Me personally, I like the extra lives. What is wrong with a self-imposed challenge? Let me rephrase, what is wrong with showing some self-discipline? Just because in-level saving and cheat codes are available does not mean you have to gleefully abuse them. For example, right now I have 2 gallon tubs of ice cream in my freezer. Just because they are available to me does not mean I have complete eat both of them within an hour! I eat them in moderation. The in-level and cheats can be used in moderation.Levellass wrote:Yes, but that's rather like saying 'two button firing is meaningless when you have it turned off, turn it on and see how useful it is'; what you're saying is that the game should be played under a self imposed challenge; by as it were not doing something you could do. Which rather defeats the point of anything.
So I don't see what anyone would lose by removing the lives system entirely, or maybe replacing it with a death count system. (Heck, even different endings depending on how often you died... hmmmnnn...)
Then again, why should I care whether or not you abuse the in-level saving and cheat codes? You are only robbing yourself out of the fun oplaying Commander Keen. Just like all the jockstraps who loved the Grand Theft Auto series, but stopped playing the games because they were "too easy!" Of course they were too easy! You amoebas cheated throughout the entire game! When I actually confronted a few of these people and I told them to start the game over and play it without cheating they are refused! Of course they refused! Because not a single one of them are smart enough to figure out how to really play and beat a game!
I find it truly pathetic to watch guys walk around acting like bad-asses, bragging they are the "video game masters". You name a video game, they have beaten it and no one it better at video games than they are! But in reality, the only reason these Emmy Award winners ever beat games is because they cheat in practically every game they play! You will also notice most of these guys will only play 1-player games as well. You put them into a multiplayer game where they cannot cheat and have to play by the same rules as everyone else, these "video game masters" become "chumps." They cannot stand to lose so they cheat and then have the audacity to bitch the game is too easy and blame everything and everyone else that the game is no fun, when they really have no one to blame but themselves.
I am not impressed by people who gleefully cheat throughout an entire game and then cry like bitches that the game was too easy! Anyone can cheat. But it takes a real player to beat a game the way it was intended to be played. Changing the dynamics of Commander Keen does nothing in the long run. First of all, anyone who prefers to cheat will find a way to do so, no matter how cheat-proof you design a game. Secondly, it should not be necessary to redesgin a game to discourage people from cheating. Besides, anyone who feels they have to cheat in every game they play is not a serious player, and certainly not someone we should take seriously or pay any attention to. As I stated in an earlier paragraph, they are only robbing themselves from the fun of the game.
For the record, I am not saying that using in-level saving is automatically cheating. Occasionally, I have swallowed my pride and done so. Also I am not automatically ruling out the possibility of a Keen Mod where extra lives are gone and you have save checkouts, or you are only awarded your points and lives AFTER you have completed the level. It might interesting to see how that works in Commander Keen.
Also, Levellass, I am not accusing you of being one of the people I mentioned above. You do not seem to like the dynamics of Commander Keen as far as lives and saving go. As the queen of patching, maybe soon you can design a mod where the game is patched for the dynamics you prefer. Now that I think of it, there are already mods that have no extra lives and no in-level saving. (Keenrush's mods are a textbook example here). In Episode Smile, the point values are so low it is impossible to earn an extra life at all. In Fall Up, lives and game overs are completely eliminated. You play until you win (of course that is easier said than done in this mod.) But I am guessing you want to see a galaxy game that may contain these features.
CKeen, you and others may have issues with the extra lives and in-level saving, but I like Commander Keen just the way it is.
Patrick