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WereKitten said: Please explain me how exactly being able to customize running speed and turning speed is different in an FPS or in a platformer. I'm not talking about remapping buttons here- as I said myself in my previous post. I'm talking about customization that deeply affect the way the game plays and what the player is capable of doing. Being faster or more accurate in turning to fire against an enemy is in no way less important that changing the rate of fire of the weapons. As to "wanting to enjoy a game", how again that would not apply to customizing SMG so that controlling Mario is easier for you if you're not used to inertia? My answer would be: if you want to enjoy SMG, learn to play SMG. And if you want to play KZ2 with its slower turning and inertia than other FPSs, learn to play KZ2. You on the other hand seem to have different answers depending on the game genre, simply because originating on PC we're used to have deep control customization in FPS games. Storytelling and art style? I do agree with all my heart about their importance, but I don't think the Conduit has them in spades. And many Wii stalwart defenders attacked me several times when I named them, saying that the only thing that counts is gameplay. "Games are toys, and nothing more" and "if you want story read a book" come to mind as deep pearls of wisdom. Well, though I like good stories in some of my games, here I'm only talking about that inner pure kernel of gameplay, and I think that a game that doesn't offer much more should offer it in a refined form and with some identity. Like SMG does with its feel and controls and not a single slider in sight. |
Running speed and inertia are absolutley key to jumping distance, and stopping. The faster you run, the farther you can jump. With a low star and stop time for max speed you could jump to middle platforms and use them to jump to the further out goal. You might not know this, but platformers tend to be entirely based around these kinds of jumps. Going from platform to platform is kinda key. I always found it weird that platformers were built around jumping from platform to platform. The camera is mostly just there so you can see your surrondings, and accurately get a feel for the timing of the jum, and where you are in relation to the target platform.
In contrast a FPS is more defined by how quickly your enemies can be killed. Getting the right guns and maintaining the ammo for them is key. Knowing where to aim to most effectively cripple your opponents also becomes pretty important. Quicker aiming simply lets you get shoot at the place you want to with less hassle. This is not without some draw back though. You can also shoot past your target more easily. Running to the goal more quickly isn't as helpful as you still have to kill the bad guys when you get there.
My answer is the same for customization. Your example simply makes no sense. One version of customization significantly alters how the game can be played. Platformers are defined by where you can or cannot jump. Changing inertia and run speed completely changes how far you can jump. You would be able to make it to further platforms by simply increasing the run speed and inertia and hitting the A button. By your own admission the changes in a FPS simply alter the feel of the game. Redefining what is or is not possible cannot be described as a simple change in feel. Even if the aiming becomes easier, it does not suddenly change what a player is theoretically capable of in a game.
The end result is that if the default controls are good enough, then no one will complain about the lack of custimization. It doesn't "destroy" a games feel since you can simply ignore the custimization aspect. There isn't a big window that pops up and says "set controls now cause we were too lazy!" This is attempting to provide the maximum enjoyment to the maximum amount of people. You are welcome to ignore the custimization if that means you get a gretting satisfaction from it.
An really, thats what this boils down to. Whatever arguement you make about the design decision it ultimately boils down to how fun the game is. If it is more fun with different controls then that is not the customer being spoiled. That is the customer demanding a product worth the price. The more people you please then the better you did on design decision. There is no need to sacrifice for "art" if the target audience doesn't want it. This is true of every business in existence, and will continue being true until the end of time.
