The rules of gaming

[eastyy]

Rule 12 No bugs in a console game its bad enough when there in PC games.But for the past few years i have encountered some

Sonic adventures sonic passing through scenary or getting stuck

Knights of the republic the stealth/cutscene bug

mortal kombat shaolin monks: enemys getting stuck in scenary

[fishbowlhead]

Rule 11 Make sure your character is designed well enough to cope with all that's expected of it. For instance, if the main character is great at combat, but not so great at, say platforming then either improve the character's handling or don't bother with the platforming. God of War makes this mistake; Kratos is a good fighter, but he's unweildy and sluggish when it comes to platforming.

Rule 12 No bugs in a console games

Both good points, although i dissagree with Kratos being sluggish when platforming. If you hold X and any direction when clining on to a surface you can fling Kratos quite a distance, and you can repeat this to move along said surface quite quickly (hope that helps you if you didnt know about it).

some good sudgestions allready guys, keep em comming .

[Kotatsu Neko]

Lava can be stunning when done well, look at RE4! Amazing stuff.

My pet hate is an in game camera which doesn't point forwards. Quite how any developer could ever think a camera which looks at the ground or looks at the front of the player character could be useful is beyond me. Yes I'm talking about Metal Gear...

[kingmobster]

Rule 12 No bugs in a console game its bad enough when there in PC games.But for the past few years i have encountered some

Sonic adventures sonic passing through scenary or getting stuck

Knights of the republic the stealth/cutscene bug

mortal kombat shaolin monks: enemys getting stuck in scenary

Rule 12 doesn?t have anything to do with game design. If developers could bullet point "No bugs!" in their design documents and be sure it was "implemented", I?m sure they would

[mid]

Lava Levels - Sorry, but Q2DM8 is still utterly brilliant.

Zombies - Just because you're some weirdo who doesn't like them, don't stop the rest of us. I embrace the Zombie in all his forms.

Rule 2 - I say go further than this. ALL cutscenes should be both pausable and skippable, irrespective of whether your gamesave status says that you've seen them before. After begrudging having to sit through the 20 minute opening cutscene for Jak 'n' Daxter once, only to discover that I didn't have the utterly ludicrous amount of space to save my game afterwards, it sat on my shelf untouched for over a year before I could face doing so again. I actually gave MGS2 to my brother unplayed, because I never made it through the cutscenes on that one.

[Rossco]

Lava Levels rock! Think Metroid Prime and Zelda: WW especially, fantastic.

And zombies are the classic enemy. Cant complain about them.

However, I dont think ALL cutscenes should be skippable. Its pointless, its like going to the cinema and fast forwarding some parts because they look boring and you want to skip to the action.

I hate when I'm playing games with my mates and they just randomly skip all the cut scenes.

[davesol]

However, I dont think ALL cutscenes should be skippable. Its pointless, its like going to the cinema and fast forwarding some parts because they look boring and you want to skip to the action.

I hate when I'm playing games with my mates and they just randomly skip all the cut scenes.

But if you are playing a game through for the second time then what's the point in having to watch all of the cut scenes again. I think there should always be an option to skip them.

[mid]

If I were watching a film, I wouldn't skip. But I'm not. I've paid to play a game, not watch some bloody programmer with aspirations to be Uwe Boll.

But then, maybe they're just being helpful. Any game that regards its cutscenes as so important I can't miss them is likely to be the sort of thing I'll absolutely detest anyway.

[anephric]

I've paid to play a game, not watch some bloody programmer with aspirations to be Uwe Boll.

Jesus Christ! You'd think they'd set their sights, y'know, a wee bit higher.

[anephric]

I've turned games off before because of unskippable cutscenes - I don't have a lot of free time and if a game can't communicate what I'm supposed to do without lengthy setup, it's crap. One film critic (I think it was John Brosnan) said you should never trust a film with a pre/post-title crawl (a la Star Wars, Blade Runner etc) - it's just laziness.

[eastyy]

If I were watching a film, I wouldn't skip. But I'm not. I've paid to play a game, not watch some bloody programmer with aspirations to be Uwe Boll.

But then, maybe they're just being helpful. Any game that regards its cutscenes as so important I can't miss them is likely to be the sort of thing I'll absolutely detest anyway.

Agreed Was playing metal gear solid 2 and it felt like 40% game 60% cutscenes.So obvious the head guy would rather do films.Cutscenes when done well add to a game but there is many many times when for example you save your game sit through a cutscene Die reload and have to sit throught he cutscene again.

[MartyG]

But if you are playing a game through for the second time then what's the point in having to watch all of the cut scenes again. I think there should always be an option to skip them.

Agreed, Makai Kingdom as a recent example, allows you to skip some cut scenes like the end of a chapter, but bizarrely, not the beginning of the chapter. Given you have to run through this game a few times on Game+ mode to unlock everything, it's mightily annoying having to sit through the same dialog again and again. Why not just make everything skippable? It's only the ending parts that change too, not the intros to the chapters.

[Ady]

Unskippable cut scenes are most definitely not on. They should be skippable after the first watch at least. Or they should be shorter.

Rule 13 Never force the player to restart the entire game through being unprepared for an unforseen obstacle. It's not big or clever and is a very cheap way of attempting challenge. That sort of mechanic should've died with Sierra point and click games, then Capcom went and made it 'fashionable' again with its early Resi games.

[IcePak]

Lava levels can be be good. I think putting a "ban" on certain types or styles of levels is wrong. It's taking away developer creativity. Besides, it's not just lava levels that are bad, it can be any type of level. I think a more valid rule would be for developers to make each level enjoyable and something that adds to the game, rather than just adding it because it's a stereotype.

[Darwock]

Rule 13 Never force the player to restart the entire game through being unprepared for an unforseen obstacle. It's not big or clever and is a very cheap way of attempting challenge.

It'd be fun to try and apply that rule to the early 8-bit days... although I suppose with stuff like Jet Set Willy you *could* always see what was waiting for you. Unless it was a hole in the floor. And when you died it dropped you repeatedly from the same place so you lost all your lives ><

I'm sure stuff like Head over Heels was similar.

Although actually - Metal Slug, Ikaruga.. these are examples of 'modern' games where everything you meet is an unforeseen obstacle. Until you have learnt through experience what it is going to do, there is surely NO WAY you could survive a typical Metal Slug boss. And if you die = back to the start.