What's a minor feature in a game that you really appreciate?

[XoRn]

Not all game mechanics are core to the experience but sometimes developers will put that little extra polish, or feature in that most games would just forget. I'm talking about really basic stuff like a blipping map curser that makes it easier to locate your position, or a change in the way your gun sounds when it's about to run out of ammo.

I personally really like it when games with weapons and NPC's (and public areas) gives you a holster button. After all, who wants to have a conversation with someone who's throttling a bastard sword, or pointing a brain melting laser gun at your face? It doesn't do anything game play wise but it's polite, and I appreciate that.

Whats a tiny little feature that you like that doesn't make or break a game but you appreciate that the devs put in?

 

[Brian Boru]

1-button Quit to Desktop

That's the one that springs to mind. Some games have up to 6 clicks—often with some delays in between—to stop playing, so I appreciate the player-friendly 1-button facility. If I recall correctly, the Civ games have it, some others too but nowhere near enough.

Skip intro Videos & Cut scenes

Are many like me, watch these once on first playthru and then usually not want to see them again? Worst are console-ported games which have a nerfed Save system, where you can end up respawning just before a long unskippable cut scene—grr!

Climbing made easy

Just finishing my second playthru of Sniper Ghost Warrior 3. One of its frustrations is limited climbing opportunities, so you end up having to traipse around a rocky hill to find the low spot to get on top. I love exploring game worlds, but on my terms, not forced by the devs.

1-click Continue where you left off

Most times I launch a game, I want to continue from where I finished last time. I want to click a desktop icon and have the software do all the necessary to load my last save, so when I come back from the bathroom, we're ready to roll. By all means have another icon for time-wasting startups for those who want them—typically the moms of the intro sequences designers

Run-over Looting

Why in Fall From Heaven's name do we have to click or press to loot every gosh-darned box, animal, enemy? I mentioned elsewhere in Far Cry Primal could easily have a dozen wolf corpses at my feet—requiring fiddly positioning to get the loot action message & then getting an animation to skin each one is just ridiculous. I played a game not too long ago where you ran over ammo to acquire it—at least that's some help.

Option to turn off gore

Sniper Ghost Warrior 3 has an option to turn off the headshot slomo burst-head-open animation, which gets boring very fast and breaks the game immersion—thanks for that SGW3, wish other games followed suit. My GF used to enjoy watching me play Far Cry, but not since they introduced the gory takedowns and animal skinning.

 

[XoRn]

1-button Quit to Desktop

That's the one that springs to mind. Some games have up to 6 clicks—often with some delays in between—to stop playing, so I appreciate the player-friendly 1-button facility. If I recall correctly, the Civ games have it, some others too but nowhere near enough.

I remember the first time I played Assassins Creed on PC and realized it was going to take me 3 minutes to quit the game, EVERY TIME. It was like 11 button presses because you had to exit the simulation, exit the simulator thing, exit the game back to the main menu, EXIT THE MAIN MENU, and then you could quit the game.

 

[Pifanjr]

Being able to hide pretty much all HUD elements and still being able to get all necessary information from other cues.

I've disabled pretty much all HUD elements for Assassin's Creed since the first game.

I don't understand why Skyrim allows you to remove the crosshairs, but not the compass.

 

[Johnway]

A fair few of the minor features have been mentioned so i'll mention the slightly smaller, trivial ones:

an ingame timer/clock . No more needing to look to the side, at a watch or mobile i can see at the bottom of the screen and tell whether i can play on or need to stop. As someone who plays a strict time scale its damn helpful.

A dedicated in game screenshot / photosystem. I don't use it much myself, but the ability to make decent screenshots is great and you can come up with some pretty decent images i find.

Show all collectibles on a map. When a game has loads of collectibles, its a god send to at least tell me where they are as opposed to forcing me to find them as well. In fact it sort of encourages me to do it if i know where they all are. if someone asked me to go over an open world with a fine tooth comb, to collect something incredibly trivial sod that.



EDIT: A few in A/RPGS that rings some bells:


Get personal loot thats only visible to you. No need to worry about people stealing your loot or hoovering up everything, everything there is for you so no need about causing friction and everyone gets a share of the loot.

All characters gain EXP or gain exp passively. Some RPGS could seriously do with this, too often there are too many characters and i either have to spend time grinding a game to increase stats and maintain flexibility. hell, i would gladly accept sending units out to do side missions to gain exp whilst i play the main missions.

A decent damage/ stats calculator. As someone who doesn't have time to calculate the meta etc this makes it simple. But that said, maybe that will cause problems in the long run. Especially if the stat increases are irrelevant or i should be focusing on other stats.

 

[McStabStab]

For RPG games where you’re carrying heaps of items I like sort functions.

For open world games I like being able to put markers on the map and line out routes.

I like immediate stat comparisons of equipped vs. collected items.

And above everything a photo/screenshot mode.

 

[Johnway]

Speaking of RPGs, Torchlight and the adventures of van helsing's minion selling service. No need to stop in the combat when my inventory is full. Just get the minion to go back and do the run instead! To be fair its not that much of a time saver and it kinda helps to take a breather once in a while, but if you get a hell of a lot of loot and need to make frequent returns its a god send.

On RTS side of things, starcraft resource optimization settings are good. A clear and useful way to know how many workers to harvest stuff. Failing that, i prefer rouse management to be kept to a minimum. World in Conflict is my go to game for this. No need to farm resources, here is a fixed amount of resources, feel free to spend them as you see fit and get those resources back when you lose the unit so you can buy another one or something else. Being a bit rubbish at RTS games i run out of resources very quickly (mind you, Starcraft's resource management kept that to a minimum) and it get s boring trying to wait for it. C&C too often i just buy one harvester with one refinery, hindsight i should buy more but meh.

 

[Pifanjr]

Being a bit rubbish at RTS games i run out of resources very quickly

My main problem in RTS games is that I forget to spend my resources because I'm too busy micro managing my units. Which is why I like Company of Heroes, as you can get pretty far with just a few basic units. It helps I only play the game in multiplayer and cooperatively with my friends vs. the AI.

 

[Johnway]

My main problem in RTS games is that I forget to spend my resources because I'm too busy micro managing my units. Which is why I like Company of Heroes, as you can get pretty far with just a few basic units. It helps I only play the game in multiplayer and cooperatively with my friends vs. the AI.

I've never been a great fan of COH tbh. I think its the population caps feels incredibly aggressive that at most a single task force leaving too many gaps for my liking. Its not helped by the resources limitations at times. In ardennes assualt the whole problem makes is especially stressful. So much so that i gave up playing it.

 

[Pifanjr]

I've never been a great fan of COH tbh. I think its the population caps feels incredibly aggressive that at most a single task force leaving too many gaps for my liking. Its not helped by the resources limitations at times. In ardennes assualt the whole problem makes is especially stressful. So much so that i gave up playing it.

I have heard CoH 2 is worse than 1. I've only played 1 myself and only in cooperative multiplayer.

 

[Brian Boru]

C&C too often i just buy one harvester with one refinery, hindsight i should buy more

I've found a simple 2 Harvesters per Refinery works well, 1-per is too few for sure and 3-per tends to cause traffic problems and inefficient routing. For general maps, 2 refineries and 4 Harvesters is my usual build—and of course, the earlier the better.

 

[pathospades]

+1 on just being able to putting away your weapon.

+1 Skippable cutscenes

+1 Hide HUD

+1 Seeing enemy HP and the damage numbers

I want to be able to reset my skill tree at will with no consequences.

I appreciate multiple save files, being able to clone saves and name them.

I really like having Level/Chapter/Boss Select. In Nier Automata, you can time travel to a previous storyline.

I love the ability to go into first-person in a normally third-person game. It's easier to admire the environment in first-person.

 

[Zloth]

The clocks on 4X games sitting right above the "End Turn" button are the king of the usefulness to ease-of-implementation ratio. Even though there's a clock right over my shoulder, putting it right on the screen has saved me from some short nights.

It's not quite as simple now with the new modes but, when No Man's Sky first showed up, you would start the game and it would automatically load your save game. I've been begging for other games to do this ever since but no takers so far.

An ancient one : F5 to save the game without having to mess with menus or anything else. (I'm less of a fan when it comes to quick load. I worry that I'll make a bad typo and accidentally load when a game is going well.)

The save system is actually pretty important to me. I like having manual saves with names AND quick saves AND some sort of auto save (either going off frequent check points or just a timer and some smarts that will keep autosave from kicking in at a really bad point). The auto-saves should have at least three slots rolling through.

Screenshot mode. I'm not so interested in filters as I am lighting conditions. I definitely want a somewhat free camera - screenshot modes that have the main character locked at the center of the screen aren't very good. At the very least, let me turn the HUD off so I can get a clean shot!

I remember the first time I played Assassins Creed on PC and realized it was going to take me 3 minutes to quit the game, EVERY TIME. It was like 11 button presses because you had to exit the simulation, exit the simulator thing, exit the game back to the main menu, EXIT THE MAIN MENU, and then you could quit the game.

You get that a lot in console ports. However, console ports are also designed so you can just turn the console off when you're done playing. That means that you can just use the old Alt-F4 key combo to close the game quickly!

 

[Pifanjr]

customizable weapons and armor, oh and beautiful companion

I understand that a lot of players care deeply about being able to customize the look of their character, including their gear. For example, by letting you use the appearance of one piece of gear while using the stats of another.

Personally, I enjoy having a mishmash of different pieces of gear. I prefer looking funny over looking badass, I like seeing my appearance change over time as I find new gear and I like seeing each individual piece and remembering the excitement when I found it.

 

[Johnway]

In FPS games, especially large pvp types i'm thankful for unlimited stamina for running. In games with vast environments its a simple convenience that pisses people off because its not realistic. Yes its not realistic but damn it, unless your game is going for full realism like ARMA it should be implemented as a QoL aspect.

Speaking of QoL changes being able to move whilst ADS should be implemented. Games like Resident Evil 4/5 and MGS2 pissed me off immensely as it came across as art before function. I'm sure i've discussed my vocal criticism about it.


Onto other games? unlimited inventory space. having no weight system makes like simpler . So i can focus on other things like having fun and combat and uninterrupted exploration.


The other thing that's swings back and forth is no durability factors on weapons. On the one hand, its an interesting mechanic and it sort of goes hand in hand with upgrading mechanics. On the other hand its tedious at best ( i mean, i carry enough repair kits or parts to repair that its never an issue) or its just a grindy, repetitive irritation to deprive players decent weapons and doing more harder stuff. F2P games and/or ones with MTX in them use this a lot but having to constantly craft loads of picks in minecraft becomes a hassle. Even diamond ones.

 

[Pifanjr]

Onto other games? unlimited inventory space. having no weight system makes like simpler . So i can focus on other things like having fun and combat and uninterrupted exploration.


The other thing that's swings back and forth is no durability factors on weapons. On the one hand, its an interesting mechanic and it sort of goes hand in hand with upgrading mechanics. On the other hand its tedious at best ( i mean, i carry enough repair kits or parts to repair that its never an issue) or its just a grindy, repetitive irritation to deprive players decent weapons and doing more harder stuff. F2P games and/or ones with MTX in them use this a lot but having to constantly craft loads of picks in minecraft becomes a hassle. Even diamond ones.

I think limited inventory space can be fine if it actually impacts the game in a significant way. In Skyrim it just limits how much money you can make per trip, which isn't really necessary as you'll be swimming in money fairly quickly anyway. I don't think Skyrim would be less enjoyable if you had an infinite carry limit. In Angband on the other hand, the limited inventory slots and weight means you have to make hard choices about what to bring and what to drop when you find something interesting. Which fits very well in a rogue-like game.

I've never played a game that was improved by adding durability factors though.

 

[XoRn]

I've never played a game that was improved by adding durability factors though.

The only game I can think of is Far Cry 2 where your guns explode in your hands when they hit their durability threshold. Beyond that, durability feels like lazy design. It gives players busy work to maintain a status quo usually.

 

[Zloth]

Personally, I enjoy having a mishmash of different pieces of gear. I prefer looking funny over looking badass, I like seeing my appearance change over time as I find new gear and I like seeing each individual piece and remembering the excitement when I found it.

I don't know, it can get pretty awful: shoes from one set, legs from another, chest from another, gloves from another... all with different colors and patterns. There's funny and then there's "ouch - can I go 1st person?"

Ah, there's another nice game feature: invisible helmets. Completely silly, but so much better for story telling. Final Fantasy 12 villains, take note!

 

[Brian Boru]

I've never played a game that was improved by adding durability factors

only game I can think of is Far Cry 2 … busy work to maintain a status quo

100% with @XoRn here. I'm a big Far Cry fan from the very first one, but never got into FC2 for this reason—weapon deterioration, sickness etc. Started the game 3 times spaced many years apart, dropped it each time after a few hours.

Sniper Ghost Warrior 3 is another, got a ridiculous suppressor deterioration mechanic and a buggy repair system—thankfully can be modded out.

 

[Johnway]

100% with @XoRn here. I'm a big Far Cry fan from the very first one, but never got into FC2 for this reason—weapon deterioration, sickness etc. Started the game 3 times spaced many years apart, dropped it each time after a few hours.

yeah far cry 2's durability mechanics were pretty annoying at times as the weapons break with alarming frequency that you had to replace them far too often for my liking. Enemy weapons were verging on junk if you were caught short. I totally forgot about the malaria aspect of the game. It sort of bugged out when i played it. I had to get pills maybe a handful of times and then it just got stuck at stage 3 or something. but then again Far cry 2 did have its share of problems technically when i played it. Most of it stemming trying to transition to the second half of the game.

 

[Johnway]

I remember a couple more features that deserve mentioning: Double jump and mantle

Double jump just makes platforming in games simpler and more forgiving . A god send for FPS games.

Mantle is another QoL that i don't see enough of. Similar reasons, makes platforming more forgiving but also makes jumping over low barriers so much simpler. Especially when the standard jump just doesn't cut it because of game limitations.

Honorable mention to titanfall's wall running, but i find it a bit hit and miss at times. You have to get the angles right to run across the wall or you either run up, the wrong angle to get the speed etc.

I suppose the last one is sidestepping. its so intuitive in games these days that i'm surprised it took me till Quake 3 / UT to use it. I was skeptical at first, but took to it like a duck to water. Literally seconds and improved on movement for FPS games by miles.