I had an idea while reading the thread on save games. It is a way of increasing replay interest for games with levels and combat. Games such as FPSs and RTSs are likely candidates. It was suggested that if players are so inclined, they can (and sometimes do) set themselves challenges for levels they have already beaten, such as not saving or loosing as little health as possible. Max Payne has the "New York Minute" mode once you''ve beaten it a couple of times, where you have to try and beat each level in under a minute (albiet with extra seconds being granted for each kill). What if your game provided a mode where the player could set themselves a challenge for a particular level, with things like time, ammo used, weapons and health points lost all able to be set, with increased difficulty giving more points. The player can then set their own difficulty level in a way that the game takes into account and rewards accordingly. Perhaps even unlocking extra stuff with really good scores, or posting the scores on the internet for boasting rights... This sort of option would only be appropriate for certain types of games, and it certainly(?) wouldn''t be a game in it''s own right, but it could be an interesting option to extend the lifetime of a game. ------------------ Never play leapfrog with unicorns.

A game that is versatile and can be completed in more than one way lends itself to this. People in the Thief community have probably heard of the "Lytha way" and "ghosting", for example. And of course, many fighting games have special modes... usually because when it comes down to it, there''s only 30 or 40 minutes of consecutive gameplay when you can complete it anyway.

One problem with allowing the player to choose is that they may have no idea what a reasonable figure is. Thief had different difficulty modes that mandated marginally different play styles, including minimum loot totals to acquire, maximum number of people to knock out, and so on. Maybe a selection of game-provided difficulty levels with the stats up front is one way, then.

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It''d be interesting if the gameworld was contingent on the goals that you set for yourself. Simple example: who you claim to be affects NPC attitudes to you. Rule example: early ultimas, moral goals affected outcomes. Complex example: you choose primary and secondary targets which then regroup based on the units you commit to each.

It is a good idea, and has in fact been done in some N64 games, such as Perfect Dark and GoldenEye. If you do this make sure to also include preset difficulty levels, because I doubt new players would want to sit around tweaking each aspect of the difficulty.