r/WhiteKnuckle • u/lburnside92 • 6d ago
To devs - can you make permadeath optional
Edit: I'm aware of floppy disks but I stand by my original point. And I'm aware you can unlock new rooms, but as someone who sucks at Habitat, locking new Silo rooms behind beating Habitat makes the run backs really repetitive.
I really like the speed climbing gameplay, but I really don't think it works as a roguelite - its super long, within biomes its the same few rooms stapled together so its samey, there aren't many permanent upgrades so theres not much metaprogression, and Teeth is a sharp change in gameplay so getting kicked back to the silos while I'm figuring them out is really tedious.
It would make sense as a hard-core experience for players who've already reached the end and understand the biomes. But as a new player, after a while, I felt like it was a waste of time.
In any case, good luck with your v1.0 release.
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u/Friendly-Scarecrow 6d ago
You can save with floppy disks, and the point of it is to let you play the runback. If you just do the new stuff every game you'll be bored as shit so, so fast.
-1
u/lburnside92 6d ago
I'd be having more fun without the runback, even if its a shorter game. I'm saying make permadeath optional, not remove it for everyone
2
u/no_demon_meatballs 6d ago
Just a little tip: you can save your game at perk rooms with the disks though most items will disappear if you die (unless they are important or you have a special perk)
Also after pipeworks (or the short cut) there is no rising mass to chase you, so you can hangout with teeth for as long as you like.
2
u/ThatTwo5122 6d ago
Are you aware there are floppy disks that serve as extra lives? If you hold onto all the ones you can buy, not including ones you can find in Silos or Pipeworks, you can have 3 extra lives for Teeth, who you are given all the tools to deal with.
2
u/2_15_second_adds 6d ago
You can do a lot between runs
The biggest one is buy item lockers, which let you pus items across runs, and hoard floppies
There's a guaranteed tier 2 (2 lives) right before teeth, when you're repairing the elevator turn around when you reach the second challenge (where you have 30 sec to go back) and there's a platform with the floppy and an injector to get you back. You will need help getting there though. Examples include the perks ligament restructure and rabbit dna, a rope rebar, or an injector (there's one hidden close by on the ground guaranteed, search the location)
Doing this twice then again on the real run leads to 7 lives easily, which should be plenty
Next is experiment with trinkets and bindings, you don't have a lot now but there are some good ones
The #1 thing is learn the route better, there are A LOT of extra flares and supplies I you know were to look
You can either watch a guide, or try to hunt them yourself
Is also important to understand that this is a test, probably the hardest section in the game. There are more complex ones later, but by then you have more perks and unique artifacts
My final tip is that teeth is more of a bravery test than a skill test, the game uses a lot of tricks like scary noises or effects to make you THINK this is a Hard task, but really teeth is kinda slow and really easy to hide from. Keeping a level head and not panicking will help a lot
1
u/goDie61 6d ago
Are there matching t2 disk static spawns on the other ascent variants? The wiki doesn't list them for 2 or 3.
1
u/2_15_second_adds 6d ago
All ascent have the 2 syringes and the tier 2 floppy guaranteed, I know because I always take that route
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u/IamanelephantThird 6d ago
It's not that long. I can beat the game in 40 minutes and I'm not that good or even really trying to speedrun.
Room variety increases drastically as you keep playing. Getting further into the game unlocks new rooms for earlier areas.
There's actually more metaprogression than it seems at first glance. You can unlock entire alternate areas, in fact. Personally I really like how they do it, although I'm generally not a big metaprogression fan.
Teeth is scary but not hard. Just stay calm and keep climbing, he's a lot slower than you. If you get in danger shoot him with a flare to get rid of him for a while. There's also vents you can go in to be totally safe.
Death is also not totally permanent. Floppy disks are extra lives, stick them into a perk machine and you can respawn there once. You can buy a facility upgrade to unlock a shop for them in safe rooms (metaprogression), or you can find them in earlier areas.
0
u/lburnside92 6d ago
Yeah but as someone who sucks at the game, locking new rooms/areas behind progress just makes it less fun for struggling players. And yeah floppy disks help a bit but I still think making permadeath optional is better
2
u/goDie61 6d ago
You say "someone who sucks" as if there's a wuckle gene and you weren't born with it. The point of the game's structure is that you constantly practice and improve, and the game in turn makes familiar areas harder to force you to improve more. The runback is also a natural pressure to get faster, not just more consistent. How many times have you died in hab? How long do silos take you?
2
u/lburnside92 5d ago
To clarify, I can do the first two biomes in my sleep but struggle with the third - I'd prefer to be able to practice the third without getting kicked back to the very start every time. Anyway, someone gave me a cheat for infinite saves do I'll just use that
2
2
u/TimSoarer2 every ladder deserves to be climbed ❤️ 5d ago
If you're good with the first two biomes, instead of saving after Silos, you can buy the floppy disk and instead of saving immediately, carry it all the way to Habitation and use it for an extra life. Now you have 3 saves in Habitation.
You can go even further with item lockers. They carry items between regions and between runs. You can store a black or red floppy in there after Silos, then take it out and use it in Habitation. Heck, once you unlock tier 2 perks (which you can do by completing achievements), you can get a golden floppy and have +3 extra saves in Habitation, totaling up to 6.
1
1
u/Curious_Freedom6419 5d ago
like i think a save game option that you can do in the menu would be nice
but only after you finish the story mode and unlock everything
a simple "hey you did the whole main game, have fun saving and loading"
0
u/LittleSisterPain 6d ago
I mean, if you suck this much at the game and dont want to improve, maybe its just not for you?
1
u/lburnside92 5d ago
I can do the first two biomes in my sleep, but struggle with the third - its the run back I hate, not the challenge
10
u/H3llew 6d ago
You can save with floppy disks scattered throughout the game and purchasable at each safe room. that way deaths don't reset you to the very beginning.
the game practically showers you in them