Reply #1 Top

"I'm even more excited about the "iron man" mode in XCOM: Enemy Unknown. Players will still have a choice of difficulty levels, and then they can choose to disable player saves. That will free me from the worst temptation of the squad-tactical game: save-spamming my way through a hard engagement so that I don't lose any of my hard-won veterans."


They should have taken it further, and forced players to go Ironman.  Because everybody really, really loves to be told they should be kept by Developer Paladins from saving as often as they wish, and going back to try other strategies to win.

Reply #2 Top

One way to avoid save spamming is to have the AI decision-making react to the number of saves used.  Instead of moving around and generally waving their hands around saying 'Here I am, shoot me!' they should use the cover they have and set up ambushes and crossfires.  In other words, the more you try and change the outcome of a turn, the more sneaky the AI plays.  The less you save, the more chance you have of seeing aggressive action.

Reply #3 Top

There are several problems with removing auto-saves, or the possibility to save manually. 

1. If the game crashes you have just lost a LOT of gaming

2. If life comes and get you mid game, you cannot save and exit as you wish.

 

I save a lot (crashes do happen), but I NEVER go back if I have made a wrong tactical move or whatnot. I restart the game if I loose, I dont go back to before my failed attack on a troll. Let the players choose themselves how they play.

Reply #4 Top

I agree with Ironman modes. It's vastly needed in games.

Like old FPS games like Half-Life and Quake & Quake II. Save before a hard engagement and the challenge is gone....don't save and you might die three times in a row (which is really frustrating) but you FAILED and don't deserve to go further on that difficulty lvl.

I know I need Ironman modes to keep a challenge up.

 

Speaking of that, I'm going to go Ironman mode on Quake & Quake II! }:)