Honestly not sure what category to put this in lol. So sorry in advance if it’s in the wrong place!
If you’re anything like me, you absolutely suck at choice games. I’m not talking about making a choice or two you regret here or there, I’m talking about making pretty much every wrong choice you can make. You choose the wrong stat in every situation, pick the wrong dialogue choice, somehow manage to piss off the character you’re romancing…
Anyways, mostly I’m just jesting, but I was interested if anyone else seems to have this problem because damn am I awful at these games despite my love for them. It’s gotten to the point where I have to play through every game twice and count the first time as being non-canon, because I am just that bad at figuring out which options lead down the paths I want to take!
I know what you mean. I keep failing stat checks because I’m stubborn and don’t like checking my stats during the first playthrough, or I just choose what makes sense at the time and I end up with a character with very neutral, middle-of-the-road stats.
These days, I read the code for my canon playthroughs It’s easier than playing and restarting for weeks.
Fear not fellow reader, for I too am astronomically horrid at attempting any stat based choices!
You see, I’m so very temperamental. I might initially commit to a build, but when the time comes, I’d rather choose what would make more sense to my character’s personality and whims.
E.g I know I made a brutish and troglodyte thug build, but in this one scene, I’d rather not punch the puppy aggressively in the muzzle. Please.
…Actually, yknow, I think it might just be a commitment issue for me. I get bored.
I don’t have this issue with games that offer both personality and stat based choices, but I’m aware those combinations take more effort to write.
Ooff, man that’s painful to me I’m suck at stat checks too, until one time I’ve lost all my spirits to continue the game, then came back few weeks later
I’ve learned to take some joy in failing stat checks because I do it so often lol. Unfortunately, some games are better balanced than others. Usually if I do standard stats when coding, I try to model the stat check progression after Pay High 1 and use similar markers because they seem pretty balanced in that game.
I think is not the correct way to see these games. this is not Call of Duty or Tetris where there is a score and a pure big way of loose or win.
These are stories, and sometimes failure or less optimal choices are what make the journey engaging and fun. For me, looking at the code to make the good playthrough is destroying the experience and the journey of my character. If I choose a predetermined path, this becomes a novel.
Balancing issues is something I worry about. I try and code so its possible to win with and without powers but I still get the odd few comments that they can’t win without using it.
I am looking into alternative ways of doing stat checks to help and I’ve got a base idea I am making notes on.
Choice games, if written well that is, are not meant to be ‘won with a highscore’ or somesuch.
Granted, the emphasis is on ‘written well’, which means, if the author went and wrote a game that has only one ‘golden path’ and has ‘to be won’, then the author, honestly, didn’t use the potential of the gamestyle.
as for checks themselves: again, it’s with the author to make clear what is tested, without spelling it out.
I don’t know. I just started playing ‘180 Files’, chose to specialise in ‘cunning’ and found myself in two back to back situations that tested the other 3-4 stats that I hadn’t even had the opportunity to do anything with.
To get past them I need to restart completely and go down a different route entirely. All simply to get past the first chapter. This wasn’t fun for me, and given that this is only the very beginning of the game I don’t see it getting any better as I go on.
Failing those checks, especially in the first chapter, doesn’t mean you can’t ‘get past’ the first chapter? It just shows you different scenes in the the chapter. In the game as a whole, there’s some good scenes that you won’t get without failing, and in some cases by failing quite a lot!
Maybe not. But presenting me with a fail state because I didn’t pick certain stats, without knowing which stats would be relevant at all, is not conducive to choice. It forces me to play the way the author wants me to unless I want to fail at every possible opportunity. Regardless of the outcome, this is still frustrating.
Yeah, if you focus on one stat there’ll be stat imbalance. It’s what most people (I think?) Called a ‘Glass Cannon’. If it’s possible, try to ‘Jack-Of-All-Trades’ your stats (but the only downside is it’s impossible for big goals). Unless, you’re confident that you can pick the right choice, then keep it up.
(But hey, for me, I wouldn’t feel immersed if at least I didn’t failed once)
When I started though I ualways restarted a playthrough so I could get a feel of the game. I still restart though. Take your time to loook at the stat menu. I went back and forth a lot the first time I played CCH and choice of the Dragon.
Also it’s a good idea to balance out your stats or better still use the stats that fit your play style but not neglecting other stats
No, you have chosen one series of parameters that aren’t the most suitable for one concrete situation. That doesn’t mean that you can have better results on the rest of the game.
this is a storygame not an arcade game when absolutely you have to nail down all the levels to win, In fact, there is no win and there are no game overs. It is like have to restart Harry Potter because he didn’t ace his first spell ever.
Damn. We must be built different because it’s completely opposite with me I need to pass checks unless it absolutely intentional from the author that you fail a specific check. Could be cause I’m a perfectionist. But literally stat check fails make me want to eat bricks.
If there is something bothers me in some choice games, it is probably the gameplay that relies heavily on the min-maxing of stats. it gives me the feeling that my character is being pushed into a mold instead of being the well-rounded character i want them to be.
i suppose there is also the lack of significant “failure” routes; and by that i mean, when the character fails, sometimes the narrative doesn’t supply the reader anything special (like a unique storyline branch or very rare informant that can be crucial in the narrative).
It’s easier than playing and restarting for weeks.
I still restart though. Take your time to loook at the stat menu. I went back and forth a lot the first time I played CCH and choice of the Dragon.