Thoughts about Difficulty

[Kalenden]

Hi, I'm really enjoying this game so far but I have some concerns about difficulty.

Namely, after first playing Crossworlds, I really enjoyed the difficulty on Hard there. But, I did find it too hard in the early game as a mage and slightly too easy in late game. Medium game was perfect.

That in mind, I started a campaign on Normal in WotN but I'm afraid it will become too easy early on, but I don't want to restart on Hard because that would be too hard early on and I would lose my current progress.

If I understand correctly, changing difficulty mid game is impossible. However, I was thinking, the main difference between Hard Difficulty and Normal Difficulty is mostly the 130% leadership increase mobs receive, correct?

Couldn't I gain an equivalent difficulty level, when I want it and how I want it, should I modify my own leadership? For example, if on every level I substract 1/4th to 1/3rd of my newly received leadership, it would be roughly the same as all mobs having 1.3 times more leadership (since I would have less).

Any thoughts on this? Recommended or not recommended?
I'm currently level 7 and I think if I halve my leadership "income" for a couple of levels and then consistently reduce it by 1/3rd I would have roughly the same perfect mid game difficulty curve of Hard mode.


Edit:

Seems I was a bit hasty. Decreasing leadership doesn't work with the console. Anybody have any suggestions?

Edit edit:

Aha, seems I can edit the game files to achieve the same effect!

in King's Bounty - Warriors of the North\sessions\addon opening ses and editing hero.txt I see that the mage class has this:

level_up {
leadership=10 //40,30
}

How would I go about editing this to achieve the above effect, if the above effect is desirable? I'm guessing it is something like 10 + k*(40 or 30) with k dependent on the level?

[cocktard]

It has annoyed me for over 10 years that there seems to be little or no development regarding difficulty in games.

It is not ok that the game handles difficulty only by simple adjustments of enemy troop numbers or similar methods. It is very cheap and uncreative. Don't get me wrong, it is better to have those settings than nothing. But I expect more from games these days.

In my opinion, games should start not being too difficult (to avoid turning away inexperienced players). But then progress to be more difficult by complexity and improved AI mechanics. This is possible, just not easy. But this is what makes a good game great in the long run.

One example is enemy spell use and troop targeting: It seems very random and/or poorly programmed. Hit us where it hurts!

Another example is enemy mages: Very underpowered in the spell and intellect department, which makes them just another "troop kill" with a little effects blended in. Make enemy NPC Battles different!

A third example is lack of choices on the strategic level. Add challenges to getting equipment, spells, troops, etc. Make us choose sides and take the consequence of our actions.

Also, why not make battlegrounds and castle attacks more interesting? Add obstacles and defence towers of various types. Why not expand the battlegrounds a little to make use of various terrain, objects and other stuff in a more tactical way?

This is a good game, but it is a little too simple. It would be great if it would add depth as the game progresses.

[Kalenden]

Problem is, it is very hard to make a difficulty system that is just "perfect" for everybody.

Take this game for example, you've got 3 static difficulty settings.

Now, you have to balance these for 3 different classes. This isn't that hard because you know how those classes play, but still.

Then you have to ensure they are doable even with the built in random elements of this game. A normal mode that is extremely hard because of bad luck is bad design for example, so you have to try to find some middle ground. This is much harder, because, how can you play for random elements at the start of a game?

Then comes the hardest: everybody plays differently. If I play on hard, should I be forced to avoid all mobs, clean entire islands before fighting and then carefully pick the weakest fights? Some people want a challenge without min/maxing everything, others want a challenge with min/maxing. Both players could pick hard, for who do you balance Hard mode?

Difficulty should never be a static and unchangeable setting at the start. It should (in reasonable ways) dynamically adapt to you and your situation. I understand your AI mechanics suggestion, but I think that is one of the hardest things to do in games. As a Mage in Crossworlds my ideal settings would've been Normal at the start, Hard in the middle and Impossible in the end, to remain at the same difficulty.

I think the best option would be picking a difficulty option at the start that takes into account your class ( So that every class has the same difficulty begin and end game ), and one that slightly scales depending on performance. If you min/max and get all the medals super early, the game should be made slightly harder then if you don't, to remain at the same level of difficulty.

[Totoro]

Just pick impossible. The game is hard in the beginning but gets easy after first four islands. Struggle through the first islands and then the difficulty should be good for you. At least that's my theory.

[xinsai]

They could add double fights as well. Kind of like how ... erm.. no spoiler hider?

[SPOILER WARNING]





kind of like how eric helps you with the last fight, he gets an army and you get one. If they added in, at random, enemies that teamed up against you on some sort of split-path deal then it would also create a new challenge.



[END OF SPOILER]

[camelotcrusade]

Eh, if you want harder King's bounty, play heroes of might and magic. The addition of enemy heroes and an AI faction that is actively trying to kill you makes it much harder in my opinion. Plus that game cheats like the dickens on harder AI.

That said, I like the no pressure aspect of King's Bounty much better. I just wish the "sweet spot" where I've got a good army and am winning all my fights with adequate challenge lasted longer. Seems to me in WotN the "victory lap" is way too long to stay enjoyable.

[chieuleheng@gmail.com]

Originally Posted by Totoro

Just pick impossible. The game is hard in the beginning but gets easy after first four islands. Struggle through the first islands and then the difficulty should be good for you. At least that's my theory.

Agreed. Im now at late-game and regret picking normal :/

[Sirlancelot]

Impossible is the way to go. Specially on vanilla. You may want to restart on that level... or try out Expensive, for instance. A very well rounded mod that balances every aspect of the game.