Fast travel system: necessary or not?
Hello there.
In many open-world games, where it takes a long time to reach any place in a location on foot, in addition to various vehicles, there are also fast travel systems that allow you to instantly teleport to the desired (or somewhere nearby) point. In some games, such systems are plot-based (teleport, magic portal, and so on), in others they are not, but in both cases they can significantly reduce the travel time across a large location.
Actually, you already know all this, don't you? :) The question I want to ask you is whether such teleports are needed in my game? I note right away that yes - some locations will be quite large. The SW Universe does not have technologies for instant movement within the planets, and therefore it may just be a gameplay tool to help the player. But, nevertheless - is it needed?
Comments (6)
In swtor, there is the speeder bike fast travel system, or the globe/shuttle one could go with that. And in swg for fast travel there was the faction shuttle thing
Well, as I understand it, this can be implemented simply "just in case" :) But, in general, of course, I try to make the locations interesting for leisurely exploration.
Yes if the game is story rich and exploration is the focus fast travel is not needed at the get go
I usually don't use fast travel even in games that do have it, lore-friendly or not. I like travel, exploration and seeing and finding things on my way somewhere. And also planning what I do next based on what is nearby. But in the end that relies on travel being fun and eventful. If travel is enjoyable I likely won't fast travel, but if it's more like a chore that takes a long time with nothing to see or do on the way, I'd likely fast travel. The Fallout games, The Witcher 3, Skyrim and RDR2 are good examples of games where I never fast travel but can. I'm also more likely to use fast travel if it is lore-friendly. For example, in FFXIV I do fast travel a lot. It's really baked into the lore there.
i also voted yes, but if there is a good alternative like speeder bikes or something that makes it faster im down for no fast travel :D
I've voted for yes, but if "things can happen" during traveling I would go for not needed. It also depends whether I would need to travel for 10+ minutes or less.