Jump to content
Search In
  • More options...
Find results that contain...
Find results in...
Patrick

Patrick Versus Ultra Violence

Recommended Posts

So I am not going to lie, playing Doom on UV always kicks my ass. I normally play on HMP, anything above which is a bit too hard. That being said, when I release my mod, I dont want it to be too hard, nor do I want it to be too easy. Now, understandably extensive beta testing is definitely needed, but someone like Belial will always say "too easy" and my little brother will always say "too hard." And, while skill settings are always usefull, its always possible to make any skill setting too easy or too hard. Suggestions? How does everyone here make sure their levels are well balanced for each skill?

Share this post


Link to post

You could take your habit of using skill 3 to your advantage. People who use skill 4 all the time often overlook the other skills, or judge them loosely. You could test HMP yourself, making sure it seems suitable to your ability, and make UV harder than what you can normally take, asking a tougher player to test it and give you feedback on what to add, remove or change on that skill.

Share this post


Link to post

On said subject, is it fair to do a t/nc review on HMP? Or are you just not allowed to complain about it being "too easy"?

And why is this in Everything Else?

Share this post


Link to post

Yeah, I usually play on HMP. I could probably get through the original games on UV, but most PWADs kick my ass, sometimes even on skill 1.

myk said:

You could take your habit of using skill 3 to your advantage. People who use skill 4 all the time often overlook the other skills, or judge them loosely. You could test HMP yourself, making sure it seems suitable to your ability, and make UV harder than what you can normally take, asking a tougher player to test it and give you feedback on what to add, remove or change on that skill.

I've seen some newstuff reviews where the reviewer said "this shit is unplayable, it's way too hard" because they only played it on UV. Then it devolves into a flamewar shitstorm where the level designer is like "play it on an easier difficulty, noob, I didn't test it on UV" and the reviewer is like "I shouldn't have to, jerkstore. UV is standard these days", etc.

When I make maps, I try to scale them, but since I fail at UV, I always try to aim for "something I can barely make it through on after 5 attempts". Then I still get complaints that it was too easy. Oh well.

Share this post


Link to post
DuckReconMajor said:

And why is this in Everything Else?

Does Patrick want to fight evildoers on the street?

Share this post


Link to post
DuckReconMajor said:

On said subject, is it fair to do a t/nc review on HMP?

Is it fair to review a map on UV and complain it's too hard, or disregard other difficulty levels and say "This map offers awesome challenging ass blasting action, wimps stay away!" even if it had perfect easier skill settings? Regardless of which skill level you play when reviewing, you should mention it and shortly describe other skill levels (whether they exist or not, and whether the difference between them is big or very small, etc).

Personally I just first make the maps for UV and then downgrade for easier skills, but since I'd probably count as a "good" player that works for me for making maps as hard as I want them to be on UV and "easier" (how easy they actually are is an other thing...) on lower skills. But if you're uncertain about balancing maps yourself, get a few good players to test UV (lets say three good players from different ends of the "good spectrum") and the same for easy skill.

So, shortly put, get a varied testing group and tell them to play on specific skills (everyone testing UV or ITYTD is pointless if you want balanced skill settings).

Share this post


Link to post

I always make my maps comfortably challenging on HMP and easy as pie on Skill1 and 2. Then I make the last skill level to really challenge me. (except with Phobia though which I didn't really have skill levels in, merely modes of game play.)

Many people play on UV and then complain about it being too hard for them, completely ignoring the possibility of playing on a lower skill level. People should also remember that even if there's not made skill levels by the map author. The game do have hardcoded alterations between skill modes. Like you take less damage and get more ammo.

Share this post


Link to post
DuckReconMajor said:

And why is this in Everything Else?

At least it makes a change from people just shoving everything in Doom General when they can't be arsed to give some thought to where it actually belongs.

Moved.

Share this post


Link to post
kristus said:

People should also remember that even if there's not made skill levels by the map author. The game do have hardcoded alterations between skill modes. Like you take less damage and get more ammo.


This is very minimal tho.
As far as damage and ammo goes HNTR, HMP and UV are identical. In ITYTD you get double ammo and less damage (I think almost half or sometimes less than half). In Nightmare on the other hand you also get double ammo, but same damage as in the middle 3 skill levels. That and the monsters are way faster.

So in the middle 3 skill levels good placement of stuff is still important since otherwise they are exactly the same afaik.

Share this post


Link to post

Well, minimal is relative, as nightmare can make a level nearly unplayable when it was still passable in UV. The benefits in skill 1 are pretty juicy, as you essentially get 200% the ammo and 200% the health. Levels with scarce ammo and even health can become tolerable.

Well-defined E/M/H skills are certainly recommended during design, although sometimes designers don't have all the time in the world to dedicate to placement across the three categories. I agree with kristus that one should be complaining less about difficulty when skill 1 offers a playable alternative for a frustrating level or skill 5 gives additional play value to an easy level, in levels that for some reason lack placement differences.

Share this post


Link to post

Well that is true. If the author did not define the difficulties and the it's too hard or too easy you could try playing on 1 or 5. Point taken :)

Share this post


Link to post

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×