Games options - you choose how you want to play

Message Bookmarked

Bookmark Removed

Brought on by the difficulty choosing thread but this question refers to slightly different matters.

I mean options to just change the way the game looks rather than how easy it makes it for the player. Like for instance on Matchday 2 you could change the pitch colour to blue, green or white but that wouldn't affect the gameplay.

I'm all for masses of options to increase replay value, but can a game have too many choices and can they overload the player to the point of the game developing a certain lack of substance and position?

Another example was Lotus 3 on the Amiga, this game took the fabulous Lotus 2 formula but added so many options you were left with an infinite choice of race right from the start. Somehow though this diluted the whole affair for me.

― Ste (Fuzzy), Thursday, 22 September 2005 15:06 (twenty years ago)

I tend to believe that the popularity of MMORPGs, the Sims, and even the longevity of games like StarCraft basically all has to do with the fact that it is fun to play "house" and "dress-up." I mean look at fucking Excitebike. Take away the map editor and nobody would remember that game.

By adding easy-to-use versions of the developers' tools to a release, you can get away with a second-rate product, I think, especially in PC games where folks can share/download scenarios skins etc.

― TOMBOT, Thursday, 22 September 2005 15:44 (twenty years ago)

OTM about Excitebike.

― melton mowbray (adr), Thursday, 22 September 2005 16:10 (twenty years ago)

I would totally remember Excitebike. I used to play it at the arcade, and I don't think the arcade version had a track editor. But oh did I enjoy it.

― polyphonic (polyphonic), Thursday, 22 September 2005 17:34 (twenty years ago)

The frustration of your motorcycle overheating and missing that little "cool-down" arrow ... oh, man.

― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Thursday, 22 September 2005 17:40 (twenty years ago)

rnnnnnnnnnnnNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN VOOOMP ......CHUNK NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN

― kingfish superman ice cream (kingfish 2.0), Thursday, 22 September 2005 17:41 (twenty years ago)

I took AGES attempting to import my own face onto my THUG2 skater character. My most successful attempt looked like a burns victim with a cleft pallet.

― Onimo (GerryNemo), Friday, 23 September 2005 09:48 (twenty years ago)

Sometimes the options are kind of useless, though, I mean they exist but what's the fucking point? This is why I hate Front Mission 4 SO MUCH. It has nigh-endless combinations available of paint schemes, weapons, legs, arms, backpack units, all kinds of things to configure your mecha with, but the upshot is

1. Each pilot has their destiny laid out for them, combat-skills wise, so it's not as if you can take your missiles guy and build him a mech that does anything besides shoot fucking missiles every battle

2. Each combination of weaponry and parts is constrained by any number of limiting attributes, so there's really only one "best of breed" solution to each combat problem - about 10% into the game you realize the only real choice you have that matters is what flavor of armor you want to be wearing before each fight

3. The entire game (except for the opening pre-rendered downtown fight scene, of course) is rendered with the muddiest contrast levels Square could achieve without making the screen look like a gray, ugly, indistinguishable morass of dots (Oh, I'm so clever). You'd get more satisfaction just changing the color settings on your TV rather than wasting time picking a paint scheme with their pointlessly huge list of colors.

In the FF Tactics games, by contrast, you can actually play, enjoy and WIN the game using a huge number of different combinations of skills and personnel. Your wardrobe options are all shit, but at least the options lend depth to the gameplay, instead of just being there to provide another bullet on the back-of-box copy.

― TOMBOT, Friday, 23 September 2005 14:50 (twenty years ago)

When I played SFII for SNES, I always customized my punch/kick buttons because I didn't like the standard configuration. I think it's pretty cool to be able to do that, although it becomes a hassle if you play at a friend's house and have to reconfigure everything.

― Laura H. (laurah), Friday, 23 September 2005 17:32 (twenty years ago)

reconfiguring the buttons on SF2 was basically a move!

― cozen (Cozen), Friday, 23 September 2005 17:56 (twenty years ago)

I also really really REALLY favor games that allow you to change the SFX/music volume settings. I would much rather play about 75-80% of games with SFX only, no music, to be completely honest.

― TOMBOT, Friday, 23 September 2005 18:08 (twenty years ago)

All right, so "We Love Katamari" not only lets you turn vibration on/off and change the volume levels for SFX and BGM separately, but it allows you to SELECT which song you want to play during the levels. Kind of like that other franchise title with the carjacking and the hooker shooting! HELLO GAMES INDUSTRY. THIS IS HOW ALL* GAMES SHOULD BE. THANK YOU.

*obv certain games are designed so that music is part of a particular settings' atmosphere - so what - give me the option to change it up a bit, or turn it off. WLK even gives you three different kinds of walking-around-beats to choose from just by holding down buttons as you move. NOT DIFFICULT TO IMPLEMENT. REPLAY VALUE: + x10.

― TOMBOT, Monday, 26 September 2005 15:38 (twenty years ago)

Metal Gear Solid games are guilty of the "too many options" problem. Last night I finally got around to starting MGS3 and at the start was prompted to "Describe your standing in the MGS series", or something along those lines. The options were:

"I have never played a game in the MGS series before"
"I like MGS1!"
"I like MGS2!"

Well, I like them both a lot but, for some reason, picked the first one as I haven't played it in a long time and was hoping it'd pack it with references to the first for old times sake. This morning, I checked up to see what those options actually do, and apparently the only difference is that "I like MGS2!" adds a bonus scene.

Does anyone know anything more about this, and did I make a bad choice? I'm only two hours in and not doing very well, and I imagine about an hour and fifty minutes of that is cut scenes. I'm tempted to start again, but I doubt I will. Damn you Konami, and your silly cryptic questions.

― melton mowbray (adr), Saturday, 1 October 2005 16:08 (twenty years ago)

It seems silly, but I am going to start again and try out this "stealth" lark. Last night I just strolled about with a shotgun blasting the enemies away, much to the disappointment of the Major. It'd be much cooler if I actually made an effort. Unfortunately, it's very hard on my TV to tell the difference between trees and enemies.

― melton mowbray (adr), Saturday, 1 October 2005 16:34 (twenty years ago)

and apparently the only difference is that "I like MGS2!" adds a bonus scene.

After seeing the blonde Snake, I realise this is a fib.

― melton mowbray (adr), Saturday, 1 October 2005 16:56 (twenty years ago)

four years pass...

games these days should have an option to change how the visual style looks. ie I want to play 'this' game with cartoon graphics rather than realistic graphics. or i want to play this Fifa match in the visual style of an old b&w television recording.

yes i know it would mean more development work, but pfft.

― F-Unit (Ste), Tuesday, 14 September 2010 14:16 (fifteen years ago)

You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.