What ONE feature would you add to every game?

[Dekstar]

The one thing for me would be a really interesting plot, because if it's entertaining and has you on your seat.. like say the TV show Lost, then in itself that provides great scope for your gameplay mechanic to be built around.

Lost != gripping television.

 

[BabyHeadCrab]

save anywhere, any time.

first thing that came to my mind too.

 

[VirusType2]

Lost != gripping television.

lmfao.

 

[DEATH eVADER]

Ability to time travel.

One minute your building a futuristic city (simcity style), then you timetravel to kill youself some dinosaurs, then when you get back to your time, you realise that your not a mayor of some city, but instead due to your actions back in the cretacious period, humanity has not evolved beyond chimpanzees.

It is this time you have to train a few apes to drive in the indy500, because if they don't win, evil aliens holding the world to ransom will destroy the Earth.

 

[ríomhaire]

WHat feature would you like to see in games? within reason of course

I'd add character customization like that found in Oblivion ..helps me immerse myself

Not as extensive as Oblivion. I like the kind of customisation you get in Dawn of War, but the Oblivion is a bit too much effort for every game

Also, for games like Half-Life, this is utterly useless.

My vote: Fun
Far too many games are rapped up in graphics or crap to actually try to be fun.

 

[DEATH eVADER]

Not as extensive as Oblivion. I like the kind of customisation you get in Dawn of War, but the Oblivion is a bit too much effort for every game

Also, for games like Half-Life, this is utterly useless.

You have found the gauntlets of Lambda *you gain x2 radioactivity*
You trade your Crowbar to Barney for a Glock and a beer
You gain experience in firearms after slugging a zombie in the face
You should meditate on what you have learnt

 

[Vigilante]

The ability for my character to have sex with any hot virtual chick. Like that babe from RE4, oh yeah. hah

 

[Flyingdebris]

locational damage.

if there's one thing thats carried over for me since i first played games such as interstate 76, the mechwarrior series, or soldier of Fortune, is that locational damage is almost always more interesting than simple health bars. Whether its blowing some poor bastards leg off at the knee with a shotgun, popping the tires off a car, or hitting something's ammo compartment, its always awesome.

location damage really gives you a sense that your aim actually matters, and that what you are aiming at is some sort of functional entity that you are taking apart.

as such, if i could, i'd add it to everything, even pokemon, tetris, or barbie's horse adventure. Breaking pikachu's legs backwards, shooting a square off an incoming tetris block, or blasting a horse in half, lengthwise.

 

[VirusType2]

Breaking pikachu's legs backwards, or blasting a horse in half, lengthwise.

LOL

 

[Hazar]

locational damage.

if there's one thing thats carried over for me since i first played games such as interstate 76, the mechwarrior series, or soldier of Fortune, is that locational damage is almost always more interesting than simple health bars. Whether its blowing some poor bastards leg off at the knee with a shotgun, popping the tires off a car, or hitting something's ammo compartment, its always awesome.

location damage really gives you a sense that your aim actually matters, and that what you are aiming at is some sort of functional entity that you are taking apart.

as such, if i could, i'd add it to everything, even pokemon, tetris, or barbie's horse adventure. Breaking pikachu's legs backwards, shooting a square off an incoming tetris block, or blasting a horse in half, lengthwise.

nothing beats kicking a rat in the crotch in fallout

 

[VirusType2]

nothing beats kicking a rat in the crotch in fallout

Are you kidding me? The crotch? I never really knew rats has a crotch.


Screenshot?

 

[dream431ca]

Ever changing levels...every time you beat the game, the levels would change dramatically, making it very replayable.

 

[Glo-Boy]

No. Time Splitters two would not be anything left without the brilliant goofy animations. Same for psychonauts.

It could be goofy procedural animation:hmph:

 

[Hazar]

Are you kidding me? The crotch? I never really knew rats has a crotch.


Screenshot?

 

[Krynn72]

Barrels full of breasts.


+1 gamerpoint to anyone who knows where I got that from.

 

[Operational]

"Cave Rat was hit in the groin for 2 hit points."

 

[Uriel]

The ability to punch someone in the face over the internet.

I would love this, cept my fist would be sore within a half hour.

 

[Acepilotf14]

Either: A soundtrack that really immerses you in the game...
or:
Realistic shootings: If you shoot someone in the leg, shouldnt they buckle? And if you shoot their shooting hand, wouldnt they drop their gun?
I mean, GoW starting this kinda stuff.. but didnt do very well. Lost Planet did okay, and it makes sense you would trip if something asploded behind you. Halo does NOTHING. Half Life... not really. The Godfather and Scarface did okie. Hmm... what else... ahh... nope. k, done.

 

[bam23]

All of these, in my opinion, are shit.

Things like commentary, save anywhere anytime are acceptable, because they don't infringe on the game and its design philosophy, but this lot just take the biscuit off the kid and throw it down the toilet, laughing manically. Why would you want to add these to every game when essentially, it might just bring down the very basis of the game itself? Who would want unlockables in the likes of Deus ex, or Half-life? Who would want to 'customize' a character, who has a pre-defined role in the world? Who would want to play through Timesplitters 3 - by all accounts a 'fun' game - and worry about 'bleeding to death' and 'limping'.

These are not within reason. They are retarded. I've nothing against these things themselves, because in their respective game they are fine. But I'd never want every game to build itself with an exact, specific feature others do, at the cost of going against everything the game is.

NO U

 

[Sparta]

I like lengthy games, but only to a certain degree. Somewhere between 15-30 hours is fantastic for any game. With that said though, i dont want to play a 30 hour shooter that just pulls the same trick the entire time.

Take Far Cry. 20+ hours, boring as shit by 12 hours. Or at the moment, Final Fantasy 12. I'm 42 hours in and i still have quite a while to go in the game thanks to having to level so i don't get raped in every new zone. This shit bores me to tears.

As for realism in games, it really depends what game you're playing. In STALKER, bleeding to death works well in the game as STALKER is all about survival. Bleeding to death in Half-Life 2 would just be silly since you were such a tank in the first Half-Life that it doesn't make any sense. Same with Halo.

I wish more FPS would try to include the right amount of variety in their games for **** sake. Halo and Half-life 2 have variety in gameplay perfected. Well for the most part Halo has tons of variety throughout the entire game (repetitive level designs really let it down there), but Half-life 2 has some new variety in almost each chapter. If only the buggy chapter didn't suck balls it'd be near perfect.

Also, there needs to be more sneaking games like Thief 3 and less like Metal Gear Solid. MGS stealth mechanics suck, and the amount of gadgets in Splinter Cell are more annoying that fun now-a-days. Just gimme a dagger and some creepy levels and i'll have an awesome time.

 

[Cormeh]

Whats wrong with unlockables? They are an extra, an aside to the main game that doesn't have to detract from the experience in any way.

I partially agree, because I enjoy unlockables that can be added to the main game itself, for example: Resident Evil 4. The fact you can revisit those areas that almost pushed you off the edge with a spiffy new rocket launcher or machine gun and let off some steam after your hard work is priceless. :E

Thinking back to the PS1, Spider-Man had a bunch of great costume unlockables that gave you the extra incentive to push yourself a bit further and earn those new powers to replay the game and boost it's lifespan.

That's my cup of tea anyway.

 

[Qhartb]

I'm gonna have to go with unlockables, if I had to choose. It's cool and rewarding to have additional objectives to add replay value to the game.

I'm calling BS on the guy who said that "save anywhere anytime" doesn't affect the design of a game. There are definitely games that have used savepoints well to increase tension, and they'd be kill by a quicksave feature. Also, games with chance elements are killed by quicksave. Imagine being able to quicksave in poker (or where you can gamble to get in-game currency). Also, quickloading can't really be added to online games.

Most of the features mentioned don't even apply to all games. How would you all locational damage to Bejeweled? Who wants to play Tetris with realistic physics? What kind of character customization do you want in Myst?

 

[Warbie]

The fact you can revisit those areas that almost pushed you off the edge with a spiffy new rocket launcher or machine gun and let off some steam after your hard work is priceless. :E

heh - I hear that. It was nice just being able to change costumes.

I remember that if you complete everything in Super Mario World the title screen would change colour and you could play the game again, but this time everyone has a hat on. It sounds stupid, but it's nice to get some recognition. I wouldn't have bothered putting in as much time had there not been this goal and would have missed out on quite a few cool parts of the game.

I can't think of a game that wouldn't benefit from unlockables of some kind.

 

[Acepilotf14]

Actually, Myst would be cool with character customization .

 

[Warbie]

Imagine being able to quicksave in poker (or where you can gamble to get in-game currency).

A fair point, and one that applies to any game that has an element of risk (which is bascially all of them). Quicksaving/loading is actually a pet hate of mine - it takes away the tension, detracts from the atmosphere and lessons the weight of you actions. As a sresult the gameworld can only feel less convincing and the overall experience suffers. Bar a few cases, quicksaving is a sign of lazy design.

I quite like what Noobulon suggested, though. A little like closing your DS when it's time to get off the bus.

 

[Operational]

I agree with:
Working Alt-Tab
Good Soundtrack
Cheats - it does suck if your saved game gets corrupted and you have to start over
Co-op - like Samon said, not always appropriate but it doesn't have to be much, Red Alert 2 had a very basic Co-Op game but it was still very enjoyable.

Others I've thought of:
Bug Free - not sure if it is a feature per say but it is still something I'd like to see in every game
Completed - great games that are let down because they aren't finished are annoying, again not really a feature per say.
Regular Updates/Long term support

If I had to chose one I would probably go with Bug Free or Working Alt-Tab

 

[Wanted Bob]

Replayability. Doesnt mean the game has to be super long, but at least make it so that its worth playing through the entire game experimenting with other things. Soundtracks are always important, and Co-op would be okay, depending on the game.

 

[el Chi]

I would add the complete absence of a World War II theme.

You heard me.

 

[Asuka]

The ability to punch someone in the face over the internet.

OMG i cant stop laughing! Man what a great post!

Probably Realism

but seriously i cant decide.