Personalized Difficulty Setting (and save function

[parallelpain]

The game is pretty great. Keeps me entertained and kills time (though maybe a bit too much time).

I am getting really really tired of dying from getting rammed though, even after buying ram-resistant upgrades. Maybe the starting ship is just bad vs ramming. But I'm trying to get the lv20 reward and I can't cause I keep dying because some stranger just ram me to death (24dmg? ) even when he's 3/4 dead.

I really want a save function so I don't loose everything. Maybe people like me are just too used to playing RPGs where you get a save function somewhere. I mean I do get the urge to rage quit (though the fact I keep starting again show how good the game is).

But I think it would be even better to have a personalized difficulty setting, like "custom" so we get to choose what level each thing is at for encounter, space combat, trade, etc.

That way we can adjust the game to suit our own tastes and skills, because some players are probably better at trading, and some at fighting, and some at exploring.

And the first thing I would choose is so that my Captain can't die permanently.

I'd still love a save function though

[oldalchemist]

Why aren't you just playing at a low difficulty?

Also, if you don't like getting rammed, either stop making enemies or kill them at long range.

[noesis]

Another option is to unlock and get the escape shuttle upgrade (Death Reaper II - award) - you won't die if your ship does, at least that's my guess, it's what I'm working on unlocking at the moment, and I love the challenge that I might die at any moment. - It's like a save as you won't die just cause your ship does.

[parallelpain]

May 2, 2011 11:17:57 GMT -5 oldalchemist said:

Why aren't you just playing at a low difficulty?

Also, if you don't like getting rammed, either stop making enemies or kill them at long range.

Because I don't want to? And the only one where your Captain doesn't die is really low and no fun.

Also I am officially ranked with all 6 factions, with trade permit, death warrant, and positive relations (its for another achievement). So the only enemies I have are independent pirates (and aliens).

The starting ship seems to have difficulty killing things at long range, but I need to keep using it for achievement. I probably loose half the fights I get into, and get looted (rather loose some cheap water, than die).
The one in question that killed me wasn't even any strong. He was 3/4 dead, and rammed 11 hull and 6 armor all away in one hit (and killed himself too).

But that's just my situation. Though the wish for a customizable difficulty setting and a save function derives on it, I don't see how it's dependent on it. I can see people who just want to fight tough space battles with cool ships lowering difficulty of everything else, make their Captain immortal, and get easy money and ranks and huge cool ships and then go to war and fight a challenging fight and have fun. Or someone who just want to explore lowering difficulty of fights and number of embargoes so they don't have to get hammered with something they don't care about.

Though its probably better to be autosaved every xxxx number of actions. So no one spam save-load.


Ah and I thought of the escape shuttle. But then I didn't really want to risk flying around independent space being a huge ass and just shooting everything.

[Cory Trese]

I must admit that the game is ill equipped to deal with this type of sophisticated difficulty level.

Because there are literally hundreds of thousands of saved games in progress around the world, I cannot make breaking changes to difficulty -- which means that that the system is essentially fixed as is.

In future games, I will keep in mind that players may be interested in configurable difficulty levels as a Elite option!

[parallelpain]

Cool Thanks

Any comments on having an auto-save function every xxxxx actions but no manual saves?

[Cory Trese]

It auto saves every turn. Every 0001 Actions. Just like you asked =)

Future games will incorporate this type of feedback. We will continue to provide auto-save but add new ways to better manage saved games

[slayernz]

Ha Cory, you very funny man! I think that for Parallelpain, Auto Save is really only beneficial when you can load up a previous save - other than the one that just occurred. This way, if parts of your body are spread between two different planets due to some mishap, you can restore back to when you were, well more intact

Again, that's pretty much like having a non-permanent death option, but also allows you to do explorations with near impunity, so I am against that on Challenging and higher levels. If you can rely on save games and therefore take no risks, then it's probably not challenging any more.

[parallelpain]

LOL

Though auto-save instead of manual save was supposed to prevent that sort of save-load spam. But if people are cheap enough to time their fight/exploration to the autosave then x.x

[oldalchemist]

"If you can never die, you can never truly live." Clan Javat birth, wedding, birthday, funeral, and general-use saying.

[Cory Trese]

Smugglers now say:

"'If you can never die, you can never truly live.' That is a Clan Javat general-use saying, popular at births, weddings, birthdays, funerals and spice parties."

[oldalchemist]

I suppose that beats, "You want me to hide that where?"

[slayernz]

Especially when you are asked to smuggle passengers from A to B ...

[oldalchemist]

I like to hide passengers in non-Euclidean alien deck chairs.

[slayernz]

But Captain, those deck chairs are attached to the exterior of the ship hull ...