Chapter Seven Book Work

Question: "What Load and Save system would I implement in my game and why? Also, how would I balance immersion with player control?"

I'm imagining a snowboarding game where the opening screen is the player sitting in his or her car in the parking lot of their "Home Ski Resort". From there, the player can load and save games, change gear, drive to other mountains, or head up to the "Resort Area".

Once the player enters the "Resort Area" they can view a "resort map" to help figure out where the shops, ski lifts, and events (challenges) are.

Gear shops sell snowboard gear and apparel shops sell snowboard apparel to players, who earn money completing challenges and jobs around the mountain. Additionaly, players can load and save the game from within the shop.

The Ski Lifts take the player to the tops of different slopes where they can shred down the hill or head over to any nearby competition, skill challenge or job, where, a player can earn money. Once the player has enough money, they can afford to travel to other mountains, where they will find new slopes, new shops, and new challenges (that's IF they haven't spent all their money on boards and jackets already).

Player will also have something called "Shredder Rep", a reputation system based on three factors:

Talent: This is based on how the player does in competitions and skill challenges. It affects who might be interested in sponsoring the player.

Experience: Based on how many mountains, slopes, competitions, challenges, and jobs the player has completed. This affects what jobs the player will be offered. For example, players with too few skill challenges accomplished are less likely be asked by the resort to give private snowboarding lessons to wealthy VIPs.

Cred: Based on how many jobs and competitions the player has done well at. This affects the player's ability to get higher paying jobs and bigger name sponsorships.