On Achievements...

So, based on personal experience, which method do you guys find better for storing achievements in a game with multiple save slots:

1) Achievements are saved globally. As in you can earn one achievement by playing a game saved in slot 1 and then earn another by playing a game in slot 2. Both will persist across all saves, new games, etc.

Or…

2) Achievements are slot-specific.

Both have their pros and cons, but which one do you guys find is preferred by players?

Depends on the game.

I think it better if achievements can be earned in any slot. Players will just get angry if achievements aren’t global. Think about it: two different achievements are earned in two different slots. Players would be angry if you didn’t say both of the slots’ achievements deserve points.

It depends what makes sense. If achievements do nothing, sure, unlock them across save slots. Especially the stupid ones like ‘kill X enemies’ or ‘die X times’ which you should be avoiding anyway. Achievements that provide an in-game advantage, on the other hand, should be attached to their save slot, otherwise you may unbalance the game by giving the player a significant advantage from the beginning of a new game.

And then again, maybe your game is developed around that idea. The starting player character is weak but, by completing achievements, future games will be easier, making it possible for the player to go further and further into the game. Usually that’s done by collecting currency during play and buying upgrades with it between attempts or levels, like a lot of shmups do, but it’s by no means the only option.

Either can be appropriate, depending on the game and what the purpose of the achievements is.

Basically, the achievements were really just something I threw in because people seem to expect them. I was toying with the idea of them contributing to the player’s final score, in which case per-slot makes the most sense. However, the idea of attaching small perks is actually pretty neat and could actually give the player a reason to replay.

The downside is that a player could beat the game on normal, unlocking most of the achievement perks, and then turn around and beat the game on impossible. Depending on the perks, this could trivialize the efforts of someone who beat the game on impossible the first time through. Maybe I’ll make them mostly cosmetic, like alternate character costumes.

@Ace_Blue: Yeah, I’m for-sure avoiding the “kill X things” kinds of achievements. These are mostly “kill the boss in this slightly-more-challenging manner”, “beat the game on normal/hard/impossible”, and a filler achievement (so each row would be full) that involves maxing out each upgrade.

Certainly attaching perks to achievements is the only method that will get me to pursue them, but everyone’s different. Now, they don’t have to be quantifiable advantages. Extra content, such as new costumes or even Easter-eggy stuff is motivating as well. Just make sure you tell the player what is needed to complete the achievement. Few things are more infuriating than “Ultra-cool achievement: ??????”.

Originally posted by Ace_Blue:

Achievements that provide an in-game advantage, on the other hand, should be attached to their save slot, otherwise you may unbalance the game by giving the player a significant advantage from the beginning of a new game.

You mean like Elona Shooter?

Originally posted by Ace_Blue:

Certainly attaching perks to achievements is the only method that will get me to pursue them, but everyone’s different. Now, they don’t have to be quantifiable advantages. Extra content, such as new costumes or even Easter-eggy stuff is motivating as well. Just make sure you tell the player what is needed to complete the achievement. Few things are more infuriating than “Ultra-cool achievement: ??”.

Actually, you could do what Ratchet and Clank 2 did. Write an achievement giving a clue of what you need to do. Of course, you try not to make it too obvious. But what you can do is give an indication of where you can find the achievement. Amorphus+ did the same thing too, and, like Ratchet and Clank, it also has an unlockable (and matching badge courtesy of Kongregate) which is impossible.

As far as small global perks gained from achievements – I think Elona Shooter pulled it off quite well because the game would become impossibly hard on normal settings at later levels (which I know most players on kong do not enjoy). And the small bonuses would really give you a good head start (even though with most classes there was a good chance you would fail nonetheless if you had bad drops / shop rolls) I played that game far longer than almost every other game on here because of that reason, and I’ve come back to it several times. A good part of it though was the randomness of it – a carryover from the original roguelike Elona RPG (an excellent game itself, though here irrelevant). But the bonuses from the achivements made a HUGE difference in making me want to get them. I guess the key is to not make them imbalance the game – or better yet, make the game easier to beat on hardcore settings (i.e. from literally impossible to the possible)

So it really depends on your target audience as well. Really what you want to go for is the best gameplay experience for the largest possible audience…as well as have something for those hardcore gamers out there

@Aesica, when the player start the game, you can do an option asking “Do you want global achievements or slot-specific achievements?”. If you don’t like this idea, it’s better global achievements, for my.

After giving it some thought and reading over all of these posts, I think global really is the best bet. With things like unlocks for additional costumes, it might even give players a reason to possibly replay. Aside from beating it at a higher difficulty, of course. (And assuming the game is good enough to replay!)