ilitarist wrote:
Yep, if they don't want to put specific numbers there they should say something like "Easy is recommended if you are new to this kind of strategies" or "Hard is for Endless Space veterans".

Agreed. This is actually much more useful.

Mansen wrote:
Entirely a moot point since meta knowledge and settings cannot and should not be considered "immersive" to begin with. You cannot be immersed by a difficulty setting - The very idea of knowing the difficulty breaks immersion.

I think many things can play into the overall immersive experience (including the loading screens and menus) and I think the difficulty tool tips do more harm than good in that respect. But first and foremost they are not useful.

If you want to be technical about it Mansen, a main menu also breaks immersion. :P

EdwardFalcon wrote:
the humor displayed is immersion breaking and doesn't fit with the theme of the game at all.

Entirely a moot point since meta knowledge and settings cannot and should not be considered "immersive" to begin with. You cannot be immersed by a difficulty setting - The very idea of knowing the difficulty breaks immersion.

Funny thread. It reminds me of a similar thread in Endless Space, where people were whining about the humour in the difficulty tooltip.



No matter what you say they will ever continue, and as Amplitude have a lot of humour they are not going to stop.



^^

Mansen wrote:
Hard is harder than Easy. The descriptions are not meant to be informative but humorous. You know what to expect when you change from easy to hard in a 4x game. AI bonuses.



Sure - They should include the actual differences, but that hasn't been your complain so far.

As I said before, I understand that the descriptions are humorous but that serves no purpose in a game like Endless Legend. In my opinion the humor displayed is immersion breaking and doesn't fit with the theme of the game at all. It would be more useful if the descriptions for the difficulties stated which ones new players, veteran players etc. should start at or play on.



Example: Easy = for individuals new to 4x strategy games. Normal = for individuals familiar with strategy games etc.



When I first started playing the release version I had no idea which difficulty I was supposed to start on because the descriptions aren't useful or informative.

They could explain all of the various differences between the difficulty settings in a different place, maybe in the advanced options?

EdwardFalcon wrote:
Just because ilitarist understands the difficulty levels doesn't mean someone who is less familiar with the game would. The current descriptions right now are not useful.

Hard is harder than Easy. The descriptions are not meant to be informative but humorous. You know what to expect when you change from easy to hard in a 4x game. AI bonuses.



Sure - They should include the actual differences, but that hasn't been your complain so far.

abmpicoli wrote:
Regards patch 1.02





NEWBIE: "A house plant could beat it at chess"... beat who? The game? Why chess...



EASY: "If this was Henry IV, the French would have won at Agincourt." ... Ok... Once again, "this" is the game, right?



NORMAL: "If the british have been like this, US would still be a colony"... What do you mean by that? The game is the british?

It means the strategic&tactical AI, not the whole game. A house plant could beat the EL newbie AI at chess. If Henry IV was replaced with the EL easy AI, the French would have won at Agincourt.

Mansen wrote:
Which you already knew when you looked at the difficulty levels - Moot point.

Just because ilitarist understands the difficulty levels doesn't mean someone who is less familiar with the game would. The current descriptions right now are not useful.



I get that they're humorous, don't get me wrong, I get that. But the humor doesn't really fit with the overall game either. It breaks the immersion. So you have difficulty descriptions that are both not useful and immersion breaking.

Regards patch 1.02



The difficulty levels in the main screen are a little cryptic for me.

I would like to remind you that not every gamer have a detailed background on english/american history.



NEWBIE: "A house plant could beat it at chess"... beat who? The game? Why chess...



EASY: "If this was Henry IV, the French would have won at Agincourt." ... Had to go to the wikipedia to understand this: and in the wiki it shows that there was a battle in Agincourt, where the english won against a superior french army... Ok... Once again, "this" is the game, right? Another thing: the wikipedia shows that Henry V, not the fourth, fought that battle...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Agincourt .



NORMAL: "If the british have been like this, US would still be a colony"... What do you mean by that? The game is the british? So the normal is a difficult one? I'm a little puzzled.



HARD: "Every battle will feel like the Bulge". Once again, had to go to the wiki to grasp the difficulty. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Bulge...



Why don't you just explain what does each difficulty level mean? What kind of advantages/onuses the AI receives?

ilitarist wrote:
Yep, if they don't want to put specific numbers there they should say something like "Easy is recommended if you are new to this kind of strategies" or "Hard is for Endless Space veterans".



Not a big issue anyway.

Which you already knew when you looked at the difficulty levels - Moot point.

Well, I actually find the descriptions very humorous and fitting!!

You can really conclude the difficulty even if you were awful in history lessions at school!

abmpicoli wrote:
Regards patch 1.02



The difficulty levels in the main screen are a little cryptic for me.

I would like to remind you that not every gamer have a detailed background on english/american history.



NEWBIE: "A house plant could beat it at chess"... beat who? The game? Why chess...



EASY: "If this was Henry IV, the French would have won at Agincourt." ... Had to go to the wikipedia to understand this: and in the wiki it shows that there was a battle in Agincourt, where the english won against a superior french army... Ok... Once again, "this" is the game, right? Another thing: the wikipedia shows that Henry V, not the fourth, fought that battle...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Agincourt .



NORMAL: "If the british have been like this, US would still be a colony"... What do you mean by that? The game is the british? So the normal is a difficult one? I'm a little puzzled.



HARD: "Every battle will feel like the Bulge". Once again, had to go to the wiki to grasp the difficulty. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Bulge...



Why don't you just explain what does each difficulty level mean? What kind of advantages/onuses the AI receives?

Well, first of all, if you dont understand, blame yourself, not amplitude.

I love those tooltips, they are awesome.



I never saw any game explaining each buff gave to the AI depending of the difficulty...

And I really dont care about it ^^

Yep, if they don't want to put specific numbers there they should say something like "Easy is recommended if you are new to this kind of strategies" or "Hard is for Endless Space veterans".



Not a big issue anyway.

abmpicoli wrote:
Regards patch 1.02



The difficulty levels in the main screen are a little cryptic for me.

I would like to remind you that not every gamer have a detailed background on english/american history.



NEWBIE: "A house plant could beat it at chess"... beat who? The game? Why chess...



EASY: "If this was Henry IV, the French would have won at Agincourt." ... Had to go to the wikipedia to understand this: and in the wiki it shows that there was a battle in Agincourt, where the english won against a superior french army... Ok... Once again, "this" is the game, right? Another thing: the wikipedia shows that Henry V, not the fourth, fought that battle...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Agincourt .



NORMAL: "If the british have been like this, US would still be a colony"... What do you mean by that? The game is the british? So the normal is a difficult one? I'm a little puzzled.



HARD: "Every battle will feel like the Bulge". Once again, had to go to the wiki to grasp the difficulty. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Bulge...



Why don't you just explain what does each difficulty level mean? What kind of advantages/onuses the AI receives?

I actually agree with OP (abmpicoli) on this one. These difficulty descriptions aren't that useful. And I get that they're humorous but they're totally out of place in a game like Endless Legend. These descriptions just don't fit with a game that's going for immersion. They come across a little silly/lame. I'm not saying that these descriptions should tell us about each bonus the AI gets but better descriptions are definitely warranted.

I wouldn't mind the developer joke about the difficulty level. However, I somehow agree with your opinion that more concrete information is necessary; well, at least should be presented in the manual.

I liked them and understood all of them except for Henry IV. It adds that little bit of wit that is the staple for Amplitude (well, that was the first thing I saw when I bought ES so it has stuck out in my mind )

I really liked the Maginot line one from Endless Space, they can really make some humorous descriptions.



But yes, they really aren't the best way to describe the difficulty of playing against the AI.

Eh, I like the silly tooltips for difficulties.



I'd rather not see the numbers on the buffs that the AI receives. Being reminded that the AI is getting a bazillion free resources can break the suspension of disbelief that you're playing against a hard AI.