Which difficulty level for YOUR first game

[Alexfrog]

Post away...


Personall, I am actually leaning towards #5...

I want to have to EARN the right to live until the late game, to see those cool techs. I want to get whupped by the game a few times, and try to survive, but get defeated in the end. I think this will hone my skills much better than winning on easy. It will teach me not to make mistakes, since If I make a mistake I will lose.

Also, I like quick games, and I expect this will make my games a bit quicker! lol. This way, I will play the start many times, until I have the game down well, and know the start, and can survive...

Also, if a race doesnt work well for me, the game wont last too long before I am dead and get to try a new one!!

It will be a glorious day when my Raas (or whoever else I end up winning with), is finally victorious.

[Kragain]

I will most likly go with normal for my first game inless there is a tutorial. If theres a tutorial my first after that will be impossible :)

[Alexfrog]

I considered starting on normal and then switching...

I think if there is a quick tutorial to learn the windows and how to do stuff, I will of course do that first, but thats not a real game. After that, I think its tril by fire all the way....and if I cant survive, then I just die and try a new strat and refine my play until I CAN survive!

Good way to get some experience with all the races fast, without having to play an entire game with each of them!

Heck, I might actually find some use for combat stats, if they keep me alive!
As opposed to MOO2, where it was (-Attack,-Defense,-Ground) EVERY GAME. Will it be (poor accuracy, poor reflexes, poor toughness) this game every time, or NOT?? Hopefully, the game will be more balanced so that doing this actually would be a painful disadvantage, and I might not want it.

[GRiND69]

well considering i wont read the instructions until im sitting on the tiolet http://64.207.13.28/mysmilies/otn/other/pacscat.gif i will play on easy so i can learn the interface n stuff :up:

[Jamesdawg]

Normal, most likely. I've played Space Empires 4 quite a lot, but I have no experience with MOO, which has some different game mechanics. So I'll play on normal to get familiar with it, then up the difficulty.

[Alexfrog]

One interesting note: I played Civ2 my first game on Deity...and after a bit of trying, I beat it. That was after years of Civ1. I played my first Civ3 on Deity too, and got smacked. Hard. I coulndt beat it till I went down to Monarch (down 2 diff. levels)

It kindof annoyed me that the top Civ2 strat was NOT a great Civ3 strat...
But then, i guess its a new game, right, you shouldnt just be able to copy your old strat exactly and have it work and beat the game on the top difficulty.

Good MOO1 and MOO2 strats were similar....though a lot of MOO2 was to figure out a top custom race to use....which was fun.

I expect that MOO3 will be similar.

I HOPE it wont be exactly the same stuff that we want in that custom race though... I guess we'll have to see. It does look much more balanced (i.e. the economic type bonuses (bioharvest/manuf/research/environment/etc, dont give the same % of bonus they did in MOO2. For example, in MOO2, Unification + I+2 game a base production of 7.5 per worker, instead of 3, for a +150% bonus. In this, perhaps a collective government and superior manufacturing wont give nearly that level of bonus....so the economic advantages should be more balanced with the military and diplomatic ones.


Normal is winning so far, and Easy second....that kindof what I expected.

[Marten Kestrel]

I will no doubt play Impossible to see what I am up against... Think I am doing well by using a strategy I am comfortable with and then proceed to get my butt whooped by the Silicoids on turn 23.

I will then play the Tutorial for a couple dozen turns (or read through the manual if a Tutorial is not available) and then proceed to play either Hard or Normal... Probably Hard, because after losing at that level a dozen or so times, it should be easy to beat Normal. ;)

So the answer: Hard. (I do not count the first play on Impossible... And all I know is I BETTER not win anyways lol)

[VorkLepel]

I'll play on easy first to thorougly explore the game and experiment within it.

[Alexfrog]

I see a bell curve shape developing....

[Tritznukuzlies]

I voted Normal...

This is because I am anything but

I do enjoy experimenting with different strategies

I play to win, but I also play for my enjoyment and edification

I'm sure I will step up the difficulty quite quickly after I have familiarized myself with the parameters

[Flaminglite]

I am try all of them to see what the differences are in a few turns. Then most likely even, then hard etc.

[Flaminglite]

I am try all of them to see what the differences are in a few turns. Then most likely even, then hard etc.

[Xhala]

I would vote 'Multiplayer', but there's no such option. :D

[zipnar]

just so everyone knows, i'm the one who put "moo god"

[Gormoth1]

I see dead people. Lots and lots of dead people. :)

MoO3 is everything MoO2 ISN'T. I seriously doubt that a single MoO2 strategy will work properly on MoO3. I think you'll get creamed if you merely play your first game at normal difficulty level, let alone a hard one. There's a reason why the BT usually played at easy difficulty, and I doubt that every single one of the BT is incompetent. :)

Oh, I'm sure MoO3 won't be impossible. Heck, maybe some of you might get lucky on your first game at normal difficulty and might actually win, but I don't think you'll be able to win most of the games at normal difficulty level without some eXperience. ;)

Me? I'm planning on reading the manual, trying the tutorial (I think there's a tutorial), and after I'm all set, I'll try my first game at easy, try not to attack anyone unless I have no other choice, and most likely will let the AI viceroys deal with most of the problems until I'll get some experience and will understand completely what exactly makes MoO3 tick, how so, and why. And most likely I'll lose, too. :)

[TikiGod]

I selected Easy, as I am indeed a wimp.

I want to see stuff happen, have the diplomacy work for me, learn some tech before I'm squashed.

I've been waiting so long for the game, that if I choose Impossible, and lose in turn 3, I may scream. :)

[DIH49]

Easy. because a wise man knows what he doesn't know. and what i don't know is how to play this game. and besides, i think the tutorial is on easy anyways...

[Alexfrog]

Naah, you cant lose on turn 3 on impossible, lol! If that was true, then you would lose no matter what you did!

It just causes a long, slow midgame death. Or a quick, painful midgame death. As I said, I think I will choose to die painfully over and over until I am the true master of orion. Then I will go to multiplay and kill people at it ;)

[Stahlin]

Normal for me... I dislike the "friendly" helplines that tend to pop-up as default in strategy games when you chose an easier setting... and another good reason to chose Normal is that you will get a good grip on how complex/easy the game is.

[Mojai]

For me, it'll be the easy settings.
I always like to learn the mechanics of a game *before* venturing on harder settings. :p

[Adacore]

I'll go for easy or normal for first game, to learn the ropes, as it were. Then i'll go for hard or impossible games, if i think i'm up to speed... Is the tutorial going to be like a normal game (random with lots of help popups) or will it be scripted - "click here, then here, then kill this unit... look - you won" sort of thing?

[Furious George]

After Gormoth's post, suddenly there were more votes for easy....

I think that I will try the tutorial as well, but then start on normal... I want to see what I'm up against, and not start developing an asinine strategy on easy that won't work against more challenge, but not get stomped unless I walk that perfect line...

[Mixalot]

Bending the galaxy to my will could in my oppinion be nothing but an Impossible mission.......he..well almost.

Mix

[Death-Knight_RS]

I'll start on easy just to see how things work and than going to higher levels.

[JustinMW]

Normal. That way you get a far better fell for the flow of the game, without any of the restrictive covenants often placed on the AI when on easy level.

[Adacore]

I'm leaning towards normal now btw...

[Kor'Vesha]

Easy....
I like to win, and even on easy I will get crushed in the first game. I never beat this kind of games the first time, even if one of the options is pathetic.

[Kangaxx]

normal, definately

after I'll get a feel for the game, Ill go to hard and try out some races and strategies...

[Furious George]

If the AI can beat me on normal after I've been through the tutorial, I'd be shocked. It would either have to cheat, which the BTs etc insist it doesn't, or it would have to have a winning formula(e) that doesn't make sense. Or it could be a really good AI. I do hope for the latter, but I'm not convinced.

I look forward to playing my friends on MP. That's where the real challenge will come... or not. (on the other hand, I'm sure I'll have plenty of fun whooping the AI every which way).

[AlphaTeam]

Normal maybe even Easy.
I wanna see what the game looks like.
After my head clears from all the pretty graphics I'll play a real game.

ALpha

[Erian]

Hard is the way to go. Impossible will probably have too boosted AIs. I tend to find that if I don't die right away in other strategy games I always find normal to pathetic in mid and late game. Maybe Moo3 will teach me the hard way what a decent AI can do... lets hope so. :)

[Zeraan]

I selected easy because I want to learn how to play MOO3. I like to win on my first game :D

(BTW, for you who introduces newbies, I've been lurking here til I decided to register, so I know the rules :rolleyes: )

[Alexfrog]

Hi Zeraan,

yeah, that was my thought at first...then I decided I really just wanted to get beat down a lot by this game....since I had played easy my first time on Moo's 1 and 2 and beaten them.

I may change my mind though if I get frustrated....we'll see ;)

heck, maybe I'll play a bunch on impossible, get frustrated, go play against humans online, and find that they are easier ;) hehe, wouldnt that be cool if the AI was hard...

[popeketric]

I find that I like to take the first game at easy. Nice slow type game that I can get a firm grasp on all the new concepts and functionality.


Then, it's time to see if the computer can beat me.


--Pope :D

[registrauu]

I always play easy - normal the 1st time =) just in case !

[Xentropy]

Originally posted by Furious George
If the AI can beat me on normal after I've been through the tutorial, I'd be shocked. It would either have to cheat, which the BTs etc insist it doesn't, or it would have to have a winning formula(e) that doesn't make sense. Or it could be a really good AI. I do hope for the latter, but I'm not convinced.


I think you're forgetting something. It's you against FIFTEEN OTHER CONTENDERS. Without some trial and error strategizing to learn the game, I'd be surprised if someone could consistently win on normal with only a knowledge of the interface and basic mechanics. The fact it's one on fifteen sort of gives the AI a built-in "cheat", though I hope they don't ally with each other and gang up on you as often as in MOO1/2.

As for my answer, I plan on, after playing a tutorial if one exists, playing on normal, or whatever level on which neither the player nor the AI gets any bonuses/disadvantages whatsoever, a completely clean game. I certainly hope there's a level like this; I know some games give the player slight advantages on normal and the AI slight advantages on hard with no completely even multiplayer-like level, and that annoys me.

[DIH49]

15 if you're lucky. remember, there's also the NO, and there can be up to another 16 empires!!:eek:

[mentarman]

Guess I'll be the wuss who starts on easy. Maybe I'm lame, but I don't think *I* anyway will be "developing strategies" by first game. I'm not saying I'll be doing it for long, but I'm pretty confident my first game at least will be spent "trying to figure out how the H-E-double toothpick to play the game."

[QuietPaint]

Originally posted by GRiND69
well considering i wont read the instructions until im sitting on the tiolet http://64.207.13.28/mysmilies/otn/other/pacscat.gif i will play on easy so i can learn the interface n stuff :up:


Yeah, that's me, I will have to wait to read it in the reading lounge. ;)

[ahammer44]

Probably easy. I understand it will have a tutorial so I can become familar with the game first.

I like to read the manual while i'm playing also.


Yip Yip post # 50

[Gudea]

I like to have the ability to try out different things, so I'll probably start out on easy.

ps. I've been lurking since Delphi...Have seen the rules...long live the rules.:p

[Alexfrog]

Well, after asking Chantz this last night on the #moo3 channel, and getting the answer: "You should start on easy", I may reconsider my opinion.

maybe I'll just start on normal ;)

[Alexfrog]

Also, chantz said that at first, when the beta testers were all trying to play this thing, on easy and all, that the races who had bad starting diplomatic relations with you would just declare was on you immediately (which was not their intent). Like turn 5, and you would be at war with anyone who hated your race (like the sakkras hate trilarians).

They were all having a REALLY hard time of the game until they lightened up and made the AI much more realistic...


No wonder those guys were having trouble with it on easy!

Chantz said that with the latest build, those problems are fixed.

Boy am I glad for proper game testing, and not puhing it out the door too early!

[will7678]

maybe ill try hard

[FiretronP75]

Originally posted by Gormoth1
I think you'll get creamed if you merely play your first game at normal difficulty level, let alone a hard one. There's a reason why the BT usually played at easy difficulty, and I doubt that every single one of the BT is incompetent. :)

Oh, I'm sure MoO3 won't be impossible. Heck, maybe some of you might get lucky on your first game at normal difficulty and might actually win, but I don't think you'll be able to win most of the games at normal difficulty level without some eXperience. ;)

...I'll try my first game at easy... And most likely I'll lose, too. :)

this one is my favorite!

oh, and i voted moo god

[FiretronP75]

no, this one is better:

Originally posted by Alexfrog
They were all having a REALLY hard time of the game until they lightened up and made the AI much more realistic...

No wonder those guys were having trouble with it on easy!

Chantz said that with the latest build, those problems are fixed.

Boy am I glad for proper game testing, and not puhing it out the door too early!

[The Wagster]

Originally posted by Alexfrog
Boy am I glad for proper game testing, and not puhing it out the door too early!

Classic, it's hard to believe that this quote was a proper quote from January and not a recent piss take!

Originally "posted" by Federal Wildlife Marshal Willenholly
That monkey just shot me in the ass and paralysed me, Oh sweet IRONY!