To save or not to save?

#1 Saving in the middle allows for much less time required to play the game.

more input is required for a full response.

1.) how many saves are available (is there a limit)
2.) is there an autosave planned?

Lots of them control how the game play's out with save access.

I find it alot harder to complete games that when you die start you over at beginning of round.
and often I dont finish them (get sick of doing same thing over and over)
saving puts a stop to that.

my 2 cents

#2 @Badguy

"1.) how many saves are available (is there a limit)"
If I was to implement a save in the middle of a mission system, I will probably allow only 3 to 4 saves per mission.

"2.) is there an autosave planned?"
It depends if I implement the save in the middle of a mission system or not. If not, yes, after every objective is completed. If so, maybe right before boss battles, etc...

Thanks for the input,
Okashira

#3 Level resets get old fast. If you have a perfect balanced game where the player always feels his death was 100% due to his error and not related to random game events then a reset is ok. If however your game is like every other game I have played and at some point the player blames random game events for his death then a save option will prevent them uninstalling out of frustration. PC gamers expect a save function. Why tell the player how you want them to play, if they find the game too hard they will save lots, if they don't they wont save.

#4 Alright, well do you guys know of a save/load resource?

#5 I just read an article where the reviewer complained there was no mid-level save in an intense game. Then he realized that the game wouldn't be as intense if the fear of having to start over wasn't there. I've always like the well-placed save checkpoint myself.

#6 How long is each level in the game? If it takes a long time, allowing the player to save mid-level makes sense. If not, don't bother.

Allowing mid-level saves is alot of effort because you have to store the state of all the objects in the level, which can be tedious and bug-prone. Just saving which level the player reached is alot easier, even if you store some state information (e.g. how many lives the player has).

Also, if you allow mid-level saves, some people will do things like save right before the hard part of the level and then repeatedly load that save so that they can figure out the strategy to get past that spot. That isn't really how people should play arcade games.

#7 I would say to use a combination of main saves (level beginning/end) and auto-saves. The autosaves are a single-slot entity and from everything after that save point has the same state (or a similar state depending on your AI). That way they do not get overly frustrated at the difficulty but always have a safe point to start from. The next part comes from watching playtesters to see which arcade wave you position your saves.

Just my thoughts, irrelevant as they are.

#8 I've never been a fan of saving games at will. Until you can actually cause pain or death to the player, making them restart a level is the only punishment for failing.

#9 @okashira

www.garagegames.com/index.php?sec=mg&mod=resource&page=view&qid=9538

dont know if it works or not but sounds like it would

#10 I hate restarting levels......especially when its the one time youve gotten past what you thought was the hardest part only to die of something harder.

im working on a single player for a flight sim of my own and instead of letting the player restart the levels, if he fails, there will be a plan b or c, which are different but focus on the same thing, and if he fails that, the mission is failed and he loses the game.

#11 Sounds like everyone is pretty much divided...So how about this - Short levels, saving at the end of each level. Have you ever played Siren? It will be split up kinda like that.

#12 I like how Hit Man (Blood Money) has done their saves, only get a couple of saves per level, and they are seperate from your career saves, so you can only use them while playing

#13 The issue of game saves I don't think can be answered in a vacuum. I think you have to consider the whole game and answer questions like:

1) how long would it take to fly a mission from beginning to end?
2) how hard are the missions, how many times do you expect someone to fly one before he/she succeeds?
3) what are the consequences for failing a mission?
4) how many missions is your game going to have?
5) are you trying to make your game appeal to the hard-core gamer, middle of the road player, or casual gamer?

I think once you've answered questions like these, the answer will be pretty apparent :)

#14 Let's see...
1) how long would it take to fly a mission from beginning to end?
-5 to 10 minutes, probably
2) how hard are the missions, how many times do you expect someone to fly one before he/she succeeds?
-They will start out really easy, but get harder...depending on a mission 1-3 times.
3) what are the consequences for failing a mission?
-restarting
4) how many missions is your game going to have?
-hopefully quite alot
5) are you trying to make your game appeal to the hard-core gamer, middle of the road player, or casual gamer?
-casual to middle of the road