How should death be handled?

You can discuss anything about fan-made Commander Keen games here.

What kind of saving mechanism would you prefer?

Vorticons-style (saving only on world map)
6
17%
Galaxy-style (save anytime)
25
71%
Cost-based saving (pay with 1 life to save your game)
0
No votes
other
4
11%
 
Total votes: 35

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K1n9_Duk3
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How should death be handled?

Post by K1n9_Duk3 »

Ever since I first played Keen 4 I wondered who would be needing extra lives when you could save the game at any time you want to.

I'd like to hear how you'd wish this to be handled.
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Paramultart
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Post by Paramultart »

I always thought "Lives" were such a useless concept when you have unlimited saves at any time. I would have to say either 1 or 3.
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Keenfan
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Post by Keenfan »

I voted for Keen 4 style, because I want to have the choice whether I do it "oldstyle" or just feeling safe. :-)
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Post by DHeadshot »

Keenfan wrote:I voted for Keen 4 style, because I want to have the choice whether I do it "oldstyle" or just feeling safe. :-)
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Post by Deltamatic »

Autosaving before dangerous spots and having the "Try Again" button lead to your autosave. No need to inflict unnecessary repetition on the player--they've already conquered the level's previous obstacles. No lives, or maybe lives as health.
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Post by c64cosmin »

Deltamatic wrote:Autosaving before dangerous spots and having the "Try Again" button lead to your autosave. No need to inflict unnecessary repetition on the player--they've already conquered the level's previous obstacles. No lives, or maybe lives as health.
Check points, sound really,really good.From my opinion checkpoints are some kind of hybrid of Vorticons and Galaxy, you may save but not on every situation.
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Post by VikingBoyBilly »

The thread title was terribly misleading. Then I remembered this was in "unofficial keen games" and not "miscellaneus."
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Post by Deltamatic »

It's "how should death be handled in unofficial Keen games?"
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Post by KeenEmpire »

you can't believe how weirdly amazing it was to be able to save earthbound when you weren't supposed to be able to.
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Post by Roobar »

I think vortions and galaxy systems should be optional. Let the player choose which one he prefers.
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Post by DaVince »

Unlimited lives, only save inbetween levels, and possibly add midpoint saves in some of the levels. That's sort of ideal to me.
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Post by Paramultart »

DaVince's is close to ideal.

Here's how I think it should go:

Checkpoints.
(Monster Bash style)
Save only between levels.

And maybe possibly, give the player 3 lives per level... so if they die three times, they can no longer start from their checkpoint and must restart the level.
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Post by StupidBunny »

Paramultart wrote:DaVince's is close to ideal.

Here's how I think it should go:

Checkpoints.
(Monster Bash style)
Save only between levels.

And maybe possibly, give the player 3 lives per level... so if they die three times, they can no longer start from their checkpoint and must restart the level.
This would basically be the perfect arrangement I think. The question would be: if you pick up extra lives (assuming they're put in) while playing a level, would those lives carry over to the next level, or would you start the next level with however many lives you ended the last one with? I've seen games where the latter is implemented and it tends to work well.
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Post by tulip »

Galaxy style - gives you the freedom to save whenever you want, but you don't have to use it. Sylly for example only saves between levels out of choice. I hate everything that is forced onto the player, so for me autosave and checkpoints is also a no-go.
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