GAME PET PEEVES

You should always append "unless $@" to all aliases to prevent the recursion error RGSS has after a F12. It isn't necessary for all aliases but it's easier to add it to everything than to determine which aliases will break RGSS. :eng101:



Proper game balance and difficulty levels don't replace each other.

Yeah, you can't have difficulty levels effectively by just altering HP; I was just showing how incredibly easy it would be in VX.

Also, game balance is good. Providing extra incentive for a replay or making the game enjoyable for somebody who wants to experience the game world/story and not have to deal with ubertactics (re: my friends who like wRPGs for the experience and turn the difficulty down all the way possible) isn't bad, though (and I am not saying you were saying that)!

post=138886

post=138867
Takes a fair bit of work, though. I'll pass.

...

class Game_Enemy

alias diff_maxhp maxhp

def maxhp

  n = diff_maxhp

  n *= 0.75 if $game_switches[5] # Easy mode

  n *= 1.25 if $game_switches[6] # Hard mode

  return n

end

Ah, I totally forgot Chrononology of the Last Era was made in VX! Man, all of those weeks working on the game and I don't even know what program I'm making it in! You're so smart, Craze!

MOG: I wasn't assuming that you were being egocentric! I guess I should. In any case, I am talking about games as a whole, not Chronology.

GRS: 'Tis why chaos and I are making difficulty levels affect enemy AI levels (in terms of Yanfly's AI script) universally instead of just "increase HP and damage done."

Or you could just design a game with a good difficulty curve instead of duct-taping poor balance away with difficulty tiers.

So only static games should have difficulty levels?

Most games (try to) have the easy->medium->hard difficulty curve. The first areas have weak mooks while the player learns the controls and the basics. Later on when the player knows what they are capable of the game starts pushing the player to develop their skills and strategies. Then there's the final area where the player use all their skill to take out the most difficult enemies so far. This curve only works for new players where they are learning the game in the beginning. Anyone that has played the game or even a similar genre game is just going to get bored when the can pass the controller to the cat and have it curbstomp everything in the early game. With difficulty levels a player can choose to push up the challenge to make the early game more interesting and the late game demand a higher level of skill. Alternatively players that know they aren't good at the genre can turn down the difficulty so they can play the game at their own pace even if it destroys the challenge.

Let the player have fun at their own level.

post=138914
WolfCoder has it right: RPGs, by their nature of a progressive game (ie- stats increase, skillsets expand, etc...), inherently have an EASY, MODERATE and HARD mode. The start is EASY, middle game MODERATE and endgame HARD. If you have to decouple the difficulty from the game then ur doin it wrong. imho.

Woah I will challenge you to this and explain why that's exactly the reason rpgs should have difficulty modes!!!!!!

Any game that has a large emphasis on numbers probably should have difficulty levels. This is because there are so many variations of hidden numbers that the person playing has to deal with, especially in RPGs. Weapons, armor, health, etc are all numbers, so there's going to be huge difference in these depending on how a person plays the game. It's also very easy to implement difficulty since you're primarily dealing with numbers.

Compare this to a game like Mario, which doesn't have numbers, and is exactly why there are no difficulty modes in Mario. It would be absolutely ridiculous for Nintendo to go and make an easy mode/hard mode for every single level in their game. It wouldn't work because of how the game is structured, there aren't any number variations in the game.

I wouldn't say you need difficulty levels, but it's nice to have them. And some games have so many variables (oh hey rpgs) that come into play that it's only natural that they have these options.

That's because you live in the distant, archaic past.