03-24-2007, 07:36 PM
aquaMat wrote: the fact -(for everyone obvious to see) that the blue door section is LOWER than the red door section....and there are only falling platforms there..... (so you can't get UP on a falling platform)
was enough indication to the player to DO THE RED SECTION first. And it's exactly there where the yellow keys(s) fpr later are hidden !!!
I know it's not the most perfect of styles there, it could be clearer....but I thought it was obvious enough !
And if this were straightforward, solid-feeling mansion, it might be obvious. But this is a tricky mansion with a lot of paths that are hidden or obscure, with lots of platforms hiding in the walls and invisible ladders. Up until that point, I had always been able to find a way back from any weird corner of the mansion I had found myself in.
My logic at that point was this: the blue key was hidden better than the other key. Therefore, the blue side was a secret path (which it is). So I had better do that part first, and then find the path back to the main section. In fact, I died in that secret section and when I rebooted my save, I went to the blue part first, AGAIN. I still didn't know that there was no way back to the other side. And then when I couldn't find a way up to the other door, it just seemed like, since I could so easily skip that part, it must be optional. I'm not looking forward to going back two whole save points to look for those keys.
It's probably due to the different playing styles.... my playing style is collecting anything (keys, money etc.) as soon as I come across it...and it never dawned on me that anybody might NOT collect a key once he spotted it, but first explores the rest of the area.... and comes back for the key later. What advantages does that give you (other than in a case where you might be short of space for keys ('cause you have 6 shields or something) ??!
I collect keys whenever I see them. But you hide a lot of the keys in your mansions behind walls or sprites. That method of design encourages players to explore around, find a door, realize Jack must have passed a key for that door, and then go searching for it. Which is fine. But if you expect people to pick up those hidden keys (which includes keys that are in sections you can potentially skip entirely) on the way to a later door, then your design philosophy is clashing with your expectations on the player.
If you want Jack to collect keys as he goes, make them visible. If you want Jack to go hunting for invisible keys, don't hide them very far from the door, because he's likely to find the door first and have no idea where the key is.