A Diskussion about "regenerative health" in horror games.

[the dark side]

@DarkHunter. damn, and i gave you a bad review, can you take negative ratings down?, i jumped the gun. sorry!, it is true, this thread does seem to have become about gaming in general, and the fighting has marked it.. perhaps it should be spawned off into 2 new threads in off topic. one for games in general, the other for my own IP's mechanics and getting its mechanics sorted, many of you are very, very knowledgeable of games and mechanics, and id love some help in getting the balance right, so, although they remain resolutly old school they can hit that perfect difficulty balance sweetspot, were its 20 times harder thean call of duty, but 50 times easier than ARMA, the "pd64" zone as i call it.

@ chronofox, mate, i am actually trying to make my own game, ive got storylines for at least 12, ive got mechanics partially sorted (but not balanced, i need help there!), i have all the charachters, have the IP registered and copywrited 100% to me with total creative controll exclusive to me... and i cant get the flaming publishers interested, despite tons of interested developers (including gearbox!) because "it wont sell in america" or some other lame excuse, because its quite old fashioned and the publishers only want to finance COD-clones,.(and please, dont say "kickstarter" , i got my uncle, who is an accountant, to do the sums, the maximum possible kickstarter budget falls short of what i need to sustain the game by at least £1,000,000) i need a pro publisher for a AA budget, and they dont want to know, perhaps im trying the wrong ones! any publishers any of you think might be interested in a single player only (until game 2 comes out, multiplayer will be added to game 1 in a free patch that will come with game 2 that will have MP from go) old school Espionage FPS with a posh British main star?

now, i understand that some people have misinterpreted what i mean by "challenge" and i dont mind people misinterpreting it, i misinterpret people all the time, so, i dont mind it if people get me wrong. i have this view on it "PD64=challenging, ARMA=Hard" i want a game to be more than just challenging gameplay, yes, its just, being a gamer from the old days, i put gameplay first, i know you do as well chronofox, but you have the luxury of being neurologically typical, i dont, being someone with aspegers i have rigid interests, a strong dislike of any change, and a brain that runs on intense "one or zero" logic, literally like a computer, sadly that leaves me unable to be so flexible with games. i do try to play more modern games but, my autism flares up because of the modern mechanics, and thats it, i cant play anymore because i get angry as heck and go into melt-down.
i wish i could be flexible like a normal person, but i cannot, so, i have to make do with being rigid.

ill be honest,. i thaught amneisa and penumbra were very, very. v-e-r-y good games, they had superb level design, a great atmosphere, some awesome shocks, and beautifully written storylines, its just, for me, and me alone probably, the use of a cod mechanic, the health regeneration, caused my autism to flare up, wich meant i didnt enjoy the game as much as i could have were it not for that issue.

to me a game is many facets, yes, gameplay challenge is the prime one, but storyline is a direct second! followed by level design, intelligence of gameplay, etc, with sound and graphics coming dead last.

my favourite games are those that combine perfectly balanced gameplay challenge with intelligent puzzles, great gameplay mechanics, superb level designs, great storylines, etc, stuff like max payne, castlevania, resident evil 2, NOLF series, Elite Force II, etc. those are the great games for me. that tick all the boxes.

indeed, i love castlevania to for the fact it wasnt "just" challenging gameplay, that helped it rank well, but what helps it up to near the top the list, is actually pretty much what helps it top the list for you, the gorgeous artwork, the sense of care that went into it (missing from pretty much all the aaa games now sadly) the eccentric sense of humour, the clever storytelling, it all adds up. to me a game like amnesia or penumbra, that has great level design, a superb story, and is unique, is a "great game" okay, my moaning about regen health may make it seem otherwise, but trust me, its a great game, its just that to me, a great game isnt quite good enough, i want an awesome game, and an awesome game is a game that offers all that was great about games like amnesia, and adds in a challenge on top. consider challenge to be "the cherry on the top of the cake" for me.

@ darkeley thanks for the recoomendation darkeley, that looks really good, ill give that a go, thank you very much (sorry for the smile, i know they are considered a troll thing but, i just want to show how happy i am people have actually understood and accepted me here, that is very rare for me in forums!)