Difficulty levels - who wants more control?

[Wej]

Recently, in preparation for the arrival of Ashes 2009 (yes, it's a cricket game) I thought I'd dig out my copy of Brian Lara 2007 and give it another bash. Now, I stopped playing Brian Lara because (and this is unusual for me) it was *far* too easy. This is something I find very often, if ever. It had 4/5 skill levels, from 'Village' up to 'Test', and on every single one, it was ludicrously easy.

To give you an example (helps if you know cricket)...

I started playing an England v Australia test, and automatically generated their first innings - they got 300 or so. I then proceeded to bat for 2 days (not real time) and eventually got bored and declared on 979 for 4. One of my batsman was approaching 500 when I got bored. To give you non-cricketers an analogy, that's a bit like playing on the hardest skill level on a football game, playing against Man Utd/Barcelona/AC Milan and scoring 10.

Anyway, almost immediately after 're-visiting' Brian Lara I stopped again, but it got my thinking. Why can't we have more control over the 'skill level' of a game, rather than a simple setting? In Brian Lara's case this may not have helped (after all, I was on the hardest level), but so many other games it'd be nice to tweak some things and not others.

Some sports games give you loads of control - Tiger Woods is a good example, and I find that this increases the longevity massively. Most however just give you a simple slider - [Easy]-[Medium]-[Hard]-[Stupid]-[NoLife] (the final skill level may not actually be called that) and more often than not, I find that I'd really like to tweak one element of the game rather than all of it, e.g.: -

* Increase injuries in a football game but keep the skill level as it is
* Increase the accuracy of enemy in an FPS, but not their health (or mine)
* Decrease particular drop types in an RPG, but increase others

Obviously on a console this would immediately cause issues with achievements, but if achievements were only obtainable on default settings, how would this cause an issue?

Anyone agree, or is the hugely simplified skill level system sufficient for most people?

 

[Shamikebab]

Yeah I think if they could do it then that would be a massive feature in games.

I think the thing that annoys me more than anything is games with difficulty levels that aren't uniform. For example Easy and Medium are both quite easy, then Hard is a ridiculous jump (Guitar Hero and Pro Evo spring to mind here)

 

[Streeteh]

I certainly would like to be able to control extra aspects, so for example in racing games i'd like the physics to be at their most realistic level but the AI to be on 'medium' as i'm rubbish but prefer a more realistic experience. Some racers simply don't give you that option; if you want realism, you have to face off against the hardest AI setting.

 

[Wej]

Yeah I think if they could do it then that would be a massive feature in games.

I think the thing that annoys me more than anything is games with difficulty levels that aren't uniform. For example Easy and Medium are both quite easy, then Hard is a ridiculous jump (Guitar Hero and Pro Evo spring to mind here)

LOL- Pro Evo is such a good example. It's taken me years to be able to make the jump from medium to hard (or level 3 -> 4). It's not that it's necessarily too hard, it's more that the difficulty gradient is complete rubbish.

 

[Dup]

I'd rather they make games longer and more playable than have a multitude of difficulty levels that I never bother with. I pick one, complete (if possible) then either get bored or sell it on.

Difficulty levels are OK for certain games like driving aids on racing games etc but I'd rather have someone more doable but not easy. Everyone has the same xonsole and controller at the end of the day, how does pressing buttons have to be? You just need to get used to the game in question.

Introducing harder difficulty on increases stress levels and I hate the sort of people that boast about doing the most impossible level on the most impossible difficulty. They are probably the only person in theworld to bother and I bet under the smugness it was a right PITA.

 

[V4NT0M]

I've always hated difficulty levels, mainly in shooters etc, it usually means that the enemy does more damage and you do less. I like games to be har because they take thought or skill not just because the damage has been multiplied.

Currently I have a problem with virtua tennis on the PSP, it's a well put together game but the difficulty curve is horrible, you play a tournament and the frist 5 are extremely easy then the next 2 or 3 are really hard and the difficulty seems to come from a lack of flexibility in the controls.

 

[Dutch Guy]

They need to make the game harder if you are doing very well, with cricket for instance they can make the game adjust the throws of the opponents by giving them more spin, faster or more accurate.

I find that if a game is too easy it puts me off, I always stop playing golf games when I score rounds of 14 under par when the closest AI player is at 2 under par.

 

[Buffman]

* Increase injuries in a football game but keep the skill level as it is
* Increase the accuracy of enemy in an FPS, but not their health (or mine)
* Decrease particular drop types in an RPG, but increase others

This doesn't play well in call of duty 4 on veteran, it results in random grenades everywhere and bots shooting you before they see you .

 

[Substance]

Yeah I think if they could do it then that would be a massive feature in games.

I think the thing that annoys me more than anything is games with difficulty levels that aren't uniform. For example Easy and Medium are both quite easy, then Hard is a ridiculous jump (Guitar Hero and Pro Evo spring to mind here)

Nah, hard isn't that different from medium, just 1 extra button, it isn't much faster at all, then expert is just hard mode but a little faster, but once you have the hang of 1 game on expert they all play the same, ever since GH2 I have played every game on expert first time

 

[Shamikebab]

Nah, hard isn't that different from medium, just 1 extra button, it isn't much faster at all, then expert is just hard mode but a little faster, but once you have the hang of 1 game on expert they all play the same, ever since GH2 I have played every game on expert first time

I never found the change that hard, but it's something a lot of people complain about, especially on GH3. It's the increase in speed, more complex note charting combined with suddenly having to work out how to move your hand up and down the fretboard.

 

[V4NT0M]

Nah, hard isn't that different from medium, just 1 extra button, it isn't much faster at all, then expert is just hard mode but a little faster, but once you have the hang of 1 game on expert they all play the same, ever since GH2 I have played every game on expert first time

I never found the change that hard, but it's something a lot of people complain about, especially on GH3. It's the increase in speed, more complex note charting combined with suddenly having to work out how to move your hand up and down the fretboard.

It is, you can pretty much get through a song on medium ignoring most of the blue notes, but try and do that with orange on hard and you can't.

 

[cokecan]

Halo 3 aint too bad for difficulty customizations once you've got the skulls. some of the changes in gameplay with them turned on do make the game pretty challanging

But generally I agree, a lot of games now days just feel a bit easier than older games did

 

[manic111]

I've always hated difficulty levels, mainly in shooters etc, it usually means that the enemy does more damage and you do less. I like games to be har because they take thought or skill not just because the damage has been multiplied.

I agree with that; I'm playing through Fallout 3 at the moment, and the only difficulty between hard and easy is that the battles in hard take longer as you have to run away to let your action points regenerate more. I've whacked it down to easy as you still get the great storyline and setting without wasting time fighting mutants.

Bioshock, on the other hand, is great; the harder you play it at, the more thought it needs!

 

[thecremeegg]

Nah, hard isn't that different from medium, just 1 extra button, it isn't much faster at all, then expert is just hard mode but a little faster, but once you have the hang of 1 game on expert they all play the same, ever since GH2 I have played every game on expert first time

Its pretty tricky as not only do they add an extra note, but it gets faster and the combinations are more complex

 

[Shamikebab]

I agree with that; I'm playing through Fallout 3 at the moment, and the only difficulty between hard and easy is that the battles in hard take longer as you have to run away to let your action points regenerate more. I've whacked it down to easy as you still get the great storyline and setting without wasting time fighting mutants.

Actually it affects the amount of XP you get. I think it is very, very difficult to get to 20 if you are playing on easy.

 

[Bri]

I think Goldeneye was the last game to get diffiulty levels 100% spot on so you wanted to play through all of them.

 

[dalin80]

uncharted does it pretty well, the enemies become more skillful and aware as you advance with many more melee moves and better gun/grenade control.

but it does begin to fall into the trap of bumping up the ai health to unrealistic levels.

 

[manic111]

Actually it affects the amount of XP you get. I think it is very, very difficult to get to 20 if you are playing on easy.

Ah really? Didn't know that, thought it was taking me a while to level up at the moment! Think I'll be changing again