Hardmode...Its a question.

[Sourdeez]

I get really tired of Hardmode being regular mobs all of a sudden can take 1000 bullets to the head.


I like my hard mode to make the AI more intelligent. Make bullets more valuable by decreasing the supply. Make body armor count(Aka make the player actually aim)



How do you prefer your Hardmode?

 

[cyberjim2000]

Yeah, I played the Fallout 3: Wanderer's Edition mod that give you less experience with bullets hitting harder to you and the hostiles along with hardcore mode (ammo has weight and you have to eat, drink, and sleep). Feels a bit more rewarding going through places like Super Mart. http://fallout3.nexusmods.com/mods/2761/?

 

[De-Ting]

It hate when difficulty jumps higher than it should with hardmode. Some games go:

Easy->Normal---------------------------------------------->Hard

I prefer:

Easy--->Normal--->Hard

And I agree. Damage-sponge enemas is not right. More, smarter enemies is better, but not CoD4 smart. Because on that game, they'll get 100% accuracy, see through walls, and throw grenades like they're going out of style.

 

[Longo_2_guns]

Hard mode should be: enemies are smarter, you get fewer advantages over them, more complex puzzles, etc.

Hard mode shouldn't be: enemies do more damage, you do less damage.

Perfect difficulty is when you have no fundamental advantage over the enemy and have to rely entirely on skill or strategy to win. Ie, God Hand.

In fact, God Hand is perfect when it comes to challenge, since enemies get smarter the better you play.

 

[danielrbischoff]

I'm all about how it feels. If it feels stupid hard, then that's bad. If normal feels like a normal level of challenge, then that's good. Hard mode can't just double everything normal mode does. I think my impression of hard mode came from games that would add objectives in hard mode, making the gameplay longer/more challenging but also adding some variation so that you're not bored.

Like Tetris hard mode is just going to make the bricks fall faster. There's not a lot you can do there, but first-person shooters should be like Goldeneye with added objectives. Platformers are another genre where it's hard to say exactly what's hard (pretty much just levels getting harder as you play), but you definitely know when you play it. The Mario games have handled this so well because they, like Goldeneye, just added extra stuff, rather than just making all the platformers smaller. Maybe to get one of the coins you have to jump exactly right, and that makes the coin grab hard, but not the entire level.

 

[UrbanMasque]

How do you prefer your Hardmode?

Make the game jumpy. Limited saves and resources, add timing to the mix.

 

[Bretimus_v2]

Hard should never be cheap. That's my biggest pet peeve.

 

[C_nate]

Sadly, a lot of games take the easy way out and hard mode isn't smarter enemies, just unfair ones. So for me, most aren't even worth the hassle unless I find the normal mode for that game too easy.

A big offender was Empire:Total War. They bragged about how good their AI was but the only difference between normal and hard mode was that in normal mode your line infantry soldiers would be able to wipe out militia troops, but in hard mode suddenly the militia troops became super soldiers and would slaughter your line infantry without changing any tactics or strategy at all.

 

[Sourdeez]

I think I can agree with most of the things posted.

I really like when a game feels real. When combat,armor, and everything feel like they would in a real simulation, I get more immersed into the setting. Its one of the reasons I love physics and destructibility in games. Setting can be everything but that includes how your character exists in that setting.

I dont like games that are stupid hard just to be stupid hard. I like games that present a realistic challenge.
Maybe this is why I started loosing interest in battlefield 3. When the game first came out the guns felt real and did realistic damage. Then they nerfed all the guns.

 

[Longo_2_guns]

You've played STALKER, right Sourdeez? I sure hope so. I only played it recently, but oh man was it pretty damn perfect.

 

[Sourdeez]

Right now Im playing Metro 2033 Last Light. Which puts great detail into the setting.

Ive only tried stalker once and watched my friends play. Maybe I should go back and give it a fair shot.

Which one should I play?
Should I play it with any mods or specific settings?

 

[UghRochester]

The games I play nowadays, I go to directly to hard mode. Hard mode is the new normal for me.

It seems the leveling system is like this
Easy -> You're terrible, what are you, a baby?
Normal -> Alright, let me just get the hang of this
Hard -> Psshh, I already know how to play.
Extremely Hard -> Be nice for co-op

 

[Longo_2_guns]

Which one should I play?
Should I play it with any mods or specific settings?

Play the original Shadow of Chernobyl, no mods needed.

It's not the most difficult thing ever, but it's got a lot of interesting little things. For example, if you fire one shell in your double-barrel shotgun and then reload, only one shell is ejected rather than both.

 

[MattAY]

I hate hard mode. I want to play everything on easy. I only play hard mode if there's an achievement for it.

 

[cyberjim2000]

Right now Im playing Metro 2033 Last Light. Which puts great detail into the setting.

Ive only tried stalker once and watched my friends play. Maybe I should go back and give it a fair shot.

Which one should I play?
Should I play it with any mods or specific settings?

Personally, I'd get this mod. http://www.moddb.com/mods/stalker-complete-2009

 

[used44]

I guess it's about fairness. Like Ugh, hard us basically my default with today's games, though I'll occasionally lower it midway thru. Huge jumps in difficulty are a bummer only when they're seemingly arbitrary. I want tougher situations and tougher enemies, not the same enemies who are now godlike.

 

[Sourdeez]

Damn thanks longo and cyberjim. Im going to use that mod for sure and play the game after I beat Metro LL.

 

[Green_Lantern]

You should play STALKER first...It's better.

 

[De-Ting]

I got SHOC years ago, but every time I try to get into it, I get lost or confused about what I'm supposed to be doing. I should try it out again, with that mod.

 

[Master_Craig]

I think it depends on the game. If it's a game like Devil May Cry, God of War etc, I think enemies having more health, dealing more damage and you dealing less damage is suitable.

However, in a third or first person shooter, I think enemies should still be the same in regards to their own durability, but they should be smarter and maybe they should be more enemies, or something.