Save in Combat

[A Papa]

Hi All!

The game is great!!!!
But, i have one question !
Can i  save in combat???
If the answer is no,why???

Thank you for all your trouble !

[blondandy]

You can't save in combat.

see http://ufoai.ninex.info/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=937&highlight=save
I agree with mattn.

IMO: if you know you can save and load all the time, it encourages cheatiness and takes some of the fear away.

[Baron Crass]

I agree with that as well. I know too many people who had the patience to just go through move after move, turn after turn, every time they were in a combat situation in the Xcom games. It makes you use your beain a little more if there are consequences.

[ancient_scars]

I understand the argument about not having a save function during combat, but (and it's a big but, no pun intended) if we play on a large map that takes an hour to complete it's a major turn-off if your computer decides to crash or there is a power black-out.

After all, if you don't want to save during combat just don't use the function.  :wink:

[Baron Crass]

Hmmm...having been lucky enough so far to avoid that, I really hadn't considered it. Maybe some sort of 'limited' saves ability would be implementable or something? Or even just some kind of autosave feature, though that's probably a colossal pain in the ass to implement.

[Pariah]

Greetings All,

Two thoughts. 1st, honestly, compared to TFTD, the levels here are puny.

2nd, twice this past weekend I wished I could save the game during combat. Why? Because the first time I had to let the spousal unit use the puter and the 2nd time was because I had to leave. Both times were in the middle of combat. I had to quit the game instead and since I only save when I quit, both times the progress I had made was lost.

[vvb]

Well... I think number of slots to save game in the middle of the battle can be function of level:

 Very easy -- unlimited number of saves.
 Easy -- 3
 Standard -- 1 (use it wisely! )
 Hard -- 0
 Very Hard -- 0.

 I think this scheme is fair enough.

[Baron Crass]

Greetings All,

Two thoughts. 1st, honestly, compared to TFTD, the levels here are puny.

2nd, twice this past weekend I wished I could save the game during combat. Why? Because the first time I had to let the spousal unit use the puter and the 2nd time was because I had to leave. Both times were in the middle of combat. I had to quit the game instead and since I only save when I quit, both times the progress I had made was lost.

the other difference from TFTD...none of those near-indestructible lobstermen. I HATED seeing those guys early on in a game.

[Surrealistik]

After all, if you don't want to save during combat just don't use the function.

Exactly. This was one of my main points when this debate first came up. There are concerns that a save feature will diminish the atmosphere and tension, and thus the funfactor/enjoyment. In reality though, this is a fallacious argument in that

A: the absence of a combat/battlescape save option actually *detracts* from the enjoyment of those who do wish to use it, which I can only presume to be most people, given that few appreciate having tens of minutes of their time wasted by some lucky shot or freak incident, or RL obligations.

and

B: Those gluttons for punishment who do want to iron man their way through tactical encounters can do so anyways.

Obviously the "preservation of atmosphere" fails to merit imposing what is likely a widely unpopular iron man experience, when in all practicality what this really accomplishes is frustration and annoyance on behalf of the player rather than the intended aim.

[zodde]

Hi all! Just joined this forum and have just downloaded the game and tried for a short period of time.

Anyway I want to give you guys my thoughts about the option to save during combat.

I agree that you should not be able to save during Combat to easily reload it and thus taking away the terror/punishment if you make a bad move.

Hower I do understand the frustration when playing a map and you suddenly have to quit the game for one or other reason.

I do have a suggestion that would solve the above situation and still keep the terror/punishment feeling. Do allow to save the game and then automatically quit back to desktop. I also suggest that savegames during combat cannot be reloaded until 5 minutes after they have been saved.

Now, this gives me the option to save the game, and go away if I need to do so. Also this effectively retain the terror/punishment of your actions since this save option would be useless to use every turn. You would be thrown out to deskop everytime and even if you reload the game you wont be able to load that savegame until five minutes have passed.

So, what do you guys think about this idea?

[Pariah]

I do have a suggestion that would solve the above situation and still keep the terror/punishment feeling. Do allow to save the game and then automatically quit back to desktop. I also suggest that savegames during combat cannot be reloaded until 5 minutes after they have been saved.

Honestly, that wait 5 minutes before you can reload is on the anal side. If someone wants to munch out and essentially cheat, let them. It would be no different if they got their hands on a "trainer program" to pump up all of their stats to 150. Cheaters will cheat. Don't worry about them.

Why? Just as Iron Man players like to thump their chests about how they play the game, cheaters like to cheat because they get enjoyment out of playing that way.

As the game designers, are you so narrow minded to dictate how someone has to enjoy the game?

Albert - Pariah - eastwoodaen[/code]

[Voller]

I have to disagree. If you can do something, there will always be some temptation to go ahead and do it. I like the fact that you can't save during a mission, yet I would probably do it if I could, being fully aware that it's not as much fun if I do!

Sometimes you just need somebody to give you a little help if your fingers are itching and you're about to do something stupid

Personally, I like the idea of only allowing a certain number of saves, which depends on the mission size and the difficulty level.

Or what happens if you take it one step further? Only allow a certain number of saves per day/week on geoscape mode. That way you could actually _lose_ a mission without being allowed to replay it. That way you could lose soldiers or even bases and would have to live with the consequences! Of course you should probably link this to the difficulty level somehow. Also you'd have to be able to save a game on quitting.

[canahari]

I do have a suggestion that would solve the above situation and still keep the terror/punishment feeling. Do allow to save the game and then automatically quit back to desktop. I also suggest that savegames during combat cannot be reloaded until 5 minutes after they have been saved.

I had exactly the same idea, but you have written it before me. :>
So I strongly agree with this "emergency quit" thing. But in my opinion this  restriction with loading is unnecessary (and difficult to code). This quitting is frustrating enough for the cheaters to prevent cheating.

[zodde]

I agree that the five minutes limitation is a bit tricky, however just to leave such functionality to autimatically quit to the desktop would most likely suffice.

Anyhow, the main problem is probably to write the save algorithm in the first place during combat mode

[Winter]

How about a limited number of temporary save slots per mission? 5 or 10 at most. These slots would be deleted as soon as you win or lose the mission.

Regards,
Winter