We tested it, everything worked like a charm, and people keep asking for achievements – so we figured that there’s no harm, then, to add the achievements to the game.įifth, if you analyze the names of the achievements, you will probably realize something no one (we think?) has realized so far, and we figured it’s a nice way to integrate the achievements as a certain meta-element of the story and the message that the game is telling. So we figured that we might just as well launch the achievement unlock at exactly the same moment. not in the middle of an emotional scene.įourth, yes, achievements are external entities, from beyond the world of the game. Also, some games just unlock them at the right moment, e.g. As I play more and more games on Steam, I can see how fairly non-invasive Steam achievements are: muted colors, no sound, lower right corner. My hesitance towards achievements was mostly due to the way they are implemented in other systems and games. Third, the other way that achievements can harm the immersion is basically by when and how they are displayed. It’s a much longer discussion for another time, though. Telling the player to be whatever they want to be, but then awarding them for being exactly as the developer imagined is just wrong. sneak past an enemy, knock them unconscious or kill them) is both behavior shaping and artificial time extender. For example, “Finish the game without killing anyone” in a game that offers the freedom of choice (e.g. Second, achievements are mostly harmful when they shape a behavior or artificially extend gameplay time. We may just as well let the world know what you managed to accomplish. When, for example, you find a corpse and solve the mystery behind the murder, it’s literally an achievement. In Ethan, you play as an occult detective. And we did.įirst, the core idea of awarding the player for achieving something is not wrong. Well, I did say we would keep figuring it out. But I have always been quite vocal about how harmful achievements are (e.g. We have just added 14 Steam achievements to The Vanishing of Ethan Carter. Upon completion of all doors, head to the attic room to claim the trophy.32 notes Achievements in The Vanishing of Ethan Carter Two mistakes in a row and the puzzle will start again and you will need to do all rooms from the start. If you walk through and get a red flash, you have chosen wrong. You will know if you are correct because you will get a blue flash once you walk through a door. You need to do this for all rooms on all floors. The key here is to press the X button to cycle the rooms making sure you pick the correct one before you walk through it (from the layout of the second house you have just been to). If you get close enough to them you can see what is behind it. Once you read the note on the table upon entering the front door, you will see that a lot of the rooms will have blue markings by the doors. Once you have done this, head to the house that was initially on the left. When you have crossed over the first bridge and you come to two houses, then one on the left contains the trophy for this.įirst thing you want to do is to to the house opposite and note down the layout of all the rooms in that house as you will need this to complete the puzzle.