Regarding ttg is listening to their customers

[taumel]

Hi,

regarding the news written here http://www.telltalegames.com/community/blogs/id-149 i had to think of the challenge of getting both newbies as veterans on board. Has anyone ever thought of or already used a hint system which makes sense and solves this?

Something like the characters give you hints in a way that there's a difference in how they talk to you and/or act. So if the system notices that you get stuck (time spent since last progress, trying to accomplish a certain task over and over again, initiated by the user) they give you further hints or act towards the solution of a riddle.

According to the riddle there obviously also could be more signs in the scene. Preferences define how fast and obvious such a system reacts or if it does it at all.

Obviously this would be additional work to do but i think it could be quite manageable. This would be a natural feeling solution where you don't leave out any riddles for the newbies and it could solve the newbie/veteran problem as well as the points in a game where you get stuck and are likely going nuts.

[Emily]

After playing Indigo Prophecy last year, I started thinking that camera angles could be used as a sort of hint system. In Indigo Prophecy, there are a few points when the camera pans over an item you need to pick up or use, and you might not realize it's a hint at the time, but when your goals are laid out for you, you remember seeing that thing because of how the camera panned. It would be interesting to have two sets of camera pans - one that sweeps over the clues on the "easy" setting, and one that avoids the clues on the "hard" setting.

[taumel]

Hmm...

But such a system won't be working out of the box for all kind of puzzles. You would have to design the puzzles working this way. Interesting if you combine this with any rumble functions. As soon as you enter certain areas in a scene the controller rumbles. The closer the harder... You could also work with an ambience sound into this direction.

But i still also like the idea that the characters just get smarter or think loud(er) or behave different.

[Hero1]

I thought the hint system in Bone worked so much better.. If you get stuck that hint system works very well..it works more efficiently than having max tell you exactly what to do when you dont want him to

[Derwin]

Maybe when the music in the scene is played backwards, it could give you the hint... actually, I have no idea. But it will be interesting to see what happens to gamers when the game starts getting more difficult. Hopefully, no newcomers to the genre get frustrated and decide to quit.

[LuigiHann]

I'd like to see a dialog option when you talk to Max, like...

*click on Max*
*click "Give me a hint"*
Sam: Hey Max. Give me a clue to this puzzle.
Max: No!

[Linque]

I'd like to see a dialog option when you talk to Max, like...

*click on Max*
*click "Give me a hint"*
Sam: Hey Max. Give me a clue to this puzzle.
Max: No!

That's a classic! You crack me up, little buddy.
Absolutely fantabulastic. I applaud you. I'm still smiling here. :D

Here's another for you:
Sam looks at the newspaper stand: "What the ... that's tomorrows newspaper!"
Max: "And it's not even tomorrow yet!"
Sam: "I'm sure there's something that'll help us solve this puzzle in there."
Max: "What makes you think so?"
Sam: "I have no idea."
...
Okay I ran out of steam of finishing the conversation, but the point is that looking at the news stand by some bizarre way get a clue for the puzzle. But you'd have to buy the newspaper and at the end there could be a witty remark about the amount of money the duo spent on them.