Call of Cthulhu - An eerie RPG
- Thread starter HiddenX
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Yea, PC Gamer likes Mordor and Mad Max too.
I just don't trust cashgrab with the title games. Will wait till it's done and played extensively by JDR. If he says it's good, only then I'll touch it.
I just don't trust cashgrab with the title games. Will wait till it's done and played extensively by JDR. If he says it's good, only then I'll touch it.
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Deleted User
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Spam saving? I wish RPGs would start implementing Real Consequences Mode. That is, allow players to start a game with that mode that would limit saving and force players to stick with their consequences and choices. It would have to be properly balanced in line with various difficulty options, but I think it's long past due.
Fallout 4 Survival mode is ok, but it would have been a LOT better imo if the devs had made it modular. In other words, we should be able to toggle on/off the features we want instead of being forced to use all of them.
As far as Call of Cthulhu goes, I don't like the comparison to Amnesia. Outside of a few instances, I found that game boring and unmemorable.
As far as Call of Cthulhu goes, I don't like the comparison to Amnesia. Outside of a few instances, I found that game boring and unmemorable.
Farflame
SasqWatch
Almost all FP horror games are compared to Amnesia so it doesnt say much. CoC has RPG lite and detective elements and NPCs to recruit and talk so ...
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Deleted User
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I haven't played that yet myself, but I agree 100% that these modes should be modular. It's long overdue that we start getting a lot more difficulty options and features that we can tweak and toggle on/off.
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NewDArt
Guest
Well, as soon as the developers make such a "no holds barred" hardcore mode modular, the player is asked to partially design the game for himself.
The whole concept of the Survival mode is exactly the kind of thing you're asking for - meaning real consequences and very limited saving.
If you introduce modular options - where you can disable all the things that are too hard or frustrating for the player - then you're essentially back to square one.
There's no reason a normal Fallout 4 playthrough can't be extremely challenging - you just need to never use quicksave and only limit yourself to an exit save.
But players don't do that and it's not really their job to design their own challenge. Same goes for Survival mode - where you can't ask the player to fully understand exactly what will be appropriate before you start the game.
So, I don't agree that these super hard modes should be modular - except if it's extremely obvious what the options mean for long-term gameplay.
That's why we have mods - and it wasn't long after Survival mode was patched in - that mods were available for every aspect of it.
However, I would only recommend using such mods if you're very experienced and confident you understand your own psychology when it comes to challenge and the level of frustration you can handle.
The average player will have a hard time making educated choices that will please him or her throughout an entire game.
That's why I always advocate developer-authored difficulty levels - and I prefer a single difficulty that's exactly as challenging as the developer wants the game to be.
Why? Because the developer will have all the necessary knowledge about every aspect of the balance - and how the game will evolve in terms of the power curve, and what kind of "boss fights" you will have and so on. Even the most experienced gamers can't predict that for any game - and therefore it's a problem to ask them to balance their experience for themselves.
But obviously a single developer-authored difficulty won't happen often, as it will invariably mean a difficulty level that won't suit the mainstream or majority of gamers.
So, these "super hard mode" difficulties are probably the most realistic alternative in big mainstream games.
I wish Witcher 3 and Skyrim had them, for instance.
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I used to believe strongly in "developer's vision" for different modes, etc., but nowadays I'm starting to just feel like they should just give people the tools to let them go ape sh*t with the options.
I always cite the NBA 2K series, which introduced game sliders over a decade ago that can tweak every setting of the gameplay itself. Casual users may not want to mess with that a lot, but they also let the hardcore players "build" modes/slider sets and share them, so it's easier to access and find sets that suit your own playstyle. And many gameplay options are modular, little-yet-big things like Shot Feedback, which will inform you after a shot how accurate you were with your stick skills for it. It's a small implement but can change things drastically if you turn it off, as the game will become more "hardcore" for those who want it.
I think developers should have one "suggested" mode for a Hardcore Mode, and then let people tweak it if they want. I'd even like to see modular options like, "Do you want to have to buy maps of the region? Or get them automatically?". And things like this. Since the map is already in the game, it wouldn't take much to change that element either way. In Xulima you have things like Ironman Mode, which limits saving only to town. I enjoy it a lot, but it's a modular option even on the hardest difficulty level.
And then you have modular options RPGs are starting to add, like "Display skill checks in dialogue". Another seemingly small tweak that makes a big difference (IMO) to how the game functions. In one case, a player can meta-game or see all the pertinent information, whereas in the other case, a player will have to use his own wits to figure out which dialogue option he should go for. Again, not earth-shattering, but little options like this I feel could go a long way.
I always cite the NBA 2K series, which introduced game sliders over a decade ago that can tweak every setting of the gameplay itself. Casual users may not want to mess with that a lot, but they also let the hardcore players "build" modes/slider sets and share them, so it's easier to access and find sets that suit your own playstyle. And many gameplay options are modular, little-yet-big things like Shot Feedback, which will inform you after a shot how accurate you were with your stick skills for it. It's a small implement but can change things drastically if you turn it off, as the game will become more "hardcore" for those who want it.
I think developers should have one "suggested" mode for a Hardcore Mode, and then let people tweak it if they want. I'd even like to see modular options like, "Do you want to have to buy maps of the region? Or get them automatically?". And things like this. Since the map is already in the game, it wouldn't take much to change that element either way. In Xulima you have things like Ironman Mode, which limits saving only to town. I enjoy it a lot, but it's a modular option even on the hardest difficulty level.
And then you have modular options RPGs are starting to add, like "Display skill checks in dialogue". Another seemingly small tweak that makes a big difference (IMO) to how the game functions. In one case, a player can meta-game or see all the pertinent information, whereas in the other case, a player will have to use his own wits to figure out which dialogue option he should go for. Again, not earth-shattering, but little options like this I feel could go a long way.
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NewDArt
Guest
That's fair enough, but I think that's a terrible idea. Again, I think players should be players - not designers.
I hate having an easy path to customizing my experience - because I can't help myself.
That way, I end up spending more time fiddling with balance options rather than fully immersing myself in the game.
That's been the bane of my TES/Fallout experiences since forever.
Players just don't have a chance of knowing how a game will evolve and what will be appropriate. Certainly not for a first playthrough.
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Deleted User
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Hah, that can be true for some, for sure. Nowadays, in my 2K example, I'm much quicker to download someone's configuration that has been heavily rated, i.e. well-reviewed, shows lots of effort/updates in the config and generally is vetted by the community. I've had some great experiences doing that and it keeps me from having to mess with settings too much.
But to say it's a terrible idea, it worked extremely well for 2K basketball, especially when it was a $20 indie title trying to build its name against the much larger EA basketball game. The sliders/modular design of the game created a huge community of people who just tweaked the slider sets, created rosters, draft classes and on and on, sharing them with each other and whoever was interested in them. It led to not only gamers being able to change their core experience with the game, but also, if they were a bit more hardcore, tweaking the settings themselves from a preset base and getting exactly the experience they wanted from it. And the longevity was increased in a similar way to Bethesda's games and how modders work with those.
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NewDArt
Guest
It's a terrible idea to me for the reasons given.
I can't speak for others - and I'm fully aware that a lot of people consider themselves capable of balancing their own games.
That's cool
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Deleted User
Guest
It's a terrible idea to me for the reasons given.
I can't speak for others - and I'm fully aware that a lot of people consider themselves capable of balancing their own games.
That's cool
If you follow these things closely, you may find some people who would claim they do an enormously better job of it than even the devs themselves.
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NewDArt
Guest
If you follow these things closely, you may find some people who would claim they do an enormously better job of it than even the devs themselves.
Indeed - and some actually might
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Deleted User
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Some of the guys who started working on sliders are working for 2K now, I think. Sort of like modders making it into Bethesda and what not.
I like a lot of 2k games. definitly more than bethesda but i'm not sure that is terribly relevant to anything.
luj1
SasqWatch
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No one in their right mind should do himself such a disservice as running Fallout 4 without mods of course. Survival Options by Jekod is completely modular but I also heard good things about the Horizon mod which is centered around Survival Mode to make the game actually challenging.
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I have no problem with lots of options and modes in a game as long as the developers provide some guidance about which mode represents the designers vision. One of my pet peves is when I have to pick between easy, medium, hard or expert, with zero guidance about what each mode represents or what the designers intended. If a particular mode is too easy or too hard it can make my experience a lot worse, and it will not always be clear if that's because I picked the wrong mode or for some other reason.
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