Do You "Save Scum"?

[lestagio]

I've been playing Deus Ex for my first time ever, and it's hella fun. Can't believe I held off on it for so long. But one thing I seem to do a LOT is all my saves. There's so many options and ways to do things that I just end up saving and reloading until it works. I've been playing with a very stealthy approach too, so I like testing out all different strategies. My Steam hours are quite a bit ahead of my in-game hours because in-game doesn't track all the times you've reloaded, lol.

I've always done this sort of thing in the many games that allow it, such as Half Life or Thief. If it hadn't been intended, I would think that there would just be checkpoints or save areas instead of allowing you to save anywhere you'd like at any time.

Obviously in a single player game, whatever you find is the most fun is how you should play. But I am curious, do any of you save in these games as much as I do? Do you try to limit yourself from doing so?

 

[SamanthaSamantha's icon]

No, I'd much rather let them die.

*Re-reads thread title*.

Oh...

Well, it depends on the game.

I must have played DX some twenty eight times, but I never felt the urge there because the game wasn't going to punish any of my - non-dumbass - decisions, so I just rolled with it.

I have saved manically in some other games, though.

 

[Majora Fi]

 

[Vardalis]

Depends on what I'm playing really. If it has decent saves and checkpoints on its own? Nah, I don't bother. Is the game incredibly punishing and/or irritating the hell out of me with extremely limited resources, cheap segments, virtually no saves, etc? Absolutely I'll reduce my cortisol and save as much as I feel like I need to.

 

[Sanarchy]

Those 99 save slots in Kingdom Hearts II and many other games must have looked at me like this when I stuck to just my main one.

 

[Sheepy765]

Unless there’s something I know I’m going to miss out on, I tend to not.

 

[lestagio]

I must have played DX some twenty eight times, but I never felt the urge there because the game wasn't going to punish any of my - non-dumbass - decisions, so I just rolled with it.

That's fair. As I've been playing, I've been saving a little less because whenever I have a bad VERY SMART idea, and it doesn't work, I can normally improvise my way around it.

 

[Elwiwi]

Yes , specially on bg3

 

[Generic Edgelord]

I usually only manual save when the game doesn't autosave, or when I'm quitting. Autosaves are usually enough of a checkpoint for me. In games that punish you for dying but don't send you back to your last save (like Doom and Doom 2) I only allow myself to save after I respawn. The consequence for death is restarting the level with no weapons or items (except your pistol) and I don't use the save system to avoid that because it feels kind of cheap. I don't consider it actual cheating to use the tools the developers left you with however you please, though; savescumming still counts as technically fair to me.

 

[SamanthaSamantha's icon]

That's fair. As I've been playing, I've been saving a little less because whenever I have a bad VERY SMART idea, and it doesn't work, I can normally improvise my way around it.

Remember that a GEP gun is the most silent way to eliminate Manderley.

 

[PatrickWeylin]

i feel if they're giving you near-infinite save slots and the ability to save whenever you want, they did it for a reason. Im not going to go out of my way to backup my saves in a permadeath game so i can cheat the game. so really it depends

 

[LiberoVulpesLiberoVulpes's icon]

I go by Honest Man rules.

Only loading for misclicks, glitches, stuck, or dead man walking situations.

But, if the game has too much bullshit or grinding, then I throw the rules out the window.

 

[Nebulon_Galaxy]

Yeah if i want to use them. Save states are a god send when the power goes out and you lost some hours.

 

[X y b e r - S k u ll]

I try not to because they end up trivialising games a lot of the time. I used to abuse save states in the past, but the only times I use them now are when I've got to stop playing to go do something and don't have access to a save point in game, or if I'm playing an arcade or arcade-style game and want to practice a level before I attempt a 1cc or some other kind of challenge run.

 

[Retro Doomer]

I got catfished by a title thats a new one.

Also yes I save often usually when possible for some reason I don't trust Auto saves nor find them reliable.

Reaching the saveimit is not a new thing for me like it happened with Fallout 3.

 

[Majora Fi]

Skyrim's poor optimization on PS3 wouldn't let me do that (and I even lost an entire DLC campaign because I acted too hastily at the wrong moment).

 

[gwardojones]

Only for one reason: in-game gambling. Can't stand playing casinos or the like in games, and it irks me tremendously when some rare / powerful item is hidden behind an impossible amount of casino tokens (Dragon Quest and Yakuza come to mind). Plus I love being rich, so I'll scum to hell and back and make any casino my personal piggy bank.

 

[beefbowl]

In open ended games I find it more fun to clean up my mess like real life. I don't want to optimize every approach while playing my game, messing up here and there just adds to the fun for me. I save a lot, but only load when I die.

 

[lestagio]

I try not to because they end up trivialising games a lot of the time. I used to abuse save states in the past, but the only times I use them now are when I've got to stop playing to go do something and don't have access to a save point in game, or if I'm playing an arcade or arcade-style game and want to practice a level before I attempt a 1cc or some other kind of challenge run.

I don't know why but I've never used save states in retro games except for in place of passwords. I just prefer to play as close to originally intended as possible— In my post I'm referring moreso to games in the likes of Deus Ex or The Elder Scrolls which allow you to quick save anywhere.

 

[Shaddycat]

Definitely depends on the game. If it's level based, usually not. I save at the beginning of every level and nothing more. IE: Quake, Doom, etc...
But in something that is one continuous run? Nah I'll "save before I leap", so to speak.

 

[ArchienineZXAdventArchienineZXAdvent's icon]

I'm paranoic with that in some games like Mega Man Battle Network

 

[X y b e r - S k u ll]

I don't know why but I've never used save states in retro games except for in place of passwords. I just prefer to play as close to originally intended as possible— In my post I'm referring moreso to games in the likes of Deus Ex or The Elder Scrolls which allow you to quick save anywhere.

Tbf quicksaves in PC games are essentially the equivalent of save states in an emulator, let's be real lol. I was never super into those type of PC games anyway, exception being Half-Life 1 which I used to play the shit out of, and even then I rarely save scummed.

 

[BanchoQueen]

I wouldn't say i save scum, but if given the option I do save before important or hard fights. I did save scum a little in Disco Elysium though, I AM NOT DYING SITTING IN A CHAIR.

 

[Zerohour2k12]

By my completionist urge, yeah, if it doesn't have manual saves, I tend to back the autosaves manually.

 

[lestagio]

Tbf quicksaves in PC games are essentially the equivalent of save states in an emulator, let's be real lol. I was never super into those type of PC games anyway, exception being Half-Life 1 which I used to play the shit out of, and even then I rarely save scummed.

Fair, but I think that the difference is that those NES and SNES games weren't built with save states in mind. Something like Deus Ex has a save system that could easily be reduced to checkpoints, but instead you're allowed to save wherever, whenever. That's just my opinion though to validate my habit of being a save slob.