Can Somebody Explain the Difficulty Options Please?

[Francisè von Spitroast]

The game didn't do a great job at explaining the difficulty options right at the beginning. If anyone could explain that'd be greatly appreciated.

[OptoNick]

0000 - walking simulator without any story or gameplay

3333 - everything at full capacity, playthrough time limited at 7 hours of real time.

3233 - everything at full capacity, no time-limit - best preset, imo.

Any other "1" and "2" in settings are intermediate steps between these states. There are text hints under every setting telling what is changing.

[Francisè von Spitroast]

Originally posted by OptoNick:

0000 - walking simulator without any story or gameplay

3333 - everything at full capacity, playthrough time limited at 7 hours of real time.

3233 - everything at full capacity, no time-limit - best preset, imo.

Any other "1" and "2" in settings are intermediate steps between these states. There are text hints under every setting telling what is changing.

3233 it is then. Thanks!

[The Red Snifit]

Late, but here it is:

Combat: How many enemies you face and how tough they are. 0 makes it so they never aggro against you and die in one hit, 3 makes them stupidly tough.

Mission: 0 has nothing story-related at all and all doors are unlocked, 1 adds audio logs, 2 adds locked doors (so you need to find key cards and destroy certain props to lower SHODAN's security level to open them), 3 adds a time limit.

Puzzles: 0 makes it so that all puzzles are already solved, 3 turns them into massive brainteasers.

Cyber: How difficult the cyberspace parts are. I don't remember the exact distribution, but easier difficulties increase the time limit in Cyberspace and make it easier to control (eg. you only move when you want to instead of always hovering forwards).

I wouldn't turn anything to 3 on your first playthrough to be honest. The kind of outdated controls make combat more frustrating than anything these days and there's not really any ammo-conservation metagame like in SS2, the puzzles turn into pacing-destroying slogs at the highest difficulty. Maxing out Cyberspace and Mission is mainly for people who've already run through the game and know where to go.

[Kain]

So 2221 then? =)

[BondageSpider]

2 2 2 2 is OK for a first timer.

3 3 3 3 is the kind of thing you would do once to show off on YouTube or something. The time limit is seven hours, after which the game unceremoniously kills you out of the blue. Good luck.

The game also keeps a "score" which is revealed at the end, assuming you complete the game.

The final score is multiplied by your difficulty numbers, so the default 2 * 2 * 2 * 2 = 16.

(Remember when games still had scores like an arcade game? Those were the days.)

This also implies that a max difficulty run would have a score multiplier of 81, and that a run with *any* of the difficulties set to 0 would end with a score of 0, although I never tested this.

[post apocalypse otter boi]

Originally posted by XenoZooValentine:

2 2 2 2 is OK for a first timer.

3 3 3 3 is the kind of thing you would do once to show off on YouTube or something. The time limit is seven hours, after which the game unceremoniously kills you out of the blue. Good luck.

The game also keeps a "score" which is revealed at the end, assuming you complete the game.

The final score is multiplied by your difficulty numbers, so the default 2 * 2 * 2 * 2 = 16.

(Remember when games still had scores like an arcade game? Those were the days.)

This also implies that a max difficulty run would have a score multiplier of 81, and that a run with *any* of the difficulties set to 0 would end with a score of 0, although I never tested this. :ducky:

not exactly. The time limit you get is the same time limit the hacker has in universe to stop shodan.

[slider86]

0111?

[VolnuttHeroP64]

Originally posted by pferreira86:

0111?

0000 = Walking Simulator

1111 = Easy Difficulty for those who are new FPS

2222 = Normal Difficulty for those who played FPS before

3333 = Hard Difficulty Version 1: Hardcore Gamers with a 7-Hour Time Limit to save Earth from being destroyed by SHODAN

3233 = Hard Difficulty Version 2: Expert Gamers with a passion for FPS games.

0111 = Easy Storyline for those who are New to games with Storylines.

[post apocalypse otter boi]

Originally posted by Jr786:

Originally posted by pferreira86:

0111?

0000 = Walking Simulator

1111 = Easy Difficulty for those who are new FPS

2222 = Normal Difficulty for those who played FPS before

3333 = Hard Difficulty Version 1: Hardcore Gamers with a 7-Hour Time Limit to save Earth from being destroyed by SHODAN

3233 = Hard Difficulty Version 2: Expert Gamers with a passion for FPS games.

0111 = Easy Storyline for those who are New to games with Storylines.

what if I hate cyberspace and puzzles?

[VolnuttHeroP64]

Originally posted by Punished_Penguini:

Originally posted by Jr786:

0000 = Walking Simulator

1111 = Easy Difficulty for those who are new FPS

2222 = Normal Difficulty for those who played FPS before

3333 = Hard Difficulty Version 1: Hardcore Gamers with a 7-Hour Time Limit to save Earth from being destroyed by SHODAN

3233 = Hard Difficulty Version 2: Expert Gamers with a passion for FPS games.

0111 = Easy Storyline for those who are New to games with Storylines.

what if I hate cyberspace and puzzles?

You can change them to 0 each for Casual Puzzles & Cyberspace.

[post apocalypse otter boi]

Originally posted by Jr786:

Originally posted by Punished_Penguini:

what if I hate cyberspace and puzzles?

You can change them to 0 each for Casual Puzzles & Cyberspace.

I know, but I want to know your name for mode where it is 2 except cyberspace and puzzle both of which are at zero.

[Space Coward]

Originally posted by Punished_Penguini:

Originally posted by Jr786:

You can change them to 0 each for Casual Puzzles & Cyberspace.

I know, but I want to know your name for mode where it is 2 except cyberspace and puzzle both of which are at zero.

CoD fanboys who can't think for themselves and need to focus on the gun mechanics.

Better? ;) Also, I'd recommend at least 1 for Cyberspace and Puzzles-- it won't overdo itself, but they at least... well, exist.

[post apocalypse otter boi]

Originally posted by Moss:

Originally posted by Punished_Penguini:

I know, but I want to know your name for mode where it is 2 except cyberspace and puzzle both of which are at zero.

CoD fanboys who can't think for themselves and need to focus on the gun mechanics.

Better? ;)

;-;

[VolnuttHeroP64]

Originally posted by Punished_Penguini:

Originally posted by Moss:

CoD fanboys who can't think for themselves and need to focus on the gun mechanics.

Better? ;)

;-;

I don't feel confident in beating System Shock under 7 Hours, so I would play it on Easy or Casual.

[Space Coward]

Originally posted by Jr786:

Originally posted by Punished_Penguini:

;-;

I don't feel confident in beating System Shock under 7 Hours, so I would play it on Easy or Casual.

That's Plot 3, though, and it's near-impossible for a first playthrough. Also, the CoD joke was sarcastic-- I'm actually a minor fan of the series myself, and honestly I'm going to miss the futuristic setting as the movement mechanics felt great (on a controller, at least).

It's just that I wouldn't really recommend going 0 for any of the settings as it kind of takes away from the game. 1 for Puzzles will at least include some minor puzzles that won't keep you occupied too long, and 1 for Cyberspace has you fly to the goal with way too much health and time to spare.