Quote: "It would suck because what if you had to do other stuff during the day and you could only finish it tomorrow"
I've put in a pause option if you need to go for a pee but you only get nine seconds.
Like Quel said, this is not going to be a lengthy RPG. It's actually turning into a sort of stealth based, first person arcade game, I think. It's certainly not a run and gun style of game.
As I've been working on the game, it's interesting to see how this basic "no saves" idea influences the design. Funnily enough, it could actually make the game too easy. There is a temptation to give the player loads of health and have really weak enemies that couldn't shoot straight just so the player could get to the end but I want getting to the end to be an achievement, not something that's garaunteed.
Because the levels will be presented in a random order from a larger list, when replaying the game the player would see the different levels / maps and enemies without necessarily completing the game so they won't miss out on much in terms of seeing the content.
I'm also trying to make sure that I remove anything that is blatantly unfair, like putting an enemy in a position so that the player has no hope of seeing them before it's too late (there are no snipers in this game).
Playing the game (most of the basic game play coding is done) I've found that taking a patient approach means the player should never be attacked and might not even have to fire a single shot.
I think if you're going to do something like this (or you take away some other gaming safety net like regenerating health and health packs, i.e. essentially no way of regaining health) then you have to design the game around this. As long as you're aware of this when you're makeing the game then it should enhance the game rather than ruin it.
Picking up on what Seppuku Arts mentioned, there is such a thing as addictively difficult and that's what I'm aiming at. I appreciate that some people will just find it frustrating but I'm not trying to please everyone. That's impossible.
I'm going to stick to my guns for the time being and see how it works out but I'm finding the responses interesting and helpful, so thanks.