Does anyone know if it is possible to create a leaderboard within a Hosted Game? For instance, a game scoring a player’s play-through based off of numeric variables and then showing that individual where they stand compared to other players in the community.
I know this is not possible to create as the author, but I know CoG can save a player’s progress, so I feel like it’s not far out of the realm of possibility.
Does anyone know if any games have already done something like this or are there any admins here that know the answer?
Honest question:
What for?
We are playing Choose-your-own-adventure.
‘scoring’ a playthrough would only lad to the same nonsense we have with other genres, namely the ‘one true way to play’ (meaning in this case ‘you must play like this to achieve highscore’)
No thank you.
It’s already bad enough when you have authors that built in mechanics that require stat maxing by playing one certain way.
So why have a digital dick-comparison for this genre too?
Because in the case of a very grandiose game I think it would be interesting for a player to compare their path to others. I said numeric for generalization; if it can be put into numbers it can then be put into anything else. Being able to compare scores is only the beginning, my friend. Think outside the box!
Here’s just one idea: Picture a very difficult mystery in which you play through as a detective and collect clues and what not. The game is a challenge, though, and subtly branches dramatically and it could be impossible to figure it all out in one playthrough. What if you could compile clues other players have found during your playthrough, like notes or something, that could help you solve it. That’s just one idea.
That… is what the respective threads etc are for.
Discussing one’s playthrough, talking about what one liked, etc.
We already have what you ‘aim’ for, in a much better version.
Numbers, again, would solely mean ‘oh, you followed the guide stubbornly and without personal input, just to get the highscore’
wow… really, wow.
While, of course, there are guides to get certain achievements, it’s not the same as bland numbers.
As said, we have the threads on here, on discord, etc. We talk as people, not as numbers.
Of course, but I intended it for immersion sake. I wouldn’t want to be knee deep in a story and have to leave, log onto a forum, search the topic and try to find something.
It would honestly kill the immersion.
We see it with other games already.
‘noooo you must play this and that way’
Again, it’s a CYOA. which means you play it through or to a point where something makes you stop and bring up your browser.
It’s really not more ‘work’ than checking a dry scoreboard.
What about as an achievement? There are global leaderboards with numerical values for other games. Has ChoiceScript built access to this type of achievement yet?
I think stuff like that requires the use of *script command (which is beyond my scope)?
It’s a cool concept, but since there’s no actual skill involved to let the player “race to be the best”, it’s kinda… pointless. Think about it, why would you make a leaderboard system if some people will have a similar score?
But hey, the Choices: And the Sun Went Out incorporated this “global score” things, IIRC.
I actually set up a scoring system that turns a lot of stats into this random number called “score” (which I’m not sure whether things like these should be scored)
The stats include:
Number of deaths in a chapter
Spent/Unspent currency
Mini-Achievements
4 personality hidden scores
…and probably some other stuff
This score merely exists just because. If a player wishes to get a big number, this should help them with that. And later, when the game ends, I planned to do a callback by showing the numbers they get for every chapter and list it on a “congratulations” screen.
No, I wouldn’t use it the way you are thinking of all. Like @Szaal points out, there can be other numerical values which might be fun and interesting to share in a high score kind of way.
Like in Life of a Mobster, your total money earned might be a neat number to share at the end.
The system exists, so I was curious if it could be accessed in a CS game, since we can access other achievements.
Well, how does
‘Oh, I have played the game in a way to amass X amount of money’ differ from what I said?
If you’d have a highscore board people would play the paths that grant the highest score.
I started writing my reply a few times, but you know what, you’re absolutely right @MeltingPenguins
Yes, whether it’s money, puppies saved, or spies killed… someone’s going to make a guide to optimize the game to get the “high score.” Even in my next game, Last Wizard, where there’s a section with some mini-games that have a random element, a guide would help you to score better.
I was saying that I wouldn’t score the game as mentioned. I wouldn’t give points for plot, and I certainly wouldn’t give one RO more points than another. I love all my peeps. (Take that, you Bran-haters out there!) Although, even this idea isn’t necessarily bad. I remember using the Score command in games like Zork, Kings Quest, Liesure Suit Larry and all of those old text adventures. It was more of a progress meter, but it also served as a high score, since you could finish with different numbers which showed that you did more things in the game.
I think what it comes down to is that everyone is looking for something different. I don’t think having the numbers would break immersion, assuming that there was an option to Hide them.
Some people will enjoy comparing their scores with another. They’ll have fun replaying as they try to beat their old score or beat the score of a friend. There will always be some people who will get really into it and optimize it entirely, and there will be yet others who will want to follow someone else’s guide. But, what it comes down to is that everyone is having fun and they can play the game however they like, even if that means ignoring the ‘score’ entirely.
Personally, I don’t know if I’d include the feature in a game of mine or not, but I’m curious if the possiblity exists.
I think one way something like a global scoreboard would be interesting is if someone made a game that used tons and tons of randomizers. This “game” - intentionally using this word over others - would have very little to no linear story but instead 20+ scenes that were chosen by a randomizer as to which order they would appear. It could be a sort of survival rpg and the number of scenes you have played are kept track of and as that number increases there could be multipliers or some math involved which makes the scenes increasingly difficult to the point of nearly impossible. This game would get to this point of impass before the end of the last scene so that there was no way someone could get a score of 20 (in this example).
A global scoreboard could then be used to compare how many scenes you were able to progress before you died in this hard survival-esk world.
Obviously, as has been stated over and over plenty of times this is not a system that should be implemented in most if not all of the current games supported by choice of games/hosted games but I do see a possibility of it being used too. Plus, as an author, if one decides that having a global score would not be good for their game then just don’t include it!
In conventional games, this score would reflect the skill of the player. But in this case, since the only ‘skill’ the player has is to click one option out of several, the score would be heavily dependent on luck and slightly dependent on intuition. Or turn into a ‘pick the highest stat’ game.
What I meant.
Now, while the score would not depend on ‘luck’, it would still run risk of narrowing what the games look like.
As said, how do you rate a romance?
What if a game has no need for a currency stat?
A leaderboard would call for games to feature certain elements, which in turn would lead to people looking at how to max these elements for the highest score.
Look around for games that require stat-maxing. usually people aren’t very pleased with that.
In that case, what about a in-game system that expressly awards the MC points for counter intuitive or random choices? The player would have to choose between the instinct to get a high score (and/or follow the conventional path) and their own judgement and common sense. Turn the points system into bait that leads the player towards their doom (cackles).
Same thing.
Because at the end of the day it would still railroad the player into playing a certain path, namely the one that awards the highest score.
In fact, if you’d award the player for nonsensical choices, you’d likely doom the games to be, well, not read as people would just click through stuff, maybe checking for the choices.
Thus making the entire game writing void.
