Obsidian Entertainment - MCA on Quest Time Limits

RPGWatch · Sat, 19th May '12, 11:21am

Chris Avellone has kicked up a short blog at Obsidian, following up on a promise to respond to a Reddit reader about quest time limits in games - such as with Fallout 1:

From a gamemaster/game designer perspective, the idea of time limits is appealing. It creates pressure, and it creates an urgency for the player that's hard to beat.

In Fallout 1, the skill system and the plot was built around the design that you only had a certain number of days to find the water chip for your vault and then defeat the mutant army or game over. If you don't recall that, then chances are you played it with the patch that removed that design element, as the mutant-hunting-your-Vault-down-time-limit was patched out of the game in 1.1 because of the outcry.

So I love time limits. In Fallout 1, it was appropriate because:

- It reinforced the urgency and pressure of saving your Vault.
- It reinforced the brutal nature of the world you were in.
- It made time-usage skills more risky for players to use. Sure, Doctor was helpful, but you had to be careful because it could consume a lot of time if used repeatedly.

Players reacted negatively because:

- The time limit was unforgiving.
- It prevented them from exploring areas at their leisure, which undermined the non-linearity of the game - suddenly you didn't want to go everywhere and explore everything, because the clock was ticking.
- It couldn't be reset/extended beyond the time limit except in a few places in the game, and only a finite number of times.

So the question becomes - if I, as a game designer, want to introduce the same level of time pressure and instill the player with a sense of urgency, what can I do?

NguyenGiaThai · Sat, 19th May '12, 7:46pm

I must say Fallout system in that particular was done right. And I say mostly about F2, not 1, since I dont like 1 much. Still.

You have a time limit, which punctuate your journey with dreams. If you play around too much the homeland is affected (which you can check if you return). The dreams are done right to push the emo-button on player. I dont ever let the 3rd dream happened, let alone the 4th. The state of the tribe is heartbreaking.

And if you hate the dreams, well, you can jump straight to that major event by bringing the stuff right back home and circumvent all the messy dreams. Now you can explore and solve quests to your heart content.

NO compromise, I say. You know F2 perfected the system. Now you just reapply it to Wasteland 2. No compromise with the casual crowd.

Taluntain · Sun, 20th May '12, 3:27am

Personally, I dislike games that force any kind of a time limit on me, for the same reasons MCA listed. I play games to relax and to explore them at my own pace, not to zip around like a headless chicken racing against the clock. I don't need a stress simulation any more than I need another hole in my head.

Sat, 19th May '12, 11:21am	#1
RPGWatch SPS Account Holder Watching... Join Date: Jul 2010 Posts: 3,495 Like: 0 Liked 3 Times in 3 Posts	Obsidian Entertainment - MCA on Quest Time Limits Chris Avellone has kicked up a short blog at Obsidian, following up on a promise to respond to a Reddit reader about quest time limits in games - such as with Fallout 1: From a gamemaster/game designer perspective, the idea of time limits is appealing. It creates pressure, and it creates an urgency for the player that's hard to beat. In Fallout 1, the skill system and the plot was built around the design that you only had a certain number of days to find the water chip for your vault and then defeat the mutant army or game over. If you don't recall that, then chances are you played it with the patch that removed that design element, as the mutant-hunting-your-Vault-down-time-limit was patched out of the game in 1.1 because of the outcry. So I love time limits. In Fallout 1, it was appropriate because: - It reinforced the urgency and pressure of saving your Vault. - It reinforced the brutal nature of the world you were in. - It made time-usage skills more risky for players to use. Sure, Doctor was helpful, but you had to be careful because it could consume a lot of time if used repeatedly. Players reacted negatively because: - The time limit was unforgiving. - It prevented them from exploring areas at their leisure, which undermined the non-linearity of the game - suddenly you didn't want to go everywhere and explore everything, because the clock was ticking. - It couldn't be reset/extended beyond the time limit except in a few places in the game, and only a finite number of times. So the question becomes - if I, as a game designer, want to introduce the same level of time pressure and instill the player with a sense of urgency, what can I do?
	__________________ RPGWatch - http://www.rpgwatch.com Last edited by Taluntain; Sat, 19th May '12 at 5:29pm.

Sat, 19th May '12, 7:46pm	#2
NguyenGiaThai Gems: 3/31 Latest gem: Lynx Eye Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 50 Like: 0 Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts vBActivity - Stats XP: 245 Level: 5 vBActivity - Bars Level Completion: 77.44% Daily Activity 2.21% Weekly Activity 0.95% Monthly Activity 1.4% Achievements	F1's system is adequate. I must say Fallout system in that particular was done right. And I say mostly about F2, not 1, since I dont like 1 much. Still. You have a time limit, which punctuate your journey with dreams. If you play around too much the homeland is affected (which you can check if you return). The dreams are done right to push the emo-button on player. I dont ever let the 3rd dream happened, let alone the 4th. The state of the tribe is heartbreaking. And if you hate the dreams, well, you can jump straight to that major event by bringing the stuff right back home and circumvent all the messy dreams. Now you can explore and solve quests to your heart content. NO compromise, I say. You know F2 perfected the system. Now you just reapply it to Wasteland 2. No compromise with the casual crowd.

Sun, 20th May '12, 3:27am	#3
Taluntain SPS Account Holder Founder Resident Alpha and Omega Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: Cori Celesti Posts: 20,857 Blog Entries: 13 Like: 174 Liked 132 Times in 85 Posts vBActivity - Stats XP: 53,277 Level: 58 vBActivity - Bars Level Completion: 54.6% Daily Activity 134.66% Weekly Activity 54.51% Monthly Activity 45.5% Achievements Awards	Personally, I dislike games that force any kind of a time limit on me, for the same reasons MCA listed. I play games to relax and to explore them at my own pace, not to zip around like a headless chicken racing against the clock. I don't need a stress simulation any more than I need another hole in my head.
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