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Hi Devs
This is a report about how Adaptive Leveling seems with the "Zharkov: The Vortex" update.
First, let me thank you for the amazing Game. It's shaping up wonderfully. Extremely playable and fun.
Since Player level up is quite fast, one risks leveling up too much before having enough money and/or weapons + devices of according level.
At level 6, I found an extremely tough barrier. I couldn't find level 6 weapons and devices on sale, and those that I found were too expensive for my money pool. Facing enemies of level 6/7 became almost impossible. 1 sniper drone could one-shot me, and believe me, with this update, sniper drones became very precise. They can even trace a shot at a boosting interceptor ship.
I found a level with 2 level 7 sniper drones and 2 level 6 prospectors - an impossible wall to cross with under-level weapons and shields.
I had to keep a low profile and collect junk to dismantle until I could build my own level 6 weapons and shields.

So, here are some ideas on how to surpass this problem:
1- restrict levels in each system. Example: Ceto could be a system with areas with level cap between 1 to 6. Union could go from 7 to 12, and Zharkov could reach 13 to 16. In this way, the player would never find level 7 enemies in CETO, unless from a higer-level mission. To balance this, a formula could give penalties/bonus according to the difference between player level and enemy level. Something like xp*(enemy level/player level)
2- Increase the number and quality of weapons and devices selling in stations. There's not much weapons selling in CETO at the moment.
3- Level up button. Make the player stop gaining experience when he/she reaches level up, but keep him/her at the current level until he presses a level up button that shows all the bonus he gets from it. This way, the player can only level up when he feels safe to do it (or not, it's his/her decision)

Hope this helps with the issue.
Cheers.
Post edited August 08, 2021 by Johnny_Hazzard
avatar
Johnny_Hazzard: Hi Devs
This is a report about how Adaptive Leveling seems with the "Zharkov: The Vortex" update.
First, let me thank you for the amazing Game. It's shaping up wonderfully. Extremely playable and fun.
Since Player level up is quite fast, one risks leveling up too much before having enough money and/or weapons + devices of according level.
At level 6, I found an extremely tough barrier. I couldn't find level 6 weapons and devices on sale, and those that I found were too expensive for my money pool. Facing enemies of level 6/7 became almost impossible. 1 sniper drone could one-shot me, and believe me, with this update, sniper drones became very precise. They can even trace a shot at a boosting interceptor ship.
I found a level with 2 level 7 sniper drones and 2 level 6 prospectors - an impossible wall to cross with under-level weapons and shields.
I had to keep a low profile and collect junk to dismantle until I could build my own level 6 weapons and shields.

So, here are some ideas on how to surpass this problem:
1- restrict levels in each system. Example: Ceto could be a system with areas with level cap between 1 to 6. Union could go from 7 to 12, and Zharkov could reach 13 to 16. In this way, the player would never find level 7 enemies in CETO, unless from a higer-level mission. To balance this, a formula could give penalties/bonus according to the difference between player level and enemy level. Something like xp*(enemy level/player level)
2- Increase the number and quality of weapons and devices selling in stations. There's not much weapons selling in CETO at the moment.
3- Level up button. Make the player stop gaining experience when he/she reaches level up, but keep him/her at the current level until he presses a level up button that shows all the bonus he gets from it. This way, the player can only level up when he feels safe to do it (or not, it's his/her decision)

Hope this helps with the issue.
Cheers.
Hey Johnny,

in comparison to the last version, we thought that we already removed a difficulty spike at Palaemon's Wound. Or at least did soften it enough. So, thanks for sharing your experience.

Some locations / level are indeed already limited by a max enemy level. And your second point is in fact already on our list and the logic of shop inventory will be revisited. The level up button will most likely not happen, but still an interesting idea to throw into our internal discussions.
avatar
RFG_Ingmar: Hey Johnny,

in comparison to the last version, we thought that we already removed a difficulty spike at Palaemon's Wound. Or at least did soften it enough. So, thanks for sharing your experience.

Some locations / level are indeed already limited by a max enemy level. And your second point is in fact already on our list and the logic of shop inventory will be revisited. The level up button will most likely not happen, but still an interesting idea to throw into our internal discussions.
Hello Devs

An update - I have been frolicking around Ceto, doing Jobs, finding mystery locations... and guess what? reached level 18. Outside mission-based location, all enemies that appear are level 18 now.
So, yes, I think systems should have a harder level cap, and force players to venture forth.
Also, I noticed that the achievements have the base feature of giving xp bonus. Wouldn't it be better to offer money bonus instead? Like 10% more money drops?
If there's more money around and more weapons/devices at sale, players will tend to spend it more, right?
Post edited August 11, 2021 by Johnny_Hazzard