I’ve thought about varying awards at the end of the game, but I have one philosophical issue with them. If the player knows that they’re going to get a better reward by not ever having to rewind, then they’re going to resort to saving often and loading when they die rather than using the rewind feature at all. I’d like the rewind to be an aid to the player, so they can focus on the game and not worry about saving every few minutes.

One possible solution would be to remove the ability to save except when quitting the game and then erase the save file when continuing, but that would prevent people from replaying their favorite parts of the game, and could potentially lead to people having to start over if the game or computer crashes for whatever reason.

So, I’ve thought over it and still can’t quite figure out exactly what I’m going to do with them. Perhaps it could be something simple like an extra picture at the end or revealing how many points total they collected and how many they lost for a total score. Higher totals get a picture of a character giving them thumbs up or something. Thus, it’s an extra bonus, but not worth restoring and replaying large chunks of the game over.

Thanks! I’m still considering my options!

You could even have several different rewards granted, depending on how many points the player used up over the course of the game. For example:

Used over 100 points: No reward
Used between 99 – 50 points: Mediocre reward
Used between 49 – 10 points: Pretty cool reward
Used between 9 – 1 points: Awesome reward
Didn’t use any points: Ultimate reward

Think in terms of the “Achievements” in games on Steam. The difference here being that the player would actually receive something cool for putting in the effort required to reach the achievement. This provides an incentive for people who may otherwise not use the rewind system to give it a try. So, what’s the reward? Well, it could be something as simple as an additional scene (maybe an extended ending?) at the conclusion of the game.

This way, traditional save/restore players aren’t going to miss anything important in the plot by not getting a reward. But if those same players hear that there’s an added challenge (and subsequent reward) by playing with the rewind system enabled, then it might encourage them to give it a try for added replay value.

It also gives the concept of “game points” an ultimate purpose. The points aren’t just there to aid the rewind system; they simultaneously work towards another goal at the end of the game. Additionally, tying the “points” to some kind of endgame reward would have the side-effect of making players far more careful in regards to dying, potentially adding even more tension in those scary scenes! In fact, in “Limited Rewind” mode, I’d probably also suggest making it so that using the traditional restore button (even once) would negate the possibility of earning a reward altogether, since it would effectively allow players to cheat the points system by resetting the variables when they restore.

Anyhow, just some ideas!

I like the golf idea. Perhaps on the infinite rewind play style, I can tell them how many times they rewound.

Also, there will be some unlockable rewards/achievements for doing certain things or doing other things well. So, I’ll have fun with that. Good suggestions! Got me thinking!

Otherwise, I might suggest a “scorecard” concept, where a mark is placed every time a rewind is needed. It could work sort of like golf, where the fewer marks on the card, the better. Maybe a small reward like an unlockable if no marks are made in a certain room. Just an alternative thought.

I think those three modes sound like a fantastic option. It gives the player plenty of choice over how they’d prefer to play the game, yet incorporates all the aspects of the “Rewind” mode that you were keen to see implemented.

It might also provide a little extra replayability for those who want to take on the challenge of solving the game in different modes.

Thanks so much for listening to my comments, and I only hope that they’ve been constructive and helpful. I love the new screenshots and I’m very excited to see how “Resonance” develops!

All the best!

1) Classic mode. This is just like the usual adventure. If you die, you must start from your last save. There is no point system.

2) Safe or “Rewind” mode. If you die, the game will allow you to rewind an unlimited number of times until you get it right. Players will not need to save except when exiting the game (though they may still save at any time). There is no point system.

3) Limited Rewind or “Rewind Challenge” mode. In this mode, the point system is implemented, accumulating points when you achieve certain tasks in the game. If you die, you must spend a certain amount of points to rewind the game and try again. If you run out of points, you must restore from a saved game. The player may still save at any point during the game. (Though I may possibly disable saving during the critical scenes during which death is a possibility.)

I think having these three choices at the beginning of the game will benefit everyone, and each player can find a mode that fits their playing style. What do you think, Matt?

Thanks for responding to my comments in depth and with such good grace! I appreciate the absolutely colossal amount of effort that everyone on your team is putting into this game, and it’s all too easy for someone like me to shout comments from the sidelines. You’ve obviously put a lot of thought into this system, and I’m sure that will come across in the final product.

As long as the rewind option is only automatically cued *after* a *fatal* event, and if – as you say – the save / restore system is still in place, then I think I could be at peace with the rewind system, even I chose personally not to use it.

I would strongly suggest, however, that the rewind is *never* called up automatically, and that the points counter only visible if the player makes it visible, or maybe only when they access the rewind interface. You might even allow the player to disable the rewind mode entirely.

I see what you’re saying about the rewind option being more “organic” to the story, but I think I disagree. After all, you’re still engaging with a UI in order to interrupt gameplay and restart it at a different point. Some people (me included) might even find the fact that it’s prompted *automatically* after you die to be invasive. It would never be *truly* organic unless it was a geniune part of the story – e.g. if your player character was Hiro Nakamura from “Heroes” and actually possessed the ability to rewind time. (Now there’s a thought …) I guess my point is, since I’d have to interrupt gameplay either way, I’d rather interrupt it with a system with which I’m already familiar.

I’m also not sure you’re really punishing poor gameplaying, since – if the points are so easy to earn – it might almost be as easy to blunder into a mistake and rewind as it would be to blunder into a mistake and reload. Adversely, if the points *were* hard to come by, then you’d be unfairly punishing players who were quicker to overcome their obstacles. However, this is more a matter of personal perspective and gameplaying technique.

Ultimately, as long as you leave the option in the player’s hands, then that’s all that matters. I think it was the “automatic” and “always visible” part of the idea that really bugged me – anything that robs me of the decision to play the game the way *I’d* like to play it. (Like most gamers, I’m immensely selfish that way :)

I should take a brief moment to add that everything else you’ve mentioned – multiple puzzle solutions, in-game consequences – plus the graphics and story I’ve seen / read about so far – all sound absolutely amazing, and I can’t wait to see this game completed.

Best of continuing luck!

You are right that this system is, in essence, the same creature as a save/load system, interrupting the game with a meta-game action in order to repeat a section of the game. However, this system is intended to work in a way similar to that familiar system, but apply penalty to the player for a different set of actions.

I want to have the possibility of the character’s death always on the table for the reasons stated above. I want the player to feel the tension associated with peril. So, with death a possibility, the game usually forces the player to take a very pro-active approach to saving, doing so every few minutes just to be safe. In this way, a death is punishing the players who don’t save often more than those who do. I don’t agree with this philosophy and was hoping to find a way around it. I’d rather punish for poor gameplay than poor saving habits.

This system allows the player to die a limited number of times before having to resort to the old reload. It also gives the non-active saver a chance to save (perhaps immediately after dying once). Also, players that have been playing the game well, solving alternative puzzles, being more thorough in their exploration of the world, will have amassed more points and therefore, will have more chances to pass the danger before exhausting their rewinds.

Furthermore, the rewind system fits more organically into the story than the usual save/reload system, which really sits above the game in an outer layer of meta-game actions. So, combined with having to use the rewind less than you would have to save the game in the absence of a rewind system, it adds up to less of an impact to the player’s immersion.

As for the point system. I agree that points are much better relegated to action/arcade titles. In fact, even in those types of games, I’m highly unconcerned about score, focusing more on just getting through the game itself. The point counter is relatively unobtrusive (I suppose I could even make an option to turn it off…) and isn’t really a “point counter” in the usual sense. As mentioned above, it only counts up to 99 and there are an abundance of points to be had. If you get 99 points, the counter will just stay there until you use the points for a rewind. It’s more of a stock than a counter, and since there’s no penalty for low points (other than having fewer chances at rewinding a section) and no reward for high points (no better ending, no high score list), you might as well use them.

As for making the player’s actions have consequences later in the game via plot and character interactions, you’ll definitely find a lot of that in this game. It’s death that becomes tricky. If you kill off one of the main characters early in the game… it’s tough for me to write what the rest of the game is going to be. Stuff like failing to catch the bad guy’s henchmen in order to get the bad guy’s location out of him is possible in the game. It just leaves you with another puzzle to solve in a separate story branch to figure out where that darn bad guy is. These things have in-game consequences. It’s only when you decide to walk into that electrified puddle of water that we have to involve the meta-game rewind or save/load features.

Obviously, there are flaws, and it’s not a perfect system. But I think that for players like me, who get lost in stories and wind up only saving right before I quit a game, this will be a much better system. For those, like potentially yourself, who don’t like the system, you can ignore it all together. If you die, just reload your last save. The rewind won’t be a mandatory thing. The old save/load system is there as well. Don’t let this dissuade you from trying the game out!

Let me know if any of this isn’t floating your boat yet!