So! In ‘course correction’ the player is given several fancy abilities, but then is never required to use them, because you could solve all the puzzles in other ways. Basically everyone agreed that a) the multiple solutions were cool, and b) the fact that this meant that you didn’t have to use everything in your playthrough was disappointing!
And include me in that list, by the way: I really wanted to require ‘down’ or something in the latter half of the game, but just couldn’t figure it out in the time allotted, and similarly felt that ‘giving people a tool they didn’t have to use’ was… wrong, somehow.
But now I have more time! And I have some ideas, and I’d like to ask people what they think:
Put in other puzzles that require down/haste. I feel like haste is less important than down, because a reasonable number of people already found haste to be useful? I have a couple ideas on the ‘down’ front; less so on the ‘haste’ front.
Put in achievements! I could either just put in a response to ‘score’, or a response to ‘amusing’, or a response to solving the puzzle, any/all of which could explicitly say or otherwise indicate that there were multiple solutions to that/those puzzles. I feel like if I saw that as a player, I might not mind never finding a use for ‘down’? I’d think, “Oh, it’s a fancy way to solve that puzzle,” even if I didn’t try to figure it out? And, of course, I might decide to try to solve the puzzle the new way!
Take away some of the puzzle solutions so you have to use the haste/down versions? I like this the least, and don’t think it’ll make a better game, but I mention it here for completeness, and in case anyone thinks it is a good idea.
Don’t worry about it; the game is fine as it is. It’s certainly possible that something about the game design means that the game as-is is actually the best of all possible worlds: adding new puzzles or taking solutions away would take away from the ease people have in getting through the story; adding achievements would spoil the tenor of the story; something else. I do feel like there’s a better solution out there, though.
Any opinions? Are there other games that have run into this issue as well? Other solutions I haven’t thought of?
(Also, if you played the game and thought, ‘aww, I wish I could have used X to Y’, let me know. I’ll put it in!)
My main frustration with Down is that it felt like it should be a solution to a puzzle (use it to create a distraction/trap allowing you to sneak past the guards) but the game said you couldn’t use the scroll that way, since you’d need it later - and then you don’t need it later!
I’m guessing given the way the game goes that making it so that you can actually ditch the scroll to get past the guards would open a can of worms, so given that I think I’d lean towards requiring Down as a later solution in order to insure that “you’re not allowed to do that” message is retroactively justified.
Personally, I don’t think I’d mind one of the three scrolls being only an optional alternate solution to a puzzle, but two of them being entirely optional feels like a missed opportunity. I also prefer when “use one of your starting inventory items” is the straightforward/obvious solution and the optional alternate solution requires more work or finding something else across the map, but I realize that’s highly subjective and what’s obvious to me might not be to someone else!
So seconding what Mike said, I think making DOWN required for something later in the game while HASTE is an optional alternate solution would strike a good balance. Especially if the HASTE solution can be made more obvious than the HASTE-less one.
I agree with Mike and Daniel’s points about the Down scroll, but in addition to that, I do think it would be fun to have achievements or some other kind of indication of “hey there are extra solutions you could find if you want to”!
If there’s nowhere good to use DOWN for another puzzle, you could also use it purely as a narrative complication? Let the scroll be destroyed somehow, or seized by the guards. Lose it during the chase. Etc. Etc. I think this could be satisfying in its own way. The player could see it in their inventory, think to themselves “Aha! I will use this later!” and then have it snatched away and feel the loss, unable to ever apply the magic. Such a twist could raise the stakes for the other scrolls… or it could annoy the player if it’s not handled with finesse.
An approach like this might be a bridge too far for this particular game, though. I don’t know exactly where such a “lost scroll” plot development would fit into the story. But I think it’s another tool in the toolbox worth considering in general: the faux puzzle-piece.
This is a really interesting option! I agree that it might not work for this particular piece, but maybe? @DeusIrae already found a place where I don’t let the player ditch (and lose) the scroll; maybe I could just let you do that after all.
In general, I do like the idea of making sure things have narrative weight, and remembering that this doesn’t necessarily mean ‘must be used to solve a puzzle’. Thank you!