Supernova Diff; Companion combat AI, permadeath

[stiven]

2 hours ago, Ommamar said:

I don't understand the mind frame of people who say I don't want to miss out on content but I am going to play on the highest difficulty of a game I am still figuring out the best way to play.

Seek therapy then. Because this sentence makes no sense. Both of the things you talking about, ins't mutually exclusive to each others.

[Criimson]

1 hour ago, stiven said:

Seek therapy then. Because this sentence makes no sense. Both of the things you talking about, ins't mutually exclusive to each others.

I agree that they aren't mutually exclusive ideas. However, I understand the sentiment of the person you were quoting. Some people like to figure the game out before jumping into the harder settings. Some people, like you and I, don't mind the challenge and occasional frustration from learning things the hard way.  To each their own.

[Ommamar]

4 hours ago, stiven said:

Seek therapy then. Because this sentence makes no sense. Both of the things you talking about, ins't mutually exclusive to each others.

So the complaint as I understand the point of this thread is that there is one difficulty that allows you to permanently lose your companions, which until you understand how they work and develop them are very weak.  So by trying the game out on this difficulty I am forced to reload often so I don't miss the content that my companions provide, never mind that there is three other modes of play I could utilize if I in fact want to experience the content.  Instead I will come on to a forum to complain about how a difficulty level designed to be a challenge after you have figured out the game , that also clearly states the challenges involved.  Is to hard and should be changed because if I play it I either have to lose out on content or constantly reload a save redoing content I have already seen.  So how is me choosing to play at this difficulty not exclusive to the above named quandary?

Also nice of you to evaluate my mental health of a sentence on a forum, perhaps you can place your practice next to Lucy's of Peanuts fame I wouldn't charge the full five cents might want to start at three or perhaps even two cents.

[Clawdius_Talonious]

1 hour ago, Ommamar said:

So the complaint as I understand the point of this thread is that there is one difficulty that allows you to permanently lose your companions, which until you understand how they work and develop them are very weak.  So by trying the game out on this difficulty I am forced to reload often so I don't miss the content that my companions provide, never mind that there is three other modes of play I could utilize if I in fact want to experience the content.  Instead I will come on to a forum to complain about how a difficulty level designed to be a challenge after you have figured out the game , that also clearly states the challenges involved.  Is to hard and should be changed because if I play it I either have to lose out on content or constantly reload a save redoing content I have already seen.  So how is me choosing to play at this difficulty not exclusive to the above named quandary?

Also nice of you to evaluate my mental health of a sentence on a forum, perhaps you can place your practice next to Lucy's of Peanuts fame I wouldn't charge the full five cents might want to start at three or perhaps even two cents.

I'd say that people who start the game on Supernova and refuse to lower the difficulty even when it presents issues they don't like, are "try hard"s as much as I dislike the term. You don't have to play the game on supernova. You don't have to ignore the tutorials that walk you through your ability to change companion AI (why not all of them have a "mixed" setting I can't quite be certain of and it's unintuitive to find new settings in a system you've already looked at) and so on to make Supernova less onerous. No one said you had to start Supernova not being aware of the fact that the game autosaves every time you go to your ship and thus you basically have "Save anywhere away from enemies outside of locations you can't fast travel from."

I'm not sure I'd tell you to seek therapy, but it sounds a touch masochistic to me. I absolutely think that the greater needs for sleep and food and drink should be available separately from difficulty settings, but beyond that you're sticking your foot in a bear trap and asking me to feel sorry for you because you hurt your ankle. You did it to yourself, and are arguably continuing to do it to yourself.

Don't get me wrong, for my second run I'm going through in Supernova, and it frustrates me at times to the point I quit playing the game for awhile. That doesn't mean that I couldn't turn the game down to Hard at any time and never deal with the most frustrating aspects that way. I can finally resurrect my companions by puffing on my handy vape, so.... woo hoo? I guess? I've got mixed feelings about a number of aspects of the game, but I really would like to see the game offer a more difficult setting as well as extending the use of greater needs to players who don't want to see companions permanently die when they have the fewest resources to deal with that issue, and have to reload if they don't want to accept that.

You can save any time in the overworld, just by travelling back to your ship and reloading the autosave that generates.

[thearmourofGod]

i start in supernova cuz i dont need you to feed me by hand in a wheelchair with glyphs and bells

i can handle an hour of not knowing what the heck im doing

i wont cwy or melt like a snowflake bia

now...

starting on supernova is something i will do forever, purposefully, due to oblivion dumbed down bethtacisim

save scum is something i do not relish

supernova starts are a direct result of idiot catering developers and dumbed down gamers who need to b fed with a wheelchair and glyphs

 

[PIP-Clownboy]

Maybe melee is tougher, but I completed my first run on Supernova with Long Guns/Science build and the game was jokingly easy after the first 3-4 hours. As long I kept companions on defensive or passive AI I had ZERO issues keeping them alive. Everything is dead before they can even get in range and any stragglers that actually get through would be nuked by two companion abilities. 

 

Edited November 1, 2019 by PIP-Clownboy

[Electrogasms]

Lots of good replies; let me respond to a suggestion about why someone might start on the hardest difficulty.

I like to be efficient. If I can get everything done in one run, I will do that. I'm not even necessarily concerned with doing everything in one play through; since you couldn't possible roleplay good, evil , or somewhere in between during the same run; but I really like efficiency.

My point in coming the forums isn't to "complain" as some describe: it's that I believe this is a valid issue and this is the correct place for discussions.

The OP isn't a request to make the game easier, not by any stretch of the imagination. In fact I don't find Supernova all that difficult; When one of my companions die, I finish my combat and then reload and do it again searching for the Rails that supposedly represent the "right" way to approach that particular fight. When that fight is complete, I have to fast travel back to the ship and save, then run back and do the next fight so that if a companion dies, I don't have to redo the fight, looting, conversations that happened in between. It's a needless grind that doesn't add any "difficulty" and it only applies to companions, their content, their banter, and the idea of building a Firefly like crew and Freelancing around the galaxy. 

I love this game. I want to be challenged, I want to make hard decisions, and I'm fine with making mistakes; just ask the pile of corpses in Roseway after I accidentally stole an item in front of an armed guard before having any rep... RIP Auntie Cleo storylines; I'll check those out on my next run.

Permadeath isn't difficult, it's not interesting, and it doesn't add anything to the story. I don't define grinding through the same combat for an extra ten hours as "great gameplay". So, in my view, adjusting the AI, or adding a cooldown and travel requirement to getting a member back seems to fit just fine into making the game more difficult, while leaving all the stats untouched.  Maybe a companion isn't available for a few quests while they "heal" up. There are a ton of interesting choices that don't eliminate content or ask me to ignore it unless playing with training wheels.

 

 

[Mr.Placeholder]

The answer is supernova isn't balanced properly. The AI can't handle it. Companions die despite gear or settings regardless of if you tell them to stop charging into melee. Part of this is that they only have 2 weapons slots. If you give a companion a light machinegun and it doesn't do any real damage to an enemy they'll rush into melee or sit there useless for an entire fight. At least you don't have to give them ammo for their weapons. 

Hardcoremode/survival/supernova is a good concept but it shouldn't reduce everything to bullet sponges or sinks. Humanoid enemies in the same armor you're in should take the same number of hits from the same weapons to die.

I've beat the game on normal and halfwayed the game on supernova and neither feel satisfying in this regard. Enemies go down in a realistic number of bullets on normal but you never go below 3/4 health unless you're afk, whereas on supernova you need 5-10 rounds to kill marauders and your companions get killed 1v1ing mantis queens or anyone in heavy armor. 

[thearmourofGod]

as i and others have stated, keeping companions alive in supernova is NOT that difficult, especially, if a proper build is made

minimal reloading and babysitting required

for me, the combat is too ez and “hard” should be more difficult ans supernova even more so 

ONE, OPTIONAL difficulty has these gameplay restrictions and as there is very little meaningful gameplay/ hud customization in TOW i am thankful they gave people like me at least ONE difficulty with semi-companion permadeath with a hybrid saving system that absolutely redues savescumming due to tediousness 

** i am a hardcore advocate of in-detlh and meaningful gameplay and hud (map) customization

** as such, MY style of hardcore gameplay is very RARELY accomodated via actual, in -game mechanics

its refreshing to be able to play an rpg with, at least, some hardcore gameplay

Edited November 19, 2019 by thearmourofGod