What is the diffrence between easy/normal/hard?

[Dr Coconut]

I want to know exactly what changes not just that its more hard. Like do the enimies get more hp and if so how much or do they get any smarter or do they change something else when changing the difficulty?

For some reason google has nothing on what the difficulty settings actually change.

[SURVIVOR-DUP]

Easy and Normal are the same. In easy, your bullets deal more damage (slightly). Normal removes that advantage. Hard makes your weaponry weaker (alot), enemies deal more damage, some enemies react faster and fall damage is increased

[Sovereign]

Enemies have more health and deal more damage, those are main changes.

[Ikagura]

Hard basically turns your game into a stealth and save scumming fest... a single burst from the Black Ops makes your life goes down in a single flash...

Try it once to see that but I would advice to play on normal as OpF is harder than Half-Life

[Dr Coconut]

Originally posted by Ikagura:

Hard basically turns your game into a stealth and save scumming fest... a single burst from the Black Ops makes your life goes down in a single flash...

Try it once to see that but I would advice to play on normal as OpF is harder than Half-Life

Got up to chrushing depths on hard but save scumming to make sure that resources were high enough that the suprise hard ones wernt impossible got boring.

I'm going to change the difficulty to normal and finish the game like that.

[Ikagura]

Originally posted by Dr Coconut:

Originally posted by Ikagura:

Hard basically turns your game into a stealth and save scumming fest... a single burst from the Black Ops makes your life goes down in a single flash...

Try it once to see that but I would advice to play on normal as OpF is harder than Half-Life

Got up to chrushing depths on hard but save scumming to make sure that resources were high enough that the suprise hard ones wernt impossible got boring.

I'm going to change the difficulty to normal and finish the game like that.

Yeah, sometimes I think that Gearbox didn't expect the hard mode being unbalanced (as the Race X are already overpowered in this game)

I could say that Valve devs wanted to put the mode like how Id Software implemented the Nightmate difficulty in Doom (it was added as an unbalanced and unfair mode in response to people complaining about Ultra Violence being "too easy")

I think it wasn't really fit for the game's engine and design (it's not Quake)

[Teh_Diplomat]

I'm not too familiar with Easy, but here is the breakdown from Normal to Hard for a few of the enemies you'll encounter.


Headcrabs: (9MM)
Normal - 2 Pistol shots
Hard - 3 Pistol shots

Houndeyes (Shotgun/MP5)
Normal - 1 Shotgun blast (Short to Medium Range) or 3 Bullets from the MP5 (or 9MM)
Hard - 1 Shotgun blast (Short range only) or 5 bullets from the MP5 (or 9MM)

Vortigaunts
Normal - 1 Shotgun blast (Short to Medium Range)
Hard - Double-barrel blast (Short range) or single-barrel at point blank.

Conversely, one shot to their eye from the Desert Eagle will also elimate them a Vortigaunt on hard; where as one shot placed anywhere on Normal will kill them.

Pit Drone
Normal: Single Deagle, or 1 Double-barrel blast (short range)
Hard: 2 Deagle shots, or 2 Double-barrel blasts (short range)

Bullsquid
Normal - 2 Desert Eagle shots, or 2 -Double-Barrel's from the Shotgun will down them.
Hard - 3 Desert Eagle shots to their mouth, or 4 to the body, or 6 shells from the shotgun (3 Double-barrel blasts)

As such, on Hard difficulty it's usually cheaper (ammo & health-wise) to toss a nade, then Double-barrel the Bullsquid; as that proves adequate to kill them with minimal risk.



As for Alien Grunts (rare in Opposing Force), and the Shock troopers it's basically a different of approx. 33% more ammunition to kill them comparing Normal to Hard difficulty. This of course varies on which type of gun you're using.

I should also add, I use a mixture of weapons (depending on ammo count, stage of the game, and health) so I don't have an exact count for their most efficient deaths of Grunts/Troopers.




Final Note: Interestingly enough, the Pipe-Wrench (assuming: alt-fire, and fully charged) will still kill a Zombie/Vortigaunt/Marine (you know, because the Engi has served his puporse, and you could use an extra clip of Deagle ammunition) in a single hit. The difference being that on Normal the aforementioned enemies will insta-gib, whereas on Hard difficulty, they will simply keel over and die.


P.S. the Displacer, and Sniper rifle, regardless of difficulty, are still single shot, insta-kill weapons. Well insta-kill on everything short of the fatties (Voltigores) that shoot Purple energy balls at you.