So I'm facing the dilemma that I should really get settled before I rewrite this project again, because the changes will be pretty huge all throughout the project.
There's quirks in my game that are being replicated for the sake of nostalgia. For those of you that remember playing Pokemon Red, or any early generations, you know that the game has some small loading screens. Very small, but the gameplay feels very fast, to the point of unnatural, without them. I have decided to show those inside my game for authenticity. It makes the game feel more close to the original. Those small details are not what is in question.My question is this… for all the small quirks that MAKE the game, should I remove and fix any ANNOYING quirks? I'm talking about, specifically, what I'm working on right now, which is the inventory. One thing I havent' decided is whether I should replicate this 100%. I already decided to bump up the amount of items a player can carry because that one was a huge hassle to deal with while playing the game. So I'm considering… another option is to toss items in-screen and update the list of items realtime. The real game resets the cursor back to the first item, even if your cursor is all the way at the bottom of the screen. This is very bothersome, but I want to change it more even so now that the player can carry a lot more items. But as soon as I decide I should make that change, my head goes to other options I would change about the game, and basically I'm conflicted whether to have the game be this neutered version that's changed so much for convenience. Plus I think of the people that will know this game inside and out… and wonder if they think my small fixes will be a nice addition or spitting in the face of the idea that this game is an exact replicate (which is what my goal is… I want people on youtube that see this game for the first time to continue to accuse me of ROM hacking or using gameshark codes).I'm conflicted. I feel like I have the choice already made up in my head but I can't figure out what it is. Halp.Side question… how do you fellows record the screen and make an easy GIF animation out of it? I want to show my work here without having to upload a youtube video as it's frankly not a huge amount of work.
Never played the Pokemon game (not a Pokemon guy) but I'd say maybe stay as true the game as possible but w/ a few customization options for ease. Can't really think of a good example, but I feel like that's how the "arcade" collection games always did it on 360 and such. Probably a cop out answer lel.
for GIFs, use licecaphttp://www.cockos.com/licecap/I personally would change the menu for the sake of UX. You can tell yourself it could have easily been implemented that way on the cartridge if the developers had been motivated to. Maybe add some fake load time to make up for it. But I mean, this is coming from a guy who once planned to make my own zelda based on the gameboy games. I didn't care so much if it was realistic, I was not binding myself to color restrictions, etc. Then again I did time how long it takes Link to walk across the screen in Link's Awakening and attempt to match it. Too bad I didn't get too far with that project (even though I planned it throughout most of high school)
Keeping the authenticity is a cute touch, but I say if you can make minor changes like where the cursor defaults, it's fine. It'd probably keep player retention a bit higher, since I can't think of a single person who is like "oh man, I'm so nostalgic for retro pokemon game user experience". People remember the aesthetic, and will be excited by that, but if you can make the menu less tedious while preserving the look and feel, do it.
Now wheres my FUCKIN PENNY?When you're nostalgic, you remember good parts of the thing that you're nostalgic about, creating a false, strained image in your head.
If you'll remove bad parts from the game, it will be just as good as people remember it!