To undo or not to undo?

[inkbrush]

Hello lemmasoftians! (I just came up with that on the spot, surprisingly)

So, I got the idea of adding some kind of an "undo button" to my own project.
You know how when you're playing a game and you choose one option and it turns out that you read it in a different tone than it was actually said in or the MC continues making promises that you didn't want them to make, all because you chose that specific option?
Well, I wanted to add an undo button in my game so that you could go back and change the option if you so pleased.

My problem with this is that I want the players of my game to get into the shoes of the MC and, in a sense, roleplay as that character. So, they're playing through the story as if they were that character, instead of just playing as THE PLAYER.
And adding an undo option kind of takes away from that experience because that's not how reality works. We can't go back and undo what we say or do.

So, I wanted some extra thoughts and opinions on my problem here. Obviously, when it comes down to it, it's ultimately my decision about what to do but I still like opinions regardless.

Also, what do you think of the idea of an undo button?

[Laniessa]

Undo on the second playthrough onwards, maybe? Immersion is broken once you replay the entire thing anyway, right?

I actually instantly thought of an idea for a game that revolves around a hypothetical undo button, but I get the feeling you just want to put it into a normal game instead of a meta one?

[trooper6]

Even if you don't put in an undo button, by default players can use page up to rollback and redo any choice they want. So if you don't want players undoing...then you have to disable rollback. Even if you disable rollback, players can just save before they make any choice, see what the choice turned out to be, reload and pick something different if they want. If you wanted to avoid that, you'd have to disable saving and loading except at checkpoints...which, I think Telltale games does.

It can be done...but it would take work and should be done for a reason...because it may well upset some of your players. I Know some people really don't like that sort of thing. I could imagine instituting something like that for a game of mine but it wouldn't be to avoid players save-scumming, but because it would work in the overall gave vision.

But I think the issue you are worried about isn't really about undo buttons...but of poorly written choices. So I'd recommend writing your text in such a way that tone and intention is always clear. So rather than writing your choice as "You look nice today," You could present and option such as, "(Compliment) You look nice today," or "(Sarcastic) You look nice today."

If you are worried about save-scumming, I think that is best minimized by having choices whose consequences don't become apparent until later in the game. Or consequences that are the result of multiple choices not just one choice.

So I think the key is better writing in general.

[inkbrush]

@trooper6:

Thank you for the input! I definitely feel like I might be more worried about poorly written questions, now.


@Laniessa:

Well, it was meant to be a normal game but it could also potentially work as a meta. Also, I think I've pretty much decided on getting rid of the idea of an undo button. But, regardless of that, I'm curious about this idea you had, if you're still willing to share?

[LPRe]

I feel like it could be an interesting thing, but only if used in an interesting way. Like, if the premise of it circled around the MC being able to "undo" choices at certain times -- kind of like a weird, backwards clairvoyance? Hm...

Being able to undo every choice just kind of seems silly though. I'm the type to save after nearly every choice the first playthrough though, so that might be why. It wouldn't feel much different than if I'd just saved and done it over unless the game made the undo button have a specific role in the story.

[DrivenByTheWind]

You could always go Prince of Persia and have the character with an ability to go back in time a few seconds.

[wyverngem]

It sounds like you're talking about player's inputting choices causing things they can't see coming. Like was said, a player can easily save before each choice and use the rollback feature if they initially want to undo something, but 200 lines later into the game they can't change their minds.

I kind of feel that's the replay value of the visual novel. You go back into the game and try to pass a moment or change the story. An example I can think of off the top of my head is "Long Live the Queen". It's a stat builder and also a survival game. If you don't have the right stats your character meets their end early. It was part of the challenge and fun because the results weren't instant. You had to experiment and figure out how to pass checks and what would happen by saying different things.

The undo button idea kind of sounds like a built in cheats engine. If you did decide to have it, then I think it'd be at least an interesting tool. There's already a skip to choice button on the quick nav menu. A jump back to last choice would be a nice feature. Though how would you handle the button if it was a condition instead of a choice?

An aside, I personally love the mc that are their own character. I don't like the fill the empty sacks that mold on how you play them. Though it's a more common game play feature now.

[SundownKid]

There is no need for such a thing. All you have to do is leave it the way it is and people can rollback and select a new choice. That is the default unless you add the fix_rollback command.

Personally, I prefer fixing the rollback so you can't reselect a choice. If it's an important choice you can still ask "do you REALLY want to"... etc.