[Suggestion] Keep the game difficult

106 votes

The game is great so far, obviously there are bugs to be worked out and QoL stuff to add. However a games difficulty is something that gets sacrificed far to often to appeal to more casual players. I have hear and seen allot of comments about making the game easier or adding more talent points or leveling up faster. Please don't do this. I want this game to feel like two games. The first being the journey to leveling up and becoming a master at whatever it is you want your character to do. Leveling should maybe be how it already is for the first 5 levels, but after that it should drop drastically. I dont want to be able to max a character out in a week ( unless we will be dying frequently and loosing our characters). the reward of having a maxed out character will actually feel like an achievement if it is a struggle and takes real time, im not saying you shoulnt be able to harvest exotics until you are maxed out, but it should take some investment getting there.

Under consideration Suggested by: Sean Maxwell (16 Sep, '21) • Upvoted: 05 Feb • Comments: 20

Comments: 20

16 Sep, '21
Gamer DNA
I'll be honest, I rage quit at the start of weekend #2. I was spawning, and getting killed before I was even in the game, and this was also before loot was recoverable for solo players like I was at the time. So I raged, I refunded the game and then 2hrs later I had bought the game (deluxe package) again and was playing. The game is hella frustrating but is addictive too and I was eventually able to get past my low level hurdles and sign out of the game at the end of the weekend at max level...so while the game is tough, like the OP said, please don't make it game easy by default, if anything find ways to help lower levels find their loot again such as with a gravestone on the map showing where they died, and allowing a player to select a difficulty level at the start. Things like that!
16 Sep, '21
kininja
Please don't make it easy! Heck, make it harder or give me a harder mode, like no HUD! Bring it, Icarus! :-)

I had a totally different experience than Gamer DNA. I wonder if this player didn't play the first weekend beta as I had -- I went into weekend 2 with a clear plan of action and specific goals, such as bone knife, wood buildings, avoid the bear. Raises the question if the full game will have a tutorial of some kind to introduce new players to some basics, such as some basic guidance on what to maybe research first and how to gather and how to not stumble on to a bear.
1
16 Sep, '21
sKRiBEL
I believe that the intent of the devs is to make the game become progressively more difficult the more you play. I found the game to be pretty challenging in the beginning, and it would be nice to have some time to prepare for bears and wolves for the first few in-game days or so, but I find that I appreciate the game more when I have a real challenge to face. If everything was easy and baby mode, I probably wouldn't even bother. I agree with the sentiment that the first few levels of the game should be the safe zone, then afterward it should be an uphill battle.
16 Sep, '21
Кепка Шахтер
I think you will be happy. After i finish the beta 2 weekend and click mission summary. There were written difficulty: Easy. So i think we played at easy)) And after it came out you could chose difficulty.
19 Sep, '21
Mr.Chill
Yes, keep the game hardcore! Or if you want to get the casual paper handed people in aswell then make diffrent levels when you create your character. The prospects are level based on the difficulty you choosed.

And multiplayer, characters must be in the same diffictulty level with their character to join.

Harder means, much less animal life and no metal nodes respawn, the storms are even worse and life is generally a pain in the arse each day!

Love the challenging stuff! I always go for the hardest difficultys in any survival game!
1
27 Sep, '21
Luke
Hello,

Is it possible to suggest to add in the "Game Settings" (for example) a part dedicated to the difficulty ?
For example:
- Resource respawn time for ores (10mins / 20mins / 1h / 2h / Never)
- Tree can grown up again if you don't cut the roots (same for grass)
- Damage caused my animals (x0.5 / x1 / x2) (+maybe an option for "no danger" for the players who just prefer "enjoy building a nice house in a nice place and take nice screenshots")
- weather conditions setting (short / medium / long / no lighting strikes)

Or something like in the game "Green Hell".

Thanks
Luke
07 Oct, '21
Cory James
I like the brutality of the game. Hardcore survival isn’t for everyone, maybe find a way to balance better with multiple prospectors, like maybe seasoned prospectors can learn more in the tech tree or get bonus abilities. So hardcore survival fans can grind it out for those little extras, but you don’t put off the more casual players who keep dying over and over.
10 Oct, '21
Pink Cottonball
I agree with Luke, there should be some difficulty settings so that everyone can choose how much of a challenge the game is. Just make higher difficulties give higher rewards and everyone is happy. the settings could include points like: amount of resources available, amount and strenght of predators, weather conditions, death penalty options (wether you loose your stuff, the timer when your stuff disappears etc)

Since most things have ridiculously high crafting costs dying and loosing your stuff or a flash storm burning down your base will destroy several hours of playing within minutes. That is really frustrating for those who only play a few hours a week. Let the casual gamers enjoy this beautiful game too.
12 Oct, '21
Zinna
Most of the time, the game ppl have the hardest time beating is the game they play the most. The moment it becomes easy is the moment they quit forever. Human instinct. I support keeping it hard.
13 Oct, '21
Dave
Not making it easier and keeping it fun is going to be a challenging balancing act. On the one hand you have some fools asking for burnt wood to be able to be used as fuel to keep furnaces and camp fires going which is going to make the game easier because you can cut less trees etc and still keep up your cooking and smelting stuff. On the other there are a bunch of things in the game that need not be there...like the cave and pneumonia debuffs that are a thinly veiled attempt to remove fun from the game and make mining more of a chore then it already is both debuffs remove stamina with them both you lose 80% of your stamina once all food buffs expire you get 3-5 swings on an ore before you have no stamina. NOT FUN. Something I would personally like to see both removed from the game would be those debuffs. I am all for a challenging game but its gotta be fun. the storms that are just wind doing damage to wood structures, NOT FUN. storms that are lightning sure set a house on fire..
22 Nov, '21
W2D2
I played games like Rust and it was a hard game to learn. At times I quit and let it be, but coming back, made me better each time.
Icarus should be no exception. This game should put you on the edge of your skill level. You should be proud of yourself every time you survive and complete a mission.

Add modes of play for the people complaining or that want more action
Easy
Default
Hard
Insane
14 Dec, '21
Thomas Jordan
I agree that the game should be challenging.
Maybe add difficulty modes.
But the flipside of this is there still needs better balance in the resource crafting costs. Increasing the amount of iron needed for higher tech tiers is not keeping it difficult. It is making the game unbalanced.
I am really enjoying the game so far. I am level 21 but have not unlocked any tier 3 tech. It is hard to choose what is too expensive in resources to bother and what is needed for advancement.
05 Jan, '22
Spoon
I like the direction they've gone with the addition of hardcore modes of missions but I think they need to keep going, especially the extermination missions. An extra 33% health on the sand worm when you've got 6 people doesn't mean a thing. Maybe add 50% health per player on the map or something? Have it summon in some smaller worms in stages aswell? I like the way they've done Kill List. More wolves spawn per player but they need to clear every rock within draw distance of the den. Force players to actually build defenses to hold out long enough to defeat the Alpha Wolf (at least in the Hardcore mode). The Mammoth needs to have an unlimited combat area once aggro'd aswell. Make the hardcore modes actually hardcore! Make the work to get firearms actually worth it. Keep normal mode missions for those who want a more casual experience. Maybe replace the "no revives" part with just 1 or remove it all together in favour of much more difficulty in the final encounter?
1
23 Feb, '22
L
Oh this is a terrible suggestion.

If people need more of challenge, maybe add another game mode or something.
But for casual players as most are, this game is already too much of a pain in the ass. Not that it's all that difficult, but its just a pain as is its. Spending ridiculous amount of time to build a base to get good enough gear just to kill few bears on the way to complete the mission. And especially when playing solo you need to level up quite fast in order to get enough tech to complete missions. Unless you want to repeat old missions to level up and that seems just the stupidest idea ever as the missions already are really crappy.
28 Mar, '22
JacksSmirk
I do not agree with a general "keep the game difficult". There are ways to make it harder for yourself, such as not bringing down armor and gear, or choosing the Hardcore or Hard mission. These are at the player's discretion. As a casual player who plays for fun, I think you devs have it set pretty darn good right now. (except the new temperature update that disregards our hard earned top level gear)
29 Oct, '22
Shawn Smiley
I think we need more game modes or difficulty adjustments. It was challenging through the first 20-30 levels, but there is very little challenge left in the game now even on hard mode once you get past level 50.
23 Jun, '23
Mickhael
Agree... keep the game difficult. Make the game more difficult, harder from DLC to DLC. Let more higher level predators on maps....
Of course, people who not like that, have the possibility to play on easy map areas with lvl 1-10 predators, on easy difficulty. Or in outposts, without predators.
Keep the game challenging please.
04 Sep, '23
Titled Fish
Yes yes and more yes. Every good game gets destroyed by making it easier overtime. This one is already too easy and I couldn't agree more that character development should take a very long time. People develop to the top then quit. The longer they play, the more friends they would suggest the game too. This also makes it a good business decision.
06 Oct, '23
Darena Bryant
I am against this as it reads. 'Making a game hard' has been the death of many a good game for me, simply because I'm not skilled enough to keep playing it. Extra long grinds to level tend to make a game boring after a while; when I think about it, most of my current character levels can be attributed to gathering rocks, chopping trees, and picking up sticks and stuff... generic gathering. The rest can be attributed to gathering; literally just making things, not progressing or anything like that.

It's dig, mine, pick up stuff, make more stuff from the stuff you gather until you get to the point of being able to gather exotics. That can become EXTREMELY boring over time, even if you have some plan to progress or things you're working to unlock. It's completely possible to craft a stone pick and a stone axe, and not even bother with anything else for a horribly long time and still level up. Making this process take longer and be harder to complete will not make me feel special.
30 Nov, '23
Jentara
Unforunately, they have already started making the game "easier" with the additions of scanners to find ores for you, and deep veins of Titanium and Plat..ect. Before that, I felt like I had to actually Manage my resources somewhat, but now I have an unlimited supply of resources with little to no effort in gathering them.
Still love the game and can't wait to see where they end up taking it...but I too, wish they had kept it more difficult to survive and manage resources.