Eligarf wrote:From the perspective of a game designer, what is the purpose of making passwords?
Clearly, they are useful for debugging purposes, allowing you to access certain points in the game quickly and easily.
What then is the purpose of keeping them active for your users/game players?
Same thing. Allowing them access to certain points quickly and easily.
But why would that be necessary?
This I think is the key question regarding this issue: Why do Puso's games need them and Shark's do not?
I think it is because the length of game play time between action sequences in Puso's games is simply too long to hold the user's attention. Shark's games, on the other hand, are paced in such a way that there is never much time between action sequences, and they are written in such a way that the time that is spent in between action sequences flows more smoothly and more quickly. And then there is the difference in actual game play. Shark relies less on the user for maintaining the action. Whereas in Puso's games you have to be very active with the mouse, in Shark's games you have to be very active with your mind, and once you figure out what to do it is merely a matter of a click or two to get the right (or wrong!) action. The end result is that after a half an hour of playing a Shark game you have seen several action sequences and your wrist is fine. The same half hour with a Puso game (especially the Beach series, OMG!) you have seen one and a half action sequences and your wrist is sore from trying to figure out exactly what he wants you to do with the mouse. That is why the passwords are necessary for Puso's games, and not for Shark's.
The bottom line then is that Puso left them there so that the people who play his games could use them. Because he knew that they would both want and need them. So there should be no disparagement for sharing them and/or using them.
Shark games also have help word, maybe you just don't find them ???