Difficulty Level Terminology

[☠djb204☠]

Whats everyones opinion on the terminology used for each species difficulty levels? Take whitetail for example, they max out at (3 Very Easy) which obviously is great. But, unless players are familiar with the game they would look at a (3 Very Easy) whitetail and not feel accomplished. I had a friend laugh at himself when he first starting playing COTW because when he went to harvest his first buck it said (3 Very Easy). I can see from his point of view how that would appear as a pathetic kill. Little did he know that was a high end whitetail. I feel like the devs should change the terminology. Thoughts?

[Jakkalas]

I agree. That confused me for a long time until I did some research and saw some of the spreadsheets other players drew up with max levels per animal

[Zeek]

need all animals 1 - 9 plus a LEGENDARY ...which would be Diamond

not sure how they make a level 7 whitetail maybe splits G2's ..with heavy mass

[Dizzy]

I think it's because of how the AI was designed. The higher difficulty animals have a different distribution layer on the map. So you will find more high end white tails (level 3) then high end bears (level 9) and the bears will be at harder to reach terrain (think about the red deer at hirschfelden who also cap at level 9).

That way if they adjust the difficulty of the white tail to 9 they will become much much harder to get, like bears and that just isn't right, is it?

This is just my two cents. Source for the AI design: http://www.karineskoog.com/thehunter-call-of-the-wild-designing-believable-simulated-animal-ai/

[☠djb204☠]

Originally posted by Zeek:

need all animals 1 - 9 plus a LEGENDARY ...which would be Diamond

not sure how they make a level 7 whitetail maybe splits G2's ..with heavy mass

I agree with having all animals using a 1-9 leveling system. That would simplify everything. They can do it too, they just changed a couple animals with a 1-5 difficulty to. 1-9 difficultly.

[☠djb204☠]

Originally posted by Dingenus:

I think it's because of how the AI was designed. The higher difficulty animals have a different distribution layer on the map. So you will find more high end white tails (level 3) then high end bears (level 9) and the bears will be at harder to reach terrain (think about the red deer at hirschfelden who also cap at level 9).

That way if they adjust the difficulty of the white tail to 9 they will become much much harder to get, like bears and that just isn't right, is it?

This is just my two cents. Source for the AI design: http://www.karineskoog.com/thehunter-call-of-the-wild-designing-believable-simulated-animal-ai/

All the legendary animals I’ve seen were in areas where any other level of the same species would be. I’ve never noticed them being in hard to reach terrain personally. Another irony on my end is I’ve never seen a level 3 white tail but have gotten my fair share of level 9s in other species (Xbox and PC combined)

[Malloc]

maybe a in game animal rating guide so people can see what animal can go upto what rating

[☠djb204☠]

Originally posted by Malloc:

maybe a in game animal rating guide so people can see what animal can go upto what rating

That would be good too, but they should also look into changing the terminology for difficulty levels. A diamond whitetail shouldn’t be titled “Very Easy” because that title degrades it’s diamond status. It’s makes it look and sound unimpressive.

[Rookie-31st]

Whitetail level 3 might sound very easy, but good luck finding one

[☠djb204☠]

Originally posted by Rookie-31st:

Whitetail level 3 might sound very easy, but good luck finding one

Exactly, but to those who do find them who don’t know any better might pass up on them lol, or might not think much of them upon viewing theirs or others harvest screens. I just think species with low level diamond status should be acknowledged via terminology instead of appearing unimpressive which the “Very Easy” title suggests.

[Rookie-31st]

It is part of common confusion that level determines score. Score is determined by trophy rating and trophy scale is different for every animal. Level determines how difficult it is to hunt, meaning how sharp animal senses are

[☠djb204☠]

Originally posted by Rookie-31st:

It is part of common confusion that level determines score. Score is determined by trophy rating and trophy scale is different for every animal. Level determines how difficult it is to hunt, meaning how sharp animal senses are

It’s not confusion though, only the highest level per species qualifies as a diamond. What ever a species tops out at (3 Very Easy, 5 medium, or 9 Legendary) you need the highest level to qualify as a diamond. It does NOT only rely on Trophy Rating. You’ll NEVER see a low level difficulty animal with a high diamond Trophy Rating. You NEED that high end difficulty level to qualify as a diamond.

[Rookie-31st]

Based on many comments and discussions on this forum, there is confusion. Many hunters expect all animals to have Level 9 maximum and thus don't understand how Level 3 whitetail can be Diamond while Level 8 bear is only Gold. And when you explain this to them, some say it is confusing or too complicated.