Castle Paradox

Shineyest · Posted: Fri Mar 19, 2004 7:46 am Post subject: Saving the game

Is it just me or do people think its annoyng not being able to save anywhere but battle? It really gets on my nerves because if you need to go somewhere to save your game you have to search. What do you think?
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Setu_Firestorm · Posted: Fri Mar 19, 2004 7:55 am Post subject:

Honestly, I only find save points annoying when I'm trying to get to work by a certain time and haven't saved since long ago.

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RedMaverickZero · Posted: Fri Mar 19, 2004 10:38 am Post subject:

I prefer save points. You can put them anywhere and make them all strategic. I only did the anywhere save points in my previous games due to laziness. Then I realized that they sometime interfere with plotscripting so I dropped it in my newer games. But besides, there's a lot of strategy to determine where a save point could go. And it's something that makes the game more unique.
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LeRoy_Leo · Posted: Fri Mar 19, 2004 10:53 am Post subject:

The Drizzle · **Who is the Drizzle?** Joined: 12 Nov 2003 Posts: 432

Saving anywhere is dumb. You could save every 3 steps and if you make a mistake, just load that save game up again. I prefer save points, by far.
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The Wobbler · Joined: 06 Feb 2003 Posts: 2221

The Drizzle · **Who is the Drizzle?** Joined: 12 Nov 2003 Posts: 432

How often are save points so rare that they are hours in between? Don't blame that on the existence of save points-- blame that on the creators for not implementing them right.
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LeRoy_Leo · Posted: Fri Mar 19, 2004 2:11 pm Post subject:

Another good place to put a save point is at an Inn in any particular village. Heck, EVERY village should have some kind of Save point.
If you are in a dungeon or a wilderness, then have it able to be saved anywhere.

I see what Drizzle means. If you are in a place with a puzzle, maze, or some thing like that, being able to save ANYWHERE would make the game too easy. Thus the value is somewhat robbed. Oookay...

When you are about to enter "Der dungeon of No return" why not have a save point in clear view right outside the dungeon. It's all about placement. If you have spend hours finding the save point then the creator of the game did a crappy job with save point placement.
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The Wobbler · Joined: 06 Feb 2003 Posts: 2221

The Drizzle · **Who is the Drizzle?** Joined: 12 Nov 2003 Posts: 432

Hours? What console RPG is that? The "Final Dungeon" I'd estimate is usually an hour long, tops, and usually has a save point at the beginning, and before the last boss, and often in the middle of the dungeon as well. In every professional RPG I've played, I've never found save points to be scarce.
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Awful Waffle · Joined: 18 Jun 2003 Posts: 73 Location: Canada

In my game i'm sticking with the classic "save anywhere on world map" system. I really don't like the idea of saving anywhere in special areas such as castles or dungeons (my game doesn't have these but you get it) because it really diminishes the challenge and suspense of seeing if you can make it there and back all in one go. Although if it is a very long distance needed to travel, and then a challenging "boss" is placed somewhere along the journey, I will usually have a save spot shortly before hand to avoid frustration. Between the options for this poll, i've gotta go with "find a save point" because saving anwhere just eliminates that sense of danger. Although a combination is the best, in my opinion.

The Wobbler · Joined: 06 Feb 2003 Posts: 2221

RedMaverickZero · Posted: Fri Mar 19, 2004 9:30 pm Post subject:

In most cases, the save points are a balanced distance away. So that way then, you can cover a lot of ground and not really think about saving if you get into the game. Like FF7, the save points would be far away in some parts, but the fights and the puzzles were balanced so when you got to a new save point you knew it was either a boss battle coming up or you just went through a lot of stuff. So balancing your game helps with save points as well. Saving anywhere should only be for world maps. And that's all.
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Shaede · **Tuck in your shirt.** Joined: 08 Jan 2004 Posts: 107

I have to say that save points are superior.

One, you can have them instantly heal everyone. This plays well in dungeons you may have to level up in.

Two, they can always be combined with a sort of shop.

Three, they can serve any other purposes that you don't want player's to have access to at any time in any dungeon other then those listed above.

Not only that, but you can do tricks, like in FFV, where you have to go a little out of your way to find the save point. Or in Chrono Trigger, where theres an enemy that looks like a save point.

Theres just plain more options with save points, IMO.

Also, shouldn't this be in the game design forum?

Ssalamanderr · Posted: Sat Mar 20, 2004 11:58 am Post subject:

You can have shops and healing spots in dungeons without them being save points too.

I don't mind save points as long as there are enough of them. I've had the same problem as PHC. I'm in the middle of a dungeon or something, and I have to go to school or somewhere else, and I lose all my progress. I prefer games where if you die in a dungeon, you just go back to a certain room. This keeps it more challenging.
I don't think saving before a boss or puzzle reduces the challenge that much. You still have to redo the boss/puzzle anyway if you lose.
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