Now this will seem like a straight forward question but I want to add a little more depth to it, like my graphics thread. [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.199153-Poll-What-kind-of-graphics-do-you-enjoy-in-a-game#6509799] So this won't be a standard, "Do you play a game on hard?" sort of thread.
See, in games there are various difficulties and different ways of handling them. As in make enemies tougher, make you weaker, reduce items in the level, create more enemies etc. They are all different ways to add difficulty layers on top of each other for an overall structure. But when it comes to specific events or fights or even levels how can you excel one factor that makes it challenging but enjoyable. What I am trying to ask is, out of the following, which do you prefer? (Note I am talking about both specific level difficulty and difficulty setting challenges.)
Enemy Swarm:
Pretty simple; You walk into the room and instead of the regular groups of five or six baddies, there is maybe twenty, thirty or even more. This can be all at once or slowly flow in over time. This even ranges to one extremely dangerous and lethal enemy coming in packs. Good for crowd control tactics.
Enemy Damage Sponges:
Having fun cutting through those aliens with two shots? How about decapitating that zombie with a three hit combo? Not anymore. Let's ramp up the enemy health and resistances well past the original values. Suddenly the cowering foes found their actual armour instead of a newspaper shields. Mind you they aren't aware of this and will behave exactly the same as before so no real AI improvement here but you suddenly have a harder time cutting through the grunts. Good for prioritizing and optimizing attacks.
Enemy Skill Increases:
This is when the enemy suddenly can aim faster, react faster, do more damage and just generally play better. They may also have more resistance to damage, move faster, have access to more attacks but the difference is they know they can do all these new things and they will abuse it. They have an attack the player can't defend against? Spam it as much as possible if the player doesn't keep up the pressure. Good for building up general skill.
Item Drought:
You have to go to hell and back to get a single clip of pistol ammo. Remember how there were three power ups in this room on easy? Yeah only on easy, never at any other time. There is a single health kit in this level and you will have to punch a dinosaur to death before you can get to it. Rather then just increasing every enemies health and damage, limit what the player can use. This rewards hoarders who save everything up and punishes people who are careless.
Level Design:
This involves either traversing a very dangerous area while the enemy has clear shots at you. They have the high ground, they are in the bunker, they don't have to dodge the boulders coming down the cliff and they will abuse it as much as they can. Usually when you enter a new area you'll be at a very poor location and the player will have to make decisions to balance the odds in their favour. Best thing about this? It can apply to multiplayer.
Player Weakness:
If you have played any old school NES/Genesis/Atari game you will know exactly what this is like. The player is given a single health point. Maybe if the game is very forgiving you might find a shield or even a second health point. Everything can kill you in one hit. Or almost one hit. Or maybe the boss has an instant kill attack. Or a regular enemy has a super combo. Either way if you mess up a single time you are dead or so close to death it doesn't matter, no questions asked. Great if you are just that damn good and can prove it. Obstacle dodging is pretty cool as well if you pull it off.
Lack Of Checkpoints:
Depends on the player skill and the difficulty setting. A five minute room might be pretty simple, but every time you get to the last jump or the final enemy you mess up. Now the room wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't for the fact that if you mess up once, you have to redo the entire room. Every single little thing you did up to the end bad guy you have to redo every time you mess up. Made worse if there is a boss afterward and it doesn't checkpoint at the boss. Generally a trail and error sort of difficulty, which can be fun in its own way.
Bad Controls:
Okay, this isn't a real option. No game should have bad controls on purpose for the difficulty. But it is worth mentioning. I am sure you have all played a game where the controls could of been better.
Other:
Inevitably I left out something. I am not that savvy with every genre around so feel free to tell me which ones I have left out.
I got the idea of this thread while creating various levels for Doom, Alien Swarm, Warcraft etc. Now I generally try to make difficult campaigns sort of for myself, I like the challenge. But it comes to a point where I question myself, "Did I make these enemies too strong/weak? Am I spawning way to many or not enough? Is this an optimal level design? Did I give the player enough items to deal with this encounter? Is it fun with these levels of difficulty?" Every now and then I get other people I know to test some of my levels and I see they do struggle with bits. I want it to be fun but challenging. So I wonder which of these difficulty types is too extreme and what I can replace it with to make it more smooth.
So I ask you, which of these difficulty types do you prefer overall?
I tend to like Skill Increases. The game still feels the same but I know they have evolved to a point where I must get better.
Also a bonus question, when creating a level or game how do you implement difficulty? Even if you don't create levels or games, how would you like it to be implemented?
Truth be told I prefer to create levels where the player has every resource they need. Plenty of health and ammo and respawn points if applicable. But I try to counter this with increased amount of tougher enemies in good tactical positions in maps. In this way the player doesn't feel cheated out of the tools required to win, but they have to overcome a lot to pull it off. I don't like weakening the player ever.
See, in games there are various difficulties and different ways of handling them. As in make enemies tougher, make you weaker, reduce items in the level, create more enemies etc. They are all different ways to add difficulty layers on top of each other for an overall structure. But when it comes to specific events or fights or even levels how can you excel one factor that makes it challenging but enjoyable. What I am trying to ask is, out of the following, which do you prefer? (Note I am talking about both specific level difficulty and difficulty setting challenges.)
Enemy Swarm:
Pretty simple; You walk into the room and instead of the regular groups of five or six baddies, there is maybe twenty, thirty or even more. This can be all at once or slowly flow in over time. This even ranges to one extremely dangerous and lethal enemy coming in packs. Good for crowd control tactics.
Enemy Damage Sponges:
Having fun cutting through those aliens with two shots? How about decapitating that zombie with a three hit combo? Not anymore. Let's ramp up the enemy health and resistances well past the original values. Suddenly the cowering foes found their actual armour instead of a newspaper shields. Mind you they aren't aware of this and will behave exactly the same as before so no real AI improvement here but you suddenly have a harder time cutting through the grunts. Good for prioritizing and optimizing attacks.
Enemy Skill Increases:
This is when the enemy suddenly can aim faster, react faster, do more damage and just generally play better. They may also have more resistance to damage, move faster, have access to more attacks but the difference is they know they can do all these new things and they will abuse it. They have an attack the player can't defend against? Spam it as much as possible if the player doesn't keep up the pressure. Good for building up general skill.
Item Drought:
You have to go to hell and back to get a single clip of pistol ammo. Remember how there were three power ups in this room on easy? Yeah only on easy, never at any other time. There is a single health kit in this level and you will have to punch a dinosaur to death before you can get to it. Rather then just increasing every enemies health and damage, limit what the player can use. This rewards hoarders who save everything up and punishes people who are careless.
Level Design:
This involves either traversing a very dangerous area while the enemy has clear shots at you. They have the high ground, they are in the bunker, they don't have to dodge the boulders coming down the cliff and they will abuse it as much as they can. Usually when you enter a new area you'll be at a very poor location and the player will have to make decisions to balance the odds in their favour. Best thing about this? It can apply to multiplayer.
Player Weakness:
If you have played any old school NES/Genesis/Atari game you will know exactly what this is like. The player is given a single health point. Maybe if the game is very forgiving you might find a shield or even a second health point. Everything can kill you in one hit. Or almost one hit. Or maybe the boss has an instant kill attack. Or a regular enemy has a super combo. Either way if you mess up a single time you are dead or so close to death it doesn't matter, no questions asked. Great if you are just that damn good and can prove it. Obstacle dodging is pretty cool as well if you pull it off.
Lack Of Checkpoints:
Depends on the player skill and the difficulty setting. A five minute room might be pretty simple, but every time you get to the last jump or the final enemy you mess up. Now the room wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't for the fact that if you mess up once, you have to redo the entire room. Every single little thing you did up to the end bad guy you have to redo every time you mess up. Made worse if there is a boss afterward and it doesn't checkpoint at the boss. Generally a trail and error sort of difficulty, which can be fun in its own way.
Bad Controls:
Okay, this isn't a real option. No game should have bad controls on purpose for the difficulty. But it is worth mentioning. I am sure you have all played a game where the controls could of been better.
Other:
Inevitably I left out something. I am not that savvy with every genre around so feel free to tell me which ones I have left out.
I got the idea of this thread while creating various levels for Doom, Alien Swarm, Warcraft etc. Now I generally try to make difficult campaigns sort of for myself, I like the challenge. But it comes to a point where I question myself, "Did I make these enemies too strong/weak? Am I spawning way to many or not enough? Is this an optimal level design? Did I give the player enough items to deal with this encounter? Is it fun with these levels of difficulty?" Every now and then I get other people I know to test some of my levels and I see they do struggle with bits. I want it to be fun but challenging. So I wonder which of these difficulty types is too extreme and what I can replace it with to make it more smooth.
So I ask you, which of these difficulty types do you prefer overall?
I tend to like Skill Increases. The game still feels the same but I know they have evolved to a point where I must get better.
Also a bonus question, when creating a level or game how do you implement difficulty? Even if you don't create levels or games, how would you like it to be implemented?
Truth be told I prefer to create levels where the player has every resource they need. Plenty of health and ammo and respawn points if applicable. But I try to counter this with increased amount of tougher enemies in good tactical positions in maps. In this way the player doesn't feel cheated out of the tools required to win, but they have to overcome a lot to pull it off. I don't like weakening the player ever.
