Welcome to our next Update. Today we want to tell you something about our thoughts about load and save mechanics.
Flexible Save Points
In a role-playing game like the one we're aiming for, the ability to save multiple times in a computer game, regardless of where you are in the game, offers several advantages over fixed save points or checkpoints. When players are able to save at any point in the game, they have more flexibility and control over their progress.
This reduces frustration when reaching difficult situations or enemies that can be beaten in smaller steps, rather than having to repeat the entire section.
Furthermore, flexible save options allow you to try out different strategies or decisions without fear of consequences. Whether you accept every consequence or not is up to you.
Technical Challenges
However, such freedom also brings challenges, because we as developers have to be careful not to overload the storage capacity by creating files that are too large.
With the option to save everywhere, we have to make sure to be aware of various possible situations so that players don't "destroy" their savefiles. For example, if the player is almost out of life energy and is getting damage at the same time, saving should no longer be allowed, as the save file would be unusable. Implementing a flexible save function can be technically challenging, especially if the game has complex mechanics or large game worlds.
Also, the save function should not be used to avoid certain challenges or make them too easy.
Solution
For this reason, for Cralon we decided to implement both a system of automatic save points as well as a limited selection of save slots that can be used manually. This way, you can always load and decide when to use save points, but on the other hand, you still have to think about the right time to save without using too much memory.
More about our thoughts and decisions can also be found on our Youtube Channel.
Thank you for your interest, see you soon!
Jenny and Björn