Hi Phil, Good idea. That is similar to the color coded keys in games like Montezuma's Revenge. It was pretty obvious that white keys opened white doors, blue keys opened blue doors, red keys opened red doors, etc. There is no reason someone couldn't make levers, buttons, or switches the same way. A blue button opens a blue door, a green button opens a green door, a red button opens a red door, etc. It would make more logical sense than a blinking button that you might not know what it does. Then again, there are people like myself who likes a little guess work.
Cheers! On 3/9/11, Phil Vlasak <p...@pcsgames.net> wrote: > Hi Philip, > I think there are ways to make the switches in one room that affect doors in > another to become puzzles. > 1. You need to have some negative consequences for pressing a switch. If > all switches do good things, then there is no reason not to press one. > For example if you have a door that is already open and you hit a switch to > close it. > Or if a switch opens a draw bridge rather than closing it. > Or if a switch sets a giant ball rolling that kills you. > > 2. If the switches and doors are identified as a pair such as a gold switch > and a gold door. > For example in the first room there is a gold switch. > But you can't press it until you find out the state of the gold door. > So if you find the gold door closed then you hit the gold switch. > But you don't hit the gold switch if the gold door is open as it will close > it. > Phil > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Philip Bennefall" <phi...@blastbay.com> > To: "Gamers Discussion list" <gamers@audyssey.org> > Sent: Wednesday, March 09, 2011 4:24 AM > Subject: Re: [Audyssey] Seamlessly upgrading DirectX > > >> Hi Thomas, >> >> Speaking of puzzles. You mention things like pushing a certain switch to >> unlock a door in another room, but I don't really see that as a puzzle. I >> see that more as a random action that just happens to do something. I >> mean, there is no logic that explains why this switch should or should not >> open that particular door. Do you see where I'm coming from? In other >> words you would not be able to figure it out with an intelligent process >> of deduction, you would have to try things at random to see what happens >> or be told by someone else. Puzzles that are in some way connected to what >> they actually do, I would call those proper puzzles. But just pressing a >> certain switch somewhere has no logical connection with the door in >> question in my mind. >> >> Another problem with this is the environment setting. My upcoming game is >> set in a jungle, and there would be no logic for me to use switches or >> similar high-tech devices to accomplish things. I could make it so that >> you had to jump on a certain stone to accomplish something but it wouldn't >> make any logical sense, it would just be something you had to do to >> progress but there would be no particular reason for doing so. These kinds >> of puzzles turn me away from a game rather quickly, since if I don't see a >> reason why I have to do something it doesn't really create an enjoyable >> experience. It becomes guesswork rather than gaming. >> >> What are your views on this? >> >> Kind regards, >> >> Philip Bennefall >> ----- Original Message ----- >> From: "Thomas Ward" <thomasward1...@gmail.com> >> To: <phi...@blastbay.com>; "Gamers Discussion list" <gamers@audyssey.org> >> Sent: Wednesday, March 09, 2011 7:45 AM >> Subject: Re: [Audyssey] Seamlessly upgrading DirectX >> >> >> Hi Philip, >> >> Philip wrote: >> >> I don't have much trouble navigating in a game such as Monkey Business or >> Shades >> of Doom. I just don't find them very interesting, because I spend more >> time trying >> to figure out where I am going than actually doing things. In my mind, >> figuring out >> a maze is not enjoyable. >> >> My reply: >> >> Yeah, I understand. This is purely a matter of personal preference. I >> happen to like maze games so obviously that genre of game is apealing >> to me where you aren't into mazes so it is less enjoyable for you. >> >> Philip wrote: >> >> As for audio games not being as developed as mainstream ones, I think >> the reasons >> behind that are fairly obvious to both of us. Time, number of >> programmers, and money. >> >> My reply: >> >> Yeah, I know. Writing accessible games is a thankless job with too >> much work, too little time, and not enough money to do it proper. I >> know just creating Mysteries of the Ancients I'm working myself to the >> bone trying to create the kind of side-scroller I want to play and it >> is not easy. There is just too much work to do with too little time to >> do it in. Add to that I'm working on a very slim budget so certain >> sounds, voice acting, whatever has to slide until I have the money to >> add them. >> >> That said, there are small things we can do to make our games more >> like the mainstream counterparts that would greatly improve the game >> play in my personal opinion. For example, in a lot of classic Nintendo >> adventure games there might be a treasure chest on the floor. It is >> locked, and you can't open it without unlocking it. Well, as you look >> around the room there might be a button, switch, or pressure plate on >> the floor that unlocks the chest. If you jump and land on the >> button/pressure plate the chest pops open revealing a bunch of jewls. >> You know, something like that doesn't take a lot to program, but I >> haven't found really any accessible games begin to explore these types >> of game play elements. >> >> Which probably brings me to one more reason why accessible games >> aren't as advanced as mainstream games. Most of the VI game developers >> have been blind from birth and have no experience playing mainstream >> games. They are creating games from a limited background with games in >> general. It may not have occurred to them to add in little puzzles >> like jump on this or that switch to open the tresure chest or pull >> this lever to unlock a door in the next room etc. Yet these kinds of >> puzzle elements have been around for years in mainstream games. I >> believe this is because most blind game developers hasn't had any >> prior experience with mainstream games before they started writing >> this or that game. >> >> Philip wrote: >> >> If we had a team of perhaps 30 or 50 programmers working for a full 6 >> or 12 months >> on a title with a few million dollar budget, I am positive that we >> would certainly >> catch up. >> >> My reply: >> >> No doubt. If I had that kind of time and money I could hire the best >> sound engineers, programmers, musicians, and produce something on par >> witht he mainstream market. However, like you say that isn't going to >> happen so we have to make do with what we got. >> >> Philip wrote: >> >> Until the development stops being a hobby and becomes the full time >> activity of a >> semi large company dedicated to audio games, we will be standing on >> pretty much the >> same spot. Sure there will be advances every now and then, but I'm >> guessing we're >> still roughly 20 years behind the mainstream industry. >> >> My reply: >> >> Probably. Its hard to gage where we are in terms of the mainstream >> developers, because not every accessible game developer is aiming for >> high tech or advanced gaming. I know with Mysteries of the Ancients >> I'm aming for a game more or less on par with the Tomb Raider >> side-scrollers produced in the late 90's for the Nintendo Gameboy. In >> fact I've been using Tomb Raider Nightmare Stone and Tomb Raider >> Prophecy for ideas here and there as both are side-scrollers and much >> of what is in them can be made accessible. So perhaps 15 years behind >> the mainstream for a game like MOTA. >> >> Shades of Doom is quite a lot like Dom I and Doom II. The original >> doom game came out in 1993 and Doom II came out in 1995. If we use >> that as the beginnings of first-person action games for the mainstream >> market Shades of Doom puts us at roughly 15 to 18 years behind the >> mainstream market in terms of first-person based games alone. So >> saying we are about 15 to 20 years behind is probably about right. >> >> Cheers! >> >> --- >> Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org >> If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to >> gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. >> You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at >> http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. >> All messages are archived and can be searched and read at >> http://www.mail-archive.com/gamers@audyssey.org. >> If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the >> list, >> please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org. >> >> >> ----- >> No virus found in this message. >> Checked by AVG - www.avg.com >> Version: 10.0.1204 / Virus Database: 1435/3492 - Release Date: 03/08/11 >> > > > --- > Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org > If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to > gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. > You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at > http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. > All messages are archived and can be searched and read at > http://www.mail-archive.com/gamers@audyssey.org. > If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, > please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org. > --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gamers@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
