Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length

 
Advanced search

1411196 Posts in 69314 Topics- by 58380 Members - Latest Member: feakk

March 18, 2024, 06:46:35 PM

Need hosting? Check out Digital Ocean
(more details in this thread)
TIGSource ForumsPlayerGames"In a perfect world, every game would..."
Pages: [1] 2 3
Print
Author Topic: "In a perfect world, every game would..."  (Read 14631 times)
J. Kyle Pittman
Level 6
*


PostCount++;


View Profile WWW
« on: February 10, 2011, 11:02:09 AM »

Recently I've been interested in making my framework support some of the accessibility features that gamers often request, like being able to bind their controls, or not defaulting to low-resolution fullscreen settings, or what have you. So far, these features have mostly been driven by my own personal preferences, or, where applicable, opinions that I've read on the internet, such as the "Rules for Games: Do & Don't" series on RPS. Although in my humble opinion, these sorts of things sometimes devolve into griping about minutiae (e.g., "Do: let me flush the toilets and turn on the taps"? Really?), I think there are a lot of good ideas here. But I'd like a more thorough sampling of what sorts of features I could add or improve, so I pose this question: without regard for technical difficulty or design implications, what are some of the things you care deeply about and wish more games got right?

Here are some of mine:

  • Let me bind my own controls
  • Let me skip splash screens and cutscenes
  • Don't make me restart the game when I change graphics settings
  • Let me choose the screen/window resolution and whether I want to play fullscreen before I launch the game the first time

So...what grinds your gears?
Logged

s0
o
Level 10
*****


eurovision winner 2014


View Profile
« Reply #1 on: February 10, 2011, 11:06:03 AM »

...not include fishing minigames.
Logged
Netsu
Level 10
*****


proficient at just chillin'


View Profile WWW
« Reply #2 on: February 10, 2011, 11:09:57 AM »

...have modding support.
Logged

nylos
Level 0
*


View Profile
« Reply #3 on: February 10, 2011, 11:17:54 AM »

...be able to nicely display everything even in 640x1024/840x945 resolution, so i can read in a chat/the web while playing.
Logged
Kekskiller
Guest
« Reply #4 on: February 10, 2011, 11:32:21 AM »

...not exist.

Why do we need games in a perfect world. Everything would be perfect, everyone would be perfect. We would need ugly things, diseases and war instead.
Logged
paste
Level 6
*


BARF!


View Profile WWW
« Reply #5 on: February 10, 2011, 12:03:37 PM »

...make you forget it's not real.

@Kekskiller: Maybe games contribute to the perfection. 
Logged

Kekskiller
Guest
« Reply #6 on: February 10, 2011, 12:06:03 PM »

@Kekskiller: Maybe games contribute to the perfection. 

No.
Logged
gimymblert
Level 10
*****


The archivest master, leader of all documents


View Profile
« Reply #7 on: February 10, 2011, 12:21:10 PM »

Make optional content optional
Make filler mini game optional (mass effect rules)
Readability and usability is your interface motto
Make grind optional (at least semi automatic and not optimal when your not playing the game, that's make a reward to came back to the game)
Logged

J. Kyle Pittman
Level 6
*


PostCount++;


View Profile WWW
« Reply #8 on: February 10, 2011, 12:47:07 PM »

...be able to nicely display everything even in 640x1024/840x945 resolution, so i can read in a chat/the web while playing.

Ooh, that's an interesting one. I usually assume the screen aspect ratio will never be narrower than 4:3 (or maybe 5:4, since 1280x1024 resolution is pretty common), but that may not always be a safe assumption.
Logged

tesselode
Level 5
*****



View Profile WWW
« Reply #9 on: February 10, 2011, 01:03:36 PM »

Make cutscenes skippable. Of all the things that annoy me about games, that has to be one of the biggest.
Logged
David Pittman
Level 2
**


MAEK GAEM


View Profile WWW
« Reply #10 on: February 10, 2011, 01:50:59 PM »

...ship with at least some basic debug/dev tools. I've frequently wanted god mode, ghost/noclip, and pause/slow-mo sim so I can study a game without constantly getting killed, and it's very rare that games ship with "cheats" like that anymore.
Logged

Chromeleon
Level 0
***


View Profile
« Reply #11 on: February 10, 2011, 01:51:57 PM »

have more than one save slot.  We aren't saving things directly on the cartridge anymore.  With gigabytes of space at my disposal, any limited number of "slots" feels absolutely arbitrary.  (Roguelikes aside, as they're an important part of how those games function.)

The ability to bind my own controls was already mentioned.
Logged
noah!
Level 6
*


View Profile
« Reply #12 on: February 10, 2011, 02:02:12 PM »

Have a Mac port.

(and independently adjustable bgm/sfx toggles wouldn't hurt too...)
Logged
RobHaines
Level 0
**



View Profile WWW
« Reply #13 on: February 10, 2011, 02:22:44 PM »

have more than one save slot.

Yes, yes, and thrice yes. Along the same lines, if progress is cumulative, give me the option to switch profiles. My fiancee and I are both gamers, and the number of iOS games which only provide a single save file/profile is infuriating.
Logged

Generation Minus One - The Webcomic of Last-Gen Gaming
Lon
Level 4
****



View Profile
« Reply #14 on: February 10, 2011, 03:12:10 PM »

   A lot of good recommendations have been made.  Hand Thumbs Up Right

   I've got a few I'd like to suggest too.

   Every game should work no matter what folders (or computers) you move it to in an operating system.  So say you need to move all your games on to another hard drive you can just move the entire folder containing all your games onto the other hard drive and all the games should still run properly.
It is very annoying to have to re-download or reinstall all of one's games when one installs a new hard drive and try migrating software over to it.

   All games should be multiplatform, working on Windows, Mac and Linux.  So all games should use something like OpenGL and not platform specific graphics software.  Any additional requirements other than a modern operating system (whether Mac, Linux or Windows) should be available for all three OS and be (optionally, for those who already have it) distributed free of charge with the game.

   All games should be nearly completely self contained, not requiring any pay for software/OS or any other software a user wouldn't already have installed.  So games should not require: Java (though many computers have it installed), Flash (though many computers have this installed too), Steam, Impulse, Windows OS or any other kind of other software a user must install/download/pay-for to play a game.

   All games should be able to be minimized, windows re-sized and full-screened.

   Games should be able to be paused at ANY time, even in the middle of cut-scenes or splash screen (probably mostly for single player games).  Perhaps it would be nice if cutscenes could be fastforward and reversable as well.  Some times a player may miss something important in a cutscene.

   All game should be mod able.  Include some kind of level, stat and state editors.

  All games should have some kind of cheat (perhaps unlockable?) to go to any part of the game of any level.  So say you could not only enter a cheat to jump to any level of Mario, but you could also skip to any part of the level, like skip right to fighting Bowser.

   Be able to back up and share save data.

   Be able to load sound track onto MP3 player for listening while not playing the game.

I know some of these may not always be feasible, appropriate, practical and/or affordable, but I think some of these 'features' would be nice.
Logged

“We all sorely complain of the shortness of time, and yet have much more than we know what to do with. Our lives are either spent in doing nothing at all, or in doing nothing to the purpose, or in doing nothing that we ought to do..." -Seneca
dontkickpenguins
Level 1
*


Used to be known as Penguinhat


View Profile
« Reply #15 on: February 10, 2011, 03:58:24 PM »

...leave the player a better person for having played it.
Logged

_Tommo_
Level 8
***


frn frn frn


View Profile WWW
« Reply #16 on: February 10, 2011, 04:02:47 PM »

...leave the player a better person for having played it.

But in a perfect world you can't have a "better person"  Crazy
Logged

torahhorse
Level 0
**



View Profile WWW
« Reply #17 on: February 10, 2011, 04:28:06 PM »

...have modding support.

big one!!
Logged

Landshark RAWR
Level 10
*****



View Profile
« Reply #18 on: February 10, 2011, 05:17:19 PM »

...have a co-op mode, even if its just a SPLITSCREEN version of the single player mode
Logged

Lon
Level 4
****



View Profile
« Reply #19 on: February 10, 2011, 05:30:17 PM »

...have a co-op mode, even if its just a SPLITSCREEN version of the single player mode
Yes, CO-OP for sure!
Seriously, single player may be OK once in a while when others are not around, perhaps for practice, but multiplayer is where it is at.  Watch movies, bowl, walk, play sports, dance etc with friends.  You can do some of these things by yourself, but they PALE in comparison to sharing the experience with others.
Logged

“We all sorely complain of the shortness of time, and yet have much more than we know what to do with. Our lives are either spent in doing nothing at all, or in doing nothing to the purpose, or in doing nothing that we ought to do..." -Seneca
Pages: [1] 2 3
Print
Jump to:  

Theme orange-lt created by panic