That platform game jump

[ChadTower]

Seems like every game I play involving platforms and jumping has at least one of those next to impossible takes a billion tries for no good reason jumps from one platform to the next.  That just might be my biggest videogame pet peeve, the stupidly next to impossible platform jump that is nonetheless necessary.

I'm in the middle of Halo right now and I have to make a jump onto a blood spattered block and then up to the upper level... I can get onto the block but damn if I didn't spend a half hour straight trying to get to that second level.  I've killed every Covenant and Flood in the entire level to this point and there's just nowhere else to go... this has to be it, but I can't make that damn platform jump.

 

[KenToad]

Reminds me of one of the last levels of Half-Life.  I had to cheat eventually just to progress and there were several other similar jumps afterward, then I read some reviews that praised pretty much everything about the game except the insanely frustrating jumping at the end. 

So I felt validated.   And I think I know what you're feeling. 

Good luck. 

[ChadTower]

I hate hate hate cheats and walkthrus, but I just read a Halo walkthru for this level.  I'm right about where I have to go but I can't get up there with any amount of trying.  Dammit. 

I remember a few years back, playing some Batman game for the N64.  Man, there was one jump towards the end of the game that I COULD NOT GET RIGHT.  I spent two straight hours one night with a 12 pack of beer and that game just trying to get that jump down and by the end was so pissed off I was having 7th grade Zelda blue knight flashbacks.

[shardian]

Reminds me of one of the last levels of Half-Life.  I had to cheat eventually just to progress and there were several other similar jumps afterward, then I read some reviews that praised pretty much everything about the game except the insanely frustrating jumping at the end. 

So I felt validated.   And I think I know what you're feeling. 

Good luck. 

The first half-life was all about jumping skill. I'll reference the warehouse room with a billion trip wire bombs for example. It took me forever to get thru that part...but I loved every second.

[KenToad]

Reminds me of one of the last levels of Half-Life.  I had to cheat eventually just to progress and there were several other similar jumps afterward, then I read some reviews that praised pretty much everything about the game except the insanely frustrating jumping at the end. 

So I felt validated.   And I think I know what you're feeling. 

Good luck. 

The first half-life was all about jumping skill. I'll reference the warehouse room with a billion trip wire bombs for example. It took me forever to get thru that part...but I loved every second.

True, but there is a difference between jumping skill and just random luck which is what those prayer jumps at the end of Half-Life ended up being.  Remember the manta ray-like moving platform with respawning enemies shooting you out of the sky when you did manage to actually get there?  I think the developers were suffering from sleep deprivation at that point.  The game had just gotten seriously out of hand.

[ChadTower]

That's part of my frustration with these things.  Having been in the software industry for nearly half my life now I know exactly how things get tested and how feedback comes back at the end of a release cycle.  Somewhere, the testers are either burned out by then and only looking for defects, or they are giving feedback of "you have to tweak this, it's frustrating, sucks, and really really sucks" and the project managers are saying "well, we're not going to make any unnecessary code or design changes now, you'll have to live with it if it's not actually broken".

[KenToad]

That's part of my frustration with these things.  Having been in the software industry for nearly half my life now I know exactly how things get tested and how feedback comes back at the end of a release cycle.  Somewhere, the testers are either burned out by then and only looking for defects, or they are giving feedback of "you have to tweak this, it's frustrating, sucks, and really really sucks" and the project managers are saying "well, we're not going to make any unnecessary code or design changes now, you'll have to live with it if it's not actually broken".

I advocate cheating at this point.   

[ChadTower]

There isn't a way I know of to cheat up a single jump.     It's almost cheating that I'm playing through the game on easy since I don't really have time or desire to play an extra 25 hours of Halo.

[AtomSmasher]

I recommend you stay far, far away from Shadow of the Colossus.  It is a fun game, but the its pretty much entirely about really tough jumps that you have to time perfectly.

[shmokes]

That's how I feel about cheats and walkthrus.  When I consult a walkthru for a game it makes me feel like taking the director of the game out back and beating him with a baseball bat.  I'm good at video games.  When someone like me has to consult a walkthru it means that a very skilled gamer has been completely stuck for at least a couple of hours.  That's just inexcusable, bad design (though, every once it a while I read the walkthru and feel like a moron because I was actually missing something that should have been obvious -- but not often).  The important thing about being stuck for such a long period of time is that I'm not having fun.  You can't sell somebody a piece of entertainment that is literally no fun for that long a stretch of time.

I'll tell you what, though.  One thing that pisses me off infinitely more than extremely difficult platform jumps are platform jumps that are extremely difficult solely due to a ---smurfy--- camera.  I haven't played much Halo, but most FPS games suffer from this surprisingly.  I didn't realize it until I played Metroid, which brilliantly points the camera down a bit, toward your feet, during a jump, just like you would if you were jumping in real life.  Most FPS games treat your perspective as if you were watching the action from a camera mounted to the shoulders, rather than a head attached to a movable neck.

[KenToad]

That's an interesting concept in Metroid to automatically look down.  I would guess that they implemented that solely because it's a console controller rather than a mouse.  I mean I always look down and have a look where I'm landing during difficult jumping in a FPS.  With a mouse that's no issue:  You just glance down a bit to help aim your jump.  Of course you don't see your feet, but I guess that kind of twitch gaming isn't really possible with the GC controller or any console controller, for that matter.

It doesn't really matter if you look down or not in certain games, like if you have to jump at the very very very edge of a precipice, i.e. Halo (I assume that that's the difficulty Chad is referencing), or you're being harassed by impossibly placed enemies, i.e. Half-Life on the alien planet, where a compounding of factors makes a difficult jump pretty much impossible.

[SithMaster]

I think i know the part your at-in CE when you first encounter the flood with the light bridges?  i know that level always confused me since you go through the same rooms a few times.  or is it the last level?

can i suggest a crouch jump?  it seems really silly to have jumping that requires your feet to clear a ledge when you cant see your feet.

[ChadTower]

Jump then crouch in air?  Worth a shot.  It is the level where you first encounter the flood.  I'm at the point where you have to jump onto that block with the dead marines on it, then up to the second level (there's only one with dead marines on it, the others are all dead Covenant).  The first jump is easy, the second I haven't made yet.

Having played about 90% of the way through Metroid Prime, that was a really well done FPS.  I haven't had any issues at all with the camera in Halo, either, as you have REALLY fine control of it and while strafing isn't quite as easy as with a mouse and keyboard, it's not that hard.  You actually have better control in Halo because both sticks are analog, whereas with the keyboard/mouse combo, only one is analog.  That gives you finer control but it's much harder to do perfectly.

Man, wish they had wireless mice when I spent all my time on PC FPS.  I used to get my mouse cord caught up in crap all the time.

[hypernova]

There should be a section of that platform that's easier to reach than the rest.  I believe I remember exactly what you're talking about, because the first time I got there, it took me a minute or two to get up there.  (There's shotgun supplies there, correct?)

There should be an easier way, though.  Didn't have any trouble my next time through.

Halo.  The only xbox game I've ever played. 

[ChadTower]

That's the spot.  Dead Marines, a medpack or two, and a shotgun.

[rumpelstiltzkin]

I no the place you are talking about also and it isnt the right place to be because there is no hard jumps in halo im afraid. The jump you are thinking ov is impossible i think you just havent noticed the place your supposed to find. Keep looking you will kick your self when u find it

[SithMaster]

When i played that part i had some trouble every so often trying to make the jump.  I think you have to try and land at a certain part that is the lowest which is farthest from the edge of the block you're on.  I think the crouch jump is the only way to get onto the ledge unless you want to try a grenade jump which is no advisable.

That level always pissed me off though.  That and the assault on the control room.

[rumpelstiltzkin]

If you havent already been at the level where one of the rooms has a fire in the corner go over to the fire and there you will find a few concrete steps to get up.

[ChadTower]

Been there and went up that easily.  Checked two walkthrus and they both say that the dead Marine block is the way to move forward here.  I'll give it a shot tonight.

[rumpelstiltzkin]

Its weird i cant remember any hard jumps in halo and i played it to death even beating it on legendary. Are you using an official x-box controller?.   When i played resident evil 4 i never found out i could run by pressing the b button until the next day.

[ChadTower]

It's definitely not the controller.  It's probably that I just haven't hit the exact spot yet.

[rumpelstiltzkin]

I fully no how annoyed you must be as i got stuck on OOT for a few hours. I had to get that horse at the ranch --BINGO! Either that, or I was attempting to say "before" but it was too many letters to type-- going to the K village and i didnt go and talk to the evil ranch owner while on the horse.It really made me hate the game for a few hours

[ChadTower]

That sounds a lot like the NES era RPGs... you could wander around forever until you talked to one random person in one random town to get the next goal or object to present itself in the game.  And there was never any way of knowing who you missed in what town and you'd get into the habit of seeking out every person in every town or cave and talking to them 5x.   

[ChadTower]

Just made that jump... 15 minutes more of trying, then I finally discover there is a small hard to see section of ledge that is slightly lower than the rest in the corner.   

[MajorLag]

As a seasoned veteran of the Jumper series, I can only shake my head and chuckle.

[thennomeking]

Mario USA C-3 was the most frustrating platform jumps for me.  Spring board, whirlwind, spring board, whirlwind.  Granted I havent played it in years so it may be easier now.

[Tahnok]

As a seasoned veteran of the Jumper series, I can only shake my head and chuckle.

Jumper...

I never got past the first world of Jumper 2 (despite many, many tries). Anyone complaining in this thread shouldn't visit that link.

For the most part though, I don't have problems with tough platform game jumps.

[KenToad]

Neither do I.  I thought this thread was about prayer jumping and frustratingly negligent level design, not about difficult jumps, which are welcome, as far as I'm concerned.

On the note of difficult jumping, though, check out:

http://www.addictinggames.com/ngame.html

Ranges from easy to incredibly difficult.

[slycrel]

I'll make a second crouch-jumping vote.  It helps.

Though I may be biased, I never had a problem with that jump in halo...