FreeGameDev

Hi! In this thread I want to discuss the difficulty of the game.

What do you think, how difficult was STK for you?

Especially:
* Story Mode overall
* Racing in general
* Normal race
* Time-trial race
* Follow the Leader race
* Also very important, tell us what difficulty setting you usually play in (e.g. how difficult is it for you to win races in Intermediate, etc.?)

I start with me. My difficulty rating of this game:

I play a lot of video games, so I have practice.
I have no real difficulties to finishing Story Mode with gold everywhere. I have done so a couple of times.
I am sad that Story Mode is not available in SuperTux difficulty (I have suggested that earlier).
I also got all achievements but those are really no problem at all, they are pretty easy to get.

Of course I then went on to play on SuperTux difficulty from then on and played and won single races and even a crazy custom tourney with all tracks. SuperTux difficulty can be challenging, but my experience shows if you manage to get quickly to the top, especially in the first few seconds, you have almost decided the race. Later on it will be much more difficult because you will be in the middle of a battlefield and lose precious seconds by weapons and crashes from others, all the time. Luck is also an important factor in normal races, I think but I also think a good strategy is important, too. Maybe I write more on strategy later.

I think time-trial races are automatically easier than normal races since in time-trial races you always are in constant danger of being blown into pieces, while in time-trial this danger is gone, so you can head for 1st place safely.
Follow-the leader races are similar in difficulty to me as normal races.

I think SuperTux difficulty is slightly hard to me but totally possible. The most difficult part is to become 1st very, very early in order to get out of the battle zone. Once you managed that, the race will be easier from that point on as long you don't screw up. Therefore, I think the SuperTux difficulty is “medium” difficulty to me.

I also noticed SuperTuxKart will become harder to win the more karts you add. Especially if you start last and there are only a few laps it can be a challenge, because you have less “time” to become 1st.

Overall, SuperTuxKart ranges from very easy to medium in difficulty for me.
In some special situraions, it can be difficult.

I play rarely and with a keyboard and I generally suck, so I find the story mode challenging enough at easy level.

I really suck at racing games, I play mostly on the lowest difficulty setting. Races itself were mostly easy to win for me, but Time racing was absolutely impossible, especially in the "Under the sea"-Track...

Serano {l Wrote}:I really suck at racing games, I play mostly on the lowest difficulty setting. Races itself were mostly easy to win for me, but Time racing was absolutely impossible, especially in the "Under the sea"-Track...

This one is actually a known issue where the challenge was improperly balanced, sorry about that. That should be corrected with next release

Well, I've tried a couple of races on story mode and found it pretty hard even though I was 20 seconds ahead of other racers I couldn't beat the time limit.

FaTony {l Wrote}:Well, I've tried a couple of races on story mode and found it pretty hard even though I was 20 seconds ahead of other racers I couldn't beat the time limit.

Do you remember which challenge that was? This does not sound normal

Most of them. I think I failed Bovine Barnyard, almost failed the one in Egypt.

FaTony {l Wrote}:Most of them. I think I failed Bovine Barnyard, almost failed the one in Egypt.

Which difficulty did you try? Maybe you could give an example of a specific challenge, what difficulty you tried, which kart you used, what track, and what time it took you?

It was a story mode, Pidgin character, novice difficulty. I think the time limit was 2:30, it's one of the races which is available at the very beginning.

FaTony {l Wrote}:It was a story mode, Pidgin character, novice difficulty. I think the time limit was 2:30, it's one of the races which is available at the very beginning.

Sorry, you didn't name which track it was. Without knowing that information, it's very hard to troubleshoot

It does take a few tries to win Bovine Barnyard on a keyboard if you're new at this type of game - at least it did in 8.1.

Okay, but knowing the time it took you would help a lot. If I try myself, I'm sure I will beat it without problems because I know the game by heart. If you could tell me a specific track, the difficulty you selected, the time that was required, the time it actually took you - that would help a lot

I have some of this information, but some missing (for instance I would be interested in knowing the exact time it took you to finish the track). Also I don't think you've told me which difficulty you played

Yes, I've just started single player story mode and it was like the 2nd track ever. So, story mode, Bovine Barnyard, Novice difficulty.

thanks. I will seem annoying but there is still a very important piece of information missing

I would be interested in knowing the exact time it took you to finish the track

In order to properly balance challenges, it is very important for us to know what time people need to complete tracks

I forgot the exact time but I was 1st for like 99% duration of the race. I'm amazed that being first doesn't count for victory.

That is entirely dependent on what the challenge is. Quite a few challenges are time based rather than rank based. Read the challenge description.

Ya, I think some of the challenges are ridiculous. Take barnyard for example; you have to be about 10s better than the first AI, even on the novice level.

Not everyone who plays STK is as hardcore as the devs or main posters here

The hardest one for me is always collecting nitros in Shifting Sands.

tux_peng {l Wrote}:Ya, I think some of the challenges are ridiculous. Take barnyard for example; you have to be about 10s better than the first AI, even on the novice level.

Not everyone who plays STK is as hardcore as the devs or main posters here

As mentionned previously, we are happy to tweak things, but I would very much like to know the exact time it takes you to finish the track (on what difficulty). "It's too hard" doesn't help us much; however "the challenge requires that the farm track on easy should be finished in 2:30 but it actually always takes me 2:45" is a lot more insightful for us, so if some people could post this kind of information for the challenges they found too hard, that would go a long way towards balancing the game properly

MTres19 {l Wrote}:The hardest one for me is always collecting nitros in Shifting Sands.

LOL, the same is true for me. I tend to fail that one more often than all other Story Mode challenges, even after I've completed Story Mode several times.

Thinking about you requesting exact playthrough times: Maybe I can post my times in my next playthrough of Story Mode (if I'm bored).

I have completed all the Story mode levels with easy. I can win Expert but sometimes I can also win SuperTux

Try to get away from the karts by using nitro or weapons

So...

I play a lot of video games, so I have practice.
I have no real difficulties to finishing Story Mode with gold everywhere. I have done so a couple of times.
I am sad that Story Mode is not available in SuperTux difficulty (I have suggested that earlier).
I also got all achievements but those are really no problem at all, they are pretty easy to get.

Same for me. The only exception is shifting sand challenges which is pretty hard in gold - from what I understood it has been badly calibrated for all difficulties.

I usually play in SuperTux difficulty and am able more often than not to win the race, though I much say starting last (usual race) or starting first (grand-prix after 1-2 race) make a huge difference onto the difficulty, at least in normal mode with items (too much explosions in the middle of the pack). So, I agree 100% with Wuzzy on this too, being first quickly is too important. I mean, ok in formula 1 you have the same thing, but they don't have a 2minutes-race and have qualifications to earn their starting place.

I prefer to play in the time-trial mode - less random but still fun. It's "easier" only because skill matters a bit more and sheer luck a bit less.

I win pretty much any custom grand-prix in SuperTux difficulty ; though it's still a challenge to do a perfect grand-prix (1st all the time). At least, when I set the races to be 2 laps in medium length tracks and 3 in short : in a 60-90 seconds race, a few seconds lost to an error matter way more.

This is one of the main reasons I don't play too much any more, the challenges are tuned to the developers skill level, and they say they take suggestions for new challenges- but they don't. The 'novice' mode isn't much different than the normal mode. On the timed challenges, I lose at the same point on the track in either mode; hacienda, snow tux peak... In novice level, you should be allowedc time to make at least on mistake; 3:55 on hacienda, 3:25 on SnowTuxPeak...
I say none of the novice challenges should be timed, it should all be place

@Auria- Read please, i said 10 seconds