I'm not sure how in depth I'll go on any one-thing, or how often I'll post, it'll probably be sporadically when I feel like it.
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Friendly reminder that we have an IRC channel for any and all help/advice/script/general ZQ discussion: #ZCDesignCorner @ irc.bladerock.org
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Entries so far:
1 - On the Subject of Difficulty Levels (You are here)
2 - Flow, what is it, and how do you use it?
3 - Idea, tangible elements, and what you shouldn't look at when copying successful games.
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On the Subject of Difficulty Levels
It's always interesting to see games incorporate difficulty levels especially the 'how', there are many approaches out there on how to make proper difficulty balancing in your game, and some work better in certain games while some work less well. More recently certain quests have started offering difficulty levels, Isle of Rebirth and The Forbidden City are two recent quests that have done this, yet I feel that I don't like the approach they used.
I always say that: Offering difficulty levels is the mark of a good game. But a truly great game does not need difficulty levels in the first place, (But it can of course still add to the experience).
For example, Super Metroid does not have difficulty levels, but you'd be hard pressed to find players on either spectrum complaining about the game being either too hard or too easy. Firstly, it's a game that does 'tutorials' masterfully, you don't need to know much about anything about platforming games when picking it up, it'll teach you without fail all the required mechanics in the game before the end of it. A struggling player can also spend some time exploring to find more upgrades that'll help them on their journey. On the other end of the spectrum, skilled players and those coming back for a replay will still be challenged. This is because they will have less upgrades, you'll probably stick mostly for the upgrades that are the most convenient/essential unless you're aiming for a 100% completion run.
Quite a few years later, Metroid Zero Mission was released. This game does have difficulty levels, it does not need them, but it does make the game better. (Though I will say that MZM is not as well crafted game as SM, but then they were a bit more limited what with it being a remake). Easy mode serves as a more lenient experience, enemies takes a bit less to kill, and each hit deals a bit less damage to you. It's perfect for someone who would want a more relaxed experience, while still getting to enjoy everything the game has to offer. Hard mode however is a bit more interesting. Many enemies have been replaced by their harder versions and there are more enemies placed overall. Energy and weapon expansions give less too, energy tanks are at half of what they are in normal and missile tanks are down to 2 from 5. Furthermore a few roadblocks have been removed in hard mode, allowing the playing to do more sequence breaks.
But I digress, my point is that difficulty levels can add a lot to the experience, but in the case of the mentioned quests I feel more that the options take away from the experience rather than adding to it. In the case of Isle of Rebirth, in order to play on easy or very easy mode the player needs to start the game on normal and then later on 'downgrade' to a lower difficulty level. This is very condescending towards players who may want an easier or a more relaxed experience. But I feel both of them completely misses the point when it comes to difficulty levels. From my limited understanding, it mostly seems to be a case of statistics when it comes to difficulty. Enemies hit harder on hard, enemies hit less on easy, etc. The problem with this is that the design remains the same, and in both cases proper difficulty based design seems to have been substituted with the difficulty levels.
What I mean by that is that if you're asked to do X thing, then lowering the amount of damage taken does not make X easier to do, it just makes it more forgiving and easier opened up for brute force solutions. It's even more disturbing in Isle of Rebirth where this seems very much intended. There are a lot of hard and/or cheap things to dodge in the quest, but there are also an abundance of pots that drop restorative hearts. Rather than having enemies that provide more reasonable attack patterns, etc, you're just left with a ton of pots to grind on hearts on if you take too many hits. This implies that it's intended that players will lose a lot of hearts all the time throughout most dungeons. To me that seems backwards, what I'd instead think should be the case is that while enemies are though, once you have learn their patterns you should be able to deal with them while sustaining minimal damage.
Both of these quests also have a habit of treating 'optional' items as required ones. The blue tunic, for example, is completely optional and somewhat possible to miss in The Forbidden City. But as soon as the blue tunic is handed out, the game ramps up the difficulty and makes everything past that point deal more damage than what things did to you in the last area with the previous tunic. At that point what you have created is not an optional item, but an required item in the disguise as an optional one. The blue tunic is perhaps an extreme example since it's such a game changer, but I often feel that stuff like pieces of hearts and other minor upgrades are all intended to be found as soon as possible in quests, even though they are not placed such a manner. This becomes a problem in that you're punishing people who don't explore a lot without rewarding people who actually explore. (Since they'll just follow the de facto balance).
It does not help that both of these quests are somewhat on the hard end of the spectrum when it comes to ZC quests, and the Easy difficulty option could definitely been branded as normal to provide a better baseline in comparison to other games and quests. Comparably even the most bullshit optional part in Lost Isle, (which I find to be a bit lacking in regards to good design), is easier than the last few required dungeons in Isle of Rebirth on normal.
So what is my bottom line? Well, I think that if you want to add difficulty levels to your quest, you should first make sure that your main 'normal' mode is enjoyable for a wide range of skilled players. Take a Link Between Worlds for example the latest '2D' Zelda game, the normal mode was probably very enjoyable even for long term hardcore fans of the series, no? And it should very much serve as a good introduction to 2D Zelda games for a novice. Now I'm the first one to say that hero mode in regular Zelda games could be a bit more fleshed-out, but the hero mode in ALBW is perfectly fine and it serves as a good returning point for players who are skilled and want to experience the game again with a bit more challenge.
And the things that make a game enjoyable by a wide variety of skilled players? That's all in the actual design of the game, not in the difficulty levels. And when you have such a baseline down crafting a few different difficulty levels become all the more interesting, because I am in the firm belief that a good hard mode and a good easy mode is so much more than just taking and receiving more or less damage.
~Lunaria
We'll see what I cover next time.
#420noproofreading
Edited by Lunaria, 10 July 2016 - 09:35 AM.