DLC '39 and '40 are too easy

[Uhu]

I know, that many have the problem, that both DLCs are too hard, but for me, most of the scenarios were too easy - even at Rommel mode. I'm not a super-player: I had many-many tries, until I could finish the original campaign. There were scenarios, where I could make a victory only with luck. I could make a minor victory at USA East Coast about after 10-15 tries.
Comparable to them, the DLC scenarios are easy, and therefore they are making not so much fun (althrough the story mode and interesting quests are nice).
There are player, who says, tha Mannstein difficult is even harder, but I like to play the Rommel style - few prestige, every of my unit has to be handled carefully - and as I said, the original campaign (and also the italian campaign by nikivdd and the DMP's Africa Korps campaign) is right hard at this difficulty.

I know, that th 5th december is near, but dear developers: please make the difficult at hardest level harder. Or make a new level of hardness, like "DLC special Rommel" level.

Thanks!

[Rudankort]

Any specific suggestions what difficulty settings would be optimal for you?

For example, on Rommel the settings are as follows:
prestige: 50%
experience: 100%
AI prestige: 150%
AI experience: 100%
unit strength, turn count not modified

[deducter]

You might find it interesting when posts for DLC 41 closed beta are revealed.

The bottom line is: for a player like you, only Manstein is of any challenge. Try it, and trust me, it will not be easy. There really is no other solution, except personally modding various values.

I personally think Rommel should be -75% prestige. Plus all the bonus difficulties should also be 50% experience, like Field Marshall. Even so, Manstein would still be harder.

Edit: Edit: You can also face me or another advanced player in MP. I think you'll find me to be a suitably challenging opponent.

[Uhu]

Well, I don't know, as I said, the original, or other campaigns are quite hard at this level (and this is not the past - I still play these campaigns and I still have difficulties sometimes ).
Maybe the slower experience could put in effect (this is in Field Marshall mode, if I'm right) - but, in this cause, where my units are already at 325xp, would effects not much -only for a player, who play it from the beginning.

I think, maybe prestige could be reducted on 25%. Althrough only for the deploying phase - for cities, which have only a value of 12 prestige point, there is not much motivation to fight.
(I cannot give an exact value, that has to be balanced, but right now, all of my units are on full overstrenght, best equipment and still I have prestige - that was never the cause in the original campaign.)

Any specific suggestions what difficulty settings would be optimal for you?

For example, on Rommel the settings are as follows:
prestige: 50%
experience: 100%
AI prestige: 150%
AI experience: 100%
unit strength, turn count not modified

[Rudankort]

It is too late to change anything in 1.05, but after it is out, I'll see what can be done. I don't think it would be a good idea to change default difficulties now, people are used to them, and they work pretty well in general. But I might add a custom difficulty option, with a number of sliders to control the difficulty, and this should help people to find the right balance.

PS. Will Rommel be playable on -75%? That's a pretty steep penalty.

[Uhu]

Yeah, that would be a good solution. The DMP team made already (but how?) a new difficulty level: the "Wüstenfuchs" - but it could be named also "Impossible mission".

I think, deducter meant the same, as I: 25%

It is too late to change anything in 1.05, but after it is out, I'll see what can be done. I don't think it would be a good idea to change default difficulties now, people are used to them, and they work pretty well in general. But I might add a custom difficulty option, with a number of sliders to control the difficulty, and this should help people to find the right balance.

PS. Will Rommel be playable on -75%? That's a pretty steep penalty.

[Uhu]

I will think about Mannstein, but that is not only another difficulty level, but also an another playing type, and I like the Rommel style. And for me, seeing overall 15 strength enemy units seems "unnatural" also.

You might find it interesting when posts for DLC 41 closed beta are revealed.

The bottom line is: for a player like you, only Manstein is of any challenge. Try it, and trust me, it will not be easy. There really is no other solution, except personally modding various values.

I personally think Rommel should be -75% prestige. Plus all the bonus difficulties should also be 50% experience, like Field Marshall. Even so, Manstein would still be harder.

Edit: Edit: You can also face me or another advanced player in MP. I think you'll find me to be a suitably challenging opponent.

[Rudankort]

Another quick solution is to open DLC's campaign.pzdat file in Notepad and divide all prestige numbers you see there by 2. It is very easy to do, but if anything is not clear to you, feel free to ask. Don't forget to backup the file before changing it.

Then, if you play on Rommel, the cumulative effect of this change will be that you will get 25% of normal prestige amount, except for capturing the cities - exactly what you want.

I did not know DMP team added one more difficulty level. Interesting. What does it look like? Let me guess: 50% prestige and experience, +5 enemy strength and -5 turns?

[Kerensky]

I did not know DMP team added one more difficulty level. Interesting. What does it look like? Let me guess: 50% prestige and experience, +5 enemy strength and -5 turns?

It's the 0 prestige setting I told you about.

"Wustenfuchs" mode has 0 prestige.
You start with 0 prestige, get 0 prestige for capturing objectives, and get 0 prestige for completing scenarios.

[Kerensky]

I know, that many have the problem, that both DLCs are too hard, but for me, most of the scenarios were too easy - even at Rommel mode. I'm not a super-player: I had many-many tries, until I could finish the original campaign. There were scenarios, where I could make a victory only with luck. I could make a minor victory at USA East Coast about after 10-15 tries.
Comparable to them, the DLC scenarios are easy, and therefore they are making not so much fun (althrough the story mode and interesting quests are nice).
There are player, who says, tha Mannstein difficult is even harder, but I like to play the Rommel style - few prestige, every of my unit has to be handled carefully - and as I said, the original campaign (and also the italian campaign by nikivdd and the DMP's Africa Korps campaign) is right hard at this difficulty.

I know, that th 5th december is near, but dear developers: please make the difficult at hardest level harder. Or make a new level of hardness, like "DLC special Rommel" level.

Thanks!

Thanks for your feedback, balance is always a tricky issue we are keeping a close eye on.

Remember that we have to design the game with our entire player base in mind. Default settings are built for everyone to enjoy, even those who are wholly unfamiliar with the concepts of Panzer Corps that veteran players are intimately familiar with based on their experience of previous titles in this genre.

So while there are threads like this that say the game is too easy, for every one of these threads there are even more that see the game as too hard. Even frustrating to the point of being unplayable.
viewtopic.php?t=29282
viewtopic.php?t=29851

In the end our solution is to present our players with a wide variety of difficulty settings, allowing them to find the setting that suits them the best. In the rare and extreme cases where even this is not enough well that's what modding is for.

[Uhu]

So while there are threads like this that say the game is too easy, for every one of these threads there are even more that see the game as too hard. Even frustrating to the point of being unplayable.
viewtopic.php?t=29282
viewtopic.php?t=29851

Yes, I read them and wondered also well, because, as I said, I don't find myself as a super-general. (maybe I should really play some multplayer battles - but there is never for time that: DLCs, new DLCs, Italian campaign, Afrika Korps, making Hungarian campaign... )
People should read the tipps and tricks.
It is anyway so fantastic to always discover new sides and features of the game!

Maybe an online PanzerCorps training should be organised?

[Uhu]

Another quick solution is to open DLC's campaign.pzdat file in Notepad and divide all prestige numbers you see there by 2. It is very easy to do, but if anything is not clear to you, feel free to ask. Don't forget to backup the file before changing it.

Maybe, but than we arrive on the field of psychology: the player (I) like to have big challanges, hard battles, even if he in the meantime says ugly words. But the end, after many tries, paper skizzes of attacking planes, the player is happy.
BUT that is, because it has to be done, because the faith (the sw developers ) made that circumstances. But what I am? Am I the faith?! Should I myself make my life (game) harder volunterly...? And what is, when I feel it too hard? Than change again the faith...errrr the prestige level?
That's a hard question!

[deducter]

Perhaps you don't think Manstein is suitably challenging since I've been winning DVs left and right in my AAR. Keep in mind that I have played through those missions twice before and have a lot of spoiler information. Furthermore, I play those very slowly, so mistakes are minimized, but I usually lack the patience for such methodicalness. During Closed Beta, I had to play most of those missions on Manstein 2 or 3 times to get DV. For Spoils of War, it took me at least 10 restarts before I could scrap a MV without gutting half my core. I have found it much more important to be careful with units on Manstein, whereas for Rommel, I usually just charge ahead and do fine. Perhaps this difficulty is too artificial in the sense that everything is now +5 strength, and what you need is something in between, which I guess you'll have to mod yourself.

maybe I should really play some multplayer battles

I promise you MP games are a lot of fun.

[Shrike]

Sorry for going a bit off-topic, but this thread shows once again why some kind of ELO points based MP player ranking would be great. I know it exists for The Battle of Wesnoth and seems to work well there. It would assure that you can find a suitable game partner without fear of getting trounced (or not enough opposition), thereby lowering the MP threshold for players who are contemplating to try it. I know this is probably not an easy change, as the current MP game management system and match making will need an overhaul, but I think it would be well worth it.

[aleader]

I don't think they're too easy at all. I had a hell of a time getting through the final scenarios on the Grand Camp, but now roll through them fairly easily, but this is on the default difficulty level. Got stopped cold on Warsaw North in the '39 DLC, but that was my first play through. I think maybe I'm a bit impatient, but it was certainly no cakewalk, at least not the way I approached the first go through.

I think there needs to be caution by the devs when one person comes on and complains the game is too easy. For one, there's no way to verify this person is being honest. Second, is this the opinion of the vast majority of players (whom the developers should be catering to), or just a few that frequent the forum?

Seems there's a push each patch/DLC to keep ramping up the difficulty, which is a big mistake IMO. Want to alienate new players real quick, make it brutally hard right off the bat. Not saying that balance work shouldn't continue, and adding new difficulty levels is fine, but some perspective needs to be kept in mind.

Another question...are the beta testers chosen normally experienced vets of the games, or is the opportunity given for some raw recruits to test it?

[VPaulus]

Another question...are the beta testers chosen normally experienced vets of the games, or is the opportunity given for some raw recruits to test it?

As far as I know, it's random, so everybody has a chance.
I'm not sure if in this moment they are opening to new batches of beta testers with each new DLC. Anyway, if I were you, I would apply for it.
http://www.slitherine.com/beta_test

[Rudankort]

I think there needs to be caution by the devs when one person comes on and complains the game is too easy. For one, there's no way to verify this person is being honest. Second, is this the opinion of the vast majority of players (whom the developers should be catering to), or just a few that frequent the forum?

Seems there's a push each patch/DLC to keep ramping up the difficulty, which is a big mistake IMO. Want to alienate new players real quick, make it brutally hard right off the bat. Not saying that balance work shouldn't continue, and adding new difficulty levels is fine, but some perspective needs to be kept in mind.

There are no plans whatsoever to make the game more difficult than it is now, and no changes in this direction were made in any of the patches. As for DLCs, they are routinely tested on Manstein difficulty by several people, and so far all of them can be completed on that level. This means that for average players the default Colonel difficulty should remain perfectly playable. In fact, even in this topic the original post stated that the main campaign was more difficult than the DLCs. So, I don't see where your concerns are coming from. Our approach is to offer the hardcore players a number of advanced difficulty options which new players do not even see, and probably will never unlock them.

Another question...are the beta testers chosen normally experienced vets of the games, or is the opportunity given for some raw recruits to test it?

Beta testers are selected randomly, but it is hard to tell if many newbies register for the beta. On the other hand, we do not expect a lot of newbies to plunge into DLCs without playing the tutorial and then the default campaign first, so either way it should not be a big problem.

[Uhu]

I understand, what you say, but think about it: you have the option, to try the battle again, until you succeed. Or, "worst case", you can choose an easier difficulty level.
But what can I do? Drink 3 bears, that I cannot good focus my mind?

I don't think they're too easy at all. I had a hell of a time getting through the final scenarios on the Grand Camp, but now roll through them fairly easily, but this is on the default difficulty level. Got stopped cold on Warsaw North in the '39 DLC, but that was my first play through. I think maybe I'm a bit impatient, but it was certainly no cakewalk, at least not the way I approached the first go through.

I think there needs to be caution by the devs when one person comes on and complains the game is too easy. For one, there's no way to verify this person is being honest. Second, is this the opinion of the vast majority of players (whom the developers should be catering to), or just a few that frequent the forum?

Seems there's a push each patch/DLC to keep ramping up the difficulty, which is a big mistake IMO. Want to alienate new players real quick, make it brutally hard right off the bat. Not saying that balance work shouldn't continue, and adding new difficulty levels is fine, but some perspective needs to be kept in mind.

Another question...are the beta testers chosen normally experienced vets of the games, or is the opportunity given for some raw recruits to test it?

[Uhu]

Is it possible to edit the difficulty levels, or they are hardcoded?

[brettz123]

I found the original game (with the exception of Sea Lion and Overlord) to be very easy even on Field Marshall. I had the same experience with both of the DLCs so far too. My feeling is that a lot of this has to do with what you carry with you in your core forces. I usually make sure that I get 6 artillery pieces as soon as possible as well as a large number of fighters with only one tactical bomber.

In the normal game this meant that I had 10 figters, 10 tanks, and 6 artillery by the time I got to the Stalingrad map. Once you can withstand whatever airforce the enemy throws at you you are going to find the game much easier. I found that even without any strategic bombers and only one tactical bomber the game was easier for me than when I had more tactical bombers. It also helped that all of my SE units ended up being tanks.

Either way if you want a harder time of it try adding in some of the less effective units like AT guns and AA guns.