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Am i the only person who hates quicksaves in games? Doesn't it really annoy you when you are watching someone playing a PC shooter and they pretty much wear out F5 saving after every enemy they kill. Quicksave although useful in long levels takes the skill out of gaming. if you can think ill quicksave now and run out and hope for a couple of lucky shots and if i fail who cares i can quickload. Quicksave makes games short and arguably less monotomous but games with quicksaves need sanctions. One of my favourite games Project IGI has no save feature, you can only save by completing a level, this works well as each level must be well thought out and planned for well, this improves technique and adds to the realism. Shooters such as wolfenstein or Medal of Honour which are both excellent games have instant quicksave features which can remove the skill from the game as dying is not a problem. What solutions are there I hear you ask.
1. Limited Saving- this is a viable option. To save you from having to do the whole level again the designers add a feature which means you can only save twice (or a low number of times) per level this means that people have to save appropriately and cannot rely on quicksave to get them through levels.
2. autosaving- This means you cannot quicksave and the game saves for you at certain points in each level after a suitable amount of progress.This means less monotomy whilst keeping the skill
3. Time delayed saving- Time delayed saving which is being used in the forth coming Project IGI 2, is where you have to give the game 5 seconds notice before it saves. This means you cannot just save in the middle of a fight but rather you must wait and be in a safe place.
4. Savepoints- Save points are as they sound: you must reach this location to save such as in resident evil with the type writers. This kind of saving is similar to autosaving but can be fairly irritating because you never know how far you must continue before you can discontinue playing.
Overall it think that normal quick saves can reduce the enjoyment and length of games especially with regards to shooters. I think the best solution is limited saving per level as this gives the player a chance to progress whilst still allowing skill and technique to show through.
1. Limited Saving- this is a viable option. To save you from having to do the whole level again the designers add a feature which means you can only save twice (or a low number of times) per level this means that people have to save appropriately and cannot rely on quicksave to get them through levels.
2. autosaving- This means you cannot quicksave and the game saves for you at certain points in each level after a suitable amount of progress.This means less monotomy whilst keeping the skill
3. Time delayed saving- Time delayed saving which is being used in the forth coming Project IGI 2, is where you have to give the game 5 seconds notice before it saves. This means you cannot just save in the middle of a fight but rather you must wait and be in a safe place.
4. Savepoints- Save points are as they sound: you must reach this location to save such as in resident evil with the type writers. This kind of saving is similar to autosaving but can be fairly irritating because you never know how far you must continue before you can discontinue playing.
Overall it think that normal quick saves can reduce the enjoyment and length of games especially with regards to shooters. I think the best solution is limited saving per level as this gives the player a chance to progress whilst still allowing skill and technique to show through.
Good posts. The first time I played Deus Ex I really spoiled the experience by saving all the time. I played it through again trying only to save when it seemed 'fair' and the game was much more satisfying and challenging. I like the console idea of save points for two reasons: smaller save game files, and no need to use your willpower to stay away from F5!
i hate Kwik save and Kwik fit.
Nice posts, both of you
I think Op Flash's save system is the best....
I think Op Flash's save system is the best....
There's a quicksave in Half-life ???!
you did well to do the second area on igi with no health especially if the two tanks were out
I did a similar post in the PC gaming forum a few weeks ago covering similar ground:
Is quicksave a gaming godsend or a tension eliminator?
Flashpoint and IGI are both very difficult to complete as levels are big and health pick-ups are sometimes at a premium.
Fighting through a huge level only to die near the end can be very frustrating, as you must restart the level from the beginning again (it happened to me loads in IGI).
Can this make you a better gamer, or is it just annoying?
Flashpoint does contain retry points and one save option per level, but still remains a very tension filled game where one hit can kill.
Quicksave can remove any tension and atmosphere from a game.
Example: in IGI, a huge snow-filled level.
I managed to clear the first baddie infested area, but ended up low on health.
I then climbed up to a look out point, only to see bigger baddie base further down the mountain.
So with my puny health level I managed to complete a very nervy and tension filled second half to the level, where one or two shots would have killed me.
An option to quicksave would have eliminated all that tension and danger.
Take Max Payne, Half-Life, RtCW and MoH;
Quicksave the game,
Run down a corridor, and wait outside the baddie infested room,
Run inside said room and get blown away by baddies (especially those shotgun toting baddies from Max Payne),
Reload and try section again & again & again till you get it right, always having that trusty quicksave button to fall back on.
It basically makes you invincible throughout the game, as you can retry sections as much as you want until you are happy with your performance. It make the games very simple and sometimes even monotonous.
This was most apparent in Max Payne, where villainous and extremely pugnacious henchmen would fill you full of lead before your “Bullet-Time” leap had ended.
In Half-Life, I eventually found myself quicksaving after every baddie, removing all the tension.
Don’t get me wrong though, these games are some of the best I have ever played in my long games playing career.
Quicksave can be useful to people who haven’t got loads of time to play games, so they can do small sections at a time, but doing that just loses coherence and atmosphere in a game.
I don’t really like having to start an entire level from the level from the beginning or keep quickloading when I muck up, so what’s the answer?
If I new that I would sell the idea to games developers and live it up as a playboy/bachelor.
But I would say Flashpoint’s save game system is the best, with set retry points and the one single save option to use a your disposal.
Is quicksave a gaming godsend or a tension eliminator?
Flashpoint and IGI are both very difficult to complete as levels are big and health pick-ups are sometimes at a premium.
Fighting through a huge level only to die near the end can be very frustrating, as you must restart the level from the beginning again (it happened to me loads in IGI).
Can this make you a better gamer, or is it just annoying?
Flashpoint does contain retry points and one save option per level, but still remains a very tension filled game where one hit can kill.
Quicksave can remove any tension and atmosphere from a game.
Example: in IGI, a huge snow-filled level.
I managed to clear the first baddie infested area, but ended up low on health.
I then climbed up to a look out point, only to see bigger baddie base further down the mountain.
So with my puny health level I managed to complete a very nervy and tension filled second half to the level, where one or two shots would have killed me.
An option to quicksave would have eliminated all that tension and danger.
Take Max Payne, Half-Life, RtCW and MoH;
Quicksave the game,
Run down a corridor, and wait outside the baddie infested room,
Run inside said room and get blown away by baddies (especially those shotgun toting baddies from Max Payne),
Reload and try section again & again & again till you get it right, always having that trusty quicksave button to fall back on.
It basically makes you invincible throughout the game, as you can retry sections as much as you want until you are happy with your performance. It make the games very simple and sometimes even monotonous.
This was most apparent in Max Payne, where villainous and extremely pugnacious henchmen would fill you full of lead before your “Bullet-Time” leap had ended.
In Half-Life, I eventually found myself quicksaving after every baddie, removing all the tension.
Don’t get me wrong though, these games are some of the best I have ever played in my long games playing career.
Quicksave can be useful to people who haven’t got loads of time to play games, so they can do small sections at a time, but doing that just loses coherence and atmosphere in a game.
I don’t really like having to start an entire level from the level from the beginning or keep quickloading when I muck up, so what’s the answer?
If I new that I would sell the idea to games developers and live it up as a playboy/bachelor.
But I would say Flashpoint’s save game system is the best, with set retry points and the one single save option to use a your disposal.
Am i the only person who hates quicksaves in games? Doesn't it really annoy you when you are watching someone playing a PC shooter and they pretty much wear out F5 saving after every enemy they kill. Quicksave although useful in long levels takes the skill out of gaming. if you can think ill quicksave now and run out and hope for a couple of lucky shots and if i fail who cares i can quickload. Quicksave makes games short and arguably less monotomous but games with quicksaves need sanctions. One of my favourite games Project IGI has no save feature, you can only save by completing a level, this works well as each level must be well thought out and planned for well, this improves technique and adds to the realism. Shooters such as wolfenstein or Medal of Honour which are both excellent games have instant quicksave features which can remove the skill from the game as dying is not a problem. What solutions are there I hear you ask.
1. Limited Saving- this is a viable option. To save you from having to do the whole level again the designers add a feature which means you can only save twice (or a low number of times) per level this means that people have to save appropriately and cannot rely on quicksave to get them through levels.
2. autosaving- This means you cannot quicksave and the game saves for you at certain points in each level after a suitable amount of progress.This means less monotomy whilst keeping the skill
3. Time delayed saving- Time delayed saving which is being used in the forth coming Project IGI 2, is where you have to give the game 5 seconds notice before it saves. This means you cannot just save in the middle of a fight but rather you must wait and be in a safe place.
4. Savepoints- Save points are as they sound: you must reach this location to save such as in resident evil with the type writers. This kind of saving is similar to autosaving but can be fairly irritating because you never know how far you must continue before you can discontinue playing.
Overall it think that normal quick saves can reduce the enjoyment and length of games especially with regards to shooters. I think the best solution is limited saving per level as this gives the player a chance to progress whilst still allowing skill and technique to show through.
1. Limited Saving- this is a viable option. To save you from having to do the whole level again the designers add a feature which means you can only save twice (or a low number of times) per level this means that people have to save appropriately and cannot rely on quicksave to get them through levels.
2. autosaving- This means you cannot quicksave and the game saves for you at certain points in each level after a suitable amount of progress.This means less monotomy whilst keeping the skill
3. Time delayed saving- Time delayed saving which is being used in the forth coming Project IGI 2, is where you have to give the game 5 seconds notice before it saves. This means you cannot just save in the middle of a fight but rather you must wait and be in a safe place.
4. Savepoints- Save points are as they sound: you must reach this location to save such as in resident evil with the type writers. This kind of saving is similar to autosaving but can be fairly irritating because you never know how far you must continue before you can discontinue playing.
Overall it think that normal quick saves can reduce the enjoyment and length of games especially with regards to shooters. I think the best solution is limited saving per level as this gives the player a chance to progress whilst still allowing skill and technique to show through.