I think that there is definitely room for games which are designed to be played in certain time lengths. These games would be designed to provide a good experience, where the gameplay is linked to the time period that it is meant to be played in. Consider fighting games that have a round timelimit of 90 seconds, this time limit (and the victory conditions that come into play at the end of this period) become a part of the strategic considerations for the players. (If their character has lost more health than the other one, before the time limit is up, they know that they have to try and even it out, but if they have more health points than the other character, then they know that they can avoid conflict in the hope of winning due to having more health points at the end of the round). Now that is just one example, but surely there are many opportunities to create games in which time is a factor. What do you think about this idea?

Hey, That''s nice and not too often used idea!

It reminds me of Nethack (a game you''ve probably never heard of). The game notified when it was Friday the 13th in real life, or full moon. Even if you play that game at night, something nasty could happen Like werewolves biting a bit stronger and things like that... I think it adds a lot of depth into the game!

Bubble Bobble: You had to finish your levels fast before the evil, invincible ghosts appeared!

Yeah, that was a fun part of Bubble Bobble, as it changed the dynamics of the gameplay when the ghost appeared. There were many times when I would have a few Bubbles left to break, but my character was being chased by the ghost, so I had to change my tactics and keep moving.

Not only that, but IIRC the enemies would change after a certain time limit, they would turn ''red'' and move faster and be more dangerous (I think they learnt to jump too). They would also turn red, when they had been imprisoned in a Bubble, but the player hadn''t popped the bubble quickly enough.

This can be seen as helping to maintain a fast pace of the play.

Hate time limits. There were a few in Doom - reload...reload... Worse than time limits is NO RELOAD! ( now thats a capital offence) You''ll also find if you read game reviewers that they generally complain about time limits, then the game gets a lower score.

Well, you could do a ''par time'' deal, like many games.

Here''s an idea I just thought of - you can play the whole game without time limits, and then replay in ''time trial'' mode, where as you complete each level within the time limit, you get a cool new feature (like a new cheat or character or something).

Superpig
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- sleeps in a ham-mock at www.thebinaryrefinery.cjb.net

I think time limits can add considerably to games, and any reviewer who doesnt like them should re-evaluate what it is hes complaining about. Time limits often add a sense of urgency to games that wouldnt otherwise be there.

Dont believe the opinions of a reviewer who cant justify what hes saying...

Yeah, not many games really use time limts as a part of gameplay anymore, apart from puzzle-type games. Even in fighting games, how often does a fight even last until the 90 second mark? One game I can think of as of late that used a time-limit as a gameplay mechanism, and to a pretty good extent, was Pikmin for the Gamecube. I can''t remember how many days you had to find all the spaceship parts, but you also had to pay attention to the progression of the sun, as if you didn''t round up all your pikmin and herd them back to safety before nightfall, they were left behind. Also, nothing was more frustrating than hauling a ship part to your spaceship, only to see the sun set right before it arrived at its destination, sometimes causing a player to make perhaps an otherwise unneccesary trip back to that location.

Implemnting time limits in ways like this, that forces player to take it into consideration when forming a strategy, I think is alot more effective than in the "uh oh time''s up, you''re dead!" days of the 8 and 16-bit era.