Anti-Social FatMan on 9/8/2007 at 20:09
invisible walls are a pretty major thing for me
i am familiar with the complexities (and damn frustration) of level design (especially good level design), and i know the last thing any designer wants to do is build a fully open world with a dozen routes to any particular place
but it always drives me nuts when - for argument's sake, a well trained soldier - is incapable of kicking down a door to take up a high cover position in a building, or hop over a fence to approach from a different angle
the problem, as i see it, is that level design is always kind of reactive, the developers will say, we need x, y and z, and the designers will build a level that meets the desired criteria
things should be done in reverse, build the world first, and then adapt the game to meet the specifications of the world - maybe the coming-soon medal of honour: airborne is gonna hit the spot on this count, but i frankly doubt it
it would be complicated, perhaps overly-so - but it really drives me nuts when your character - who is so often a highly trained or skilled or able person - is little more than a cardboard cutout who can only run down the traintrack
NamelessPlayer on 9/8/2007 at 20:50
Quote Posted by henke
Final Fantasy style combat in RPG games. You know the one where the heroes and the badguys all stand lined up opposite each other and then take turns running up to eachother for smack upside the head. This is a gameplay mechanic that someone thought up in the olden days when they couldn't think of anything better. But games like KoToR and Freedom Force have showed that there are better ways to handle turn-based RPG combat so why do some games still cling on to this stupid system? It looks even more idiotic in todays 3D games than it did in the old 2D era.
although truth be told it was a while since I played an RPG like this so maybe it's on it's way out already
Yeah, I REALLY hate that. I'm not totally against turn-based combat(Fallout, Live A Live, and Ultima IV all have it and I don't mind), but the FF/DQ way is just...ugh.
Anyway, on to my own hated game mechanics:
-Boss battles where you ALWAYS lose...even after you've used up all your healing items to try and take down said boss! It's one thing to fight as normal, and then when you normally win, the boss unleashes some sort of super-attack and ends the battle there, but when it DOESN'T end until your HP hits rock-bottom no matter what you do...arrgh!
-Restricted movement(kind of already mentioned). I just HATE how in RE4, I can't even STRAFE, or do so much as WALK WITH A KNIFE IN HAND. What, those things would have made the game too easy? Make the enemies more intelligent or something then, don't neuter the controls! Also, why can't you jump over the smallest obstacles and whatnot?
-Speaking of obstacles, how come that in games like Battlefield, I can run a tank into a small bush and wind up taking collision damage? Seriously, WTF? It's a freaking multi-ton TANK we're talking about here! At least Operation Flashpoint doesn't suffer from that problem, and maybe Crysis won't since if you can shoot down trees, you can probably run them down too.
-And speaking of vehicle damage, why do vehicles explode when being shot in places like the wheel or the fender(I'm looking at you again, Battlefield!)? I would understand if it was an engine or a gas tank hit, but shooting up the doors, the windows, and the wheels shouldn't make something like a jeep blow up. (Crysis just might prove to be the exception to the rule here, but I can't be sure yet.)
-Invisible walls. I can't believe I overlooked that in the above poster's post. Can't they find some other way to obstruct you?
redface on 9/8/2007 at 20:52
Mario. Sorry, it just had to be said.
june gloom on 9/8/2007 at 21:00
i'm not sure i understand you. do you hate mario the character or do you just hate platformers?
Malf on 9/8/2007 at 22:22
Quicksave in otherwise difficult games.
Far too easy to abuse.
Flashlights that run out after a minute, and yet recharge almost instantly.
AI in RTS games that automatically sees your cloaked unit, even though there are no detector units around. CoH is the latest game that's offended me this way.
Oh, and having to build an army from scratch all over again as well as do all of the research again at the start of every new RTS level.
Respawning enemies. Hated it in SS2, hated it in Stalker. Very cheap game design that rips me right out of the game.
Any movies or speech that can't be skipped.
Zerker on 9/8/2007 at 22:47
Turret segments. Why yes, I do love standing in one place shooting at things, where the only defense is to blast projectiles before they hit me (or sometimes not even then). Light Gun games are one thing, where you can quickly aim at anything on the screen, but turning the turret around to blast random things is just... not fun.
Also: health recharging save points. Once a game ties health restoration to save points, it either has to have less frequent save points for more challenge, or or the game is just a cakewalk. Neither option is really desirable, in my opinion.... of course, save anywhere is nice too ;)
ZymeAddict on 9/8/2007 at 23:46
- Respawning enemies. The worst game so far I have played with this dumbass mechanic is "Clive Barker's Undying". Otherwise a very cool and atmospheric game, but those damn infinite respawns really take me out of the moment.
- Taking away all your weapons half-way through the game. It's bad enough when they have a story element about being captured by the enemy to explain the loss of your hard-fought collection of arms, but what really pisses me off is when they just take them all away for no reason, and plop you down in the next mission with a shit weapon again. WTF is with that anyway? :mad:
- The same damn weapons over and over again. Can some shooter PLEASE buck the trend of having the same clichéd weapons progression (i.e. mele to pistol to machine gun to grenades to shotgun to assault rifle to heavy machine gun to rocket launcher)? I am seriously tired of this.
- The same basic level environments. Not really a mechanic per se, but still really annoying. I would say 80%+ of FPSs have these sorts of environments for levels: Secret labs (with obligatory escaping creatures killing your enemies), jungle, secret labs, winter location, secret labs, a desert location, secret labs, a warehouse, a sewer, secret labs, a castle, and a military base. Oh yeah, did I mention the secret lab with escaping creatures? :bored:
Henri The Hammer on 9/8/2007 at 23:50
The simple fact that modern games still use HIT POINTS as character's health. If something makes games not life-like it's this. A good example would be from Max Payne 2; I shoot a guy in the body with a shotgun, he says "Ouch." and then continues running around like nothing happened. Then I shoot the guy in the leg with a pistol. He suddenly ragdolls like he's been hit in the head with a rocket launcher. It seems like games use only three stages of health condition: Full health, slightly wounded but still can run pretty much at the same speed and do everything else perfectly, and dead. Pretty realistic, huh? I mean, most of us die instantly in 0,001 second when shot in the leg or arm a few times. This shows we are still playing arcade games, only 3D with "TEH ROXORZZ GRAPHIXX!!1one". :rolleyes:
I wish they'd stop making first person shooters, I mean, what new the genre can have? They should've stopped at Half-Life 1, which was pretty much perfection to the genre, except it didn't have modern "realistic" ragdoll physics. Who gives a f*ck about ragdoll physics anyway, it's fun for a while, but we've seen it for over 5 years now. It's time to move on to more realistic animations like (
http://www.naturalmotion.com/) Endorphin.
I want more games like Thief that aren't about pwning the s**t out of everyone as fast as possible, and actually require brains to play... *sigh* :erg:
driver on 10/8/2007 at 00:19
Enemies who have an unlimited supply of ammunition and spray it about with the gay abandon of a child blasting cats with a water pistol.
Microwave Oven on 10/8/2007 at 00:49
Quote Posted by driver
Enemies who have an unlimited supply of ammunition and spray it about with the gay abandon of a child blasting cats with a water pistol.
And, when you pick up their weapon, always, without fail, has only 1 or 2 bullets left.
