The Difference between Easy and Hard

[h311ra1z3r]

The only difference is the amount of resources you start with and that is it. The map resources, Bug amount, crafting.. does not play into it at all. The map you get determines the Technology, Bugs Attacks, and terrain you'll be dealing with as long as you stay on the planet. YOUR STARTING resources is what determines your Easy to Hard level That's it.

[jojobe]

yeah pretty much.

[Rowdy Rob]

Then why does it state that easy mode is for a more relaxing experience?

[Don Cool]

Hmmm, I had 10 bugs to start with on easy in my current map, on hard it was 22. Those numbers quickly ramp up exponentially.

Bad weather lasts longer on hard as well, stuff like Thunderstorms and Heatwaves/Cold Snaps.

[Rowdy Rob]

Originally posted by Don:

Hmmm, I had 10 bugs to start with on easy in my current map, on hard it was 22. Those numbers quickly ramp up exponentially.

Bad weather lasts longer on hard as well, stuff like Thunderstorms and Heatwaves/Cold Snaps.

That was pretty much my experience on easy as well. There are fewer bugs and more resources on the map.

[Ant Ra]

As far as I can tell so far, the quantities of attacking animals do not increase so significantly with easy and remain at some point in the 100-120 range as a maximum. At higher difficulty levels, the maximum number increases, at hard already after a few years you are already at 300 +, tendency increasing...

The only real advantage here is the endless flow of gasoline by insects fat. If you have enough people to harvest and process the quantities.

But this does not apply to peaceful, normally huntable animals. They in turn decrease in population the more difficult the game is set. So, also here in principle less meat/leather available.

[Shadeless]

i am on easy and last attack in had 170 critters with loads of big heavy armored thingies and ranged tanks, each attack is harder and bigger

[Xix13]

Yeah, op is wrong about biter attacks. There are indeed far fewer on easy than medium (I never play anything on hard...not into adrenaline pumping games). First raid is about 10 on easy, in the 20s on medium. There are other differences, like animal aggression. Drakka, for example, are 15% on easy, 25% on medium. So, yeah, it's more than "just the starting resources."

[Sgt_Serge]

yea, like in most other base building games the challenge is getting the base off the ground.

[NukeAJS]

In my experience, hard difficulty has more natural disasters that last longer and are more severe.

I had three -20C cold snaps the first winter and then 4 +18C heatwaves the second summer. Playing on normal, I get maybe one of each a year.

Also, there are fewer passive animals on hard. It seems like raids are bigger on hard too, but that might just be me.

[h311ra1z3r]

The Bug amounts are random. I'm at 21 years now and have a Spreadsheet with the Random raids of aggressive/pests bugs. I started the spread sheet at the 11 year mark. 11 - 16 were 5 raids per year. 17 - 21 are 7 raids per year and the bug quantity is in the 400 - 600's with Elites.
I have had Extreme Cold snaps and Extreme Heat waves ranging from -15F/-26.1C to 125F/51.6C degrees.

[Martin]

Originally posted by h311ra1z3r:

The only difference is the amount of resources you start with and that is it. The map resources, Bug amount, crafting.. does not play into it at all. The map you get determines the Technology, Bugs Attacks, and terrain you'll be dealing with as long as you stay on the planet. YOUR STARTING resources is what determines your Easy to Hard level That's it.

Nah it's alot tougher in medium and hard.. the bug numbers on medium by yr 2 are in the hundreds, on easy I still get 20-30. On hard you can get 150..

Research is also slower on medium, they breakdown alot more, get upset faster, stuff breaks down more. Everything is harder..

Yr 3 on Easy, 22 hummingflies, 1 broodmother 3 manhunters. That's about avg.

[h311ra1z3r]

I'm playing on hard. My first play through I did easy mode before the patch and I find it no different. The happiness issues are inconsequential to any play through because you can micromanage their happiness through manipulation to they schedules, no one needs the same schedule and chore list and I micromanage. It also, depends which 4 survivors you start with, the ones you gain along the way as well.
The wearing out of clothing/weapons is on a highly unbalanced survivor trait listing, I've put in a few trouble tickets regarding this issue. Greyson wears gear out 50% faster then any other survivor, but ofc he can create items faster than anyone I have ever experienced and its any item even advanced electronics. He breaks down faster as well.

[Grat Dalton]

There needs to be more detailed in-game difficulty option explanation.
- Lack of this information results in speculation & users not knowing if they have encountered a game bug or functioning as expected by design.

[Don Cool]

The difficulty scales proportionally with the defences you build, anything from fences, traps and towers to fortifications. It also scales with the number of survivors.

I build 20 traps I get 14 scarabs on easy the first time, I build none and I get 9 (that´s on one seed, numbers vary slightly from seed to seed)

[Setwar]

I have played at least 15 games on Medium, last night tried a game on Easy. The attacks were WAY less on Easy. I was building my defenses like I was used to on Medium and it was not needed at all. By year 3 I would have been fine with just weapons and a couple small fences. Medium is the way to go for me, the attacks are crazy enough that I will never subject myself to hard.