Poll: How is the difficulty?

[Vector Unit]

Hey all - What do you think about the game difficulty? Too easy? Too hard? Just right?

In Career our intention was to start off pretty easy (but not TOO easy) and then ramp up to quite hard toward the latter part of career and in the side missions. Also generally we wanted to make 3rd place fairly achievable, but 1st place fairly challenging. We'd be curious to know what you feel about the Career difficulty.

Also, separately, curious to know your impressions of the difficulty of the AI in Split Screen and Quick Race. There, it's supposed to be modulated by the Rookie / Pro / Elite setting. Currently Rookie and maybe Pro are probably too hard, and we're considering making them easier. Or should we not?

[Doktor Mandrake]

I've not completed career yet, but I'd say difficulty feels just right

Also really like the fact that when I use a faster jetski I unlocked on previous races, it doesn't give me that advantage of having a faster jetski, that way when I get 3 stars on previous races I know that was due to skill and not because I had a better jetski

[akumajobelmont]

I don't like my jetski being gimped if it's too powerful. The previous games didn't do this, so I don't see why this one should. I can see how some people like it, but I get frustrated pretty easily, so some easier wins every now and then would be nice :P

As for the actual difficulty of the races, I think they're pretty good. I haven't really gotten stuck yet, but I won't progress until I can come first, so I've retried a few races a fair few times.

Leave the difficulty as it is, but if you're gonna gimp the vehicles in older racer, then maybe gimp them by less - if at all :)

[Rizz]

The difficulty is fine, losing races and overcoming them through improving awareness of the environment and skill is what makes racing games fun and rewarding.

[Beep Beep I'm a Sheep]

The difficulty is, in my opinion, clearly too tough right now. I've nothing against challenge and continuous improvement but this just feels too far out of reach; as if only the absolute best gamers should be able to beat the races. This might be fine for those 0.3% of the players who have beat the game, but for a successful long term product, there either needs to be variable difficulty settings or a general lowering in the "cheese" difficulty. Most often, you can have all the stunts unlocked and maxed jet ski, ride perfectly and draft at every opportunity but still, someone will pip you to the win at the last second, just streaming past you with no justification on how it should be possible.

In general though there needs to be room for error, otherwise it gets very monotonous and repetitive when a player cannot feasibly improve as a gamer, and hits a brick wall at whatever point.

To begin with the game felt very rewarding, slowly upgrading the ski and unlocking new stunts, as well as improving; but I've pretty quickly hit my wall. You should be able to use higher level bikes and overpower the difficulty, even if it took a long time to unlock/upgrade enough to do so.

Also, I'm unsure why there are so many stunts of the same complexity when they all seem to give the same amount of boost? Is it just for variety?

[haaz]

I feel that the complexity is more or less all right, except for a few levels. Notably, the Stunt and Slalom modes in Firewater (ok, Elimination mode as well), which are insanely difficult without the manual stunt button. In general, the automatic choice of stunt on the wooden logs in that level is really bad (only level 1 stunts), which makes it almost impossible to gather enough stunt points or enough boost to complete the level...

[Shay]

I think the AI are pretty beatable at the latter end of the game, but mostly due to the fact that they don't take shortcuts and most tracks have pretty sizeable cuts. The main difficulty I have is with the random irritation of the cops. :P

Even then sometimes I find the AI a bit too easy to beat, or at least predictable because they never boost unless you overtake them (and do they even utilise drafting?). I could argue for a harder difficulty setting :P But this isn't about that.


I can't play split-screen so I can't tell you what the difficulty of the AI is like. I guess I'm very-much in the "1%" in terms of the game's difficulty curve.

[Chill02]

The race against Krex is bringing back memories of F-Zero GX's story mode. Not the good kind. His vehicle is overpowered as it is, and you're also forced to dodge mines on top of that. Some of the mines are also placed next to stunt areas, so that means you also have a harder time gaining boost. The game was mostly though but fair up to that point, but this is plain torture.

[Pelerin]

I think it's really hard right now (I'm up to the party duo) but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

I think the game would benefit from difficulty options, just something basic like Easy/M/H.

I also don't like that your Hydrojets get scaled-down and I feel like the AI has too much advantage in the corners, they don't slow down at all.

[Shay]

Originally posted by Chill:

The race against Krex is bringing back memories of F-Zero GX's story mode. Not the good kind. His vehicle is overpowered as it is, and you're also forced to dodge mines on top of that. Some of the mines are also placed next to stunt areas, so that means you also have a harder time gaining boost. The game was mostly though but fair up to that point, but this is plain torture.

I beat that mission after learning his AI really can't handle the mines lol, but yeah, that mission was by far the most infuriating thing I've ever done in a Riptide game. Glad I beat it on my fifth attempt after figuring out the best route to take to trip Krex up. :|

[benjamin]

My opinion of someone on this topic, who is physically disabled and who is playing with the keyboard controls, is:

For me with my physical disability, the game gets too difficulty in the later races after the against-0xDEADBEEF-challenge-race, especially when the new maximal-updated hydrojet(s) gets automatically limited/downgraded, so that they are useless for me with my physical disability as win-chance-compensation then, and the game makes then no more fun.

So my suggestion (in my view):

Remove the automatically-limiting/downgrading of the hydrojets, so that maximal-upgraded hydrojets (when one has these) can be used in all tracks then with these full performance.

And I can say further opinions on the further from-me-yet-unplayed-game-progress first when the game became playable again for me.

[StuartAce]

Its hard but i don't have a problem with that. What i have a problem with is locking the better vehicles behind boss battles. If i wanted to spend hours grinding early on to get better vehicles, i should be allowed to do it.
Right now i'm struggling a bit as the first 2 vehicles are pretty crap and i can't unlcok the next vehicle (which seems a bit better) as its locked behind the 3rd boss but i haven't got a clue where this boss is.

Like i said, there is nothing wrong with having hard difficulty but at least let the player grind and get better stuff if they want to.. I have paid for the game, i should be able to do what i want.

[el diablo robotico]

I feel the difficulty is too high, especially towards the end of career mode when grinding is not as helpful to overcome the disadvantages against Kex and the unreasonable 3-star requirements in the side stories. Playing the game should be fun, not frustrating. Putting the best hydrojets too far out of reach and nerfing the full capabilities of earned vehicles in lower races do not encourage repeated play.

[StuartAce]

Alright i have changed my mind, its too hard lol. I'm stuck on Vyper and she's like the 2nd boss. I have the best vehicle i can get, maxed out with max draft and boost etc, just can't beat her, she's too fast.
Havoing a game this hard just isn't fun imo.

[Shay]

I was thinking a bit about the 'contrast' of opinions regarding the restrictor plates on hydrojets in earlier levels and I came up with this idea very suddenly;


Whilst I personally love the restrictions (being able to use whatever jet I want, basically) I can't just ignore people that may not have as much experience playing the game, but I'd be disappointed to see the restrictions entirely removed because I feel it's a good way for players to acclimatise.


So how about this?

In earlier events we can choose to take off the restrictor plates, but in doing so we won't get any rewards (no/minimal money and no/minimal XP) from completing the event. For completionists and anyone that just want to go back and knock out 3-stars on events they're struggling with? This'll make it easier to do so. But then if we want the money/XP to level up, we're going to have to practice to beat them proper.

Lore-wise I thought of it as a simple explanation; the races are all off-circuit, "Street races" as it were, so describe it in some way as effectively sneakily cheating/bribing whoever sets the races up - but in return for cheating we don't get any/many rewards for winning.


Thoughts?

[GameLord]

Ok. Tone down the opponents - impossible GP, and rethink the slalom which is extreme hard.