Can we get some examples of artificial difficulty? And actual difficulty?
It sounds to me one is one you like and the other you don't.
there's no such thing as artificial difficulty. there is just different type of difficulty (skill based, timing based, luck, grind-based, etc)
Artifical difficulty isn't real and is always spouted by casuals that are denial about how shit they are.
>>320575915
Artificial difficulty is playing with 15fps because shit optimization. Its such a stupid term.
>>320576354
Luck based is pretty artificial to me. The idea that you can't influence if you get past a certain objective, but have to rely on the computer to make that dice roll or whatever.
when a boss has a chance to do an undodgable one hit kill attack
>>320576354
grind based or luck is not a difficulty
genuine difficulty tests your skills while artificial is a waste of time
>>320576812
Is that really what you would call "difficulty" though? I get what you're saying, but most examples of that I can think of are to extend the grind (i.e. drop rates), not to make the game harder.
Artificial difficulty is whatever you want it to be because it is not a real term and it is made up much like every other word
>>320577030
made up words can grow and get a definition that's accepted
Here's one that people like to bitch about.
Sonic on the Genesis.
The hardware wasn't powerful enough to show any more of the screen. Sonic's top speed is fast, and all the commercials show you going fast.
The idea is that you race through a level, relying on your timing and reacting to obstacles in your way. That would require slower game play, or something solution that would let you see a jump, an enemy, a spring that will send you backwards, whatever.
So it's not quite artificial difficulty in that it's impossible, but you're going to be losing your rings a lot trying to play the game fast before you've gone through the level 12 times and memorized it. It's less feeling like you're playing a game, and reacting to what comes up like Mario, but you're memorizing that multiplication sheet we had in 4th grade where if you finished it in 5 minutes the teacher would buy you Burger King. It doesn't feel as rewarding to get past a tough spot in Sonic as it does Mario.
>>320577912
I hope you're talking Sonic 2 or CD, the first game was perfect with momentum and keeping obstacles in view
>>320576812
But that's one of the most basic form of a "game". You input something, it has a chance to succeed or fail, then you suffer the concequences of said action.
Artificial difficulty would be performing something that directly influences your chance of succeeding, thus "sandbagging" to make a game more enjoyable.
>>320578765
>But that's one of the most basic form of a "game". You input something, it has a chance to succeed or fail, then you suffer the concequences of said action.
It's also called bad design unless you're talking shit like accuracy since that's completely different
>>320577632
Yeah I love how literally can also mean "not literally". I also love how when you want to emphasize that something is actually, literally true, you have to type it in all caps or say it louder
>>320579546
No. You just say "literally literally" to show you mean literally literally
>>320575915
Artificial difficulty is shit like spamming enemies at the player to make things hard, or making controls not handle well on purpose to make the game hard, instead of balancing things so that they make sense and give the player a fair chance.
>>320575915
Artificial difficulty is the Moldorm in Link to the Past. More knockback than any enemy in the game
>>320577018
An example of that is Fire Emblem Awakening on Lunatic+ mode. Enemies are given overpowered abilities at random (eg they will always hit, always ignore half your armor, etc) and some of them can have combinations of abilities that make them harder to kill than even bosses. This kind of difficulty can be mitigated through grinding, true, but in the early stages of that game grinding was unavailable to you and your progression was literally up to the RNG.
actual difficulty = fun.
artificial difficulty = games like dark souls that kill you randomly with no foresight, or force you to run and wait and dodge attacks for an hour. Literally boring you to death.
>>320575915
Artificial difficulty is when something cannot be overcome through skill gained through past experience in the game.
For example, suppose someone mastered every single Mario game. And then a hypothetical Mario game was made that incorporated elements from the previous Mario games. Theoretically, this person should have no trouble getting through this game, because it maintains the same sorts of design principles as previous games. If this person, a master of previous games, could not complete this game just as easily, it would mean that there were factors other than the ability to understand the game's mechanics, ie artificial difficulty.
>>320582863
>Dark Souls
>Unfair
I want this meme to end. The only time you die in Dark Souls is if you aren't paying attention to the environment. What's more, you don't have to "dodge attacks for an hour" if you know what the fuck you're doing.
Git gud
>>320582921
But what if the game just had different mechanics? That difficulty isn't artificial.
I also think that example doesn't make much sense, just because someone is good at Super Mario 64 doesn't mean they'll be good at Super Mario Sunshine. There are a lot more factors at work.
People who think dark souls is hard, or not artificial difficulty, are the same people who think ASSFAGGOTS take skill.
>>320583114
Because the game doesn't have different mechanics. It's a remix of previous games.
A game should have the player progress though the game by introducing concepts and allowing time to elaborate and practice them. If someone who seen all the tricks the game has to show and completely understands how to beat them, then the only remaining factors are beyond skill.
4 kings is a good example of artificial difficulty. A boss fight that requires players to use a completely counterintuitive strategy to everything the game has carefully taught them up to that point, with no hint as to why you should do so, and the strategy is never expanded upon again.
>>320582921
That's a bad example. A lot of skill comes from familarity not only with the mechanics but also level design. In Mario you'd develop muscle memory for each one of the levels, and that'd make up a significant chunk of your skill. New, unfamilliar level layout can mess with good players even if they are masters of the mechanics.
>>320583290
So you mean they aren't retards? Because ASSFAGGOTS requiring no skill means that a new player would be just as good at the game as a veteran.
>>320583494
That's why I said that the game has new levels but no new mechanics. If you can use the existing mechanics in a new environment with no problem, than it's not artificial difficulty. If you can't, it's the game interfering with the established rules.
F-Zero GX Mission 7 literally cheats.
Blash Shadow and Blood Falcon have triple or quadruple normal health. Boosting pulls from your HP, allowing them to boost MUCH more than you can.
>>320583681
That's the entire problem, knowledge of levels is as important if not more important in platformers than familiarity with the mechanics. Levels made from the original, unmodified assets could still be challenging to experienced players because of that.
>>320583816
So? Cheating enemies is completely normal for single player games. The entire concept of bosses is all about putting you in an unfair fight and seeing if you've got the wits, skill and dedication to get through it despite the odds.
>>320575915
Total war difficulty settings
>>320584103
If the player hasn't mastered the mechanics, only the levels themselves, then they aren't masters, just memorizers.
I don't have a perfect definition but I would say any 'difficulty' that requires just time or just luck with little-to-no skill is artificial.
Like pretty much any mobile game is riddled with artificial difficulty because the game is intentionally designed around having things that take forever to get / do / etc., and the game / certain game mechanics are frustratingly boring or unfair to encourage you to pay money to get things that level the playing field.
Also, games with AI opponents in the place of other players when the AI does things that another player could not actually do within the boundaries of the game mechanics.
>>320584656
This. Its why I got tired of Megaman games. They were all just memorization outside of bosses.
>>320584656
You're making up your own criteria. Mastering a game means being able to play it amazingly well, whether or not that's a result of familarity of the mechanics or levels doesn't really matter. Also there aren't any difficult platformers that don't involve a heavy amount of memorization. Hell, even easy ones do when played at a high level. That's just how it is.
>>320575915
Bad controls/camera
Glitchy, buggy gameplay
Bad hitboxes/collision detection
Misleading bullshit (for instance platforms that look identical being inconsistent in whether they're solid or background elements)
Poor AI for NPC companions you have to protect
Making every single enemy a bullet sponge
Extreme trial&error with no other reasonable way to find a solution
I think artificial difficulty is just any point where your chances of success have nothing to do with how good you actually are at the game.
Holy shit you faggots are so new. Artificial difficulty started with TES. Because increasing the in game "difficulty" Just increased the enemies health and attack damage while nerfing your own.
You faggots piss me off so much hole shit
>>320575915
I'd rather go with "difficulty" and "stupid difficulty that makes me want to smash the developper's balls with a shovel".
Example:
>difficulty normal mode:
Enemy AI: ***
Enemy number: ***
>difficulty hard mode
Enemy AI: *****
Enemy number: *****
>stupid difficulty that makes me want to smash the developper's balls with a shovel normal mode:
Enemy AI: ***
Enemy number: ***
>stupid difficulty that makes me want to smash the developper's balls with a shovel hard mode:
Enemy AI: ***
Enemy number: ***
Number of time you have to shoot an enemy in the head before he dies: **************
