Monday 12 February 2018

Bad Design: Checkpoints

Being able to save is always better.

[Part of the Design Folder]

I have to question why anyone ever designed the checkpoint (auto save) system as ultimately, it is just a waste of time when compared with letting people being able to save the game whenever they feel like.

I'm the type of player now who, when real life interrupts, drops from a game immediately (the wife trained me well). If I've not yet reached a checkpoint then that means I'll be replaying whatever hasn't been saved. Conversely, if I know bed time is approaching I must question at each checkpoint if I think I'll reach the next one before my alarm rings and once again - bang: game goes off.

Taking this freedom from a player is bad design. I can understand if you want to make a "safe" save that ensures the game is still in a winnable state, but in that case make a checkpoint / save hybrid option. What do you think? Is being able to save anywhere/anytime giving too much power to the player?

No comments:

Post a Comment