Save Points - How to?

● ARCHIVED · READ-ONLY
Started by Ryzler 7 posts View original ↗
  1. Was encouraged to rework my save points after seeing a recent Yanfly video :)

    And got curious as to what mechanics, designs, and interesting things other people have done with their save points in games. So what are some the best save points you've seen? What ones have you used?

    My save crystals
    So... I have three types of save points:

    The standard save point is a blue crystal (starts dulled out until you use it the first time, then glows). This first one lets you save your game or alter it with a gem stone. Yellow Topaz items alter the save point to a yellow crystal and it can give you a temporary defense buff for the dungeon. White Opal items alter the save point to a white crystal and it can heal your party. Black Jet items alter the save point so that it allows you to warp out of the dungeon. In this state it also glows purple.

    The second type is a corrupted save point. Starts out a dull red. And you have to sacrifice a Red Ruby item to activate the save point for use. Once activated it glows red and you can save there. You can also sacrifice further Red Ruby items to temporarily gain the Blood Rage state (boosted attack, lowered defense, auto-attack enemies). After sacrificing so many Red Ruby items to any corrupted save crystal, you will open a demon gate in the Red Wizard's Tower.

    The third type of save point is an angelic save point. It starts in a dull golden/fractal-like state. Upon using a Pale Diamond item it activates and glows like a golden/rainbow. You then use the save point to save or heal your entire party. Using Pale Diamond items to activate enough angelic save points will open a an angel gate in the Blue Wizard's Tower.

    Save points are encountered only dungeons. Side dungeons will only have corrupted save points while standard dungeons will have the standard save points, waiting to activated and altered. The endless random labyrinth dungeon I am working will only use angelic save points once every fifth room. Outside of the dungeons the player can save freely.

    xXx
  2. in my game , depending of difficulty choose. (residence evil like)
    You have fixe save point in some strategic map.
    And you can also get object to create a save point on a map.
    i use Storage API instead of JSON and node, to prevent cheating and also crash.
    https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Storage
  3. About mine...
    ((WARNING: For those who play Lie of Caelum, refrain from clicking the spoiler below if you don't want to spoil yourself!))

    Spoiler
    My save points (called "Universal Terminals") are actually a part of the world as a plot device. The more you use it, the more informed the final boss gets and the harder he becomes. Since the final boss already owns the world the moment you started playing it, he uses these terminals to track people's progress all over Caelum without coming out of his shell. Interestingly enough, you will encounter some NPC's using the exact save terminals for storage uses and/or their personal diaries.

    There is no auto-heal for mine as you can always just use the built-in storage to store your extra recovery items and pick them up later.
  4. So my game uses a pretty standard "guy at different points in the dungeon who will sell you items and let you save" system. Except since my game is trying (and failing) to have a sense of humor, it's the same merchant who keeps getting lost in the dungeons you explore. Every time you see him he tells you how he got stuck and the entire joke is that each time it's an increasingly insane sequence of events that leads him here, until it's clear that the save merchant's life is probably more exciting than the main characters'. One of the nice features of having it this way is that it gives me an easy system for providing hints for fighting the next boss to the player, since generally it's that boss that's keeping the guy from escaping, he can drop little hints about the fight while he's talking about how he certainly to be here.
  5. I think this is more suited to 'General Discussion' as it is looking at an important aspect of game making.
    [mod]Moving to General Discussion[/mod]

    In my games save points are placed at strategic points in a dungeon as an extra reminder, or for those who prefer to give themselves a challenge - and I've been surprised at how many there are. True, not huge numbers, but I had been expecting something only just above zero. You can always save anywhere.

    My first game they were boring standard crystals; second game they were elderly women constantly scribbling in their scrolls who were "paid up members of the Guild of Scribes". They made remarks about you/the enemies/the dungeon in general, and who were not above laying bets among themselves about whether you would get to some optional places. In the third (large standing stones) their very existance was an integral part of the plot, and in my current project they are ghosts which appear out of particular pots, and are called Ghost Writers, appropriately enough.

    I think that in games where they exist (and they don't have to) it's a nice idea to give some thought about why they exist. If you can come up with something which makes sense to the actors and gives even a minor extra bit of world building, that has to be of benefit to the game.
  6. Kes said:
    I think this is more suited to 'General Discussion' as it is looking at an important aspect of game making.
    [mod]Moving to General Discussion[/mod]

    @Kes Thank you for moving it. Seems like you prefer your save points to fit thematically (as I do) as well as working with your plot. I'm not as fussed about it fitting the main plot but it is nice when it does. I plan to explain a little lore about how some of the save crystals in my world were corrupted, more so as background lore than any plot. As with everything in a game; you have to ask why it is there.

    @msazako Same as with Kes, yours fits both the plot and theme. Which is awesome. And I like the use of it being for storage too, makes me think of Pokemon with the storage PCs xD

    @shadefoundry This made me chuckle! A lot of games always make me feel like I'm the only person on an adventure, the only one taking risks. Sometimes it is important to remind players that NPCs can have stories and lives too!
  7. I really like Bravely Defaults travelling merchant. It's a save point that's also an expensive inn and sells consumables. It's also always setup to make it obvious a boss is right about to come up.

    The Most Stupidest Game (I think?) has a snarky Save Point that makes fun of you constantly. Also;
    Spoilers for a game made in rm2k ;)
    it actually ends up being a halfway boss through the game, scaring me into thinking there would be no more save points.

    I've always liked the idea of save points that modify the party in some way. One idea I've been contemplating is having save points also be transportation beacons (from many games). It would allow for shortcuts through dungeons that are unnecessary to fight through again and help you get back to out-of-the-way dungeons.