The promise and pitfalls of using savestates
Oct 3, 2006 13:57:29 GMT -5
Post by ed on Oct 3, 2006 13:57:29 GMT -5
When I started playing classic games (really not that long ago - sometime around 2001) I didn't have any systems from my youth, save my PSX and N64. The only way to experience games at the time was to emulate. Even half a decade ago (lol), every emulator for the major post-crash systems supported savestates (very little has changed since then) and cheat input methods. I never used cheats, but I did use savestates a lot.
It's easy to fall into the trap: Load a savestate, die, load it again, make an inch of progress, frantically save a state. You'd have to use multiple savestates in case you accidentally saved at the wrong time (when dying).
Sometimes things that are very easy become complex. In The Castlevania Adventure (GB), there's a spot where you can jump across three falling blocks to grab a one-up. When I first played the game it took me literally dozens of tries to get it just once. I'd line up at the edge, hit the button (actually, shift+F1 for VisualBoyAdvance, the standard then as now), then start my approach...now, I can hit it almost every time. At least half of my tries will be successful playing on a real GB Pocket.
Shooters? Good luck. Anything that requires you to memorize a pattern will be totally destroyed if you use savestates. In classic shooters like Truxton, memorizing when enemies appear and from where is very important. It's too easy to hit a savestate, use your memory of what happened a second ago, and congratulate yourself from dodging a horrible fate when all you've been doing is flying badly and using savestates to overcome surprises (or as a crutch for bad reflexes).
It's a good way to experience action games in a pedestrian way, but it goes against the core values of action games. You're supposed to be excited and your nerves razor-sharp, not digesting it in chunks like portions of a history book. You learn history in a different fashion than you learn games - with games you can use savestates to explore possibilities quickly and relatively painlessly, but the basic truth is that learning the pattern is a game's version of the lines of text in a book as much as knowing the button combinations.
I've been using MAME quite a bit more recently, and savestates don't always work well on that platform. It wasn't until I started trying to get highscores in classic shmups that I really made my peace with savestates. I didn't hate them, but I had relegated their use to just the occasional run through to find a graphic to rip or to try to explore something in the game engine. Now, playing Twin Cobra and Truxton on the Genesis makes me thankful for savestates, since you can pass the needlessly long intro sequences.
Then I'm back where I started. My aim is highscores so instead of using the built-in continues I restart every time I die (unless I've got a chance at a highscore, that is). It can be frustrating at times, but I think it serves my aims (one-lifing a game - all the powerups in Toaplan shooters really make the difference).
Your thoughts?
It's easy to fall into the trap: Load a savestate, die, load it again, make an inch of progress, frantically save a state. You'd have to use multiple savestates in case you accidentally saved at the wrong time (when dying).
Sometimes things that are very easy become complex. In The Castlevania Adventure (GB), there's a spot where you can jump across three falling blocks to grab a one-up. When I first played the game it took me literally dozens of tries to get it just once. I'd line up at the edge, hit the button (actually, shift+F1 for VisualBoyAdvance, the standard then as now), then start my approach...now, I can hit it almost every time. At least half of my tries will be successful playing on a real GB Pocket.
Shooters? Good luck. Anything that requires you to memorize a pattern will be totally destroyed if you use savestates. In classic shooters like Truxton, memorizing when enemies appear and from where is very important. It's too easy to hit a savestate, use your memory of what happened a second ago, and congratulate yourself from dodging a horrible fate when all you've been doing is flying badly and using savestates to overcome surprises (or as a crutch for bad reflexes).
It's a good way to experience action games in a pedestrian way, but it goes against the core values of action games. You're supposed to be excited and your nerves razor-sharp, not digesting it in chunks like portions of a history book. You learn history in a different fashion than you learn games - with games you can use savestates to explore possibilities quickly and relatively painlessly, but the basic truth is that learning the pattern is a game's version of the lines of text in a book as much as knowing the button combinations.
I've been using MAME quite a bit more recently, and savestates don't always work well on that platform. It wasn't until I started trying to get highscores in classic shmups that I really made my peace with savestates. I didn't hate them, but I had relegated their use to just the occasional run through to find a graphic to rip or to try to explore something in the game engine. Now, playing Twin Cobra and Truxton on the Genesis makes me thankful for savestates, since you can pass the needlessly long intro sequences.
Then I'm back where I started. My aim is highscores so instead of using the built-in continues I restart every time I die (unless I've got a chance at a highscore, that is). It can be frustrating at times, but I think it serves my aims (one-lifing a game - all the powerups in Toaplan shooters really make the difference).
Your thoughts?