Hello all, I'm thinking I could do a regular blog around here so I can post news, show WIPs and ask input on certain things (which is what I'll do this time).
These past months I've seen many Enola gameplay videos (not as many as I'd like, but still enough to make me wonder a few things), and one of the things that draws my attention is when players lose progress when they die. Unlike popular belief, you can die in Enola. The game does not feature a new threat around the corner, so you are not meant to die "a lot." However, you, as the player, can die, and death events will be very unforgettable (in most cases... or at least I hope so).
Right now, Enola uses an "on-demand" saving system, meaning you can "quick save" and "quick load" using function keys (F6 and F7 to be precise). In alpha 0.3 there's also the ability to save from within the pause menu. We made it this way so players could save whenever they wanted, and as many times as they wanted. However, I've seen many people not using this feature, so when they die they are sent back to the begining of the game.
So, I was wondering about the different saving methods we could use in Enola. One of them is a "checkpoint" based system, where the game silently saves when players complete a specific task. This method would require some brains to figure out where to place all the checkpoints but could work very well.
Another thing we could use is a "save spots" system, which is pretty common in games like Silent Hill or Fatal Frame. Basically there's a specific object, painting, figure, whatever, that draws your attention enough to go and interact with it. When you do, you learn this is where you save your games. We could even take this to a new level and allow for "save slots." Since everything in Enola has a reason to exist (you can call it symbology), we'd need to come up with a saving object that makes sense to the story, and not just add a lamp or a "magic stone."
We could also leave the system untouched, of course.
Off the top of my head, we can also use certain elements to increase the "you will die" factor, so players are aware they need to save. I think this would need a lot of balancing, though, since too much could make the whole thing become frustrating.
Thoughts?
