Let's make a supposition... Let's say a gamemaker creates a really great game with quite a few non-interactive sequences (probably animated or at least with some synchronisation).
You're a patient player : you won't click through sequences like crazy and will enjoy the game as envisioned by the creator. No problem.
You're impatient/fast reader/clumsy : you will click through the sequences which, with the new "skip every non-interactive part" feature, will make you miss the whole sequence.
If you're impatient, well, that's a lesson to be patient
.
If you're a fast reader, it's a bit annoying (I'm thinking fixed speed unskippable text, and not animations).
If you're clumsy, it's very annoying and not really your fault (I'm one of these nervously-clicks-the-right-button people, so I know how bad it is @_@).
What can help you : the rollback feature. You can go back and look at the scene properly this time. If you're still clicking through it, you just *don't* get it ô_o. But ok... clicking through a long scene could kill the mood. I'll assume the player is not ill-intended but just wanted to go a bit faster or messed up, hence we should try to protect this kind of player.
- Solution 1 -
Prevent from skipping these scenes. Clicking won't make things go further, nor skip a whole scene.
Problem :
- I'm playing for the second time and will have to go through all this again... this is annoying. Let's not even talk about the third or fourth times
.
- Solution 2 -
Prevent from skipping these scenes only the first time they're seen. Ctrl-skip does use this knowledge, so it's possible.
Problem :
- I have had any sort of problem with my computer and had to reinstall the game, losing my saves in the process... Or I installed it on another machine which doesn't have the saves (at a friend's for example). I *will* have to go through the scenes and won't be able to skip, even though I *have* seen them... It's just that the game isn't aware of it.
- Solution 3 -
Have another command to skip through usually-unskippable stuff. Ctrl-skip for example?
Problem : one problem I can see is that you can't control the skipping very well and might go too far when you just want to skip a single part.
- Solution 4 -
Have an option that lets you disable the "unskippable" protection. It should be enabled by default, so that new players don't skip important stuff. Once you know the game and don't want this restriction anymore, you disable it and are able to skip through things with a simple click.
The creator is assured that players who are unaware of the power of a click (or clumsy) won't miss things. The player who doesn't want to be restricted in such ways just needs to switch an option and go on his merry way.
Problem : the savvy player who will be frustrated by the game preventing him from skipping a scene because he doesn't know about the option. Mini-solution : advertise the option?
I see this debate going on and on... and I really want a solution to be found. A solution that wouldn't make any party more powerful than the other if possible.
So, if creators want to add a protection... let them do it (adding the pause thingie). If the player then *really* wants to remove it, for any kind of reason... let him do it too (option switch).
This should prevent an unaware player of spoiling his own fun. This should prevent bad makers from ruining a game by blocking too much stuff. This will allow creators to provide the default experience they want... and players to get the customized experience they really want.
Comments appreciated ^.^
