Difficulty Level

[ryanhamaty 0]

quick question guys, regarding the difficulty level......between all three options the money becomes less for hard compared to easy, i understand that side of it......but with regards to actually gameplay, if choosen "hard" will the game be tougher to play...i.e satisfying the sims becomes more of a task, will they become harder to please or is it just the cash level that determines the difficulty...

Best Regards,

Ryan

[3dpuzzlemaster 20]

No, it just makes development slower compared to easy, it is like playing the vanilla version. Also, less messages, just the real important ones.

[Cougar2004 127]

I used to play all Easy while i was learning. But then i got to the point that I can create a profitable city that never costs more than it makes in a month, no matter what. So I began playing only Hard cities, which I still do. I never really needed all the money anyway, so I still almost always build a successful city immediately and keep it that way. So I haven't really seen the difference in game play between the levels.

I do recall that I always read that certain (reward) buildings will NOT be available to you unless you are paying the hard. I think thats probably true.

[Chptrk 86]

Originally posted by: Cougar2004

I do recall that I always read that certain (reward) buildings will NOT be available to you unless you are paying the hard. I think thats probably true.quote>

Really? I've never heard of that. Does that apply for the vanilla buildings, or just some custom content? Because I think I've been able to have all the rewards in a single city before.

As for the easy-medium-hard differences besides money, it's just like what 3dpuzzlemaster said, less messages the harder you get. Also, speed of development is reduced the harder you get.

[Cougar2004 127]

Yes Ive seen those for some of the most exotic and powerful reward buildings that come with SC4. I dont know if any custom content only appears in hard cities. If I can find some examples, I will post it. Perhaps you can find some by mouseover disabled reward menu buildings.

[SC4BOY 20]

I have not investigated this, but its certainly possible other things are affected besides just money.. for example they could be more easily annoyed by traffic noise, may require higher levels of "happy" to be effective, etc, .. and I know that they are more sensitive to tax rates.. I expect the Prima Guide may have something to say on it, but I don't have access to one (I find its wrong about as often as its right.. LOL)

[SeeSpotSplat 0]

I believe that the demand for each zone type are much lower on hard, which makes your city develop slower and makes it harder to get by without satisfying people fully.

[Spinmaster 75]

Actually, the demands are "what they really are" in Hard difficulty - this is how SC4 Vanilla was, when there were no difficulty levels. In other words, demand is not modified at all, neither boosted nor crippled - it's exactly what the simulator calculates it should be for each developer type, no more, no less.

Medium and Easy difficulty give a small "artificial boost" to demand, I think it's like +10% and +20%, respectively. Same for tax revenues, also artificially boosted a little. Plus of course, you start with more cash.

As for messages, yes they are minimal in Hard difficulty - for example, you won't get warnings about clinics and schools being slightly over capacity. You won't know that's happening unless a) you check your civic capacities often or b) you don't - in which case, you'll get strikes before you know anything is wrong. You won't be warned when a power plant is approaching capacity... you'll find out when you start getting rolling blackouts, or worse, your plant explodes. Basically, most of the "you better check , you're going to have a problem soon" messages are gone in Hard difficulty.

And as Cougar2004 pointed out, there are a couple rewards that you can't "earn" unless you play Hard difficulty, though you can still get them by completing certain UDI missions. I know the Spaceport is the one such reward, I think the Marina is another. Can't recall all of them, but there aren't many anyway. And all are accessible via the "you don't deserve it" cheat, if you really want.

[girfmo 0]

how do i change the difficulty level?? pls help

[ceoltoir 0]

i believe the difficulty level is only able to be changed when you first found the city. Under the Mayor name line are three selections.