State of the game: Difficulty

[76561198195086213]

Hey everyone,

We would like you to invite the conversation about the current difficulty in the game.
As we are now working on balancing and content mostly, we really want to nail down this topic, so Bounty Train can be enjoyed by players of different playstyle.

We would like to hear from you, what you currently mostly dislike, or feel not sure about (may it be readability, usability or tuning of numbers).

We follow your feedback really close, but in this case we also want to use this topic to present different approaches to be discussed directly with you - may it be new difficulty settings, changes to certain aspects of the game, numbertuning etc. :)

As always, this is only possible thanks to your feedback - thanks a lot for participating.

[Klaus]

Maybe train fights would be an idea. You can then fight the competition and harm in, or capers the wagons. This could create a change. You can help the north or south states. Change the history ;)

[Abelardo]

Maybe instead of train fights they could make an "Assault" option, so you can get to rob another train while being on horse or setting up an ambush, to get some cash and stuff or even steal wagons. (Train v/s Train is kinda weird). O.O

On the difficulty thing, everytime I try to defend my train, it's useless. May I suggest that a bullet should not (!) damage a wagon as easily?. O.O

[Abelardo]

[Unrelated to difficulty but it's just an opinion]
What do you guys (players and devs) think about a "chooco chooco chooco" sound when travelling in the map from one city to another... the lack of "train sounds" when you're watching the train "travelling" is... I don't know... kinda heartbroken. =(
(Actually I found myself doing the chooco chooco sound and everyone stared at me) xD

[Klaus]

@ gobolinno Look at 1:16 time https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFD3cj6vUKc

[Abelardo]

Originally posted by Klaus:

@ gobolinno Look at 1:16 time https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFD3cj6vUKc

I reafirm what I said, it IS weird. xD

[Devilhunter]

First of all I'd like you to add the possibility to adjust the difficulty in the current game, without starting a new one.
Difficulty is OK for me. But this time I am playing with a crew.
I think that frequency of random encounters (ambush, urgent message delivery, etc) are too low. I'd like to have difficulty slider for frequency of such events.

[Klaus]

Or what do you think about, a minigame in the game. Build rails from a to b. Faster than the competition. As it once was at oil imperium with the pipeline. If you win you can get a bonus in the city. Look at it from time 14:05 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-L_NgZ74XMY

[BrunoSardine(82ndMIS)]

The mission where you have to save your sister from dying from being sick is too hard, not enough time, or too many steps to take for the time given.

[crys]

I have issues finding a new engine.
Durability and brakdowns seem a bit to tough. Upgrading durability has only little effect.
So i have my broken engine and cant find a new chicago pioneer or better one.

[honorknight7]

I really like this game, and was excited upon first discovering it on Steam.
I've played a bit, and have some ideas/opinions (though I have little knowledge about railroads, trains, or practices beyond the basic importance to America's establishment);
When i'm lugging around a mortar car, maybe I should be able to slam the brakes on my rig and with a safe distance, mortar-shot the obstacles placed by bandits, indians, etc.? Would really add value to the cart and change how bandits have to pursue you.
Also, using two locomotives (one in front, one in back?) would be a really nice way to have a LONG train....maybe offset the extra HP with a boost to coal usage or slower transit?
That's all for now; I'll be sure to share other ideas as they arise.
Thanks!

[honorknight7]

It seems like machineguns are few and far in between, and i think i (accidentally) sold them off WITH a busted carriage or caboose...othewise i dont know where they went? So, maybe an option of "Do you wish to sell the guns with the car?" would help?

[UncleTom]

Saving Pearl seems a bit unbalanced IMHO. The drugstores in Montgomery or Philadelphia have almost no potions. I managed to find a small potion in Montgomery once that gave Pearl another 10 days - almost exactly the time I needed to drive from Charleston to Montgomery and back.

Even once with additional 60 days I couldn't make it to Cleveland and then to Memphis. Had the store in Philadelphia had any medicine, I could have given that to Pearl on my way to Memphis but no luck for me nor Pearl.

At least more supplies (and more often) in drugstores would be a huge help.

[xaagon]

Yes, I am also having a lot of trouble saving Pearl. I agree with UncleTom above about having the drugstores better stocked. Also, maybe you could have Pearl get on the train so you don't have to race back to Charleston.

[The Chaotic Coder]

Sort of related to difficulty and combat, I think when bandits barricade the tracks, you should have more time to stop before hitting the barricade. It wasn't a problem with the Tom Thumb or Dewitt Clinton, but I'm driving a much faster General right now and no matter how fast I pull the brake handle I always end up crashing and damaging the locomotive. It doesn't make any sense that the barricade would just appear right in front of you, you'd be able to see it from far enough away to stop (especially since I apparently already stopped to talk to the bandits when they offered me the choice to pay them to let me past)

Another idea I had, is when you get stopped by the army and they inspect for contraband weapons/alcohol, if you get caught you should have a choice to either let them arrest one of your crewmen OR fight them (with a significant attitude penalty, of course). This would carry some risk, since there's a chance of damaging the train or having one or more crew dying, but it may be preferable to having to go several cities away to get your crewman back.

[Outbacker]

First of all i want to say i really like the game!
I still have a suggestion though, not entirely sure if anyone maybe already asked for it but here goes: A while ago one of the updates added the slow "planned decay" of carriages, locomotives and such (XX % chance of failures/damages after a certain mileage). While its obviously more realistic that way, i think it'd be good to have the option to turn that off (or even turn it up to have even more impact than it already does for added challenge). One possibility would to add that as a difficulty setting that players can tweak when starting a new game. I'd love to see this option sometime in the future.

Again, great game and keep up the good work :)