Getting lost in video games

[mshcherbatskaya]

I don't get very lost, as in "where am I?" but I will occasionally find myself wandering all over a level looking for the frakking trigger point that will let me advance. And yes, I do think that's a design flaw. Getting killed over and over in the same point, OK, difficulty curve, sucks to be me. But if I have killed every damn thing and unlocked every damn door collected every single mcguffin, and talked to every damn NPC I could find and STILL can't find the trigger point, then the designer deserves a Nerf dart to the head, at the very least.

 

[tiredinnuendo]

I think the most "lost" I ever got in a game was The Legend of Kyrandia 3, where I got (I presume) about halfway through the game and was completely unable to figure out what to do next. And the Voice of Reason ate all my fish-creme sandwiches.

Best part about that game was offering that kid the broken glass.

- J

EDIT: Just noticed that mshcherbatskaya's one point away from 100. Quick, say something else!

 

[NotPigeon]

I've gotten lost in games because I couldn't find some arbitrary trigger thingy.
One thing that I just remembered was one room in some licensed game (I have a little brother, it was Christmas, and it was in the bargain bin. Little bugger doesn't even realize that it's not that good a game.) where I had to help my little brother advance, but it took me like an hour to figure it out myself.
Also, I sometimes get stuck playing adventure games (despite the fact that I love the genre). This usually comes in moments when I hit my #1 pet peeve in adventures- the "What the hell do I do next?" aimless period that you sometimes get after clearing a puzzle. I got stuck for days in the original Phoenix Wright because I didn't notice a background detail in the fifth case, although that was technically my fault for assuming that whatever had been dropped on the floor beforehand was unattainable.

 

[Dark Wingstalker]

Does anyone remember that Portal area where you had to use the turret to blow open the pipe?

Yeah, I didn't think of that. I ended up getting really frustrated and just getting piles of electronics from the room the turret was in to build myself a staircase out of there.

It was only playing through with the commentary on that I realised the pipe could be blown.

THE PIPE CAN BE BLOWN??

i stood on a swivel chair <_<

 

[Colodomoko]

DAMN STATUS QUO!!! Sorry, was that off topic?

 

[GyroCaptain]

Halo 1, the Library and Halo 2, both levels in the snow. Of course, this was co-op on a small TV, and the only thing dumber than either of us was both of us.

(The Library is incredibly direct if you just follow Spark. If you're tied up fighting Flood and he gets away, you can locate him by sound. Needless to say, though, we didn't think of that.)

Getting plot-lost in JRPGS and in Baldur's gate is almost mandatory. I've gotten miserably lost level-wise in many sidescrollers over time. (ones without direct left to right progress, like Commander Keen and original Duke Nukem)

 

[Altair-Ego]

I got lost in the Temple area in Crysis. But CHRIST the physics.

Got lost in Half-Life 2 and Episode 2 in the first and third level, respectively.

Lost in Mass Effect.

Oddly enough, I neer got lost in the Earth/Wind temples in Wind Waker when I was like 10. Everyone but me.

I don't get lost easily. In some confusing areas, I mentally tag things on the floor, wall, or ceiling and if I see it again, I'll pause and think.

 

[Conqueror Kenny]

i get lost in every game without an obvious linier route and i end up getting so annoyed with the game that i will play until i find the way just to show the game whos boss. Yes my mid does work in very strange ways

 

[Dark Wingstalker]

now that i think of it, the main game i get lost in is burnout paradise

im racing in first place, i hit a jump or little verge, and career onto what i think is a shortcut.

its never a shortcut.

 

[defcon 1]

Half-Life 2: Episode 1's underground. It's pitch black for several miles, and to make it worse, puzzling objectives! Yeah you have a flashlight but like Alex says, you need to talk to the doc about those batteries.The game has great graphics and I kind of want to SEE THEM! I almost gave up on the Half-Life games because it became so tedious and frustrating for so long. Why is it pitch black and not something like a low key lighting? to scare you??? FAILURE!!!

 

[mshcherbatskaya]

Just noticed that mshcherbatskaya's one point away from 100. Quick, say something else!

Hey! I'm not a Paperboy any more! Yay!

 

[Nugoo]

I always get lost in teleportation mazes, like the one in Kuja's palace in FFIX, or that FUCKING crystal in FFXII. I don't know how anyone could find Ultima in that place without a walkthrough.

 

[zirka]

Ya Burnout: Paradise pretty much asks that you memorize the city's map. In the races I take a glimpse at the mini map for a split second to see if I am going the right way and suddenly I crash into a wall, or a bus, whatever, the game's crowded and really fast. And when I am not looking at the mini map I also take those shortcuts that aren't shortcuts and sometimes end up going the opposite direction, with so many roads in that game that intersect and yet also so many roads that go in one direction for a long time with no way back. Not only that, the street and aves aren't numbers, they are frikkin names. I have to be a taxi driver to play this game!

 

[ReepNeep]

Speaking of FF games, my worst spot is that goddamn temple in Bevelle from FFX. Seriously, no walkthrough, no Bahamut.

Couldn't stand the 3d Zelda games, but the ice dungeon under the lake in zelda 3 was seriously mind warping. Probably took me 3 hours to finish that dungeon my first time through that game. The tower dungeon at the end of Link's Awakening, the one with the eagle boss and the pillar-smashing steel ball was a ***** too.

 

[KaynSlamdyke]

Ya Burnout: Paradise pretty much asks that you memorize the city's map...

See I've only played the Demo of Paradise, but I memmed the demo area (which I think is the waterfront / beach area) pretty quickly. I memorise the Burnout tracks in older games very quickly too, relying on muscle memory a lot. I realise there are a LOT of races in Paradise between places, but I also must point out the flashing street indicator you get coming up to a junction DOES flash up pretty early - early enough to make an informed choice unless you want to attempt being clever...

As for the streets being named and not numbered, I personally memorise names easier than numbers. Even with the American north-south-east-west-avenue-street system, I still learn road names faster than road numbers.

Halo 1, the Library... The Library is incredibly direct if you just follow Spark. If you're tied up fighting Flood and he gets away, you can locate him by sound. Needless to say, though, we didn't think of that.

Now we have to go through the non fiction section...

 

[stevesan]

Knytt - it's a huge 2d level with no map, so i never beat it once i got lost. otherwise, an awesome game tho.

BioShock - i know this is a bit pathetic cuz there's a map and arrow...but..i dunno. heh. all the places looked the same to me (i'm biased here..not a huge bioshock fan...want my $40 back).

all i gotta say is...BRING BACK THE AUTO MAP! w0rd up to RE4 for having a great auto map system.

 

[Singing Gremlin]

Vivec. I always got hopelessly lost in that place. Hell, to start with I couldn't even get to the top to get into the plazas...

 

[portuga-man]

got lost in ravenholm (lol). the fact that the zombies were constantly respawning didn't help. I used all my ammo. All i had left was the crowbar, which i used when you're waiting for that moving platform and the fast zombies climb the pipes. it was a sick game of whack-a-mole, it'll tell ya that!

 

[Melaisis]

It happens to me inside the caves and buildings on uncharted planets in Mass Effect.

Same thing happens to me all the bloody time, too.

Another vote for using the chair to get into the vent in Portal, also. <.<

 

[Batadon]

Speaking of FF games, my worst spot is that goddamn temple in Bevelle from FFX. Seriously, no walkthrough, no Bahamut.

Couldn't stand the 3d Zelda games, but the ice dungeon under the lake in zelda 3 was seriously mind warping. Probably took me 3 hours to finish that dungeon my first time through that game. The tower dungeon at the end of Link's Awakening, the one with the eagle boss and the pillar-smashing steel ball was a ***** too.

Yeah, that fake wall in the tower was a load of crap. It was the first time in my life I sequence breaked and I beat the turtle dungeon first... it almost felt like cheating ^_^

And that dang block in the ice palace -_-

Anywho, I rarely get lost, photographic video game memory i guess. Finding those plot triggers though... -_-