Please give us customizable difficulty settings

[Mybrokenenglish]

Hello devs,

I fear it's too late now, but since you guys claimed you're still balancing the game (as a matter of fact media couldn't choose the difficulty setting for the demo), IMHO it would be neat if you could let us customize the difficulty settings. We don't even need such a "complex" system as we got in TLOU2, but letting us select our and enemies DMG input/output (first 2 options in the screenshot below from TLOU2) would let us tailor the experience on our preferences.

Player: how resistant the player is
Enemies: how resistant enemies are

You want bullet sponges? easiest difficulty setting for player (V withstands lots of hits) and highest for enemies (they withstand lots of bullets)

You want a more realistic experience? hardest setting for player (V dies with few hits) and easiest for enemies (they die with few hits)

And of course everything in between. Mix and match, your favourite quote!

I'm trying very hard to find any way devs might accept to avoid bullet sponges. there are millions of console gamers like myself who can't mod games, and this is something that can be easily done by devs. You are creating those presets anyway for the difficulty setting, just add another where we can choose these things as it was in TLOU2.

Spoiler: Very convincing arguments

 

[kofeiiniturpa]

I've been asking for a "mix&match" style difficulty setting for years.

One that has two sections combat and general gameplay difficulties, and three different difficulties: easy, normal hard on both and that affects skill bonuses and penalties at different categories. The world is as it is designed, no tougher enemies at hard nor more brittle at easy, but your lack of (character) skills and stats gives you harder times the harder the settings are with any given performance those skills/stats govern, as well as affecting progression speed of skills and XP gain from missions.

 

[4RM3D]

I understand that console users do not have access to mods which potentially can give you pretty much every customizable difficulty setting you can think of. But...

To be honest, I really don't care about this feature whatsoever. Just give me the usual "easy - hard" options, with an explanation how it effects the game.

 

[Draconifors]

While having a larger variety of options definitely has its pros, I personally have never missed such options. Though, I've never played a game that did have them so...
I have a feeling I'd just leave everything (including the difficulty itself) at default and stick with that till the end of the game, because that's what I always do.

If "higher difficulties" are literally just "enemies do X times more damage, and you do X times less damage" (and vice versa with lower difficulties) then options I think would definitely be a good thing.

(I'm a huge fan of custom difficulties created with self-imposed rules, but their purpose is practically always to make the game harder.)

 

[Mybrokenenglish]

If "higher difficulties" are literally just "enemies do X times more damage, and you do X times less damage" (and vice versa with lower difficulties) then options I think would definitely be a good thing.

We all know that'll be the case for CP77. That's why i'm asking for what seems to be something very easy to add. And since it's custom, the "5th difficulty setting" doesn't even need optimization/balancing. Just make:
very easy/story mode
easy
medium
hard
custom (you choose some stuff from the 4 defaults above).

 

[Draconifors]

We all know that'll be the case for CP77.

I was unaware it had been confirmed. Witcher 3 didn't have it, and we do know Cyberpunk's "hardcore" will remove HUD (i.e. do more than adjust damages).

 

[Mybrokenenglish]

Witcher 3 didn't have it

What? W3 was exactly like that. The only differences between difficulty settings were DMG input/output...

 

[kofeiiniturpa]

If "higher difficulties" are literally just "enemies do X times more damage, and you do X times less damage"

Didn't they say that they were thinking about how to do it differently some time ago already?

(Doesn't mean they will, quite a number of features have already been scrapped, though.)

 

[Draconifors]

The only differences between difficulty settings were DMG input/output...

Wrong.

Didn't they say that they were thinking about how to do it differently some time ago already?

That does sound vaguely familiar. No idea where from, though.

 

[kofeiiniturpa]

That does sound vaguely familiar. No idea where from, though.

Yeah, I remember reading it, but not from where. It's not anything very recent, though, that much I'm sure of.

 

[Draconifors]

Here's the quote with the hardcore info. Emphasis mine.

The most fun one I think will be the Hardcore setting where we turn off the UI you live as well. And that will be a real challenge for a lot of players. Also, at the same time, if you want to play more casually for the story and maybe you’re not experienced with shooters, which was a real big concern for us. We want to tell a story and maybe you’re a big fan of The Witcher and you’re not comfortable playing a shooter, we have settings available for that. We even have weapons for that. If you recall from last year’s demo, we had a weapon called the smart gun, which helps you aim. The bullets were much slower and usually a bit weaker. But if your aiming isn’t your forte, you can always pick up the smart gun.

Definitely implies more than just "harder = they do more, you do less" to me. Unless he's talking about separate, gameplay settings. Can't tell based on that quote.

 

[KakitaTatsumaru]

and we do know Cyberpunk's "hardcore" will remove HUD

Would be strange after forcing the player to use cyberware especially for that.

Post automatically merged: Jul 10, 2020

And about the topic, I would not care if the game was easy enough to mod from Day One (just let me tweak damage and health formula and I should be OK).

But there is also console players who are basically screwed if something isn't in the game.

 

[Mybrokenenglish]

Wrong.


That does sound vaguely familiar. No idea where from, though.

I'll be glad to stand corrected, but I just checked because my memory is obviously not perfect and I find only this:

The Witcher 3 difficulty levels explained

Breaking down the difference between all difficulty options in The Witcher 3.

ag.hyperxgaming.com

.

To simplify the selection process, we’ve listed all four difficulty levels in The Witcher 3 below along with brief explanations on how they’re different from one another.

• Just the Story (Easy): Enemies have -50% health, deal a normal amount of damage.
• Sword and Story (Normal): Enemies have 10% more health, deal 40% more damage.
• Blood and Broken Bones (Hard): Enemies have 20% more health, deal 130% more damage.
• Death March (Insane): Enemies have 80% more health, deal 230% more damage

 

[4RM3D]

Thinking some more on this, while I have accepted the usual "easy - hard" setting for games, I am not a fan of any difficult setting, actually. I rather just have the game as is, with no options. Instead, I rather see the difficulty being implemented as part of the game. For example, Dark Souls doesn't have any difficulty settings, but you can pick different builds which are more difficult to execute.

You can say that having a difficulty setting will reach a larger audience, but at the same time, it means you have to make your game "spongy". I mean, it needs to be more flexible with numbers, which usually doesn't help to increase the quality of the experience.

On a final note, I do like special modifiers/modes. For example, Iron Man (death = game over) or Dante Must Die in DMC.

EDIT: and this is the generic boring difficulty setting I was talking about, which I don't want to see:

To simplify the selection process, we’ve listed all four difficulty levels in The Witcher 3 below along with brief explanations on how they’re different from one another.

• Just the Story (Easy): Enemies have -50% health, deal a normal amount of damage.
• Sword and Story (Normal): Enemies have 10% more health, deal 40% more damage.
• Blood and Broken Bones (Hard): Enemies have 20% more health, deal 130% more damage.
• Death March (Insane): Enemies have 80% more health, deal 230% more damage

I don't want just numbers to change, but something that changes how you play the game.

 

[Mybrokenenglish]

Thinking some more on this, while I have accepted the usual "easy - hard" setting for games, I am not a fan of any difficult setting, actually. I rather just have the game as is, with no options. Instead, I rather see the difficulty being implemented as part of the game. For example, Dark Souls doesn't have any difficulty settings, but you can pick different builds which are more difficult to execute.

You can say that having a difficulty setting will reach a larger audience, but at the same time, it means you have to make your game "spongy". I mean, it needs to be more flexible with numbers, which usually doesn't help to increase the quality of the experience.

On a final note, I do like special modifiers/modes. For example, Iron Man (death = game over) or Dante Must Die in DMC.

I tend to agree with dark souls. Make an easy mode for dark souls and it loses all its appeal because it's designed on the idea of challenging the gamer. That's not the case with W3. It could've been, but it wasn't.

What you say about needing flexibility, is the exact point of my thread and I suggested something that requires ZERO development time and has already been done by TLOU2: classic difficulty settings PLUS a custom one that includes the default settings. You like the defaults? great. You want more bullet sponges? 2 sliders and you're done. You don't like bullet sponges? Same. It wouldn't ruin the experience at all, since you're choosing the difficulty setting anyway.

 

[Draconifors]

I'll be glad to stand corrected

- reduced exp for quests (and enemies, afaik) --> harder to level
- no HP refill when meditating --> need more potions and/or food
I was never talking about combat only. When I said literally I meant literally.

Would be strange after forcing the player to use cyberware especially for that.

One word: optional. No one is going to force you to choose that difficulty, even if HUD cyberware is mandatory (which I'm not sure it is, but I don't follow nearly all news).

 

[4RM3D]

On a side note...

- reduced exp for quests (and enemies, afaik) --> harder to level

I am usually exploring everything, which means I am often too high level when I reach a certain place. This is a design flaw, which requires a different solution.

- no HP refill when meditating --> need more potions and/or food

That's a pretty good difficulty modifier.

 

[Mybrokenenglish]

- reduced exp for quests (and enemies, afaik) --> harder to level
- no HP refill when meditating --> need more potions and/or food

I don't remember about less exp
HP refill it's true, I forgot.

They both had a neglectable effect on difficulty compared to DMG input/output, but if we want to be extremely detailed oriented instead of looking at the big picture, then yes, It was not ONLY DMG input/output.

 

[Draconifors]

I am usually exploring everything, which means I am often too high level when I reach a certain place. This is a design flaw, which requires a different solution.

Same. Death March (and to a lesser extent B&BB, but I've never played that one) only makes it worse, and it's not the kind of additional difficulty that's good for the game.

That's a pretty good difficulty modifier.

Yeah, I like it a lot. It adds difficulty by removing an aspect, which is a good method imo.

 

[KakitaTatsumaru]

One word: optional. No one is going to force you to choose that difficulty, even if HUD cyberware is mandatory (which I'm not sure it is, but I don't follow nearly all news).

What I wanted to say is that it would be strange not to show something justified by story itself.

For exemple, if would be like having an Iron Man difficulty where death is definitive when you are supposed to be immortal because of the immortality chip.

You understand what I'm trying to say?
If story says something, gameplay should say the same thing.