Checkpoint (respawn)

- For racing games, see Checkpoint (video game racing).
In video games, a checkpoint is a location in the game's map where, once reached, the player's character will respawn if they die. The checkpoint is a mechanic used to decrease replay punishment which causes boredom in games with large levels; if the player's character dies, the player won't have replay the entire level if they die. This makes them similar to spawn points, autosaving, and save points, however, checkpoints are primarily used in games with maps that are in discrete segments and presented in a very linear manner. Designers often place checkpoints around the midpoint of the level or after especially difficult segments. The term "checkpoint" refers to both the location on the map and the game mechanic.
Checkpoints are dependent upon two other video game mechanics: respawning and maps. If a game just ends when player's character dies for the first time, then checkpoints are pointless, and, if the game doesn't have a map, there won't be a location at which to respawn. Technically, a game doesn't even have to institute death or respawning, it could punish a mistake by teleporting the player's character back to the last checkpoint, although, mechanically, this is identical to respawning.
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Personal
For the most part, I see checkpoints as a flawed game mechanic. It's certainly an improvement over restarting a level from the beginning after dying, but, once designers started implementing immediate respawning, I think checkpoints should have gone away in most games. I'm pretty sure Super Mario Bros. was the first game I player which used checkpoints, and, since I didn't know any better, I was fine with the concept. However, when I started seeing games which allowed the player to continue from right where they left off without a break in the action, I became annoyed with every game which used checkpoints. Having to not only repeat a section of the level, but do so with less power than I had the first time, is a chore not entertainment.
History
Checkpoints began as an evolution of stage-based games where the player is given multiple lives. Consider Galaxian; when the player dies, provided they have lives remaining, the game doesn't restart them from the beginning, but instead allows them to continue from the stage they are on. Checkpoints extend this mechanic to games with maps. If the player had to restart from the beginning of the map and replay the same sections over and over again each time they die, they would get very bored trying to practice enough to reach the end, so checkpoints were created to solve this problem. The 1982 game Xevious, one of the first scrolling shooters, has a very long map and uses checkpoints all throughout it.
Many popular games of the 1980s, like Super Mario Bros. and Gradius, used checkpoints in this manner. However, it didn't take game designers very long to notice players don't like having to replay even small sections of the map, so they began instituting immediate respawn with games like Contra and Life Force. However, checkpoints remain a staple in certain genres, consider all the Mario games which continue to use them.
In early games, checkpoints were invisible and the only way a player knew where they were was when they died and respawned at one. In later games, designers began making checkpoints visible which not only gave the player more information, but, in some instances, gave the player the option to skip them if they didn't want to activate the checkpoint.
Respawning at an invisible checkpoint in Super Mario Bros..
Super Mario World introduced optional checkpoints which are visible to the player.
And Sonic the Hedgehog borrowed the idea.
Usage
Implement checkpoints in a game isn't too difficult. The game designer decides whether they will use invisible or visible checkpoints and whether they will be mandatory or optional. Then, the map designer determines which maps will have checkpoints, and where they will be located. Checkpoints are usually implemented by the programmer as an object in the map, that way, if the designer wants to change the location, they can do so easily. If the checkpoint is mandatory, it is usually activated when the player passes its location in the map, but, for optional checkpoints, the player has to activate the checkpoint in some manner, usually by simply colliding with it. Once activated, the game stores in memory which checkpoint was last activated. Then, if the player's character dies, the program will usually use the same code it uses to start the level, only, in this case, it won't start the level from the beginning, but at the position of the checkpoint. Care must be taken in the placement of checkpoints. If the checkpoint is placed just before a very difficult section of the map, before the player can acquire a power-up, they may burn through all of their lives and become frustrated.
Variations
A further evolution of the checkpoint replaces lives entirely with checkpoints where, each time the player's character would die, they are instead transported or respawn back at their last checkpoint. One of the first games to do this was Pitfall II: Lost Caverns in 1984 where getting hit by a monster causes Pitfall Harry to slowly travel back to the checkpoint losing points as he goes. Modern games like VVVVVV and You Have to Win the Game instantly respawn the player to their last checkpoint without penalty.
Red crosses serve as checkpoints in Pitfall II: Lost Caverns.
Ringing a bell activates a checkpoint in You Have to Win the Game.