Selection timer far too fast for younger audience
I played through Episode 1 last night, and really enjoyed it, likely will play again tonight making some different choices.
However, there is no way either of my two eldest (ages 6 & 7), both huge minecraft fans, will be able to read through the choices quickly enough. Having gone through the settings I can see no way to increase, turn off, pause this.
For telltale to release a game based around minecraft where a huge portion of the player base is quite young, and expect them to be able to read the choices in the time currently allotted is I feel a mistake. I mentor at the local CoderDojo, and if we give the kids a break 90%+ of them will fire up minecraft, a huge portion of them will look to play this game, but will have great difficulty because of the speed of reading required.
Now, I fully appreciate the reason for this, and as an older player I enjoy having to make the snap decisions. I just feel it bad that younger players will be disenfranchised with no option to increase time to read and make decisions.
I hope this will be taken as what is, constructive criticism, and a future release will add an option to allow younger players to enjoy what is a great addition to the minecraft universe.
Comments
Actually, I only had this problem with dialogue options, which aren't really HUGE but they seem to affect what people say. The main choices had about enough time for my 7 year old cousin to read them both and scream out "Square!" or "Circle!"
Also this game expects small kid to focus.
I don't know how the kids usually are in a real life for sure but aren't they generally not focusing to what they play that much?
They look around, do other stuff etc while this game doesn't give them that pause.
Essentially they get distracted easily and might just leave the controller where it is. Then come back to notice that game has completely unrecognizable situation.
Absolutely, it happens all too ofte....SQUIRREL!!!
I second your comment!
We decided to try it together with my two kids (9/11) last night.
Impossible for them to read and react in time....not to mention agree!!
An time option would be great for the younger minecraft generation
I see what you mean. Some of the playthroughs I watched on youtube missed one or two dialogue choices, and they are grown adults. I imagine it must be pretty hard for young children to read the options and pick one before the timer runs out.
I was just about to write telltale a long mail, probably will still do it, to ask them for a option to remove timers on choices.
I'm also planning to play the game with my kids 9/7 of age.
One big problem. We are not native english speakers, so I have to translate it all. No, way that is gonna happen before the timer runs out.
Some form of kids speed option would be perfect for me/us. As written before in this post. Know the time issue is part of the game, but I am fairly sure my kids don't care.
I will try and play the demo with them and see how it works out.
Hope telltale can come up with a super solution, because I really like these games, and I'm pretty sure my kids will also.
Thoughts from a little frustrated father.
Thread: Why cant I play without timers?
I was looking forward to picking this up and playing it with my daughter, but despite the fact this game is clearly aimed at a younger audience than the usual telltale games, the option to to remove the timers does not exist.
I think this is a huge oversite as I have zero interest in playing the game alone and see no reason to buy it for my child as she wont be able to read everything before the timers run out.
Maybe this should be looked in to as a feature of a future update, I fully understand the reasoning behind the timers in all other telltale games, but one clearly aimed at children should atleast have the option to disable the timers.
I really hope you guys take this on board as Im sure Im not the only one who would like this to atleast be an option within the game.
Please allow to disable/enable timers!
The best way to play Telltale's games is with timers, but I agree that you should have the option to disable them.
Have them on by default, hide the disable option away in a menu, and pop up a big warning when you go to disable it. Something like "THIS GAME IS MEANT TO BE PLAYED WITH TIMED CHOICE. DON'T DISABLE THEM UNLESS YOU HAVE A REALLY GOOD REASON"
Well you can't play without them, but if you press "space" the game will pause and the choices will be shown on the screen.
Been thinking on this. I think a plausible solution might be to implement a selection when first starting a new game - either selection timers (normal play) or no timers. If no timers are selected then no achievements can be earned, similar to how Peaceful mode works on minecraft on consoles in terms of disabling achievements.
You can pause the game by pressing the spacebar, but I agree, it really goes fast. While having quick timers during choice time is cool, the dialogue options could be slower.
Might be different on PC, but when playing on console pressing any button which has the effect of pausing the game bring up a separate screen so you can no longer read the options. If space simply pauses it leaving the text on screen then the PC version already has what is needed.
There are certain instances where dialogue timers are necessary, like in fight sequences or other stuff of that ilk.
I've seen this complaint pop up a bunch of times. I understand why people think it but I can never put myself in that point of view.
And to be a little cheeky, the rating is 12+, but that doesn't really matter lol. The game is naturally more complicated than Minecraft, and the dialogue option reflects that. The game requires a lot more focus, so yeah.
The good thing is that silence is a valid option so it doesn't ruin the entire game.
That timer isn't very friendly for people like me who enjoy RPing on multiple plays. It's one thing to give your personal reaction, it's a bit more effort to imagine somebody else and what they would do. Although I understand that complaint is very specific to me and I'm just weird.
"Silence is a valid option"
Yeah.... Right. Of course! In GOT, if you stay silent many times during the cersei confrontation about tyrion, the guard will kill you. In TFtb, if you dont help Vallory by telling her who to blame, the sniper kills you.
The timer is there so it would be realistic. Like there is a horde of zombies coming at you. Would you have 5-10 mins to decide whether to fight them or run?
Eventually you'll have to pick.
Twice. You have to stay silent twice.
You know what I meant. :l
Thanks! I will do that
I would also like some sort of modified (slower, disabled) timer for my son. He's just not quick enough at his age to process the options compared to an adult. We don't care about achievements but would like the story progress as he decides, not from the button mashed choices as his timer runs out.
Oh gods, I somehow missed this (probably cause it's a month old) and just made a topic about it. I'm so happy to see others complaining about this.
To the people spouting nonsense about "suspense" or "realism", this is NOT the sort of game one expects realism in, but more to the point there is absolutely no suspense lost in being able to stop and consider your choice --at any time--. I'd been a big fan of TTG since the Sam & Max days, and I pretty much stopped buying their stuff after Jurassic Park and The Walking Dead. I hated the QTEs in the former and the need to make snappy choices. This isn't an action game where you react on instinct, these are adventure games where you have to think about your actions and weigh them accordingly.
This is like trying to read a Choose Your Own Adventure novel that's slowly burning up and you have to make it to the next page before the one you're on burns. It's stupid and sure as heck isn't any fun. I always played Telltale's games for the writing and sense of adventure, not swear cause the timer ran out before I could make my choice or curse because I clicked the one above or below my intended selection.
I WILL, however, try that space bar option. If it works, that's great, if not.. I'm seriously considering seeking a refund. I really, really wanted to give this a chance cause I love Minecraft and the trailer had me convinced this would be a much more enjoyable experience (writing-wise) than TTG's recent releases.
EDIT: My apologies, on "reviving" an older thread. I hadn't realizes the last post was quite that old. I was just so happy to see some like-minded people that I got ahead of myself.
Well, you must be a very tradditional person.
I'm a sensible person, and I like to enjoy the games I paid for. My life is stressful enough. In any case, the space bar DOES work. It's not an ideal solution, but I'll make do with it. As I may have mentioned, I really want to like this game, but good visuals and writing alone can't save a game if the gameplay is unenjoyable. "Speaking with your wallet" does nothing if the publisher/developer doesn't know why you didn't want their product, so I voice my concern.
Even if I'm the only one speaking.
Well, majority of the people, including me love the timer, telltale isn't going to change that because of 2 people.
I don't know why no one and said this so I will say it
Make the time on the timer adjustable from 5 seconds to 20 and that way you timers can be useful a DJ an enjoying necessity in the game for all ages
Edit: the typing oh the typing
Anyway what I meant was that in settings there could be a slider to the very left is a 5 second timer before silence is forced and to the very right would be 20 seconds to choose an option that way the timer will still be there to add suspense to the game for all ages, it's a great way to make the game longer or shorter if you feel like that
What?
I think he had a stroke while writing this.
Something about DJ.
Yeah, DJ's can solve all your problems
wat. I didn't know this until now. Cool.
Same
Just press "spacebar" to pause.
Not an ideal solution really though, it sorta like leaving real life and stopping time
I let a young man play this on my computer. (Who was 9) And he did alright with the choice speed. (There was one he missed, but besides that, he reacted fast)
This is actually one complaint I can agree with spanning telltale games. Personally I'm fine with the timer, but for disabled, young, or slow-reading players, an adjustable timer speed in the settings would be beneficial to them while also keeping the suspense of timed scenes. It might even help when playing with friends so you would have more time to discuss options without pausing. Telltale would need to have some filler animation for the extra time, but otherwise I don't think it would be that distracting of a feature.
Just want to keep this topic alive. I've grown to appreciate the timer as a tool for advancing dramatic tension (eg. Walking Dead) but, it made it so I couldn't play MSM game with my son who loves Minecraft, and who could use a lot more practice with reading.
I, uh, didn't figure out the spacebar work around...
Is that going to be Telltale's solution for slower readers?
yeah. some of the things in episode 4 were way too fast (jesse's and alex's handshake, anyone?).
Bumping this. Bought the game yesterday to play with my 6 year old. Figured it would help practice reading but the timer is BS. It would be a simple thing to code and drastically change the enjoyment of younger audiances. Seeing as how the game is very popular with younger kids this oversite is actually kind of upsetting. Personally will not be recommending this until thay option is added.
Thanks for admitting to bumping this, most people don't.
The game is rated E10+. You know for children who can read at a decent enough pace.