EvaUnit02 on 8/4/2013 at 05:35
Quote Posted by Thirith
What games are there that do this well, though?
DX:HR's "Give Me Deus Ex" difficulty.
Quote:
I've only heard bad things about
Bioshock Infinite's 1999 Mode.
Hitman Absolution's "purist" mode is supposed to be pretty shit too, since the game isn't balanced for it in the slightest.
EvaUnit02 on 8/4/2013 at 05:38
MGS without David Hayter would be terrible, since this is all still the same timeline throughout the main Metal Gear games. Another one is Splinter Cell: Blacklist, which is a direct sequel to Conviction and has you still playing as Sam Fisher, yet no more Michael Ironside.
faetal on 8/4/2013 at 11:59
Quote Posted by Subjective Effect
I think its just easy to do and adds enough to the game to make it worthwhile. I like it and for Thief its one of the things I said could easily be done, and which
should be done, ages ago.
This is sort of my what I wanted my point to be (before I got side-tracked by the digital distro angle). It feel like all of the "consolified" gameplay mechanisms which the staunch PC gamers have been complaining about for a while could have been dispelled by this simple compromise for at least the last 5 years, but somehow it only seems to be beginning to happen with e.g. BS:I's 1999 mode.
Thirith on 8/4/2013 at 12:10
Quote Posted by faetal
It feel like all of the "consolified" gameplay mechanisms which the staunch PC gamers have been complaining about for a while could have been dispelled by this simple compromise for at least the last 5 years, but somehow it only seems to be beginning to happen with e.g. BS:I's 1999 mode.
I don't think it's as simple as you think it is. Doing this well in many cases requires re-balancing of some sort. Some of the crutches of modern game design have repercussions that cannot just be undone, and doing a half-assed job (as the "1999" mode does, apparently) gives these modes a bad name.
nicked on 8/4/2013 at 12:31
That's it - if you build your new Thief game to rely heavily on "Focus" mode (for example), then simply removing it is going to make an unfairly hard, frustrating experience, rather than increasing immersion or scaling challenge fairly.
faetal on 8/4/2013 at 13:03
I've not played Infinite, so can't really comment. I'm just wondering why it is only now that concessions are even starting to be made.
Thirith on 8/4/2013 at 13:26
I guess it's that we're getting to a point where old-school gamers are a fairly large audience, so it's worthwhile catering (or pandering, in some cases) to them. In addition, the games we're playing now and those we were playing 10 years ago are not as categorically different as games ten years ago and those twenty years ago, so you can offer modes that recall those older games.
Yakoob on 8/4/2013 at 17:13
Quote Posted by Thirith
I don't think it's as simple as you think it is. Doing this well in many cases requires re-balancing of some sort. Some of the crutches of modern game design have repercussions that cannot just be undone, and doing a half-assed job (as the "1999" mode does, apparently) gives these modes a bad name.
Aye, in BS:I's case, while I did enjoy the gameplay, it is very much a COD-style "arena" setup where you go through encounters and always get replenished fully by the end of it. Add the recharagable shield and the sometimes limited access to weapon/ammo that forces you to keep chaning your loudout and you can see the gameplay isn't really built around the idea of permanence.
For example, I maxed my shotty and carbine upgrades ignoring other weapons, so when I was met with arenas that arbitrarily decided not to give me any ammo for those (and no alternate besides "shoot your way out"), it was discernibly more difficult than other sections. Not impossible, and interesting in the "mix-it-up" kind of a way, but if they went with a full 1999 mode I probably would have been screwed.
EvaUnit02 on 8/4/2013 at 19:30
Quote Posted by Yakoob
For example, I maxed my shotty and carbine upgrades ignoring other weapons, so when I was met with arenas that arbitrarily decided not to give me any ammo for those (and no alternate besides "shoot your way out"), it was discernibly more difficult than other sections.
Oh bullshit. Go to a vending machine and BUY your fucking ammo. It's bloody cheap too.
This only becomes an issue when you're going for the 1999 mode scavenger achievement.
fetgalningen on 9/4/2013 at 17:06
Throw together a Kick-starter campaign to fund the hiring of Stephen Russell to record each dialogue of Garrett for the upcoming Thief 4 instalment.
