I was originally going to implement a Save Coin system (similar to the one used in Wild Arms 3), but you know what? Forget that! One of the biggest complaints that people have about RPGs is the inability to save whenever you like. Developers usually counter by saying that forced save spots are essential to challenge and balance and all that. You know what I think? I think games should be fun and I think a large part of having fun is doing things your way. If you’re overly cautious and want to save every 5 mins, why should I stand in the way of you playing the game the way you want to? The people who are more daring and want more of a challenge can always limit their saves and take advantage of stuff like the Hard mode and Score Attack modes. Plus schedules aren’t always condusive to long play sessions – sometimes you only have a few minutes to play or something comes up suddenly.

Save anywhere functionality is already in the code (I use it when I’m debugging things) so it’s not like it’s a new feature I have to add. If anything, it’s easier to do it this way.

To go with the ability to save anywhere (outside of combat & conversation, of course), Cthulhu Saves the World will also let you teleport back to towns whenever you like as well. Besides being convenient, this should ensure that you can’t save yourself into an unwinnable state in the middle of a dungeon.

11 Responses

  1. Cthulhu is the name of the “dark god from another dimension” in South Park 🙂

    Its ironic because he doesnt save the world; he and Cartman burn temples and destroy whole foods.

    Haha whatever xP

  2. Cthulhu is the same name as the “dark god from another dimension” in south park 🙂

    Its ironic because he doesnt save the world; he and eric cartman burn temples and destroy whole foods.

    Haha whatever. xP

  3. I like the idea of having dedicated save points and the option of saving anywhere. That keeps the ‘traditional’ feel of an RPG while not restricting the player if they do want to save. Quicksaves work for that I suppose but those things make me PARANOID.

    Restarting from the end of the last battle you were in upon defeat is sublime. Having to redo an entire dungeon because you wiped is never fun, no matter what ‘hardcore’ folks might say. Wild Arms 4 implemented a generous continue system and it was one of the best RPGs of the decade on gameplay.

    Keep up the good work on design choices and reasoning them out. I look forward to getting the endgame stats of all the characters like I did for BoD7.

  4. Well, like I said, we’re including a Teleport back to Town at any time feature to prevent precisely that. The last thing I want is for someone to make a foolish save in the middle of a dungeon when they’re out of MP and they have to start over the game because they’re in an unwinnable state.

  5. It’s not an RPG in the least, but I remember people complaining about MDK2 not allowing players to save anywhere they please. I think certain PC games along with emulators and their save state functions have spoiled people to some extent when it comes to saving anywhere, and it’s tough to say why it shouldn’t be allowed. While it might reduce some notion of challenge, the convenience I think outweighs that complaint, particularly during a lengthy game such as an RPG.

    My one worry would be saving at a point where the party is poorly equipped to overcome the next challenge. I remember in Evolution on Dreamcast that the final boss was completely impossible if the player did not locate a specific super healing item and then saved it for the boss’s second form. I’d have hated being stuck with my sole save being right before the encounter, oblivious to what was required to beat it and being forced to replay through the entire game. That’s a worst case scenario, of course, one I believe is something to consider trying to avoid as a possibility.

  6. And the reasons why I am looking forward to this game continues to stack up….

    Thanks for taking time out and listening to your fans.

  7. Oh thank you, thank you, thank you. A development team that actually gets it. Accessibility like this means so much, you have no idea.

    I’ve never even really considered the “Saving anywhere makes the game too easy!” point valid. If you really feel that way, don’t save. No one is forcing you to play the game the easy way. They’re giving you the option to if you wish.

  8. Re: Evan
    You can save where-ever you like, but there will still be Save & Restore points. In other words, if you save just anywhere, you don’t get MP restore. But when you get to a “save point,” you can save and it also restores your MP like in BODVII.

    So you’re not really stuck just having to remember to save on your own. Think of it like the save spots in BODVII, except, you can also save the game at any time between those save spots.

  9. I actually like games that either have save points or autosave for you. Games that require you to save on your own wind up giving me this weird OCD where I have to save every single time I do ANYTHING. It isn’t as big of a deal in PC games that have a quicksave capability because its just one quick button press. It’s more obnoxious in console games where you have to ruin the flow by pausing and going to a menu to do it. This was definitely one of my main complaints about Mass Effect 1 and ME2 completely fixed it by autosaving for you constantly.

  10. Actually, we’re already going to be doing something like that with Cthulhu Saves the World – you can find Extra Lives in dungeons and use them to restart a battle if you lose.

  11. On that same note something I considered for pacing is simply taking a snapshot of the party state when battle starts, then simply restoring the original party state and restarting the battle if they lose. This could be somewhat non-conducive though. The other ‘better’ option is to set up a save state when a player wins a battle – then reload that state if they lose the next one…meaning if you die you only effectively lose what transpired since the last battle. I was planning to do something like this for my novice difficulty…though from the Kotaku article, par tof why people like BoD was how it broke RPG conventions by removing road blocks.

    You may be starting a precedent in removing the annoying nuances in RPGs – at least within the indie community. I’m already considering several of these myself where I wasn’t before. People like it, as it turns a genre some didn’t like, into something more folks can deal with.

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