: I'm starting to think the best solution to the problem with unplayable save
: games is to remove the pattern buffers in the middle of the run and place
: one right before the entrance to the last level; this would both remove
: the irritation of having to run level 3 over and over while attempting the
: last level and make it more unlikely that you'd manage to save with too
: little oxygen as you'd almost certainly suffocate on the way there and go
: back to the starting save.
At first this sounds like a good idea, but I would go along with it reluctancly. In addition to my comments below, the last saved game is at the end of Why Did It Stop? Although we've moved the pattern buffer before the beatle ambush, less well-adapted (non-Deathwish) players may have difficulty teleporting out without facing the beetle ambush, and I'd hate to make them play through that over and over again.
: If you grok the idea behind the
: "gauntlet" (always strafe-run and never look back) and don't
: make any wrong turns then there should be little difficulty in getting at
: least that far with a good oxygen supply.
First of all, it's not a straight shot at all and the liklihood of getting lost the first time through is probably more thean 50% - if you didn't, you're very lucky. My concern is that a person could have a barely playable saved game entering that last level. Don't get me wrong - I would love to have a PB there, but how many times have we all played a saved game over and over again desperately trying to finish something rather than going back and starting over. And of course there would be nothing to stop players from saving their game when they are just about to run out of O2. I would still prefer the back-teleporting O2 canisters.