Creaphis
I will deliberately take a contrary position just for the sake of writing incredibly long arguments
Posts: 3953
Registered: 10-05 |
Both are fair as long as there are obvious danger signs, and make some sense within the gameworld. On Phobos, a fair inescapable pit has nukage in the bottom, and perhaps additional danger sign textures. In hell, it has lava. On Phobos, a fair crushing ceiling appears to be some sort of industrial machinery. If currently inactive, this machinery can still be identified as some sort of industrial die stamp or crusher, and the floor will probably be a conveyor belt. In hell, a crushing ceiling is a marble slab that begins to fall when a key is taken. Unpredictable crushing ceilings can stay in 1994.
I've given some thought to a related question lately: how do you design a challenge that walks the line between boring and bullshit? It's a difficult mark to hit, especially if avid Doomers are your audience, who have reached more-or-less peak playing ability and are used to judging (often correctly) that fights that are too hard for them are too hard. Fortunately, I think that if you make an effort to balance a level well, the tougher challenges that you introduce to the player later on are likely to be perceived as beatable and fair, instead of as impossible feats requiring superhuman skills, even if that's exactly what they are. Get the player's trust, and then betray it :)
Last edited by Creaphis on 06-25-09 at 00:30
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06-24-09 23:48 
