variable-based difficulty

[tom_servo]

First, let me just say that this is one of the most enjoyable games I've ever played. Don't know the specific inspiration behind this title, but survival has never felt so enjoyable and immersive.

Since the most recent update, wolves are a lot more tricky to deal with (as they should be). I don't know if you guys are going for "static" sandbox difficulty levels, but I would love the ability to set difficulty levels for different dimensions of the game. For example, I love battling "the elements". Some of my most enjoyable moments in the game have come when an unexpected blizzard kicks up, or when a sudden fog descends as I am trying to make my way towards a new location/back home. However, I hate dealing with wolves. While having wolves guard particularly high-value locations in the game adds an exciting layer of challenge, playing on max difficulty with wolves EVERYWHERE can get a bit tedious.

Bottom line, I would love to see a either a) a new difficult that is essentially the voyager+, with the weather and wolf balance as described above, or B) the ability to start sandbox games with variable settings for different game aspects such as item decay rate, wolf density, weather variance etc.

[pikkue]

Somewhere it was said (by Bill iirc) there are several hundreds if not thousands of Variables to set. This was brought up a while ago.

I think the modes are actually fine, unique and good balanced. You should really go on trying, the learningcurve is pretty high, you'll be able to survive up to 50 days without any problem after a few days of playing.

[dittoisepic]

Somewhere it was said (by Bill iirc) there are several hundreds if not thousands of Variables to set. This was brought up a while ago.

I think the modes are actually fine, unique and good balanced. You should really go on trying, the learningcurve is pretty high, you'll be able to survive up to 50 days without any problem after a few days of playing.

While this may be true, after those fifty days, you will be killed by a wolf. Maybe a bear, if you are stupid. See, you never die of hunger. These things happen:

Attempt to get food from house. Wolf eats you.

Attempt to get drink form house. Wolf eats you.

Attempt to get to house. Wolf eats you.

Get caught in a blizzard. Cannot see wolf until he is almost on you. Wolf eats you.

TL;DR Wolves cause too many deaths

[pikkue]

Somewhere it was said (by Bill iirc) there are several hundreds if not thousands of Variables to set. This was brought up a while ago.

I think the modes are actually fine, unique and good balanced. You should really go on trying, the learningcurve is pretty high, you'll be able to survive up to 50 days without any problem after a few days of playing.

While this may be true, after those fifty days, you will be killed by a wolf. Maybe a bear, if you are stupid. See, you never die of hunger. These things happen:

Attempt to get food from house. Wolf eats you.

Attempt to get drink form house. Wolf eats you.

Attempt to get to house. Wolf eats you.

Get caught in a blizzard. Cannot see wolf until he is almost on you. Wolf eats you.

TL;DR Wolves cause too many deaths

Well, yes perhaps. And learning goes on of course.

But I can not really relate your post to the topic?

Regards

[Monsterguts173]

As this thread is discussing adjustable difficulty, I thought I should add my idea to it as well. Especially since this is the wishlist area.

I would like to see a difficulty mode where your condition drops as quickly as it does in stalker, (hunger, thirst, etc.), but where everything, including the animals, all the animals, are super scarce. Finding any wildlife would be really rare, and short of a direct hit to vital organs with a rifle round, much more difficult to kill. (well maybe with the exception of rabbits and fish...)

The wildlife, in this proposed mode, would also be much more wary of the player. Wolves and bears would keep their distance initially, even fleeing, but they wouldn't stay spooked and will eventually hunt the player back down.

The idea behind all this is to really ramp up the isolation and lonely feeling of it, and give a little different flavor. This would also make any wildlife encounter really intense and unique. It makes all the oppositions really become their own characters. Having a wolf stalk you for days, knowing you are going to have plan for it's eventual attack, awesomeness, well, imho anyway.

So that is my idea on difficulty additions