'Classic' Gameplay Mode / Difficulty Setting

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'Classic' Gameplay Mode / Difficulty Setting

  • Yes, add customizability to streamlined features/mechanics through either options or a game mode.

    Votes: 132 75.0%
  • No, don't care about the loss of extra immersion by streamlining and don't mind to be hand-held.

    Votes: 7 4.0%
  • Maybe, have to see to what extent the functionality of features/mechanics has been streamlined.

    Votes: 37 21.0%

  • Total voters
    176
The only thing I'd care about is removal of arrow trails, whats the point of showing your bolt trails after you already shot? If you hit you will notice if you don't...well you will notice as well.

Besides that many of these so called options can be shoved up a nekker's ass ( I imagine they have such a thing ). If the developers want to make a game in certain way then sure, but screw these bloody options.
 
I hope they don't F-over console players by not giving us enough on/off options like most pc games.
I want to turn lots of hud clutter crap in-game hints and button visual prompts off too.

The only thing I'd care about is removal of arrow trails, whats the point of showing your bolt trails after you already shot? If you hit you will notice if you don't...well you will notice as well.
Yeah, especially since it looks to be auto-aim. I do like the auto-aim option and since this game is not a shooter it seems to be the best fit.
But yeah.. I agree with the blot trails as much as everyone does and that they need to change that effect completely.
 
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I hope they don't F-over console players by not giving us enough on/off options like most pc games.

 
On/off options like what for example?

Well to turn HUD and Mini-Map off, or button visual prompts off for things like Doors/Chests Open/Talk/Examine/Climb/Loot/Mount. Turn off enemy health-bars and floating text names and conversations.
Combat vibration on.
I want these options on XBONE & PS4.
 
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Well to turn HUD and Mini-Map off, or button visual prompts off for things like Doors/Chests Open/Talk/Examine/Climb/Loot/Mount. Turn off enemy health-bars and floating text names and conversations.Combat vibration on.
I want these options on XBONE & PS4

Well to be honest we don't even know if PC will get these options... Hopefully. Even then PC has mods to fix lack of customization.
 
Well to be honest we don't even know if PC will get these options... Hopefully. Even then PC has mods to fix lack of customization.

Oh.. I didn't know that. I always thought pc gamers always had these options from the start.
Hmm.. Yeah wow, I hope we all can get at least the options I just addressed above because everyone knows console will not ever get such mods.
(interesting). I do plan to build my first pc about a year after TW3 release date just for this game alone and it's cool potential mods. But the on/off options I stated above would be nice for me on console until then.:)
 
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Oh.. I didn't know that. I always thought pc gamers always had these options from the start.
It's always up to developer to put options they feel are needed in. Most of options are performance options - graphical, resolutions, sound, FOV and stuff like this. Niche gameplay options are not always put in - because well, its usually an easy fix for community.
 
I posted before, I know, but this is an interesting topic indeed!

I'm all for options, yes I am, but the latest Thief was a disappointment. The Thief I remember didn't focus as much on loot(yes, I said it) and loot finding as it did with story, exploration, avoiding or fighting adversaries, no killing of servants(guards were fine) or anyone at all(blackjacking was fine). The hardest difficulty required you to find much of a levels loot, yes, but it never became tedious. The latest Thief became tedious.

I can give credit to the devs for making a game that have you scouring the floorboards and ceiling for loot, as much as I can criticise them for making a rail-sneaker. Yes, the entire game is on rails, don't try convincing me otherwise. It does not allow you to jump, climb or scale walls unless your in the exact correct position to do so. That is called being on a rail. Standing in a room where you know is a quest item only to discover you couldn't find it because the item was behind a set of furniture the game didn't allow you to climb (because your position wasn't entirely like the game requires for the climb to be executed) well...made me miss the good old days.

But enough of my rant, and to the point: if it's options and choices this is about, fine.
Let's have 'em, go player choice:)victory: )!

But if this is about proving that you're an old school gamer that not only can do without the handholding of games today, but also even write your own journal and hell, why not throw in an game instability option, that boots you from the game and erases your saves while at it....just for the fun of it? Not interested. And I am an old school gamer saying this. ;)

Why this fascination of old games and linking it to almost unbearable difficulty? They weren't that hard, true they didn't hold hands, but they weren't excruciatingly hard either.

In Witcher 1 you had the choice to turn feedback texts off as well as the help when fighting(waves), but I wouldn't call this hardcore mode, or even immersion. It's not hardcore for me to learn what to watch out or listen for. It's called learning curve, I learned how to play the game, so I didn't need any feedback texts helping me.

I know I'm contradicting myself somewhat, as I'd love a hardcore mode and immersion game with high difficulty, but just as long as I find it all enjoyable and challenging, not impossible or tedious. Since when does a game option telling me that a journal has been updated or not have to do with difficulty? Once again, if this is about options let's have them, but in Witcher 3 you will be in a massive open world, and not a miniature city with all kinds of nooks and crannies hiding loot (oh how I miss the open Thief games of good old days). I'd love a journal that updates itself, and for me to get a notice about it.

I love managing, but only up to a point. Feedback, fine, but removing all indications from the HUD? I'm currently playing Baldur's Gate 2...a good old game from good old days, where difficulty and immersion has nothing to do with the journal updating itself and telling you about it each and every time it does. It isn't in the way of my immersion and I'm actually grateful for it's existence and usefulness. You may also write your own journal, and make map notes on the side. It is a choice that is excellently built into the game!

I know this is hard to discuss or separate, but I don't consider a 1999 or 'Classic' mode the same as Hardcore mode. Baldur's Gate is as classic as it gets, and difficulty of game shouldn't have anything to do with what's dispayed on the HUD. That's about preference, not how much damage you dish out or can take, and not about aligning difficulty with immersion like a Hardcore mode(think Fallout NV). Witcher 2 has already established Dark and Insane difficulty, and they should be enough for most gamers wanting an extra challenge, and I hope they will bring this to Witcher 3.

I know I will go with Hardcore mode if that is to be in there, but not Insane, as I don't want anyone messing with my saves or my choice of loading them. To me checkpoint system and autosave only(like many games of today) is not only handholding, it's restricting and the worst belittling feature of games today.

In the good old days we could actually save games whenever we wanted and weren't forced to restart from the last checkpoint you managed to pass.

Oh well....I could go on and on about this as you can see. ::)
 
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Why this fascination of old games and linking it to almost unbearable difficulty? They weren't that hard, true they didn't hold hands, but they weren't excruciatingly hard either.

Quoted for emphasis.
I played RPG when it meant having a pad of graph paper at your side to draw the map as you went, and block off each square as you checked it to see if it was a hidden door.
I played RPG when it meant having the manual at your side to try to work out which of the dozens of spells available were actually worth getting.
I played RPG when you needed to sleep, and it took around 3 minutes of real-time for a night's rest, when you needed to scrabble around the game to find food and drink and the magical elixirs that would bring back a dead party member.
All of this was part of the game, not because it was the best way of adding difficulty, but because that was the only way they could do it. They didn't do turn-based because turn-based was better, they did it because your computer couldn't do real-time for anything more complex than hack-and-slash. They didn't include eat/sleep/drink mechanics because people wanted them for immersion, they did it to pad the game out with something that wouldn't mean adding another few floppy disks - these mechanics were the '90s equivalent of Fetch quests. Maps weren't missed out because of the challenge, but because of the difficulty of having the computer remember where you'd been. Crafting systems weren't mentally challenging, they were just a way of adding complexity with repetitive code that could be re-used throughout the game.

Video games exist to entertain and challenge, but there's more than one way to achieve both, and reverting to mechanics that were there because of limitations that previous game designers had isn't necessarily the best way of achieving it.
 
In the good old days we could actually save games whenever we wanted and weren't forced to restart from the last checkpoint you managed to pass.
Yes and the games were so much harder, that quicksave/quickload was necessary and didn't feel like cheating. Some games could only be finished like that. Resident Evil: Code Veronica X was a tough one. Only to be able to save a typewriters if you had an ink-roll.
 
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I am all for options, but I think it might be better for them to include all the options in the Enhanced Edition patch (This is of course assuming that adding those features would need a lot of work. Work that is better done on the game itself to polish it until release).

Additionally, the game will have full mod support at some point. So like in Skyrim (The survival modes if you remember), those features can be added by skilled modders.

All in all, my suggestion is that if the game needs to be polished to be perfect, they should spend their time on that until release, and only after that start working on the extra features. But if they have the extra time, then why not? :) Although, for example "Disable Fast Travel" thingy is I guess easy to implement, but I think redundant. Just don't use it right? ;)
 
Quoted for emphasis.
I played RPG when it meant having a pad of graph paper at your side to draw the map as you went, and block off each square as you checked it to see if it was a hidden door.
I played RPG when it meant having the manual at your side to try to work out which of the dozens of spells available were actually worth getting.
I played RPG when you needed to sleep, and it took around 3 minutes of real-time for a night's rest, when you needed to scrabble around the game to find food and drink and the magical elixirs that would bring back a dead party member.
All of this was part of the game, not because it was the best way of adding difficulty, but because that was the only way they could do it. They didn't do turn-based because turn-based was better, they did it because your computer couldn't do real-time for anything more complex than hack-and-slash. They didn't include eat/sleep/drink mechanics because people wanted them for immersion, they did it to pad the game out with something that wouldn't mean adding another few floppy disks - these mechanics were the '90s equivalent of Fetch quests. Maps weren't missed out because of the challenge, but because of the difficulty of having the computer remember where you'd been. Crafting systems weren't mentally challenging, they were just a way of adding complexity with repetitive code that could be re-used throughout the game.

Video games exist to entertain and challenge, but there's more than one way to achieve both, and reverting to mechanics that were there because of limitations that previous game designers had isn't necessarily the best way of achieving it.

That sure put things in perspective I tell you. But you're right, times change and so does technology, but games should entertain and challenge. When it becomes a chore though, that's when many stop playing. This is highly individual of course, and I who like to travel the entire map and finish all quests before finishing a game, rarely consider this a chore. But sometimes it seems that many gamers, or those whom you hear complain anyway, are the ones who give up all too easy. And it's sad to see a good game being dissed because people didn't have the patience to learn how to play it. Ah, manuals. Remember when games had them? I mean real manuals with actual game information in them. Sorry for the nostalgia. :rolleyes:

Yes and the games were so much harder, that quicksave/quickload was necessary and didn't feel like cheating. Some games could only be finished like that. Resident Evil: Code Veronica X was a tough one. Only to be able to save a typewriters if you had an ink-roll.

Ah, the good old typewriter. Sure, I enjoy games that allow me to save whenever and wherever I please, and that feature should be outright available to those who wish it, but at least that typewriter feature added some excitement. "Should I save now? Should I save now? How about now then? No I'm just doing this little thing as well. There may be a boss fight ahead, but no...not in this room. AAAH! RUN! Why didn't I save?! Oh great, now I'm low on health and herbs, but here's the typerwiter at least." :lol:
 
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Pretty much a no-brainer to have something as exhaustive as Thief's range of options for gameplay- and HUD-customization in W3 as well, you'd think.
I wouldn't mind some kind of Veteran Witcher mode in the vein of MetroLL's Ranger mode combining certain hardcore features and settings either.
As long as it's not compromising the core gameplay and its mechanics it should be left to the player to decide if he wants certain elements to be displayed on the HUD or in the UI in general.
The same goes for certain gameplay mechanics which, optionally adjusted from their regular functionalities to accomodate a more hardcore playstyle could provide a whole other experience and justify yet another playthrough.
There are no losers here, if you think about it.
 
Hardcore Mode

I was wondering if anyone else wanted a hardcore mode to be featured in Witcher 3? Since Witcher 3 is supposed to be the last game I felt that it's the one that should make me feel like an actual Witcher, not just a god that even after being by monstrous claws! Can just leave battle and regenenerate his health without doing anything but just sitting there. So here are my ideas for a better, more immersive Witcher 3 gameplay experience.

-No health regen. Add bandages and put an emphasis on health potions, giving me a reason to actually find the materials to craft bigger pouches that would carry more than three.

-Companions that have more meaning. In battle you could make them more useful in combat other than just more dps. Since you now have harder gameplay because of the idea mentioned above, your companions can actually help you in battle. Like if you go down, but a companion is still alive they can drag you away from the battle retreating, and bandaging you. On the other hand you could do the same, if one of your companions go down you should be able to retreat and return later.

-Strategic fighting. If say your taking on a bigger monster you notice your health is getting low, and you have no more health potions, you should be able to run away and return to the fight later. Where the monster hasn't regained all his health and wounds from the last fight are still present. As in arrows that were shot into the beast stay and cuts from you're sword still shows.
 
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