Quick version:
Should Unreal Single Player Mappers ensure that it is impossible to get "stuck"?
Long version (for those who read more than 15 words in any post ):
My definition of stuck (in a game) is where you have got to a situation (without cheating or weapon jumping) which is not dangerous, but from which it is impossible to progress in the game.
example 1: far into a game, you are in a store room with large indestructible crates, jumping around on top of them to explore. Behind two of them, diagonally across a corner, is a suspicous darkness just right for a hidden passage/removed drainage cover/etc. So you jump down, only to find that there is no passage etc., and you can't jump back up or move the crates = Game Over!
example 2: in a house in a village you discover that by pushing a vase outside you can jump onto a wall which is otherwise too high, and drop down the other side. There you discover that the backs of houses are a bit less detailed than usual, and no doors open etc. No way to jump back onto the wall = Game Over!
I hope you know what I mean. I suspect that most gamers would find this unacceptable (except those who habitually use quicksave and cheats if they haven't obviously got anywhere within a minute). But it is completely realistic.
In the real world, if you are somewhere you don't know and explore recklessly you are very likely to get stuck, except sooner or later someone else will turn up to "help". If you are somewhere that no-one will turn up (like most game situations) you stay there = Game Over!
I imagine that preventing such places is a lot of tedious work for a mapper. However, I am not aware of any such situation in the whole of Unreal"1", so they must've done that work. But should they have?
Should the mapper spend time on this, rather than creative work, or is it up to the player to think "if I go there I could get stuck" and avoid it?
btw, some of you will have seen that I've posted this on other forums. They were tests because I'm never sure how much anyone understands what I write. The responses indicate that it makes sense. This forum is where I have the highest expectations for a serious discussion.
Should Unreal Single Player Mappers ensure that it is impossible to get "stuck"?
Long version (for those who read more than 15 words in any post ):
My definition of stuck (in a game) is where you have got to a situation (without cheating or weapon jumping) which is not dangerous, but from which it is impossible to progress in the game.
example 1: far into a game, you are in a store room with large indestructible crates, jumping around on top of them to explore. Behind two of them, diagonally across a corner, is a suspicous darkness just right for a hidden passage/removed drainage cover/etc. So you jump down, only to find that there is no passage etc., and you can't jump back up or move the crates = Game Over!
example 2: in a house in a village you discover that by pushing a vase outside you can jump onto a wall which is otherwise too high, and drop down the other side. There you discover that the backs of houses are a bit less detailed than usual, and no doors open etc. No way to jump back onto the wall = Game Over!
I hope you know what I mean. I suspect that most gamers would find this unacceptable (except those who habitually use quicksave and cheats if they haven't obviously got anywhere within a minute). But it is completely realistic.
In the real world, if you are somewhere you don't know and explore recklessly you are very likely to get stuck, except sooner or later someone else will turn up to "help". If you are somewhere that no-one will turn up (like most game situations) you stay there = Game Over!
I imagine that preventing such places is a lot of tedious work for a mapper. However, I am not aware of any such situation in the whole of Unreal"1", so they must've done that work. But should they have?
Should the mapper spend time on this, rather than creative work, or is it up to the player to think "if I go there I could get stuck" and avoid it?
btw, some of you will have seen that I've posted this on other forums. They were tests because I'm never sure how much anyone understands what I write. The responses indicate that it makes sense. This forum is where I have the highest expectations for a serious discussion.