SAVE!!!

[Adrian]

Note to developers:
I started the first mission but had to stop (I am not blessed with large chunks of time). My progress was saved but I had to start again from the tower. I had another go at the first mission but had to stop...... (repeat several times). In future, please could games have some sort of decent save capability so that I can stop playing when necessary and then simply continue at a later date. I do not mean this so that I can cheat. So far the game has not been remotely difficult (apart from understanding what I am supposed to do) but I have got nowhere because I have to keep restarting.

[[HRTMT]LinuxGamesTV]

???

If you quit the game, the current progress is saved.
You can also cancel the missions. But you always begin on one of the towers.

[Adrian]

It is going back to the towers that I object to. By repeatedly playing the start of the first mission I am building up good stats for my character, but the amount that has to be done to get to the end of the mission is too much for the small chunks of time that I have. I just wish that all PC games could have a save such that we can carry on from exactly where we left off. It really isn't asking too much.

[Adrian]

I also have to disagree with "current progress is saved". It is in that any upgrades etc are still there, but if I start by killing the four orcs on the bridge, then next time they will still be there. It seems these days that games are not being designed with people like me in mind (I have a job that takes a lot of time and I have three young children) and are instead aimed at people who have all day to play.

[[HRTMT]LinuxGamesTV]

Originally posted by a.stent:

I also have to disagree with "current progress is saved". It is in that any upgrades etc are still there, but if I start by killing the four orcs on the bridge, then next time they will still be there. ...

You know what open World mean?
Have you ever played GTA III or higher?

Your Points, killed captains and war chiefs, that's an Uruk killed you and what it was, your finished Missions, etc are saved.

[Adrian]

I don't understand what "Open World" has got to do with my comment on saving. I always thought Open World games were those where you can go where you want and do what you want within the limits of the game. These would include Skyrim, Fallout New Vegas etc right back to playing Frontier on the Amiga. I can't really comment on GTA as I only played a few hours on GTA IV but gave up as it was so boring. If I am playing Skyrim I can sit down for a 20 minute session knowing that I can stop at any time. Right now I am unwilling to start playing Shadow of Mordor because I have to go out in 45 minutes and don't know if that is enough time to complete the mission. When I play I would like to explore but, due to the save game situation, feel that I have to rush straight toward the target, which defeats the object of an Open World game. So far I have done some exploring and came across somebody "...Blood Axe". I have killed him three times, but now feel I have to avoid him as he is not in a direct line to my target. i.e. The Open World is spoiled for me by the Save Game method.

I am trying to understand "that's an Uruk killed you and what it was" - are you suggesting that I have been killed? Since fighting (so far) is simply clicking LMB and then RMB when told to, it is hard to see how I could have been killed this early in the game. As an experiment, I walked into the first group of four orcs, closed my eyes, and just kept pressing LMB until they were dead. I took a bit of damage due to the lack of defence, but not much. I tried this same technique early in Skyrim, but was quickly killed. I am sure the difficulty will increase, and I will have to think about strategy etc, but right now my only problems are boredom of repitition, time management and having little idea what I am doing.

[[HRTMT]LinuxGamesTV]

"that's an Uruk killed you and what it was" = A Uruk can kill you. After he kill you he is promoted.

But if you kill Uruks, not War chiefs or captains, keep coming back

[Adrian]

OK - thank you. I have managed to play a bit more and completed a couple of missions. I am getting to grips with the game generally, although struggle a bit with the mechanics e.g. when trying to kill spiders I slash the air etc. I have also been killed twice due to dodgy responses, probably due to something starting to run in the background - I often find that when expected to block with RMB it instead goes into shooting bow mode, which is no good for defence, and sometimes the game decides not to react when I am pressing the move buttons, making me a sitting duck - all the more reason for a decent save function. Still, it looks like a good game. I had exactly the same Save complaint with Far Cry 3 but still loved playing it (except for the repitition).

[[HRTMT]LinuxGamesTV]

Originally posted by a.stent:

OK - thank you. I have managed to play a bit more and completed a couple of missions. I am getting to grips with the game generally, although struggle a bit with the mechanics e.g. when trying to kill spiders I slash the air etc. I have also been killed twice due to dodgy responses, probably due to something starting to run in the background - I often find that when expected to block with RMB it instead goes into shooting bow mode, which is no good for defence, and sometimes the game decides not to react when I am pressing the move buttons, making me a sitting duck - all the more reason for a decent save function. Still, it looks like a good game. I had exactly the same Save complaint with Far Cry 3 but still loved playing it (except for the repitition).

I know the problems with the mouse. This game is better to play with a gamepad.

To the spidders: on which you need only run over it.

[Belanos]

Originally posted by a.stent:

I am getting to grips with the game generally, although struggle a bit with the mechanics e.g. when trying to kill spiders I slash the air etc.

Don't bother with those. You can kill them simply by stepping on them while you're running. Eventually you'll complete that mission without even trying. There's certainly no need to hack them with your sword.

[SpawnCap]

No game, or hardly any, save in the middle of a mission. This game, when you are not in a mission, saves anytime you kill anything, including stepping on a spider, and anytime you pick up anything, so basically it's saving about 60 times per hour.

[Adrian]

Thanks for the replies. I ended up killing the spiders with arrows, which seemed a bit of a waste, but easily replinished. I didn't think of just running over them.
I hate playing these games with controllers. I always prefer first person and find standard mouse control (as perfected in Half-Life) by far the best method in most cases. However, I can also see that having lots of different moves needs lots of buttons.
I appreciate that the game saves a lot and I should get used to the basic format - I just can't understand why I cannot simply hit "save" when I want to and continue from there, as so many other games do this easily. When a game is as incredibly detailed as this it always grates when basics are done wrongly (in my opinion). Having studied computer programming back in the eighties, right up to university level, I have a good appreciation of how difficult it is to program an unthinking computer to behave like real life (AI) and am really impressed with this game (and several others) so don't want to be too negative. I am sure I will get many hours of enjoyment. If only I could save....

[Adrian]

I feel that I ought to eat a bit of humble pie. Whilst I still feel that all games should have a proper save, for reasons already given, I have to admit that this game does the automatic save feature as well as any that I have come across. The fact that the character has not been allowed to die makes reappearing on the towers sensible and I now understand why I keep re-killing the same captains. All in all this is a really good game.

[kschang77]

Now, now, tell us how you REALLY feel. :D

If you want a true "save"... just hit pause and walk away. Nothing will happen until you come back and resume.

Open world games by default, cheat a little, in that it really just saves your mission progress and not every last bit of the world around you. Instead, it randomly regenerates the stuff around you or in the direction you are travelling toward. That's why in this game the "missions" you engage require new loading screens... It's resetting the playing field to fit the mission, not your "existing" game world. The existing game world was NOT saved... but regenerated next time you pop back in, based on the world state (i.e. "status of Sauron's army") and your completion markers.

To prove this is quite simple... Did you gather up all the artifacts? I got them, and according to the map, there are still more on the map, proving it's randomly generated out of a list. Same with the herbs and whatnot. Orcs are randomly generated too, according to location, and given a random missions, like moving slaves, hunting party, random patrol, resting around a fire, supervising slaves, and so on. In fact, I've seen them "pop in" and/or "pop out" too, supposedly just beyond your visual range, but noticeable if you're high up and using Wraith vision.

[Belanos]

Originally posted by kschang77:

In fact, I've seen them "pop in" and/or "pop out" too, supposedly just beyond your visual range, but noticeable if you're high up and using Wraith vision.

That doesn't necessarily prove they're "popping in and out", though you are mostly likely correct. Wraith vision has a range limit, after which you can no longer see any Orcs. Those ones you noticed may simply have been walking into it's range at that point, from just outside of it. Orcs do seem to spawn in and out spontaneously though, especially in the strongholds.

[Adrian]

Originally posted by kschang77:

If you want a true "save"... just hit pause and walk away. Nothing will happen until you come back and resume.

But this is no use if I have started a mission. For example, when I started the first Ratbag mission I found him, went through the dialogue, fought past some orcs, progressed further..... and then the phone went and I found myself unable to play until the next day when I had to start the mission all over again. It is the mixing of trying to play a game whilst actually living in the real world that makes a proper save essential. I get by it in this game because there is always plenty to do and I only start a main mission if I have a lot of free time, but it should not be this way.
I repeat though, this is an excellent game.