RE: Vector programming

> I think if your score is used as fuel the high score will always be zero.
> You could measure "peak" score durring a game. Or perhaps the game could
> end someother way too, and then the challenge would be deciding when to
> get killed to maximize score - Can I rack up points faster than they
> are draining, or is it time to quit while I'm ahead...
>
> Strange concept, I may like it.
>
Yeah, it seems like it might do some interesting things... It's not exactly
like a bonus because it's directly tied to your "real" score (and more than
just a portion is at risk), yet it's a little different than fuel 'cause
your score increases (without limit) as you pass levels-- thus building up a
"reserve" over time for harder levels.

It would probably be important to not award extra lives-- that would tend to
have the score always head towards zero on the higher levels (too many extra
lives let the score fall for too long without leaving anything). With a
finite amount of lives a player would likely be able to play up to a certain
point where he's killed off, leaving his remaining score. As long as the
game has survival skills that you can improve at, playing it again would
result in quicker level completions (building up the score) and give you a
buffer for harder levels later on.

Seems like it would reward speedy level completion and efficiency, and the
thought that you're *losing* your hard-eraned score on a new, challenging
level that you're taking too long on might make for a good game-induced
panic effect. ;-)

-Clay

(When Defender first came out I used to just *dread* taking too long and
having those damn Baiters show up. My pulse probably ticked up 20% when I
thought they were getting close to appearing... Evil Otto too... ;-)

  
Received on Wed Oct 13 16:39:34 1999