The 1.0.6 patch made a huge difference. Before it I couldn't get past trying to get up the levels where you had to protect the little Olly. There were jumps in that which required pinpoint precision timing. You still have to latch onto the knife thrower's knives, but once past that the jump is pretty simple.

From then on it's just that times and damage were reduced. You'll still struggle if you haven't got yourself up to the full 90 percent score, and thus have the regen. With perseverance the level is beatable, whereas before that patch it destroyed all hope.

I can't believe I missed this part of your post! I agree about Constructor being maddeningly difficult for most players. I thought it was impossible until I gradually learned how to approach it. But even though I can finally play it competently, the dated interface and aggressive AI can still give me fits. It's almost unthinkable that I still consider Stargunner the more difficult game, but I wouldn't blame anyone for going nuts because their fences kept getting attacked or the retired Major bitched for the nine-billionth time this week.

I think it was mostly the speed for me. I struggled to keep up with everything I had to do, and everything I had to keep track of, at a pace that was required to beat the AI. And yeah, the dated interface I think also made things a lot more difficult. But it really looks like there is a really good game underneath it all, so I'll probably give it another go some day. Or perhaps I'll check out Mob Rule first.

Earthworm Jim 2 was brutal but I enjoyed every bit of it. The first one was also very very difficult and I also enjoyed that.

As much as I liked it, I gave up on Alien Breed halfway through it. I just can't do it, perhaps the only game that "beat" me.

Another World. Super frustrating, I abandoned it. Thumbs down.

Die By The Sword also needs to be mentioned. Very intriguing, even innovative combat system but let's be honest, it is unplayable. I really tried to get used to it but I couldn't.

There is no life on GOG, only Zuul.

This post just made me wishlist Freddy Hardest

Are you the Keymaster?

Constructor

the ai knows what to do and is good from the start. failed every time

AFAIK the sequel Mob Rule (aka Constructor: Street Wars or Street Wars: Constructor Underworld) isn't any easier.

I know, I bought it years ago to see if they fixed it

Yea, one of the few games in my library I believe I will be permanently unable to finish. I think it is tremendously hard (and not in a good way) and overall just not much fun.

Maybe I just never got the hang of it but Empire Earth's campaign was a hardcore shitfest to me, mostly because you usually fight several "players" who each have a unit cap similar to yours so no matter how well you play, you simply can't have a force big enough to take them all on and it comes down to microing the shit out of your army. Additionally mission scripts are used to make the game even harder. For instance I remember a WW1 mission where I finally achieved a stable situation through constant tank production and out of nowhere the game proclaimed that that's as many tanks as I'm allowed to build in this mission. I was pretty close to smash the screen at that point. I forced myself through the whole thing but for fuck's sake, rarely have I been so frustrated by a game.

And I second tinyE's opinion on Cossacks. SOME of the missions feel like they had been rushed and never properly playtested and are almost impossible to finish. I eventually gave up on that shit. Which is sad, because I genuinely love Cossacks otherwise and have played many skirmish matches, against AI and human players, back in the day.

And then there's the shitfest that is Ultima II where it's almost impossible to figure out what to do. To make matters worse, even when you finally do know what to do thanks to a walkthrough, you're left with the shittiest grindfest of all time.

Inquisitor is definitely worth consideration. It's great! And how about the Wizardry games, also excellent and super-difficult.

Actually, since Mob Rule watered down many of the gameplay elements that made Constructor extremely frustrating, I'd say it's gotten much easier. It can still be challenging and the AI continues to be relentless, but you have less to worry about this time around. Once you've played long enough to understand how it works, you can mostly breeze through it with only minor annoyances.

I wasn't that fond of the EE1 campaigns, either. I only completed the Greek one, which interested me the most, but the others failed to grab my attention. I can appreciate the game for what it is, but I much prefer AOE2 and its less-unfair AI.

Yeah, those Cossacks campaign missions seemed half-baked. I think I completed the Caribbean campaign, but I lost interest shortly thereafter. I honestly had more fun playing the skirmish maps. Speaking of which, the AI was a real headache in skirmish mode. I hated having to plant Pikemen throughout my territory so the enemy's Sich Cossacks wouldn't sweep in and disrupt everything. I never beat a single skirmish game; they'd always end with me getting swarmed by legions of AI units and Mortars. Constructor is like a cakewalk by comparison.