Do you like it when a game has an opening skills challenge that then sets your difficulty?

[Zed Clampet]

Last game I did this in was Space Hulk: Deathwing, and I didn't even realize I was being tested. I thought it was just a normal tutorial. I was wandering around looking at stuff. I opened the settings and played with the key assignments. Then all of a sudden I got a message that was basically, "Bless your heart" and was placed in remedial reading.

Also, forgive me if it takes me a minute to get all the key presses down. In The Witcher 2, it basically taught you everything in the whole game in a couple of minutes and then started throwing waves of enemies at you. "Hey, Champ! We think you should play on easy." Bite me.

So what are your opinions on this system? For me, just leave me alone. I'll pick my own difficulty.

 

[Frindis]

I much more like it when you get to choose between different starting perks, background, etc than a boring maze of different challenges. Or even better: Learning by doing. Want to pick a 5 -man group of wizards and see if it works? Go right ahead.

 

[WoodenSaucer]

I don't think I've ever played a game like that. It's an interesting idea.

 

[mainer]

I don't think I've ever played a game like that. It's an interesting idea.

I've never played a game that had that aspect either. I much prefer to have a range of difficulty options to choose from.

 

[WoodenSaucer]

I've never played a game that had that aspect either. I much prefer to have a range of difficulty options to choose from.

Yeah, I don't think I'd like the game choosing for me.

 

[Zed Clampet]

Yeah, I don't think I'd like the game choosing for me.

You can usually change it later.

 

[Brian Boru]

leave me alone. I'll pick my own difficulty

That's me too.
If ever a game did a test, then I'd play dunce to get easiest diff. It's a nice idea, and put it in for those who like it:
Options are a Good Thing!

I always want to wander around at the beginning of a new game… get the lay of the land, see which way is up—could be an Australian game, after all.

After an hour or two of that, I'll restart and pick my own diff level.

 

[Ryzengang]

That's me too.
If ever a game did a test, then I'd play dunce to get easiest diff. It's a nice idea, and put it in for those who like it:
Options are a Good Thing!

I always want to wander around at the beginning of a new game… get the lay of the land, see which way is up—could be an Australian game, after all.

After an hour or two of that, I'll restart and pick my own diff level.

Agreed, the more options, the better.

It's worth noting that skill only has a limited relationship to difficulty setting. Just because I'm good enough to play on Hard doesn't mean I want to play on Hard. I'm decent at video games, but I very often play on Easy because challenge isn't a major motivator for me when it comes to gaming. I usually just want to relax and enjoy myself. Some people find challenge enjoyable, of course, but I generally don't seek that out myself.

 

[mainer]

see which way is up

Sometimes it's difficult to know up from down.

 

[Pifanjr]

I much more like it when you get to choose between different starting perks, background, etc than a boring maze of different challenges. Or even better: Learning by doing. Want to pick a 5 -man group of wizards and see if it works? Go right ahead.

I like it when I get a bunch of weird ass questions and get a build recommendation based on that.

Screw a game trying to decide what difficulty would fit me. Just let me change it whenever I like so I can adjust it myself.

 

[Frindis]

Sometimes it's difficult to know up from down.

Does not get any better after watching this either:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pj-h6MEgE7I

 

[mainer]

@Frindis - That reminds me of an old PC game from Interplay called Descent from 1994, I never could get the hang of it. I miss Interplay, they made some really great games back in the early 1990s.

View: https://youtu.be/cuWYK0GGv0o

I like it when I get a bunch of weird ass questions and get a build recommendation based on that.

Remember meeting the Gypsy at the beginning of Ultima IV - Quest of the Avatar (1985), that determine your virtue and starting abilities?

View: https://youtu.be/fQdYVLlc28g

 

[WoodenSaucer]

@Frindis - That reminds me of an old PC game from Interplay called Descent from 1994, I never could get the hang of it. I miss Interplay, they made some really great games back in the early 1990s.

Descent was a really awesome game in its day.

 

[Frindis]

@mainer @WoodenSaucer Descent was really cool! Unfortunately, my old computer could not run it properly, so it lagged like hell and made it quite hard to maneuver. I'm still hoping something good comes out of Descent: Underground, but there is a lawsuit going on, so who knows. Still, looks good so here is hoping:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kAV_hmVpiU

 

[Zed Clampet]

That first trailer for Descent struck me blind.

 

[Zloth]

I think I have had a game decide difficulty like that, but I can't even remember what game it was, whether I liked it, or whether I just overrode what it guessed.

No idea why you would wait around for Descent Underground when Overload is already out there. Here's some video footage. (The other Descent games are earlier in the video.)

View: https://youtu.be/5HfuUqsY4Tk?t=788

 

[Brian Boru]

Some people find challenge enjoyable, of course, but I generally don't seek that out myself

Same here for over a decade. My last challenges were C&C Generals ZH—spent a summer on the Generals Challenge on brutal—and getting my Civ4 to comfy win at Emperor.

Nowadays I play at a level which requires tactics and planning, but not major finger gymnastics or migraine-inducing attention.

 

[Johnway]

being a tutorial i just roll with it. problems only begin if i can't change the difficulty and its grossly incorrect. Most cases i just switch down or up as required. I've played enough of a genre to gage what a SP difficulty will be like.

That said i'm having a difficulty existential crisis . FPS games i like it at hard (not to the max though) and RTS games average. But i had an epiphany about difficulty settings; most of them are just stat changes such as taking fewer hits /doing less damage etc whereas the enemies do more damage and take more in turn. Its so lazy and i'm not getting anything out of it other being an artifical road block. But also Normal mode is the TRUE way most games should be played the intential stats no one has an advantage and its skill that determines the winner.

there are exceptions, some RTS ai is better but as soon as i realize i'm getting a handicap as opposed to facing a harder/smarter foe? forget it.

 

[Frindis]

@Zloth Lol, I don't know either! Totally forgot about that game and I do think you mentioned this one a year or so back in time in a similar discussion we had.

 

[mjs warlord]

Before i start a game properly i always mess around for a few hours to get the feel of how it works and then i start a new game...... I also check the difficulty choice as well because in the past i have used some games that once you start you cant change it so if you keep getting beat its a restart

 

[Zed Clampet]

as soon as i realize i'm getting a handicap as opposed to facing a harder/smarter foe? forget it.

I'm with you 100 percent there, but I also don't like it when AI cheats like crazy at higher difficulty levels. In my perfect scenario, the AI just gets better at the game, but still plays by the rules. I think the problem is that this would be a heck of a lot of work for the developers, and it's far easier to just let the AI cheat.

I'm casually working on a project to change the AI in Total War: Warhammer 3, but it's really difficult to test the results of changes without access to certain developer tools.

 

[Zloth]

I'm not so sure you want to face the full brunt of an AI opponent.

Consider 4X games. The AI could get better not because of cheating or better armor or whatever, but simply because it re-calculates the optimal tax rate it should be charging every single turn. Whenever a tech advancement is made or more information is learned about its enemies, the AI re-calculates every unit it has to see if it needs alteration/upgrading. Every build queue would be examined to see if it would be better to change to something else every turn, too.

If you're talking about a shooter, you're going to get destroyed. An AI would aim perfectly and would get a head shot every time one was available. It could move extremely erratically and still have no issues aiming precisely. You won't be able to sneak up on one because it will likely be spinning like a dervish.

I presume those options aren't used because they aren't fun.

 

[Pifanjr]

Remember meeting the Gypsy at the beginning of Ultima IV - Quest of the Avatar (1985), that determine your virtue and starting abilities?

I do not, that was several years before I was even born...

I think Morrowind was the first game I played where you could take a quiz that would give you recommendations for what class/skills to pick.

there are exceptions, some RTS ai is better but as soon as i realize i'm getting a handicap as opposed to facing a harder/smarter foe? forget it.

So why don't you play against human players?

 

[Frag Maniac]

Last game I did this in was Space Hulk: Deathwing, and I didn't even realize I was being tested. I thought it was just a normal tutorial. I was wandering around looking at stuff. I opened the settings and played with the key assignments. Then all of a sudden I got a message that was basically, "Bless your heart" and was placed in remedial reading.

Also, forgive me if it takes me a minute to get all the key presses down. In The Witcher 2, it basically taught you everything in the whole game in a couple of minutes and then started throwing waves of enemies at you. "Hey, Champ! We think you should play on easy." Bite me.

So what are your opinions on this system? For me, just leave me alone. I'll pick my own difficulty.

I don't really like it much, but usually the only games I've had do that are racing games. It wouldn't be so bothersome if it were just a suggestion and you had the choice to override it. I tend to do at least 2 play throughs on Normal and Hard before I challenge myself with hardest mode anyway, but I often add challenges on top of that once I know the game well.

One game that kind of surprised me when I played it on hardest mode was Days Gone. I had read stories of people saying it was brutally hard, but I found I had to play without sleeping to reset the game to daytime (Freaks are stronger, more aware, and faster at night) and use the Massive Hordes mod just to feel life threatened on Survival II. I love the game so much though that I've reinstalled it to try playing on Survival II again, but this time without purchasing skills. I'm also going to try not upgrading Stamina, Health, or Focus.

I did some searches on Google and YouTube to see if anyone has played it this way, and on forums to see if anyone has even talked about it. I couldn't find a single thing, so I don't know how far I'll get. I was originally going to try also playing with no bike or weapon upgrades, but I think you have to upgrade the bike just to be able to move to another hangout and continue the story (the game more or less says this at the beginning). Regarding weapon upgrades, you really just have silencers and extended mags. Since this kind of challenge is going to require a lot of stealth, I opted to at least use silencers. They don't last long though, and that means more scavenging and more chance of encountering Freaks, especially if not sleeping like I plan to.

 

[Johnway]

So why don't you play against human players?

play mostly single player games. especially with RTS games i've never played online. I generally don't play ranked so no idea how good it is at providing a balanced fight.

But personally i hate playing against other people as i just can't accept random dicks and getting one up on me. I've discussed in detail it the past about it. Plus i don't have time to get gud, repetitive nature of games etc.