Your thoughts on customizable difficulty settings

[Acrux]

Difficulties just seem like a waste of time to me. 99% of the time easy makes the game trivial and hard is an after thought that just makes things more tedious/unbalanced.

The worst "Hard" modes are ones that only buff enemy health, making them bullet sponges. If it's something more novel like more enemies, new enemy types, etc then it's fine. Video games should have a healthy amount of challenge to them, and there's a reason why all the samey, handholdy games of today are boring zoomers.

I completely agree with this. The other side of this problem is that the early game becomes extremely tedious but the reverse difficulty curve makes the late game too easy once players have more strength, more types of actions, etc.

Also, why do almost all games start by giving players only a single, basic type of attack? Even early game could give some variety and would help create a real difficulty curve.

[Irenaeus]

Also, why do almost all games start by giving players only a single, basic type of attack? Even early game could give some variety and would help create a real difficulty curve.

Yeah, agree. Contra, the best 2d platform shooter ever released, gives you 5 optional types of attack in the first 30 seconds of the game.

[Kowe]

Playing on normal difficulty is an extended tutorial in most cases anyway. The initial tutorials are just a small dip into the game-mechanics before really familiarizing oneself with them over a broader span of play-time.
In the end, the player should have a good overview and knowledge of application for those mechanics, although new discoveries makes it a bit more fluid with the learning and mastering aspects.
Thinking back, Warcraft 3 did it well with gradually introducing buildings, units, and strategies with each mission. Has been a while since I last played it, especially TFT. So can't comment on how its expansion handled it.
On another note, Gamemaker's Toolkit has a video on the hidden difficulty settings in the Mario games. Interesting watch at least.
And what Nintendo does is quite good. Have player choice in how to handle a situation, level, etc. and not force a certain difficulty on the player per se. They are most likely not the first ones to do it, even back in the 80s, but still something to keep in mind. In case of Doom, it is like getting all secrets, killing all monsters or speed-runs, for each level. Or a combination of any of these three.
Another alternative is Custom game settings, for campaigns, custom games, and whatnot. It can be argued one can skip and just jump into Custom Matches like in RTS games. Even introducing new mechanics with it, potentially allowing for more depth but at least higher complexity.

In the end, it is still really up to the player how to make the best out of what they are offered by a game and its developers in the context of difficulty. Including man-made rules. One can only do so much, however.

[rusty_shackleford]

custom game settings are just cheats

[SpellSword]

custom game settings are just cheats

Even if they make the game harder?

[Kowe]

custom game settings are just cheats

Nah, single-player is a different beast than multiplayer. The concept for fairness is crucial for the latter and doesn't really matter for the former.
Besides, who doesn't want to play as a midget, with a big head, unlimited grenades, or other game-play modifications in older games.

[rusty_shackleford]

custom game settings are just cheats

Nah, single-player is a different beast than multiplayer. The concept for fairness is crucial for the latter and doesn't really matter for the former.
Besides, who doesn't want to play as a midget, with a big head, unlimited grenades, or other game-play modifications in older games.

It's cheating.

[Kowe]

I can understand the desire to cheat in a multiplayer game, but I just don't get the desire to cheat in a singleplayer game. Why would you want to cheat yourself?

"To deceive your enemies, you first have to deceive your friends." Of course, to deceive one's friends, one first has to deceive him- or herself. Gets complicated without friends and enemies. Not sure how to become a supreme cheater without either.
You also missed the opportunity, Rusty, to ask, why midgets. I could have followed up with, for Immersion. To identify with a protagonist. So some cheat code is necessary there.

On a serious note, why I understand where you are coming from, I do not consider it cheating in single-player games. Because they aren't inherently competition-focused. And neither are some multi-player games, thinking about it, like some Co-Op. They allow to not improve but still enjoy and complete a game.

[Element]

1 and 4 are quite similar - if the game is offering several difficulty levels it's usually the case that it was designed around 'normal' and then tweaks the enemy hp and numbers a bit for the others.
However, some do go the extra mile to change the gameplay and force a different approach from the player - eg. Thief.

[J1M]

Without difficulty modes all games since idk 2010 would be story mode aka nu-normal only.

Then they'd sell less copies and be forced to adapt.

Most people play on lower difficulties, they are more likely too lose players if the game is too hard for the majority.

Most people do not complete games. Therefore designing them so most people can complete them is misappropriation of shareholder money.

[SpellSword]

Options 2 and 3 feel like they are gameplay elements that would be included in option 1's "One standard difficulty setting the game was designed around". Given that I'm leaning towards option 1.

Should just let the game play itself for you at this point.

Soon (TM)

[Kowe]

Little summary of the difficulty options in the poll:

1. Most Immersive - All can be fine-tuned to the specific difficulty settings.
2. Cheaters
3. Most Accessible - Due to its flexibility of play-style.
4. Kek - Story Mode
5. Most Longevity - Has the highest potential for replayability as it allows the player to tailor the game to their liking.
6. Game Journos

Only 5, 3, and 1 are good options. 4 is the easy way out for developers.
2 and 3 also overlap. If the developers implement a helper who can be summoned but is also part of a play-style, then it fits both. Like Necromancers with lots of minions who do the fighting for the player. Only way to make it more weighted towards 2 is to disincentivize it via rewards. One can make the argument that games in general do that with how optimal each build is to reach the context-specific goals.

[A Chinese opium den]

I like having a few different difficulty options if only to help with getting people to actually play games I recommend to them if they aren't familiar with the genera. A good type of sudo-dificulty is games like the newer ACE Combats having an easier flight control scheme option, so you feel a bit of shame using the easy controls once you've gotten competent enough at flying and are rewarded with the ability to do more precise maneuvers +feeling cooler when you're using the full control scheme.

[anonusername]

custom game settings are just cheats

Make cheat codes great again.

[Silver]

I feel like 1-3 and 1-4 options combine into game elements, rather than separate poll answers.
Still, having some pre-made difficulty settings PLUS extra options to make game even spicier is a good balance for me.

Easy example would be Dead Cells; there are doors that you can open up only if you get there fast enough, which forces you to "get gud" on your path there. It's totally not necessary, you can play perfectly fine without opening them at all, but it adds edge of competitiveness to clearing the level cleanly.
Didn't play through Hades a lot, but Skull difficulty settings were amazing as well. You can make game completely unfair if that's what you want out of your levels.

[BobT]

Difficulty is part of the design of the game, difficulty modes shouldn't exist. There's an intended way to experience a game, the rest are unintended.

I'd rather the modes exist, than devs be forced to make a game easier by default for the pansies.
It's a shame most "hard" modes just ramp up the stats though or let the enemies cheat, rather than making things truly challenging.

Then again sometimes that can still be challenging in a way. I used to love fighting against bots on the highest difficulty in multiplayer in Perfect Dark. I'd rather the "cheat/stats" difficulties be kept to a specific mode, though.
More enemies / stronger types or just harder design is better for harder modes, rather than just taking more damage etc.

[rusty_shackleford]

Difficulty is part of the design of the game, difficulty modes shouldn't exist. There's an intended way to experience a game, the rest are unintended.

I'd rather the modes exist, than devs be forced to make a game easier by default for the pansies.
It's a shame most "hard" modes just ramp up the stats though or let the enemies cheat, rather than making things truly challenging.

Then again sometimes that can still be challenging in a way. I used to love fighting against bots on the highest difficulty in multiplayer in Perfect Dark. I'd rather the "cheat/stats" difficulties be kept to a specific mode, though.
More enemies / stronger types or just harder design is better for harder modes, rather than just taking more damage etc.

Difficulty is part of the design, it's like if you started a game up and it asked you if you wanted to play an RPG or action adventure. How could you make a game two separate genres without it being an incoherent mess?

[BobT]

Difficulty is part of the design of the game, difficulty modes shouldn't exist. There's an intended way to experience a game, the rest are unintended.

I'd rather the modes exist, than devs be forced to make a game easier by default for the pansies.
It's a shame most "hard" modes just ramp up the stats though or let the enemies cheat, rather than making things truly challenging.

Then again sometimes that can still be challenging in a way. I used to love fighting against bots on the highest difficulty in multiplayer in Perfect Dark. I'd rather the "cheat/stats" difficulties be kept to a specific mode, though.
More enemies / stronger types or just harder design is better for harder modes, rather than just taking more damage etc.

Difficulty is part of the design, it's like if you started a game up and it asked you if you wanted to play an RPG or action adventure. How could you make a game two separate genres without it being an incoherent mess?

I agree with you that's how games SHOULD be, but as soon as the journos and casual start crying, they often end up nerfing stuff. Very few devs stick to their guns and keep it challenging.
Most of these fucking journos and focus groups can barely manage the tutorials..
If they're going to change things for these fags I'd rather it be contained to a separate mode, rather than withering the game down itself.

If it wasn't for the above though then yeah, I'd rather than just design a challenging game and if that's too hard / easy, go play something else.

[Xenich]

If games were being made to the standards they were in the early years, I would say difficulty is set by the designer.

These days, because most games are designed for a crowd that has the intellectual ability of a retarded ape that is in a coma, I prefer lots of options where I can setup the various difficulties myself. The reality is though, many of the options that I think provide layers of difficulty in play are mostly considered "inconveniences", "not fun" and wouldn't be an option in the settings anyway. In the end, it really doesn't matter because a game these days will be made for the retarded, by the retarded and playing it will be pointless.

[Boontaker]

All I really want is a good xp/story curve, and an economy that's not tedious and time wasting. Older games seem better at this with newer games being time wasters by design, and you can often overlevel quite a bit. I like the power of a strong or clever build but when I'm just 30 levels higher than everything else it gets boring.