How to handle Mini Games

[Rodak]

I had this idea where, for Videogamedrome, I'd put access to all the mini games in the custom user menu.

I already put a menu with 36 different music choices available anytime, anywhere you can access the menu. And one for all the world sounds anytime too. Now you can hear horsey hoofs while traveling on water for more surrealism if you like.

So, what about mini games? I've always found that if there was one I liked I would really have to sidetrack and go through a lot of crap just to return to it and then pick up where I left my game.

I'm leaving access in the menu no matter what the poll says, I just thought it might be fun to see (hear? read?) what others thought about this treatment of mini games.

I still can't decide whether to leave them dispersed throughout the maps as well as on the menu or not, so I made both an option for voting too.

I threw in an I hate minigames option too. It can work for things like "I just play the ones I like" too.

Waddayathink?

[NASH7777]

How about throughout maps, but you can unlock them to play in the menu system later?

[Deleted]

Um, maybe at Save Points (FFX). I'd say I like it most when they're done in the story once and then you can do them later for fun elsewhere (FF7).

[Dungeon Warden]

It really depends on the mini game and how they are used in your game. My mini games work better on the map because they are so big. Whereas a fun side game (like "left or right") might be playable anytime through a menu. FFVII had a whole area devoted to minigames. There are lots of options and I don't feel one is better then another beyond what makes sense in your world.

[Doan the Nado]

I submitted "No Opinion". Both is good, but if it is overly complicated to do, follow a suggestion like Will's where you can only access it from certain points in the game, not from anywhere. That should make it much easier. If even that is hard, once during the story and then having them all in one location (as DW said about FF7), would work well, too.

[Rodak]

admin said:

...if it is overly complicated to do, follow a suggestion like Will's where you can only access it from certain points in the game, not from anywhere. That should make it much easier. If even that is hard, once during the story and then having them all in one location (as DW said about FF7), would work well, too.

Actually, they are all easy to implement. Using Set Escape and Escape together with a mini game menu flag make menu access easy without giving access to the areas around th game.

I was just curious about how people would react if all the mini games were in a menu, and that was it for access.

I'll probably do both. But may leave one in the menu exclusively, thereby making it a "Hidden" game.

I think I'll do that for "Tea; Earl Grey, Hot" (my version of "Hot Coffee" for Videogamedrome).

Thanks for responding.

Peace.

[Deleted]

Be careful with push-blocks though.

[Rodak]

williamkirk said:

Be careful with push-blocks though.

Since I am usually the perverted one, I'll assume that is not a sex joke.

But if not, I can't understand what else it could possibly be!

Sometimes being a pervert has it's drawbacks (and no "drawback" jokes please... that's my department).

Peace.

[NASH7777]

Well if a character sets a teleport or escape where a push blocks initial spot is, when they teleport back to the map they will be stuck in the pushblock.



PS: Tea; Earl Grey; Hot is my kind of tea.

[Rodak]

Oh, that Zelda thing.

That might be a problem if I was using such events (but I recall reading somewhere that you could set such blox as vehicles and then they'd stay where you pushed 'em).

I shudda known. I guess I was just stuck in sarcasm mode (it happens when I first wake up and my brain is still uncontaminated by conciousness) (I hate conciousness... ).

[Bigfoot]

For Hippy Hunt 2, I had this DDR minigame, since I have a dance pad at home I thought it would be funny to make one, it had the main characters dancing in the backround with flashing lights and a moving camera with the hippy hunt theme playing. (You could choose from 5 different songs.) There was no <- -> at the same time or anything, plus it was the gayest thing Ive ever created, (I made it for laughs anyways.) But I took it out when I released it online, figuring that poeple wouldnt get the concept of a DDR minigame in a comedy.

[Rodak]

I am so "out of the loop" when it comes to modern stuff it's embarassing.

First Push Blocks and my Perverted Mind, now acronyms.

What's DDR?

Somebody should compile a list of acronyms, or maybe it would make a good topic unto itself.

Am I the only one who finds the over use of acronyms online a little disturbing? Or at least confusing at times?

Oy.

[doyleman]

DDR~Dance Dance Revolution.

And about the acronym thing, i agree, way too many in the world...

[Bigfoot]

Yeah, sorry about that.

[Rodak]

No need to apologize.

I was just overreacting to having two different "I'm too old to relate" events back to back.

Anyway, back to mini games. I have one where I really don't want to give any clues as to how it operates because if you know it is too easy, but I am unsure how to give a subtle hint.

I wanted it to be a puzzle for opening a gate, so it is one that you really need to solve to progress.

Any tips for keeping the player from getting stuck in a case like this?

I was thinking of counting their failed attempts and giving it away somehow if they fail completely after a predetermined number of tries. Maybe have a brief cut scene that blows up the gate or something. That would have to have a negative side, but I'll figure that out if I choose to use it. But any other ideas for ways to handle such conundrums would be helpful.

Peace.

[Bigfoot]

Totally go Resident Evil and have a 3 page document discussing how it got open before and how they repaired it and such. Thats one way.

[Rodak]

AAAAAAAAAAA!

Sorry, this thread is getting me at every turn.

I never played any Resident Evil either.

When I got back into gaming recently, after a long absence, I started by only buying games based on characters I knew from cartoons or other sources. This makes for a cool collection of games that relates well to my toy collection, but still does little for my knowledge of the generalized gaming world.

I still think that is a good thing and am not complaining, just screaming 'cuz it's now 3 times in one thread.

At least your explanation helped this time.

Thanks for the suggestion.

I'm at work and typing in a tiny window so mt boss does not see!!

Gotta run.

Peace.

[Bigfoot]

Yeah, Ill make less references.

[Rodak]

No, please don't.

I am a rare case and do not mind learning these things. I just have no knowledge of most things gaming related, but realize there is no other way to learn and that I am posting in a community full of people truly steeped in the stuff. Just treat me like I don't know anything, but if references like that are helpful in collecting your thoughts (and most people here will get them) it's fine, really. This just does not often happen so many times in a row, so I am having fun with it.

My sarcalepsy sometimes gets taken seriously. Sorry.

Peace.