Normal vs. Hard difficulty level

[spaceboy]

I typically play all games on Normal because a) I'm not that good  :-[ and b) I like it to be challenging but still seem that I am actually a good soldier/merc/jedi/whatever. 

However, back on FC2world there was a thread saying to play on hardcore.  So early on in my 2nd time through I switched to Hardcore and in the example below I found it nearly impossible.  Since I never got this mission when playing Normal, I have no frame of reference.  Can anyone give me their experience with it?

A cell tower gave me a mission to assassinate someone in a convoy near the airfield in the Northern map.  (Of course, with pzrzao's tips here I would have faired better).  On hardcore these trucks were totally swerving around their "path" and certainly seemed to be going faster than I see vehicles drive in FC2.  The swerving was not all the time, I mean swerving to avoid my pitiful attacks of guns, grenades, and molotovs.  After I finally completed the mission, there were snipers pelting me from somewhere but I could not for the life of me find them.  I wound up running away and switching back to normal shortly thereafter.

Can anyone describe their experience with this mission on Normal or any other insights into Normal vs. Hardcore?

[PZ]

Well, to be honest, I suck at the game and always play on easy.  I read something about increased realism on higher levels, but I tried it once and was immediately terminated!  That was quite a while ago though, so maybe I'll try again.

That convoy assassination is a tough one spaceboy.  Because the convoy does not keep to roads, you have to find a spot that they come by so it usually takes me a cycle or two.  I personally try to catch them at the end of a long straight path so I can train my RPG on them.  Failing that, I usually try to snipe the driver.  When that fails, or if I don't have a proper weapons set, I'll just run my vehicle into the big truck trying to disable it.

[JRD]

For convoy mission I often pack some IEDs and place two or three of them in a place they'll drive by, and must admit that on PC the quicksave helps a lot as I can save right before placing the IEDs and if I miss, don't have to wait for another round.
In the airfield area it is somewhat harder to see where they pass, so I always place the IEDs right next to a big tree or someting, hide in the bushes and wait.
Playing on hardcore, my first cell tower mission was that one. I did what I just described, blew the convoy and as soon as they blew up, the sniper at the tower east of the airfiled spoted me and gave me a hard time. I managed to run toward him using trees as cover till get close enough to fire my assault rifle (real early in the game I was making some money before going to the first arms dealer missions, so I had no sniper rifle with me).... than, I guess I was rather angry with him, I decided to have my revenge, went up the tower, swaped my assault rifle for his sniper rifle (1903) and shot one merc at the airfild in the leg, a fellow merc came to save him and.... another leg shot. I went on and on till I was out of bullets. Got my assault rifle back (its the very first one you get, can't remember the name) and walked slowly to the pile of wounded mercs and finished one by one with my machete......
Yes... I'm evil hahahahahahahahahahah.
My first playthrough was on easy. I always begin on easy to feel the game and get used with its dynamics, then move up a notch. Now I only play hardcore, think its more challenging. Haven't try a run on Infamous yet as the amount of ammo you carry and too few grenades gives the mercs a huge advantege. Its unfair..

[spaceboy]

Excellent.  Thanks for the info guys.  I love the story of you exacting your evil revenge, jrderntl.  I can imagine it as if I was there.

What was funny about my brief switch to hardcore was that you can do it in-game from your menu.  And after I confirmed and went back to the game screen, the screen blurred for second, my controller vibrated, and a thump sound came out of my speakers.  I interpreted it as a simulation of a punch in the gut...oh and a couple syringes were taken away.  I said "Oh, crap"  But my hardcore days were short lived, I may try again, but will probably stick to Normal.

[PZ]

I like the idea of wounding everyone in the area and then coming in to finish them off!

[Dweller_Benthos]

I'm still on the first play through, so meybe next time around I'll try one of the harder settings, but I just left it on normal to begin with.

[Ricamundo]

This is my 3rd playthru, and this time, i'm on normal. For some reason, i skipped it last time and went from easy to HC. :D

The mercs seem easier to kill(3 or 4 bullets from my AK) on normal than HC, and on HC you get a few less bullets, but I cant really see a huge difference between the different skill levels.

I havent tried Infamous yet. that will be for next time. 8)

[Chupacabraa]

I've played though the game a bit on infamous.  Its not that bad, you only have 2 grenades of each type and 2 extra clips of ammunition.  I deleted the game cuz I was curious how hard it was and just messing around.

I generally play a game through on the normal difficulty and try to complete it as much as possible and just enjoy it.  On the second play through I like to put the difficulty up as high as possible and complete the game 100%. 

The enemies are more accurate, and try to flank you more on infamous.  The A.I. is generally just more smart.  Also, there is no cross hairs at all, only iron sights.  As long as you are a decent shot and don't go running widly into a fight and take cover, and constantly move/flank the enemy and use grenades correctly, infamous difficulty is fairly easy.  Although, I am generally a good player at FPS games.

[spaceboy]

Thanks for the input Chupacabraa, I may have to try infamous for a bit and see if I can live through a mission.  I think I'd fail, even on normal there's been missions I narrowly escaped with my life, but as you say I may have been a bit more liberal with my methods knowing I have syrettes and ammo.

[shiba]

Hi !
I understand your questionning. Actually when I first started the game, I saw 4 levels of difficulty
- easy
- normal
- hard
- legendary

As I like challenge, I tried "hard" but that time was really merciless so I came back on normal mode.
I must also admit something, I found out that when I started the game I had no "cross aim" so I had really trouble for aiming.
I think hard difficulty is really ... hard !

[spaceboy]

I don't know how folks can play without crosshairs.  Despite the lower level of immersion, I need them.  They help as they light up red so I can scan the area and find the hiding mercs.  FYI, from the menu when I switched to Hard and the cross hairs went away i was still able to turn ON the crosshairs and still be on Hard.  Not sure about Infamous.

[Ricamundo]

I will try Infamous next time, but tbh, i barely scraped thru the damned Barge mish, even on normal, so how i'm going to manage on Infamous, is anybody's guess. :D

[PZ]

Man, you guys are tough... I still can barely do normal, kind of like spaceboy!

[JRD]

PZ.. go for Hardcore and stick to it...
It is not that hard after a few hours... they are a little bit more tactical and drop less grenades when shot down.
But it gives you another sense of consequence...
Move up a notch and hold on man....

[PZ]

OK, I'll w@&k my way up the ladder, but it is probably only going to become ugly...I guess that I need to get a new challenge anyway!

[Ricamundo]

Really, HC isn't a problem if you w@&k at night and go stealthy. The barge escort mish is a problem for me, tho as you are basically a sitting duck for what seems like an eternity.

[Dweller_Benthos]

I thought the barge mission was hard until I realized that the mounted guns were grenade launchers, then it was easy. Except for the boats that come at you from behind, everything else is toast.

[spaceboy]

I've been brewing an idea I hope to hatch this weekend.  Take videos of doing the same "mission" (probably just a guard post or something) on each of the difficulties to see if we can tell AI behaviour changing.

[JRD]

To be honest., I never felt any striking difference changing from normal to HC, other than the ammount of ammo you can carry, of course
I realized they drop less grenades when downed, bullet damage in your character seems a little bit tougher, but other than that... can't see they flanking you more or any smarter behavior... they threw grenades on me when I was on normal as much as they do now on HC
Think I'll go back to normal next time, just to see if it feels easier....

[DKM2]

That'd be interesting, the only thing I don't like about Hard and up is the laser eye shots the AI gets.
I swear they can shoot through rocks sometimes.

[spaceboy]

bah, if they don't act "smarter" it might not be too interesting.  Thanks for the inputs. Maybe I'll try a couple things before recording.

[PZ]

According to the Prima guide, they become smarter in infamous (not sure about the other levels) - flanking you from multiple directions and increased aggressiveness when compared to lower levels.

[spaceboy]

increased aggressiveness?  because they just a bunch of Marys on Normal lol.  I'll see what I can get.  My concern is just that to get a good feel for it, the vid might get too big.

[JRD]

I read the same thing on the Prima Guide, abou increased agressiveness, but never felt it really.

Less ammo to carry, less grenades droped by AI and more susceptible to bullets... thats my impression.

They seem as dumb and angry as always.... if there is a difference, maybe it is very subtle...


But its good to have you guys to check and exchange impressions...

[Ricamundo]

I thought the barge mission was hard until I realized that the mounted guns were grenade launchers, then it was easy. Except for the boats that come at you from behind, everything else is toast.

Sheesh, i don't know if i've ever stepped up to one of the guns, as ive been too busy hovering near the damned engine with my wrench. I'll have a go next time tho, thx.

Good idea SB. It would be interesting to know about AI behaviour vs difficulty level. Remember in the old days, increasing the diff just gave you more baddies to kill, but they were just as stupid. Im thinking of Q2 here.