From: rjung@aludra.usc.edu (Robert A. Jung)
Newsgroups: rec.games.video,alt.games.lynx
Subject: Game configuration (was Re: Lynx vs. Game Gear?)
Date: 15 Dec 1992 19:25:50 -0800
Organization: Southern California Lynx Enthusiasts
NNTP-Posting-Host: aludra.usc.edu

In article <BzBquK.Lz4@python.cs.unm.edu> sandia!marms@unmvax.unm.edu (Mike Arms) writes:
>rjung@girtab.usc.edu (Robert A. Jung) writes:
>>marms@python.unm.edu (Mike Arms) writes:
>>>Haven't you wished for options to control difficulty
>>>on games like STUN Runner or Rampart?  Damn those games are frustrating...
>>
>>It's not a limit of the machine, just how the programmers work and
>>how the specs are written. But to blame the Lynx for this is silly.
>
>I wasn't trying to necessarily blame the Lynx exclusively, Robert.

  I know.  B-)

>But I do find that Lynx games are predominantly non-configurable
>and either do not have any difficulty level selection, or the base
>difficulty level is too hard for players of low skill that still 
>want to be able to enjoy a game. ... 
>Haven't you wished for options to control difficulty on games like 
>STUN Runner or Rampart?  I'd be interested in your particular answer
>here.

  Depends on the game. With arcade conversions, my minimum requirement is that
I can play it just like the arcade. If Lynx RAMPART is equally difficult as the
arcade machine, I'm content. Options are nice, but I would like to be able to
select the "real" experience as well.

  To tell the truth, I do not really miss a difficulty select on most Lynx
games. Then again, I'm not a six-year-old, either.  B-) I guess I wouldn't
mind seeing difficulty options on more Lynx titles, since it makes the game
more accessible to more people. On the other hand, I doubt I'd use them, at
least not in order to finish the game quicker. This is not something that I
lose sleep over, and to be honest, I doubt it hurts atari too much. Most Lynx
players are at a fairly reasonable skill levels (probably eight years old and
above); I haven't really seen a Lynx game that was incredibly ungodly
difficult to drive players in this category away (except maybe for BATMAN
RETURNS, but now I hear someone has finished that, too).

  My guess is that Atari does not really think about difficulty levels in
Lynx titles right now; I haven't seen a copy of Atari's "game specs", but I
imagine that "difficulty select", if it's mentioned at all, gets low
priority. In other words, if the game's finished, and there's still room to
put in a configuration screen/difficulty select, what the heck. If not, not.
On the other hand, with the advent of four-megabit Lynx games coming soon,
perhaps we will see more difficulty selections and configuration options in
Lynx titles...

                                                --R.J.
                                                B-)

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