Collection Missions That Don't Completely Suck
I don't have anything against Collection Missions in theory, but they are rarely implemented well. Usually, you are searching blind. Items are often off the beaten path, or outright hidden.
Most of the below games still have issues in the implementation. They aren't perfect; they just don't completely suck.
There are several small things that can improve Collection Missions. These aren't a silver bullet. Depending on other details, the implementation as a whole may still be terrible. As a general rule, you need more than one of these.
- Items are out in the open
- Have a lot of items
- Make collecting the items fun on their own
- Make them (at least partially) optional
- Collecting items give you something meaningful in the game (no, achievements are not sufficient. If the only reason to collect all the items is to get an achievement, then your implementation sucks)
- The game tells you how many items are left by level (or sector, in an open world game)
- There is a clue (a sound, a visual effect) when you are near an item
The better implementations will actually display your progress on your map. (Implementations that go this route often also include details from the list above.) This can be implemented a couple of ways .
- Mark where you found the item
- Mark all items on the map and remove the marker when you find one (sometimes, this type of implementation requires you to buy in-game maps before items get marked. This is fine, so long as the maps aren't expensive in terms of in-game currency).