Justinian

Master thread had so many posts it had to be locked. Effectively 34 pages and counting now... http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/77341-hard-mode-is-too-easy-part-2/

I have noticed in 1.04 my ranged guys at the back get attacked more. Haven't worked out why but encounters seem to be harder. Can anyone else confirm?

http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/72554-hard-mode-is-too-easy/ http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/77341-hard-mode-is-too-easy-part-2/ 32 pages with mostly excellent feedback about why the difficulty becomes too easy in the game. difficulty isn't so much the issue, it's the reverse difficulty curve that needs to be killed with fire.

I just thought of another simple way this kind of mess can be cleared up and made infinitely more playable. Just completely remove all forms of occlusion on selection circles when the game is paused. That way units and spell effects don't obstruct anything and we can just command everything via circles. Of course tuning down the spell effects and lighting is still important, but if that can't be done please at least make the circles visible at all times. It's insane that a game with tactical combat at its core can't even present it in a way that is visually coherent and playable. DO SOMETHING OBSIDIAN!!

Here's an updated zip of the best male portraits I could find, including a couple of godlike ones. https://www.sendspace.com/file/dryy1y There's a couple of Asian portraits in there too LadyCrimson.

This is what every battle with spell effects looks like. How is this acceptable at all?

Here's a savefile where there are no voices while paused in combat: https://www.sendspace.com/file/8kzeoo Seems like it's happening on all my saves too. Interestingly, out of combat, the characters will verbally acknowledge being clicked on right after unpausing. Might have something to do with another issue where particle effects are not activating while paused but firing all at once when unpaused: http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/77796-particle-overload-bug/ Seems like they changed something up beginning with 1.04 beta.

So the 1.04 patch didn't fix this?

I recall that characters used to acknowledge clicks and commands in combat while paused, but I haven't heard this since patch 1.04 beta. Is my mind playing tricks on me?

DiabloStorm, post your savegame please. That way the devs can see what's causing the long load.

This still hasn't been fixed with 1.04 beta has it?

OK I've determined that in most cases it's the overblown lighting that accompanies spell effects that is the culprit. Another culprit is grass interacting with this lighting and blocking out selection circles on some maps. The result is that the characters and background have the same lighting values and it's impossible to make out anything. If they didn't have the resources to redo the spell effects, it might be a good idea to tweak the lighting down, together with some selection circle tweaks. I would personally prefer double circle on selected characters. Also, perhaps instead of a green glow effect on characters, there could be a flashing outline of the character on mouseover or select so they are discernable under spell effects.

Did you not find the game becoming easier and easier as it progresses? That's the main issue here - the reverse difficulty.

As long as the circles are never obscured in combat, everything is dandy. At the moment, the circles can be obscrued by all manner of things, so when the overblown spell effects fly, you can't even make out the circles sometimes as a bare minimum. They need to work on the occlusion or sorting of UI graphics I think.

http://forums.obsidi...lysis-graphics/ http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/76965-i-cant-see-pls-make-combat-clearer/ http://forums.obsidi...-have-with-poe/

I hope Obsidian have been working on solutions for the difficulty problem for a while now and are simply waiting on patch 1.05 to roll them out. I can't wait to get back into the game but I refuse to play until this difficulty fiasco is sorted out.

I think toning down the spell effects in general is the solution, though may require more work. Some spells have multiple visual effects that are completely obtrusive and unecessary. As some quick examples: I have no idea why the Paladin's flames of devotion is so bright and overbearing for a single hit ability. It pretty much overwhelms the paladin and characters around him when he uses it, making them quite hard to make out. Wall of flame is a nightmare when it comes to visibility - often obstructing the whole battle. The lighting on many spells is just way too exaggerated, completely washing out the characters environment and making them indescernible.

No! The solution to visibility isn't to turn on a novelty feature.

This has been an area of discontent since the early beta. Things have improved slightly with better combat UI, but the problem of overblown spell effects and poor visibility still plague the game. http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/67653-combat-readability-analysis-graphics/ http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/77313-selected-character-highlight/ http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/75109-the-only-serious-problem-i-have-with-poe/

Since 1.04 doesn't include any balance changes, hopefully 1.05 substantially retunes things. It would be pretty hard to ignore the biggest thread on these forums after all.

He was using slow mode in pretty much all the combat clips in the background.

A great review from Joe as usual. If you don't mind his manner, you'll find he has a lot of legitimate things to say and he says them well.

No, I mean with actual game performance. The longer you play in a session the lower the framerate goes. Really annoying since after a while, even perfectly smooth areas become stuttery.

One of the latest reviews from CGM discusses difficulty:

A slight ray of hope from a Shacknews interview: "Urquhart fully recognizes that even though the game is out there, there is still work to be done. That includes upcoming patches, with Urquhart noting that 1.05, in particular, set to introduce some quality of life improvements. This includes allowing players to change portraits, balance tweaks, and other adjustments based on player feedback." Sounds like a difficulty rebalance to me. Hopefully...