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[Arsic]

I remember when all we asked developers for were for multiple difficulties to help fine tune and challenge us appropriately. Difficulties they tailored and developed for their mechanics and were confident in their vision.

Lately though devs are going down a dark rabbit hole I'm not liking such as Doom the Dark Ages. That game in particular had no clue when I played at launch how to correctly balance various mechanics so they just gave the player sliders for EVERYTHING. Parry window? Move speed? Don't worry player - you figure it out.

What happened to hand crafted experiences? I pray this isn't what more devs start doing because they can't figure it out. I don't want to be the dev - just make hard mode hard and not a chore.

 

[March Climber]

Oh this thread is about sliders.

I don't dislike sliders, because I like the idea (especially in shooters) of being able to create a 'Heaven or Hell' high stakes difficulty mode where me and my opponent can die in a couple of shots.

If they set bad defaults that's their problem, not an industry-wide problem.

 

[I collect VHS tapes]

I agree

also when everything is customizable to tiny degrees, players end up having wildly different versions of the same game. when developers avoid that and keep the core systems unified, the entire player base shares a more consistent experience, which creates a stronger sense of community IMO.

 

[vaibhavpisal]

Indiana Jones also had a lot of customisation.

Personally I am down for that.

It is only way we can hope to get true Morrowind successor where I can disable objective markers. Which is how I played Indiana Jones. I think its most fun that way.

 

[March Climber]

It is only way we can hope to get true Morrowind successor where I can disable objective markers.

I like your idea but you have to be careful with this one. Some games are built around the markers and have terribly monotonous maps that feel horrible to navigate, when you turn them off.

 

[kevboard]

I remember when all we asked developers for were for multiple difficulties to help fine tune and challenge us appropriately.

I want to clarify that I would never ask for that, as I am a firm believer in having no initial difficulty selection in any game.

there should always only ever be 1 mode when first booting the game.

 

[March Climber]

there should always only ever be 1 mode when first booting the game.

I know people here think of this in terms of soulslikes and similarly difficult genres, but what's your solution when the opposite happens and that 1 mode is entirely too easy?

 

[The Cockatrice]

Balancing games is a modern nightmare because developers now have to cater to every single idiot playing or potentially playing their games, so they just dont bother. It's a shithole that will get worse.

 

[Radical_3d]

Options in a PC sim/strategy experience like Civilization or Dawn of War? You love to see it.

Options everywhere else? You hate to see it.

This is the very same reason I don't like (most) open world games. It's like "play game director" where the tempo is decided by me instead of an industry veteran talent. I'm not Amy Hennig or Hideo Kojima (ok, bad example right here).

 

[Paasei]

I think both ways of designing a game has its cons and pro's. You can make it as difficult or easy as you want, or just parts of it that you find too easy or struggle with.
Other than that a set difficulty is my personal preference, no choosing whatsoever.

 

[vaibhavpisal]

I like your idea but you have to be careful with this one. Some games are built around the markers and have terribly monotonous maps that feel horrible to navigate, when you turn them off.

I think recent games that I played are getting pretty good for Morrowind style of exploration.

Indiana Jones, maps are small enough, fully exploring them doesn't take too long.

Avowed, pretty good points of interest, no repeated landscape anywhere.

Sea of Thieves, almost completely abstract, even more hardcore than Morrowind. One has to pray they are going in right direction, not even an npc to let you know you have reached right place.

Grounded, finding your objective is the objective in that game.

From top of my head. I think games are getting ready for that type of experience.

 

[Arsic]

I think both ways of designing a game has its cons and pro's. You can make it as difficult or easy as you want, or just parts of it that you find too easy or struggle with.
Other than that a set difficulty is my personal preference, no choosing whatsoever.

I agree with this but some games don't need the "one difficulty" only.

Souls like? Yes. It's a specific experience tailored around all encounters being the same and the player agency then creates the challenge or lack thereof depending on their decisions made.

But a game like Hell is Us was piss easy on all difficulties. Then added even more sliders because they just have no clue how to make an actual cohesive product. Some may be playing for just story and don't care to be challenged, which is fair. Some want that dopamine reward and a trophy or achievement to add to it.

I look back on Ninja Gaiden games specifically where each difficulty changes encounters, and what the game expects of you. Master class example of why difficulties are great.

 

[Danny22]

People complaining about getting built-in trainers smh. I just download trainers for every game.

Play the game and stop hanging out in the menu section.

 

[Paasei]

I agree with this but some games don't need the "one difficulty" only.

Souls like? Yes. It's a specific experience tailored around all encounters being the same and the player agency then creates the challenge or lack thereof depending on their decisions made.

But a game like Hell is Us was piss easy on all difficulties. Then added even more sliders because they just have no clue how to make an actual cohesive product. Some may be playing for just story and don't care to be challenged, which is fair. Some want that dopamine reward and a trophy or achievement to add to it.

I look back on Ninja Gaiden games specifically where each difficulty changes encounters, and what the game expects of you. Master class example of why difficulties are great.

My issue with how MOST developers handle difficulty is just letting the AI cheat. I want the AI to be better. Not getting killed in 1 hit, having more hp so it takes way longer. It's just not fun. I'd rather have them challenge me properly to better use whatever tools I might have. Throw nades at me and properly flank me when I decide to sit behind cover too long and so on. It's quite rare when difficulty is truly put into the AI and instead it's put in the 3 mechanics that they have and make them more punishing.

Most recent example I have is Takezo in Ghost of Yotei. The game asks you to play perfect because all the timing windows are retardedly narrow. I played the game on Lethal (hardest difficulty in that game). I don't mind a good challenge, but this form of challenge is just not fun. I felt nothing when I finally killed him. The same thing happens, like you said, when games are too easy.

 

[cireza]

Sonic Frontiers was a complete joke on that regard.

Go on bro, moves the cursors, we have no clue what we are doing anyway.

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

I remember when all we asked developers for were for multiple difficulties to help fine tune and challenge us appropriately. Difficulties they tailored and developed for their mechanics and were confident in their vision.

Lately though devs are going down a dark rabbit hole I'm not liking such as Doom the Dark Ages. That game in particular had no clue when I played at launch how to correctly balance various mechanics so they just gave the player sliders for EVERYTHING. Parry window? Move speed? Don't worry player - you figure it out.

What happened to hand crafted experiences? I pray this isn't what more devs start doing because they can't figure it out. I don't want to be the dev - just make hard mode hard and not a chore.

It's a common pitfall, particularly for AAA - the sliders are another example of trying to make a game that appeals to everyone, but diminishing the experience in the process. Personally, I don't see more devs implementing functionality like this. If they want to take the easy way out, eschewing difficulty settings entirely is probably the simplest solution. Honestly, the sliders must've been a pain to implement even if they didn't spend much time actually testing them.

 

[Soodanim]

Not sliders, but TES and FO both have terrible difficulty options. They just change player and enemy damage multipliers, that's it. It's worse on FO4 Survival where they make it even more extreme. It's very common to find mods that make difficulties a far more interesting balance than "Everyone's a bullet sponge and you take 4x damage". Sliders would be far better, especially when someone wants to enjoy Survival mechanics without the stupid mults.

 

[Hudo]

Unpopular opinion: I hate difficulty modes and the like. There's a lot one can criticize From Software's Souls games for, but they have the right idea when it comes to designing the games with one exact difficulty in mind and tailor everything around that.