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As linear as a roman road!
After talking to a few of my mates at college, I found that most of them preferred liner games over their more ‘open-ended’ counterparts. I was quite shocked at this, but I realised that the more freedom a game has, the more overwhelming it is. One of my mates told me he felt intimidated when playing epic’s such as Baldurs Gate et al, because of the shear possibilities and options that were open to him. He told me he’d spent hours just wandering around Candlekeep, investigating every nook and cranny, and checking, double checking (and triple checking) every room, just to ensure he’d not missed anything. After he’d left Candlekeep, he checked his map and looked at Baldurs Gate, just north of him. No problem he thought, it’ll only take a minute to get there. I then loaded my file into his BG directory, and then showed him my map. He was so shocked he leaned back and fell off his chair. If you haven’t played Baldurs Gate, you can’t comprehend the enormity of it. My friend obviously didn’t realise this as he looked warily at the numerous locations you have to go in order to finish the game. It’s not just a case of going straight to Baldurs Gate, there’s much more. It’s an ‘old skool’ RPG in every sense of the word. After this ‘incident’, he sold Baldurs Gate to some guy at college for a fiver! He told me he didn’t find these kind of games fun at all, and so, plugged back in his playstation, and started blasting away on Time Crisis. I went home.
Should we demand the right to follow a paper trail through our games, or do we want to break the mould? We all have different tastes, but as genres start to mix, which way will the balance tilt? Open ended, or set path? In the end its up to us, the gamer. Isn’t it?
After talking to a few of my mates at college, I found that most of them preferred liner games over their more ‘open-ended’ counterparts. I was quite shocked at this, but I realised that the more freedom a game has, the more overwhelming it is. One of my mates told me he felt intimidated when playing epic’s such as Baldurs Gate et al, because of the shear possibilities and options that were open to him. He told me he’d spent hours just wandering around Candlekeep, investigating every nook and cranny, and checking, double checking (and triple checking) every room, just to ensure he’d not missed anything. After he’d left Candlekeep, he checked his map and looked at Baldurs Gate, just north of him. No problem he thought, it’ll only take a minute to get there. I then loaded my file into his BG directory, and then showed him my map. He was so shocked he leaned back and fell off his chair. If you haven’t played Baldurs Gate, you can’t comprehend the enormity of it. My friend obviously didn’t realise this as he looked warily at the numerous locations you have to go in order to finish the game. It’s not just a case of going straight to Baldurs Gate, there’s much more. It’s an ‘old skool’ RPG in every sense of the word. After this ‘incident’, he sold Baldurs Gate to some guy at college for a fiver! He told me he didn’t find these kind of games fun at all, and so, plugged back in his playstation, and started blasting away on Time Crisis. I went home.
Should we demand the right to follow a paper trail through our games, or do we want to break the mould? We all have different tastes, but as genres start to mix, which way will the balance tilt? Open ended, or set path? In the end its up to us, the gamer. Isn’t it?
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Some games can be overwhelming - But i prefer this to a game that does nothing for me in the first 30 minutes of playing. I try to stick with the game for as long as possible. Drip feeding is very important in a game - not to little, not to much.
you don't want it too free-roaming, so that you have to walk left for half-an-hour before hitting a big, blank wall. That's just annoying.
And you don't want it too linear either, so that you go where the computer wants you too and you never have to look for anything, that's just crap.
you need to get the balance juussttt right.
And you don't want it too linear either, so that you go where the computer wants you too and you never have to look for anything, that's just crap.
you need to get the balance juussttt right.
As linear as a roman road!
After talking to a few of my mates at college, I found that most of them preferred liner games over their more ‘open-ended’ counterparts. I was quite shocked at this, but I realised that the more freedom a game has, the more overwhelming it is. One of my mates told me he felt intimidated when playing epic’s such as Baldurs Gate et al, because of the shear possibilities and options that were open to him. He told me he’d spent hours just wandering around Candlekeep, investigating every nook and cranny, and checking, double checking (and triple checking) every room, just to ensure he’d not missed anything. After he’d left Candlekeep, he checked his map and looked at Baldurs Gate, just north of him. No problem he thought, it’ll only take a minute to get there. I then loaded my file into his BG directory, and then showed him my map. He was so shocked he leaned back and fell off his chair. If you haven’t played Baldurs Gate, you can’t comprehend the enormity of it. My friend obviously didn’t realise this as he looked warily at the numerous locations you have to go in order to finish the game. It’s not just a case of going straight to Baldurs Gate, there’s much more. It’s an ‘old skool’ RPG in every sense of the word. After this ‘incident’, he sold Baldurs Gate to some guy at college for a fiver! He told me he didn’t find these kind of games fun at all, and so, plugged back in his playstation, and started blasting away on Time Crisis. I went home.
Should we demand the right to follow a paper trail through our games, or do we want to break the mould? We all have different tastes, but as genres start to mix, which way will the balance tilt? Open ended, or set path? In the end its up to us, the gamer. Isn’t it?
After talking to a few of my mates at college, I found that most of them preferred liner games over their more ‘open-ended’ counterparts. I was quite shocked at this, but I realised that the more freedom a game has, the more overwhelming it is. One of my mates told me he felt intimidated when playing epic’s such as Baldurs Gate et al, because of the shear possibilities and options that were open to him. He told me he’d spent hours just wandering around Candlekeep, investigating every nook and cranny, and checking, double checking (and triple checking) every room, just to ensure he’d not missed anything. After he’d left Candlekeep, he checked his map and looked at Baldurs Gate, just north of him. No problem he thought, it’ll only take a minute to get there. I then loaded my file into his BG directory, and then showed him my map. He was so shocked he leaned back and fell off his chair. If you haven’t played Baldurs Gate, you can’t comprehend the enormity of it. My friend obviously didn’t realise this as he looked warily at the numerous locations you have to go in order to finish the game. It’s not just a case of going straight to Baldurs Gate, there’s much more. It’s an ‘old skool’ RPG in every sense of the word. After this ‘incident’, he sold Baldurs Gate to some guy at college for a fiver! He told me he didn’t find these kind of games fun at all, and so, plugged back in his playstation, and started blasting away on Time Crisis. I went home.
Should we demand the right to follow a paper trail through our games, or do we want to break the mould? We all have different tastes, but as genres start to mix, which way will the balance tilt? Open ended, or set path? In the end its up to us, the gamer. Isn’t it?
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