saving games?

Im trying to come to a decision on how to save in my game engine, it's a 3d platformer/rpg type game, should i...

a) Save anywhere that saves the entire game state and reload exactly where you left off?

Seems to be what many pc games do

b) Have save points which then save the players stuff, current map, globals and current save point?


c)Save anywhere but restart of at a restart point with details similar to b) being saved

b+c are more akin to console games.

I have done most of the save functionality but a seems a lot of work.

its more of a game design decision now a days. do you want players dying. then hit 'load game' to load 5 seconds prior and redo it? IMO it kills the spirit of the game in most situations. Putting places for save points kind of gives the user a tangible goal. But again, it makes death a more prominent part of the game design.

A nice feature from Severance was to let you save anywhere (option A), but attaching a note to each game about how heroic you were. In other words, if you saved rarely, the saved games would be labeled heroic, while if you saved all the time they would be labeled chicken or something similair, of course, with many levels inbetween.

This didn't have any real game effect, but it definately had a pshychological effect on the player which made them save less (at least me). Worked like a charm.

Ragnar

For FPS games I prefer key stage save points, I think having the ability to save at any point is a bit of a cheat.

In reality it depends on the structure of your game. If you feel that having the ability to save at any point in time could make the game alot easier, then definately not.

One of the things I find most annoying in a game is not being able to save when I want. I don't really care for developers telling me how to play the game they developed but I bought. If I want to save five times in one level because I keep getting interrupted and not at all for the next three levels, because I'm going well, I expect to be able to.

And if I want to use the save system to "cheat" then I expect to be able to. Otherwise, if it's too difficult, I may just take it back, get a refund, bin it or whatever.

I think with so many gamers now being adults, you have to bear in mind that their gaming time may ( like my own ) be extremely limited by work, family and other commitments. By all means punish us for "cheating" our way through the game with low scores, no unlocked extras, or whatever, but if you stop us from playing the game the way we want, you might just stop us playing it altogether.

I prefer for the game to save for me at points, allow me to save mid game somewhere also, perhaps at a cost of a good amount of gold...

That way I have to make an effort and pay a price to save.. but if I chose to do so before a big fight I keep dying at.. it can save me time... tho.. I'd expect to have the game autosave near big fights... The save feature then becomes part of the gameplay.. as it should be... and I don't always have to make an effort to keep 'save often' in my brain... I love the way a game like sly cooper or ratchet and clank removes the saving from my memory alltogether... and I can concentrate on the game... But being able to save anywhere... (even for free) would let me stop playing where ever I want... maybe there is an emergency.. or something.