FreeGameDev

I can't do Follow the Leader on any difficulty. Apart from that I can mostly get golds in Story Mode. I however just cheat on the stupid follow the leader.

But it is a bit hard for new users, and too easy for experienced ones. I think the speed you travel at and kart difficulty should be independent though. Also, locking all the tracks is just annoying. It means some players can't play most tracks, which is less fun.

And although this isn't exactly an in-game difficulty thing, karts with different weights and stuff should be abolished. It's too confusing. Back to the good old days!

I admit that I'm not the best at kart racers, on MK8- I can gold in 95% of 50cc cups. I don't have the fastest reflexes...
Take the commercial tuxracer for example; it's challenges had a hard mode that was based on time and an easy mode where you had to beat the AI. It had a mode that almost anyone could beat with a little practice.
Im inclined to agree that all tracks should be playable outside of story mode; just keep gnu locked. Think of the tracks mode in diddykongracing

Maybe for gauging the novice level, play-test them on a keyboard using the wrong hand, and without looking back. And no drifting.

For example, I am a really bad player and I haven't played for a while, so I might be a good tester for this, although I have an adult's motor coordination. I also play with a keyboard, because I have no other devices.

I just tried playing Olivers Math Class from the story mode normally on novice level. Required time is 1:45:00, I needed 2:09:06. I hardly used any nitro on this track, because it's too tight for me to use any really - you keep bumping into things.

I then played Bovine Barnyard and needed 2:43:54 instead of the required 2:35:00, although I managed to win the race. I used nitro and a few weapons.

I think these first 2 tracks should be dead easy in novice mode, so that anybody can win those after very few tries. Novice level can then become a bit more difficult as more challenges are unlocked, but not too much.

GunChleoc {l Wrote}:I then played Bovine Barnyard and needed 2:43:54 instead of the required 2:35:00, although I managed to win the race. I used nitro and a few weapons.

Barnyard's being replaced by Cornfield. Cornfield should maybe be about 4:40

Hi, thanks for your feedback! I have tweaked the challenges for mathclass and cornfield crossing, they should be easier now. If you feel like testing more challenges, feedback is always welcome

Shiny Suburbs 4:24:82. Actually went a lot better than in version 8.1, probably because of the walls that keep you from falling off the track.

I will need to test these in bits and pieces, because 3D game make me motion sick pretty fast.

One annoying thing: as you slow down, so do karts competing, even on SuperTux mode.

What is the actual difference between the four levels of difficulty? It would be good to have a simple page on the wiki or even in the in-game GUI explaining the differences between Novice, Intermediate, Expert and SuperTux.
From what I've gathered, the main differences are top kart speed, normal speed of AI karts and whether the AI will skid around corners. Anything else?

Those are the main differences, and there are also more subtle differences in the AI that can be viewed in the stk_config file (like item/nitro skill). And plungers don't stay in your face as long on the easier settings!

I think explaining the difficulties a little bit in the help section of the game would be good so that people know there's a difference in both speed and AI ability.

From what I've gathered, the main differences are top kart speed, normal speed of AI karts and whether the AI will skid around corners. Anything else?

Yes.

In all modes, difficulty changes how fast karts drive. You drive a different “kart class” in each difficulty. I don't know if only top speed is affected or accelleration, too.

I think difficulty affects the AI “skill level” in general, but I'm not sure.

In Story Mode, the difficulty also affects the challenge goal, but that's obvious.

In Egg Hunt, the eggs will be hidden in different places for different difficulty levels. Exception: SuperTux and Expert have the same eggs. So if you want to truly “complete” Egg Hunt, you have to do it in each difficulty level Novice to Expert.

I suspect there are many more subtle differences as well, as Andet suggested.

story mode was really easy for me except for minigolf, and that gold mine track considering i played this game for years
racing itself isnt that hard but egg hunt is the worst of them all
i barely played time-trial and follow the leader is really bad since most of the times the leader gets stuck in a wall
i play on supertux difficulty (most of the times it feels like expert but 10 times faster)