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[Kyzrati]

As you might have seen, this week on the blog I posted an article that includes details of Cogmind's upcoming difficulty levels.

Basically the current game is the default/normal mode, and there are two easier modes, the first for those who want mostly the same game but a little easier (perhaps as a learning aid), and another which is significantly easier for those who may have little time to play and just want to have fun.

I put a lot of thought into how to present these, and during implementation decided to start with something simple, essentially calling it "Easier Mode" and the options are No, Yes, or Extra Yes. That said, it's also been tough to decide whether to make the mode names more descriptive, maybe calling the default "Roguelike," the easier mode "Training," and the last "Exploration."

I was going to wait until after releasing Alpha 14 to decide, but it might be better to get it finalized as soon as possible if there's a consensus that it makes more sense to do it another way. (I'm still not sure whether the last can live up to being a mode truly conducive to "Exploration," since given the nature of Cogmind's mechanics and the current rules for that mode, it might still be kinda tough to get out and explore more remote areas? Nor is it really intended to give easy access to content which is naturally very difficult, anyway--just the main areas.)

In any case, opinions are welcome

Also, it might be better to have only two leaderboards, one for Roguelike mode and another for Training mode, rather than the three that are currently planned. More opinions on that?

[DDarkray]

In my opinion, it doesn't make sense to have a leaderboard for training mode. Also, I don't think exploration mode sound right. (Maybe "Casual mode"?) The name makes it seem as if something new are added in it. It's also a bit hard to differentiate between training and exploration mode.

I personally think it's fine to leave it as easier mode and extra easier mode. They're easily recognized and accepted upon first look. The more descriptive name might sound better when viewing the leaderboard, but it would be kinda weird to see "Easier  (Training Mode)" and "Easiest (Exploration Mode)".

By the way, would you be concerned if an experienced player plays at "Training mode" just to get super high score?

[Kyzrati]

Yeah, your points are more or less why I went with what I did. (Although the alternative I present in OP is not to combine the two, e.g. "Easier (Training)", but to essentially have the latter replace the former--it would simply be "Training.")

By the way, would you be concerned if an experienced player plays at "Training mode" just to get super high score?

Absolutely not! I think it's fine that anyone be able to work towards a high score on whatever board they want to.

That said, you may have missed the part where I mentioned that players only appear on the leaderboard for which they have most recently played. So being on a lower board means your other scores won't appear on higher ones!

[DDarkray]

That said, you may have missed the part where I mentioned that players only appear on the leaderboard for which they have most recently played. So being on a lower board means your other scores won't appear on higher ones!

Yeah, I missed that part. Your blogs are just wayyyyy too informative for a small brain like mine.


By the way, have you considered adding a way to encourage players to try out harder difficulty after winning a run? Maybe a reminder of the current difficulty mode on the winning screen. (Otherwise the player may keep on playing without realizing about it.)

[Kyzrati]

I don't think it'll really be necessary to do that, no. Anyone not playing the default mode will have proactively changed it in the options, so they'll at least have known there are multiple difficulties. And what they're playing is also emphasized both at the top of the score sheet, as shown in the article's sample, and with separate leaderboards, so there are some ways they can be reminded. But even without explicit reminders, if/once a player starts getting better, and maybe even finds it too easy, they'll naturally look for / remember the setting.

I guess I can see some benefits to encouraging it, but we'll see how people use the existing setup first.

[Madding]

I think "Nightmare" difficulty sounds good.

[Kyzrati]

Hehe, well, that would imply a harder than usual difficulty, and in this case the default is as hard as it gets, at least in terms of modes with wide-ranging effects. I'm not planning to add any dedicated modes of greater difficulty, just the challenges (and other player decision-based approaches) that require a higher skill level.

The purpose of difficulty modes is purely to make the main game easier for some players who need or want that for whatever reason.