Was gonna post this as a poll, but I don't have the option to make polls at the moment, so I'll just ask.
When you're playing Dizzy games you haven't played before (fan games or official), is your general approach:
1) Solve the puzzles using your own logic and initiative. 2) Wander around the map aimlessly, trying every item on every puzzle until something happens. 3) Panic and ask for help (or cheat) at the first opportunity. 4) A combination of the above.
I ask because I'm trying to gauge my own level of rubbishness at Dizzy games. Lately I find myself wondering if the reason I like them so much is that they take me so long to finish. My own answer is mostly 2) with a little bit of 1) and 3) thrown in.
it may surprise people, but I actually don't generally play a lot of the games.
The main reason for this is the sheer amount of them now. I rarely have much spare time, and playing Dizzy games is sadly quite low on my list of priorities for when I do have spare time. Oh and I only play DizzyAGE fan games, as they have the closest gameplay to the originals.
I am however trying to get round to playing all the games entered in the comp, as these are generally the only ones that I haven't yet played.
I think for most people has to be a combination of everything as no one can know what item & where to use it in all instances. We all end up wondering around at times lol..
I like to have a think about the puzzles and then when I realise I'm not clever enough I try everything everywhere. If that doesn't work I shout at the computer and hit it a bit. That doesn't work but it makes me feel manly.
Bit of a combination for me as well. I tend to try to think about the puzzles and solve them logically... also I guess I start by gathering as many bits and bobs as I can find, and finding out what the puzzles are... I don't necessarily start solving unless they are pretty obvious.
After a while, I'll click like mad everywhere to solve the remaining ones. Then I ask for help.
I hate collecting coins etc. - usually try to do it as I go, but inevitably have 3 missing at the end, and then have to click everywhere to find them.
I'll always check out the landscape first to see what barriers I come across preventing progress in any direction. Then stroll through the available area to see what items are available and whether any hints are given from objects or people. Then all items available are taken down to ground level and dumped in a convenient area such as a bridge or a flat piece of land so that I know what I have and where they are. Call me anal, but I find it easier to be able to look at all the items available and then apply some logic to where they might be used.
If the available landscape is huge and a lot of items are available then I save the game, grab three items and go exploring with them - using another save point in dangerous areas. If nothing works then I reload the first save game and try another three items (told you I was anal).
If coins are not really needed until near the end of the game I tend to ignore them till I have an idea of the gameplay sequence. Then, considering how devious so many of the game designers are becoming, it's usually a case of checking out all the scenery and indiscriminate jumping off ledges and clouds for hidden coins (and the occasional item).
I'll use the help threads only as a last resort as I really do want to try and finish each game on my own merits - The second to last resort is what Huck does {yolkfolk}:scared:
I'm a bit like WhyNotSmile in that if a game has a lot of really good puzzles then just adding a whole bunch of coins as a final puzzle to complete the game is frustrating and would rather it came as an 'extra'. That would give me more incentive to replay. My personal preference is for coins to have a use during the game, such as in Illusion Island where you need coins to buy items.
For me its 1 then 2. I tend to explore the game by dividing the game into imaginary regions and explore each region as thoroughly as i can before explroing a new area - depending on my progress in the game eg on land, underwater, caves, treetops etc - this really helps in games like Lost Temple - where items in each region behind the scarab doors are mostly only used just in those regions.
Like Grandad I tend to nominate a screen or 2 which I know i repeatedly walk past where I can dump any unused items until I figure what to do with them.
For coins - I pick them up as I go and click on any piece of random scenery that looks slightly at odds with the background and take random leaps of faith off high ledges to see if I land somewhere new (usually preceded with a game save)
If I get really stuck, I use the help thread, but for the hardest coins - taking a peek at the map usually does it.
I am similar to Grandad, i try and work out the puzzles logically first, and have a central safe room as a 'stash' for all my objects. I do tend to hate the old 'try the object on every pixel' approach, to me that is bad authoring of the game - after all anyone could write a game with no hint that there is even a puzzle there, yet alone what it is and what to do to solve it. I feel there ought to be clues to the puzzles, even if they arent that obvious (like in one of the winter games, where the Death graphic has 1 pixel changed to point downwards!) so at least if I have to resort to that approach, its my shoddy gameplaying skills rather than the shoddy game. Unfortunately, with 2 young kids, I dont get a lot of time to test obects at random, so I then tend to frequent the forums for help - which does then have the benefit that I can help others stuck on the bits i did manage to solve {yolkfolk}:joy:
Like WhyNotSmile, I will ALWAYS end up 1 coin short as well :sad:
yeah i also use the central item room method.. usually try and put it as center as i can for obvious reasons, and i do tend to save wonder off with 3 items if they don't work load it up and take another 3.