How to fix those complaints about the difficulty of Sam and Max

[U-can't-buy-luv]

Hey, here's an idea.

Sam and Max could have several difficulty levels. When you start the game you'll be able to pick how hard your puzzles will be. There would be two versions of the game. The storyline and joke would be the same. But the puzzles can be made harder or easier to suit both the old adventure game fans and the fans of the recent series (who aren't exactly experts with adventure games.) It'll make fun for everyone!

Of course it will take longer to make two versions of the game but it may just be worth it in the end. And it'll stop people complaining about the difficulty level of the game once and for all.

Think it's a good idea?

[wisp]

I think they're doing something similar already, not with different versions of puzzles, but an ajustable hint system. might turn out the same way in the end..

[All hail Max]

adjustable hint system. does this mean we can now choose how specific the hints are. Or do we just choose wether or not we get hints. because I'm prety sure that option was in season 1.

[Hero1]

You can set the level of hints... sounds pretty cool..should make everyone happy

[wisp]

Originally Posted by All hail Max

because I'm prety sure that option was in season 1.

hmm, i was pretty sure it wasn't. anyway, there should be several levels of hint-intensity in season 2..

[Sir Lemming]

It's a new feature, designed to address precisely this issue. Read about it in one of the season 2 threads.

[Christovsky]

All Hail Max might be referring to the option to talk to Max for hints in Season One, which was only conspicuously a hint system in Episode 6.

I'll be very happy if this means the puzzles will be harder than in the last season, and very unhappy if they're the same difficulty, and the hints are just there to make them even easier if you choose! It sounds hopeful if there's apparently a need for several hint levels.

[HeidiLynn84]

You can already get any hints you want from these message boards. I don't see why people complain when there's such a great community here to help you.

[Rasher]

Something like Monkey Island's Monkey and Mega-Monkey levels would be awesome. I think it's a little to much to expect though.

We got a new episode every month, and creating two levels woould mean double the work for each puzzle. The normal version and the maga version. How are they supposed to pull that off in a month?

I suppose there could be a harder levl where the hint system is disabled though. I think it's already possible to disable the hint system.

To me it's the storyt that matters. At long as I get to participae in a great story, I don't really care about how hard the puzzles are.

[Maratanos]

Originally Posted by HeidiLynn84

You can already get any hints you want from these message boards. I don't see why people complain when there's such a great community here to help you.

Sorry. Maybe I'm just weird, but in-game hints do not equate with out-of-game hints in my mind. In-game hints have always struck me as more fair game if I'm feeling stuck.


Plus, the majority of people playing this game, in the long run, will never visit these forums, will never WANT to visit these forums, will never even have HEARD of these forums. Never require people to exit the game so that they can play it. It's just a bad move.

[jpc234]

I always thought the games were easy anyway. I mean, theres so few locations all you have to do is go to Sybils, Boscos, the "episodic unique location" etc and click on everything until something happens. The catch 22 of that is, if they make the games harder or make each episode bigger/longer, it will take more time to release each one.

[Guybrush Threepwood]

Originally Posted by Maratanos

Sorry. Maybe I'm just weird, but in-game hints do not equate with out-of-game hints in my mind. In-game hints have always struck me as more fair game if I'm feeling stuck.


Plus, the majority of people playing this game, in the long run, will never visit these forums, will never WANT to visit these forums, will never even have HEARD of these forums. Never require people to exit the game so that they can play it. It's just a bad move.

Agreed. If I hear Max suggest, for example, that I should go to Bosco's, I just think "cheers Max".

If I have to look up a clue on the forums it feels like cheating.

[Christovsky]

Originally Posted by Rasher

Something like Monkey Island's Monkey and Mega-Monkey levels would be awesome. I think it's a little to much to expect though.

We got a new episode every month, and creating two levels would mean double the work for each puzzle. The normal version and the maga version. How are they supposed to pull that off in a month?

You're looking at it as though the two settings were normal/difficult (and so more time has to be spent making the game harder after the base has been completed), rather than easy/normal, when it's just a case of removing the difficult bits, and shouldn't take so long.

As far as I can see, shaving the game down into an easier version could be achieved in a few ways:

Omit difficult puzzles: This might work if a decent difficult/easy ratio were maintained, but the hard puzzles are likely to be the most interesting, so it'd be a shame to remove them. Also, such a ratio would have to be heavy on easy puzzles so as not to remove too much of the game.

Replace difficult puzzles with easy ones: This would split the game into two disjoint parts, so everyone misses out on something, and would require more work, so I don't think it's a good idea.

Pre-solve parts of puzzles: Although generally I think what makes a good puzzle difficult is the cleverness of it, rather than the quantity of puzzles, some are made hard by their intricasy, and parts of these can not require solving in the easy version (for example, not needing to repair the boat in MI3). Again, this unfortunately means players of the easy version are missing out on some things.

As all of these have disadvantages, optional hints sound like a good way to go. Players experience everything, easy and otherwise, and perhaps being led through the harder puzzles will help them get the hang of solving them without assistance in the future. I say that as an advantage because I think it's a pity to use hints all your life - you can never have a go at solving the raw puzzle once you've tainted it by accepting hints. The more people stop using them, the more they'll enjoy the games.

[Kitmit13]

sounds like monkey island =D Good idea but I always go with the most puzzeling

[Eater]

If you do add difficulty modes, then you must do everything in your power to call it mega monkey madness without getting sued.