Chade on 26/9/2013 at 22:17
So the recent trailer included a line about comparing mission times with your friends, which may or may not be just a special feature for the pre-order bonus level.
Let's say competitive thief is part of the game proper. Can it be done in a way that doesn't suck?
------------------------------------------
My answer is, I think it can, and Mirror's Edge provides a good role model for how you might do it.
In Mirror's Edge, you have the main storyline, and crucially, during the main storyline, the competitive features are completely absent. They don't intrude into the player's experience at all. Separately from the main storyline, however, you can enter the time trial section and replay individual missions, being ranked on how quickly you complete them.
In Thief, you would have a similar setup. Not intruding on the main single player experience is obviously vital. Unlike Mirror's Edge, though, there are many more possibilities wrt how you rank the player. I think timing the player is a good idea, because it's almost always possible to beat the best time, but it should be done in multiple strands. So you have the best time for completing the mission, the best time for completing the mission while not letting any guards see you, the best time for completing the mission while not alerting or hurting any guards, etc.
I don't know whether it's better to have a small number of strands so there's lots of competition in each strand, or a large number of fine-grained strands (e.g. you can blackjack up to 2 guards), so there's more work to be done by the community figuring out the optimal route for all strands.
calmflow on 26/9/2013 at 23:18
I would have to agree, no intrusion.
I think it will be a leaderboard taken from what we're all used to, the stats screen.
Fastest time
Times discovered
Guards blackjacked
Dogs alerted
etc.....
TriangleTooth on 26/9/2013 at 23:43
So essentially, making the stats screen from T1/2 a multiplayer feature with a leaderboard? That could work actually.
calmflow on 27/9/2013 at 03:10
Simple enough to implement. Automatically uploads mission stats upon completion (or upon user confirmation).
That way there'd be no invasive elements to irk the devout.
The simplest example I can give is a racing game called Driving Speed 2, I haven't played since version 2.0.0, but what I remember is that once you finished your lap you could upload your time and it would be presented on a fairly simple leaderboard here: (
http://www.wheelspinstudios.com/drivingspeed2/displaybathscores.php)
henke on 27/9/2013 at 05:05
Although I have no interest in doing speedruns myself, it is fun to watch videos of players who are really good at it. Maybe we'll see Mark Of The Ninja-style speedruns of Thief's levels. :)
[video=youtube;3qe1qVGBA0A]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qe1qVGBA0A[/video]
Shinrazero on 27/9/2013 at 05:55
MotN is a great game!
Hit Deity on 30/9/2013 at 15:32
Quote Posted by Shinrazero
MotN is a great game!
So's N & N+ (
http://www.thewayoftheninja.org/) (TheWayoftheNinja)...anybody played those? N is on PC, but N+ is PSP and NDS only.
jay pettitt on 30/9/2013 at 16:48
Quote Posted by Chade
My answer is, I think it can, and Mirror's Edge provides a good role model for how you might do it.
I don't see any reason why a lot of people won't find speed runs fun ~ or why Thief shouldn't have a competitive edge.
I'll not be one of those people though ~ at least not in a big way. While I did enjoy shaving seconds off my personal best times on Mirrors Edge and it's a fun side of the game (though I guess the Thief equivalent is to find more and more of the loot), the people who are really good at it are the people who get really good at mastering exploits. And while I think that's a legit way to play, I'd rather play a Thief game straight.
