We the People Need Higher Difficulty Levels

[impossible]

As 13 unit strength on the highest difficulty is inadequate once you know the campaign. We need a 15 and a 20 unit strength difficulty too. Maybe even a 25 one. Think it should be a slider.

[Epperaliant]

No please because then my ego would force me to play it and make me feel miserable lol.

[cutydt02]

3 locked diff after u end a campaign in highest diff like panzer corps should be good.

[banshee_slith]

I would like an option to customize the RP gain per turn and per battle by percentage. So if you want a harder game, reduce the RPs to 80% or 50% or whatever relative to normal. Similarly, if you want more RPs, set it to 120% or 150%. This would give a much finer control than the current difficulty levels, though those are fine too.

[terminator]

To vary the level of difficulty, we can also play on other levels than on Resources Points such as the number of units or the type of units...

[TowerNCT]

Like others have said, you could just impose arbitrary limitations on yourself to raise the difficulty. Something like no shock ground units (no engineers or artillery; you can only use strategic bombers to deal entrenchment damage) to really raise the difficulty or, another, is not getting any specializations. I am doing the latter now for my German campaigns.

[banshee_slith]

i play this two different ways depending on my mood. Sometimes I want a challenge so I play somewhat carefully and deliberately. Then I want a harder game, though still not nearly as hard as the experts want. Other times I want a more relaxing game like after getting home from work, where I just move and take what comes. When I play this way I want a lower difficulty, though I'd like to be able to fine tune the difficultly. I prefer paying that mid mid-level difficulty either way. Anything less is too easy and anything more is too grindy. Changing RPs would be perfect. I can do this with cheat codes to add a few extra RPs when i want an easier game, and I can always leave some unspent instead (no cheat codes needed) when I want a harder game but having a mode that changed RPs by some percentage would be nicer.

[WarHomer]

I always play on the hardest difficulty level and what I´ve done a few times in the "large" (I would love to call it grand, but can´t get myself to do that with only 36 missions in all) German Campaign is to limit myself to max 1 unit of each type.

That means only 1 regular inf, 1 engineer, 1 heavy inf and so on. The same goes for all types of arms.

It has been quite fun having to make do with a lot more diverse army and having to use units that I would never otherwise use.

[banshee_slith]

You are a much better player than I am. I find the normal (middle) difficulty of Panzerkrieg more work than I really want. Blitzkrieg middle difficulty was a little too easy, but Panzerkrieg there aren't enough resource points to overcome mistakes. The biggest problem I have is set-up. A few times I walked into a preset Soviet attack and got mauled the first turn. I like to play iron man, but sometimes this feels like "you lose, sucker" in Panzerkrieg on turn one. Maybe the difference is defensive battles, where I have minimal control of the tempo until I scout Soviet positions. I cannot image playing Panzerkrieg on the hardest setting. Too much of a slog.

[bru888]

Youse guys overlook the role of the scenario designer in determining difficulty level. His or her aim is to make it a respectable challenge for a somewhat experienced player on middle difficulty against the AI. Easier said than done, by the way.

But let me assure you that I could design a scenario that you would lose on baby player difficulty. I could also design a scenario that you would win even on a monster man level.

For, it's not just a matter of unit strength or even the relative numbers of units. Resources, experience, supply, and terrain play a big role. Also there are tricks of the trade that can favor one side or the other . . .

But as I was typing this, I realized that what I am saying is not germane to the topic. Reason: The very thing I said about the goal being to satisfy a moderately skilled player on medium difficulty. A scenario designer is not going to create something for baby player or monster man level.

So, perhaps a higher level of difficulty is in order. First thing would be to make the existing highest difficulty a level 14 instead of 13, so that the sequence of 6, 8, 10, 12, 14 makes sense. Triskaidekaphobia aside, I never did learn why 13 was the highest level.

Personally, I would prefer that 10 continue to be the default. I am comfortable playing and designing for that level. But I could see a level 16 being added at the high end.

[banshee_slith]

Thanks for you comment. But maybe there is more goign on? Except for Panzerkrieg, I found all the campaigns so far (have not played Soviet or Allied campaigns) to be a bit easy but fun enough on the middle (10) difficulty playing iron man blind the first playthrough. I found Panzerkrieg a solid acceptable difficulty level if I didn't play iron man. But played iron man, my initial setup doomed me a few times. Playing on while accepting my error, I could still win the scenario but because replacement rates for Germany are so so, I got into a dead man walking situation. Well, not quite dead but all the fun was sucked out of the game, as the rest of the campaign I was on a knife-edge. I realized from watching some youtube videos that other people had a similar experience.

One problem with panzerkrieg is primarily in the defensive scenarios where I get hit hard the first turn. No chance to scout. No chance to fall back and see where the computer is heading. Either cheat and look at the setup in the scenario editor, or play a few turns then restart, or get lucky, or take unacceptable losses. Panzerkrieg also suffers from the rich get richer, poor get poorer problem. Take too many losses and the next battle gets harder. And this effect piles on itself. Combined with intolerance for bad setup, this makes play much less tolerant to casual play. Certainly this is a valid design approach. But not my cup of tea. if this was my first OOB campaign it would also have been my last. Just doesn't suit me.