Re: Game mechanics do you like?

On Tue, 18 Feb 2025 15:34:36 -0600, Zaghadka <zaghadka@hotmail.com>
wrote:

On Tue, 18 Feb 2025 11:20:27 -0500, in comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action,
Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

So what's a good escort quest you've played?

I do not consider "Prince of Persia" an escort quest. The Princess can't
die and is basically a game mechanic. It's fun to watch, but you're
essentially both the player.

By my definition, an escort quest is a discrete part of the game (not the
entire game) where you have to bring a weaker game entity to a given
point on the map without them dying. IOW, you have to protect them and
they are vulnerable to death.

Putting a crown on them does not count, in my book. That's just a busy
work quest. If you can't lose by the escortee's death, it's not
technically an escort quest.

Is there any example of _that_ you've played and enjoyed?

I can't think of any examples. Generally, because I have never played one
where the scripting for the escortee makes any sense and/or works.

I mean, I think you're true-Scotsmanning the definition, and unfairly
too. These restrictions limit options to quests that are throw-away
additions to the main gameplay, and thus, unsurprisingly, the
mechanics of these quests almost always won't have the same care and
thought put into them. But despite what you claim, "Last of Us" and
"Bioshock Infinite" _are_ just long escort missions, and they aren't
annoying because the developers, knowing the escortee was to be a
prominent part of the game, put the effort into keeping them from
sucking.

But even with your restrictions, one game immediately comes to mind
when I think of good escorts: Half Life. The AI was surprisingly
competent with regards to its pathfinding (it had some issues with
doors, as I recall, but the game came out in '99 so I'll be forgiving
;-), and the level design made it so they weren't put in constant
harm's way. Half Life 2 Episode 1 (where Alyx was not a constant
companion) was even better; the NPC pulled her weight in combat and
gave observations and hints that grew the story.

Similarly, I recall a mission in one of the Metro games (I think it
was the second one) where you find a lost child and have to get them
back home. The developers mitigated the pathfinding issue by having
them sit on your shoulders, but they remained vulnerable to gunfire.
The lad's cheerful exhuberations as you blasted the molerats (or
whatever they were called) added a light-hearted energy to what was
otherwise a very dour game. The third Metro game ("Last Light"?)
opened with you partnered with a the protagonist's wife, and that
wasn't bad either (if much less memorable)

A lot of space/flight-sims often have you escorting weaker ships.
Sometimes these can be awful, but not always. It usually has less to
do with the quest itself and more with how obnoxious the developer is.
"Wing Commander 2" was a very mixed bag with regards to this. Guiding
a Drayman tanker through four waves of heavy fighters that ignore you
and fly straight at the cargo ship? Terrible. But other missions are
more fair, and the ones where you escort the Concordia (with its
massive wave-motion gun that one shots enemy carriers)? Awesome.