Ah - The ol' "save vs. save" dilemma! ‘Tis a problem faced by many a (wo)man throughout the ages
Um – yes. Enough of that!
I’d opt for a “point” – Which is completely against my normally way of thinking as I like the FPS style of saving anywhere… I opt for a save-point as if done correctly (Final Fantasy) it can add to the game!
As above – It depends on how hard the game is going to be! There’s nothing worse knowing that there’s a save point just round the corner, but never being able to get to it (Tomb Raider had this problem!)!
However - Please note that if you have your save-points far apart, this will kill it off for some games - Mainly those who, for example, might play at a bus-stop... If the bus comes and you turn off the PPC, then bang goes that last xx minutes worth of playing!
How about a hybrid save system? "Points" to actually save the state of play where you can go back to if you make a complete arse of it... But autosaves from area/building/whatever to help with being able to turn off whenever! When you turn on again, you can either start from the last place you were (Or close to) or the last point.
>> If you think about it, the autosave won't be like saving just about anywhere... Say, eg, you fought your way to "The Door" but found you need "The Key" to open it, and the key was probably xx saves ago: you'd just go back to that save and find the key first... The hybrid system would only allow you to go back to either the start of the "level/room/etc" or last save-point... Thus you'd HAVE to keep playing and retrace your steps and get "the key" if the last save point was too far back. <<
Please keep us posted on the progress of this game, as I know many will be very interested! (I, for one!) It’d be great having a good RPG on the ol’ PPC! (Not that I’m saying the one’s that have come out already are naff, just not that good when compared to games like AOE and SimCity 2000 that have also come out on the PPC!)
