome and appreciated, especially if you can give examples or reasons for them!!!
I've obviously modernised the controls and a lot of the core gameplay elements, but one thing I've kept from the "good old days" is the lives system. The player has 5 lives to start with and there are extra lives hidden throughout the game... HOWEVER, that means that if you lose all your lives the game is over and you'll have to start again. That's pretty damn hard-core, but then, that's also the way it was with the games that inspired this creation and yet people still played them and completed them!
Thing is, I don't think the modern gaming marketplace really wants that kind of super-hard challenge, or at least the majority of gamers probably don't? But, on the other hand, the whole game revolves around the challenge of recovering all the "dark matter" as quickly as possible and without dying, so not having this lives system feels like it might make things too easy.
So what's the solution? I can think of a few things to have:
- Checkpoints. You lose all your lives then you go back to a previously saved game state/checkpoint.
- Continues. You lose all your lives you have an option to end the game or continue.
- Game Modes: Have a "hard-core" game mode and a "casual" game mode, where hardcore is "as is", and casual has more lives and/or checkpoints and/or continues.
- Options. You can set the number of lives and/or continues before you start the game and so set the level of challenge.
Also note that the game has an online leaderboard, so how do I deal with that if I impliment any of the options above? At the moment rankings are based on % of the game explored, time taken, and amount of dark matter recovered... Should online rankings only be permitted if the user plays in the default "hard-core" mode? Or should I have an optional field for "continues used" or even a separate leaderboard for people that require the use of checkpoints or more lives or whatever?
Keep in mind, that I kinda like the idea of people speed-running the game, or trying to 100% it and stuff, so there HAS to be a hard-core challenge, but at the same time I don't want to alienate casual players.
So, what does the GMC think about this? Any and all suggestions are welcome and appreciated, especially if you can give examples or reasons for them!!!
Last edited: