But what would be the point in all that?

The only result would be that the player would never see most of the area, which equals a lot of wasted time in making the area. Also, there isn't any point - not fun, no goal, no chance.

Interesting question. Too many games arbritrarily block you from going somewhere. What they need to do is actually give you a real reason to choose not to go somewhere. E.g., the prospect of entering those woods is a bad one. Instead, I'm going to go somewhere else. I could go into the woods if I wanted to, but I'd probably die.

That's alot more plausible than: "YOU NEED TO LEVEL UP NOOB!"

Too much arbritrary limitation in games. It displays a lack of complex thinking in game design.

I like this idea, but i don't think the player should be "boned no matter what", more like being traped in an enclosed space with a CyberDemon, near totally boned, but you still have a chance (with some godly intervention or supreme skill/tactical thinking) of actually making it around. I remember when playing KOTOR on Kashiik (or whatever the wookie homeworlds called) that the wookies were afraid of this one crazy old man who lived on the forest floor where only bands of wookie hunting parties would dare to go for short times. ;D

Messed up labryinth/shifting terrain, monsters that are immune to specific types of weapons, damaging status effects, go for it. Cuz when the players seen everything in the game and become uber, he's going to be looking with longing into that forest for a challenge.

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Original post by NytehauqToo much arbritrary limitation in games. It displays a lack of complex thinking in game design.

*cough* arbritrary limitations are what fuels game mechanics, and thus the game design itself. Here in the real world there is no logical reason for players to dribble the basketball when chargeing down the court. But its a game rule all the same, ment to slow the players charge enough that opposing teams can mount a defense, in effect its only there to help balance the gameplay of basketball

If the location in question were included in a game, and no matter how god like the player becomes he/she can never venture into the woods without quickly dieing...well the net effect is exactly the same as placeing a barrior there. Its then just a dressed up inpassable wall that wastes development time and energy, just an illusion of complexity nothing more.

Now if at some point the player will have gathered enough skill to venture through the woods. Then its little more then the equivalent to a locked door, only the "key" is procured differently...again just another illusion of complexity. Of course the major difference is in how the player learns when/ and how this "door" becomes unlocked (guards telling the player to stay away, frequent experimental charges into the woods to see how far one can get, etc) basicly boils down to communicateing game state information, nothing to do with the game mechanics and/or complexity of game design.

Perhaps making the woods "Not exist".

You walk in one end, and your already out the other, without walking through the entire wood.

From,
Nice coder

A few suggestions:

- Upon entering the dark woods, evil is unleashed into the world. Spirits and monsters terrorize small villages and roam the countryside. The player would be intimidated then because not only would there be invincible enemies inside these woods, but they'd venture out to the overworld as well if you decided to go in; basically creating more of a worldly threat that the player would not want to have to deal with.

- Disregarding the advice of NPCs who warn you not to enter can influence a reputation with them. Vendors who are afraid and superstitious of the area might raise their prices or even refuse sale to such a defiant and foolish adventurer. Inns might become afraid to allow you to stay in their establishment because they believe you have become tainted with the area's evil.

- Unpleasant experience within could sour the player to the area. Using tricks of gameplay to make things very difficult has been used in several games I can think of: Metal Gear with the psychic boss, turning off the display and making you switch controller slots; Donkey Kong with the 'poisonous' level that confused the monkeys by flipping their controls (down is up, left is right). This kind of effect could eventually be dispelled so that venturing in became a simple matter when you wanted the player to finally be able to.

- The evil within the forest is so great that it diminishes your health every moment you are in there. Venture too long or too deep and you'll die, which of course has its own negative consequences (loss of exp, durability, money, etc.)

- There is no phat lewt ;)

Put something scary in there. Seriously. Something big and nasty and unrelenting that will hunt the player down and do what big scary things do. No need to fill it with nasty things and instant death, or make it any different from other forsts. A single protector that senses the moment a trespasser sets foot in its domain, and does not stop until that trespasser is dealt with. If eventually you want the player to have access to the forest, you can give it the crucial item or piece of information needed to get past it, or have the creature's removal by high-powered NPC's as a plot point.

Make it common knowledge that such a creature prowls the woods, and that none who enter ever leave. And if they disregard these warnings, which they will, scare the crap out of them. Start with corpses, horribly mangled, but still recognizable. Then come the sounds, of something big, and coming fast. Give the players a chance to rethink their life choices and make a dash for the edge of the forest. And then, if they still choose to remain, kill them quickly and decisively, so that there's little doubt that further attempts will yield the same result.

Yes, some players will see that as a challenge and will spend countless hours trying to find a way to kill the creature. Too bad for them - as long as you've made it clear that it cannot be done, it's not your fault if they ignore you.

You don't have to map the whole area. Just map it about ten feet in, and the player will be gibbed by then anyhow. No need to design castles and tunnels and towns that nobody will see. It might even be a good way to suck up map space until you get around to putting it in an expansion or something.

You play through the game, never going into the Big Dark Woods, and then the expansion comes out, which is entitled "Into the Big Dark Woods", and contains the map and some trite plot event that lets you get in there.

Nobody minds not being able to get to the bottom of a lava pit, or not being able to reach the sprite-based background mountains, or not being able to climb trees. The only difference with the Evil Forest is that there's something intelligent in there that's defeating you every time you try to get in. Every time you walk around the forest you're bowing to that superior force. Psychologically, that gets RPG'ers collective goat.

Once I've killed Diablo, and beaten Kefka, and destroyed the One Ring, players reason, I should be able to stare down any monster in the game. What god might live in those woods that I can't stab to death with by +7 PUSD? What arrogant ghost thinks it can stand against my level 8 grapple mastery? Can there be a horde of skeletons so mighty that they won't be pulverized under the weight of my maxxed-out meteor strike? Surely not.

Strange to think that a player who objects when dragon's breath does more than 10% damage to them will accept a death-by-magma without batting an eye. At least in Metroid it took a few seconds to melt.

The point is that an inaccessible forest can't be inaccessible because there are NPCs in there that can beat you. If there are vines over the entrance, then axe-wielding barbarians will read the "There are too many vines blocking the entrance" message, shrug, and go use that axe to kill large bugs, the way it was meant to be used. Players are totally okay following rules about what zones are closed, but when they are in a fight, it should be possible to win with sheer weight of experience points and some good gear. If you make a boundary look like a fight, it's "cheap".

I'm a bit confused as to why you'd want to generate content that the player wouldn't play.