Higher Levels of Difficulty

[BigGoose2006]

Personaly i think that they should have had more setting to reach a wider audience, it would have solved these issues if there were 5 settings not just 3.

Five settings would have been awesome! Before I say it, I wan't everyone to know that I think halo is second class to HL, but I loved there being 4 difficulty levels, Legendary being very difficult.

 

[BigGoose2006]

I haven't died many times. I quickload as soon as I get too much damage.

That will make any game easy bud.

 

[Chronos]

1

Dunno if scanners would be usable as ammo (against striders) - they explode when destroyed, not sure if they hurt others or not though.

Well they dont hutr YOU when you smash them agains the nearest wall... They hurt soldiers though, but that's damage from its kinetic energy, i.e. it knocks them down, but I guess scanners' explosions are relatively harmless.

 

[axeil]

I once threw a scanner into a combine and it blew up in his face and killed him.

I love the idea of somehow increasing the aim of the combine. I'm playing through the second time and it seems like a joke now that I know where most of the enemies are.

Come on VALVe, grant us an Uber Hard mode. We won't complain when its too hard, we promise!

 

[BigGoose2006]

Could somebody tell me how to get to skill.cfg? I am unable to.

 

[BigGoose2006]

I have been messing around with the ai_ variables in the console, specifically ai_shotbias_max and min. I have been unable to discover what they do, but in attempting to find out have 100% decided that the combine have INCREDIBLY bad shots. If you want to see what I mean start a new game at Level 3: ROUTE CANAL. Run down the hallway past the health station on the wall to where the two guards are, kill the guy with the night stick and then retreat back to the far end of the hall with the health charger (near the bottom of the stairs) the guard should follow you until he gets to the door opposite where you are standing. There he will commence to shot you continuously. HE ALMOST NEVER HITS!!! You can type in "sv_cheats 1" and then "host_timescale .2" into the console to slow time down, this will allow you to see just how bad a shot they are! I have tried many combinations of the ai_shotbias variables and they don't seem to make any difference... I am still looking for other variables that might modify enemy accuracy though, and help would be appreciated.

One thing for sure is, increasing the damage given by the combine's weapons (in the skill.cfg file, which I still have been unable to find, its somewhere in the GCF files, but I can't open them, and haven't found any good decryption programs either) in combination (no pun intended) with increased accuracy would make HL2 a much more challenging as well as enjoyable game.

 

[Ryjalon5k]

i died about 10 times on medium...

 

[Tantalus]

One way to make the game harder to to change the damage each of your weapons gives, or to change the maximum ammunition. These console commands should help.



sk_plr_dmg_357 # # is new damage value for .357 Magnum
sk_plr_dmg_crossbow # # is new damage value for crossbow
sk_plr_dmg_crowbar # # is new damage value for crowbar
sk_plr_dmg_grenade # # is new damage value for grenades
sk_plr_dmg_pistol # # is new damage value for pistol
sk_plr_dmg_ar2 # # is new damage value for Pulse Rifle
sk_plr_dmg_rpg_round # # is new damage value for RPG rockets
sk_plr_dmg_buckshot # # is new damage value for shotgun
sk_plr_dmg_smg1_grenade # # is new damage value for SMG grenades
sk_plr_dmg_smg1 # # is new damage value for submachine gun


sk_max_357 # # is new max ammo for .357 Magnum
sk_max_crossbow # # is new max ammo for crossbow
sk_max_grenade # # is new max ammo for hand grenades
sk_max_pistol # # is new max ammo for pistol
sk_max_ar2 # # is new max ammo for Pulse Rifle
sk_max_ar2_altfire # # is new max ammo for Pulse Rifle energy orbs
sk_max_rpg_round # # is new max ammo for RPG
sk_max_buckshot # # is new max ammo for shotgun
sk_max_smg1_grenade # # is new max ammo for SMG grenades
sk_max_smg1 # # is new max ammo for submachine gun
sk_max_smg1 # # is new max ammo for submachine gun


this list was found on a thread by soccerdude 21490.

 

[BigGoose2006]

Tantulus- While decreasing the damage of your weapons and max ammuntion storage would certainly make Half-Life2 more difficult, I think it would also make the game tedious. As it is I almost thought the amount of ammunition you could hold in HL2 was too low; I would find parts (the level sandtraps, or sandbags or whatever =) ) where ammuntion was too plentiful and then there would be lengths of the game where there was almost none. This forced the player to backstep to get ammunition they didn't need when they passed it the first time because their particular gun was full. I think Valve got kind of lazy with this and didn't want to bother distributing the ammunition throughout the game evenly, and instead kept the max low so they would not have to bother.

As far as your guns hurting less... most enemies took considerable damage on hard. Gunships took several rockets (5 or 4), combine took 3 head shots with the 9mm to drop them, the shotgun sometimes would take more than one shot at point blank range! And all of the alien enemies took a lot of damage to bring them down as well...

What kept the game easy through those 3 headshots, 5 rockets, or multiple point-blank shotgun shells, was that you could get through it all without taking much damage. THIS is what we need to fix, and to do so we need to increase both enemy accuracy as well as damage, not decrease Gordon's firepower.

 

[BigGoose2006]

There is a skill.cfg file that has the health and damage ratings for all enemies friendlies weapons and the player, u can make a copy of it in the hl2 folder, and adjust them as you like.

Id say you could get a long way with the grav gun alone, but the gunships and striders could cause a problem.

It took me long enough, but I finally was able to find and open the file you were talking about. Its quite interesting actually, in the original HL there were three seperate skill.cfg files for easy, normal, and hard, but I can only find one and it is in the source engine.gcf

I will soon post my results...

 

[BigGoose2006]

Here is a list of the variables I would change to make the game more difficult:

sk_antlion_health 15
sk_suitcharger 40
sk_suitcharger_citadel 150
sk_suitcharger_citadel_maxarmor 100
sk_battery 10
sk_healthcharger 30
sk_healthkit 10
sk_healthvial 5
sk_npc_arm .5
sk_npc_leg .5
sk_dmglevel3_take 2.0 (I know this isn't spelt correctly, I just don't remeber the exact wording off the top of my head)

However I am unable to keep these settings in the game because everytime it loads a new map the console executes skill.cfg after it runs everything else and whenever I change the skill.cfg file it always seems to revert back to its original form.

For the record, I am using NEM's GFCscape124 and am looking at the skill.gfc in the source engine.gfc>hl2>cfg

 

[BigGoose2006]

Q. How do I modify a GCF file?

A. The purpose of the GCF file is to make it easy for Steam to update Valve's software. When a new version of a program (say CS) is released, all Steam has to do is look in the CS GCF file and compare versions (hashes) of each file to determine if each file needs to be added, updated or removed. Because of this, if you were to modify a file, Steam would interpret this as meaning that the file is out of date and redownload the correct version of the file.

Steam does, however, provide an interface to add or overwrite a file. To add or overwrite a file simply place it in the corresponding directory in the Steam\SteamApps\<E-Mail>\<GCF File> directory on your hard drive. You might have to create the appropriate subdirectories.

I just answered my own question, but if this is correct, copying skill.cfg into the cfg folder should overwrite it. I am still not sure if it will work though.

 

[Calm_Blue_Ocean]

What would be really cool would be to have advanced options for the difficulty settings. For example, Valve could incorporate sliders that would allow you to tweak the damage taken and enemy accuracy. It would also be great if Valve could add additional enemies to the maps, ideally the extra enemies would spawn randomly to increase the replay value (e.g. there could be 10 possible spawn points for 5 additional enemies on a map).

 

[meh138]

BigGoose, I noticed that in
\Steam\SteamApps\<Account>\Half-Life Source\ is an HL2 folder with a CFG subfolder... maybe try putting skills.cfg in that for some odd reason.

Or, maybe if you found it in a Source Engine.gcf, there needs to be a Source Engine folder created under your <account> folder, same level as Half-Life 2. Seems to follow their structure rules.

I hope you figure this out, every attempt I've made to do Dedicated server or DM/MP gets a memory error or crashes, gotta find something to tweak to extend the playability of this 15-20 hour game (that IMHO should have been 30-40 hours with some multi-player support other than counter-strike)

 

[BigGoose2006]

BigGoose, I noticed that in
I hope you figure this out, every attempt I've made to do Dedicated server or DM/MP gets a memory error or crashes, gotta find something to tweak to extend the playability of this 15-20 hour game (that IMHO should have been 30-40 hours with some multi-player support other than counter-strike)

I'm getting closer, I've spent all day working on it and have learned a great deal about how steam works and the HL2 console. There are a few variables that will increase the game's difficulty, and at the same time are not in the skill.cfg file either. I am currently testing out segments of the game to ensure that it is still beatable with these settings:

sk_dmg_take_scale3 2.0
sk_ammo_qty_scale3 .4
sk_max_357 18
sk_max_ar2 90
sk_max_ar2_alt 5
sk_max_grenade 7
sk_max_smg1_grenade 5

As you can see the first two increase the damage done by enemies, as well as the ammount of ammuntion gained by ammo boxes. The rest of the variables increase the ammo storage for a few of the guns. I just thought that some of the weapons didn't hold enough ammunition, and that while it didn't really matter with the default difficult settings, if the game were harder, it would only be fair to give the player a little more room to work with.

If anyone else out there would like to help me test the game with the difficulty as such please do as I can't replay through the entire game by myself for every possible setting, and I would like to be able to release a balanced .cfg file to the public for all interested.

Copy the code above into .cfg file named autoexec.cfg and place it in the C:\Program Files\Games\Valve\SteamApps\"username"\half-life 2\hl2\cfg folder, also make sure that your game difficulty is set to hard.

 

[fragShader]

i've been playing by adusting the sk_npc_dmg variables to match the sk_plr_dmg vars, so the combine do as much damage to you as you do to them. also setting the arm and leg damage multipliers to 0.5 (for damage u do to enemies, so u have to be more accurate)

i finally figured out that u don't put the modified skill.cfg in your <steam>/<username>/half life 2/hl2/cfg dir, you put it in the <steam>/<username>/source engine/hl2/cfg dir (after u create it)

EDIT: now that dir isn't working... i'm confused

 

[axeil]

Wow BigGoose looks like you may be on to something. Have you found the command that increased the accuracy of the enemy weapons yet? That would be the holy grail of this experiment.

 

[BigGoose2006]

Wow BigGoose looks like you may be on to something. Have you found the command that increased the accuracy of the enemy weapons yet? That would be the holy grail of this experiment.

So far I have found ways to:

Increase enemy damage inflicted on the player
Decrease player damage inflicted on enemies
Modify all health and suit powerups
Decrease friendly AI's health, for both humans and antlions
Decrease the regeneration speed of antilions

I have yet to find where enemy accuracy can be modified, and most importantly I am still unable to overwrite the skill.cfg file with my modified settings, and since the skill.cfg file is executed at the beggining of every map the best I have been able to do is write a skill4.cfg containing all of my modified settings, and bind an unused to key to execute the skill4.cfg file, that way everytime I load a new map I press that key and the game's settings are where I want them to be... this can get a little annoying however, and its easy not to remember to press the key (in my case TAB) after every load.

If anyone could tell me how to overwrite the original skill.cfg file, or even some method that would execute my skill4.cfg after every load I would consider this "experiment" a success. Enemy accuracy I have found is not essential to making the game difficult, the settings below are plenty difficult for me.

sk_dmg_take_scale1 1.0
sk_dmg_take_scale2 1.4
sk_dmg_take_scale3 1.8
sk_ammo_qty_scale1 1.0
sk_ammo_qty_scale2 .7
sk_ammo_qty_scale3 .4
sk_max_357 18
sk_max_ar2 90
sk_max_buckshot 36
sk_max_ar2_altfire 5
sk_max_grenade 7
sk_max_smg1_grenade 5
sk_npc_head 4
sk_npc_chest 1
sk_npc_stomach 1
sk_npc_arm .5
sk_npc_leg .5
sk_antlion_health 20
sk_ally_regen_time "0.4"
sk_player_head "3"
sk_player_chest "1"
sk_player_stomach "1"
sk_player_arm ".5"
sk_player_leg ".5"
sk_suitcharger 50
sk_battery 10
sk_healthcharger 40
sk_healthkit 10
sk_healthvial 5

While I change everything I said at the beggining of the post, I also make a few changes to the maximum ammuntions for a few of the weapons.

Copy the code above into a skill4.cfg file, place it the cfg folder and then bind a key in the config.cfg file like this:
bind "key" "exec skill4"

 

[fragShader]

biggoose i am doing the same as u - i have bind p "exec myskill.cfg". and u have to remember to do it AFTER EVERY LOAD, wether save or level transition.

i tried putting custom skill configs at <steam>/<username>/half life 2/hl2/cfg/skill.cfg and at <steam>/<username>/source engine/hl2/cfg/skill.cfg but it always reads the one in source engine.gcf.

i haven't messed with the max ammo - i kinda like it scarce, i've just upped the sk_npc_dmg damage vars to around the same as the sk_plr_dmg damage vars, so it's a fairer fight. (except i have the better AI )

edit: oh, and drastically dropped the health and battery pickup values. charger values are set by the mapper, it seems. the sk_suitcharger and sk_healthcharger cvars seem to have no effect

 

[BigGoose2006]

biggoose i am doing the same as u - i have bind p "exec myskill.cfg". and u have to remember to do it AFTER EVERY LOAD, wether save or level transition.

edit: oh, and drastically dropped the health and battery pickup values. charger values are set by the mapper, it seems. the sk_suitcharger and sk_healthcharger cvars seem to have no effect

Doesn't it get annoying? I sent an e-mail to valve, asking for some help. and the SDK should be able to fix it as well, in the mean time a bound key is all I can think of to do.

Are you sure that the health and suit chargers don't change? Mine seem to... dunno what that is.

 

[fragShader]

i am seriously considering making a simple "realistic difficulty" (like in Deus Ex) mod after the SDK comes.

got a few ideas about coding some combine AI improvement, too.

but changing some of the combine behaiviour stuff would require adding extra hint brushes etc in the maps, and i doubt the SDK will have source for all the maps.

 

[Amorphous]

20 hrs playing meticulously, searching for hidden areas, soaking in the awesome atmosphere created by VALVe, you get my meaning? I don't really mean to brag, but compared to other fps I had very little difficulty. I never got "stuck" at hard parts, I died a small number of times, around 30 or 40. Me and my brother play through fps keeping track of deaths as our own little competition, and 30 or 40 deaths is VERY few for a fps on high difficulty settings.

Yeah, no offense but, I'm on Follow Freeman on Hard and I've died probably, 5-8 times at the most. I doubt I'll die 25-35 more times by the end of the game.

 

[BigGoose2006]

Yeah, no offense but, I'm on Follow Freeman on Hard and I've died probably, 5-8 times at the most. I doubt I'll die 25-35 more times by the end of the game.

I am not claiming to be the best video gamer out there, but on the other hand I don't think 30-40 is all that bad all considering, many of those deaths are from the turret rooms in novar prospect, and from stupid mistakes on my part... I am half-way through H17 my second time around and I have died 2 times, I am, however, going VERY slow and precautiously and my experience from the first time around doesn't hurt either.

 

[Yellonet]

In the original Half-Life you could easily change how much "health" a certain body part had, shouldn't be too hard to accomplish in Source.

 

[BigGoose2006]

In the original Half-Life you could easily change how much "health" a certain body part had, shouldn't be too hard to accomplish in Source.

Yes this can be done in HL2 as well, there are body part damage modifiers for the arms, legs, stomach, chest, and head. Here are the variables and their default values:

// NPC damage adjusters
sk_npc_head "3"
sk_npc_chest "1"
sk_npc_stomach "1"
sk_npc_arm "1"
sk_npc_leg "1"

// player damage adjusters
sk_player_head "3"
sk_player_chest "1"
sk_player_stomach "1"
sk_player_arm "1"
sk_player_leg "1"

 

[Tantalus]

Yes this can be done in HL2 as well, there are body part damage modifiers for the arms, legs, stomach, chest, and head. Here are the variables and their default values:

// NPC damage adjusters
sk_npc_head "3"
sk_npc_chest "1"
sk_npc_stomach "1"
sk_npc_arm "1"
sk_npc_leg "1"

// player damage adjusters
sk_player_head "3"
sk_player_chest "1"
sk_player_stomach "1"
sk_player_arm "1"
sk_player_leg "1"

Why did Valve make a chest hit equal to an arm or leg hit?

 

[CR0M]

Waaaaay too easy, just 3 or 4 enemies predictably coming at you at any one time in single file is like command and conquer all over again.

If that's the case, I want NIGHTMARE, dammit - no health packs.
But preferably Starship Trooper amounts of bad guys running at me from all directions. Only smart.

 

[ScRaTcH-A-HoLiC]

Why did Valve make a chest hit equal to an arm or leg hit?

Im not sure but somthin dont sound right there..

 

[Mr.Wotsit]

When the SDK comes out, it'll be no time before we have skill patches coming out of our ears.

Patience...

 

[Amorphous]

I am not claiming to be the best video gamer out there, but on the other hand I don't think 30-40 is all that bad all considering, many of those deaths are from the turret rooms in novar prospect, and from stupid mistakes on my part... I am half-way through H17 my second time around and I have died 2 times, I am, however, going VERY slow and precautiously and my experience from the first time around doesn't hurt either.

I'm not claiming you're claiming to be the best gamer out there. I just though it was odd in your original post you say something about how 30-40 time is "VERY" low. I'm not trying to prove anything, just pointing out 30-40 times is not "VERY" low. But on the other hand, my first time through I probably died maybe, 15-20 times or so I would guess. So I've cut my deaths in half just about on the next difficulty. Not too shabby!

 

[nvrmor]

anybody play on pc's with varying amounts of cpu power? my machine has a 3.2c p4, i played it on my friends 1.4 p4 and the ai was noticiably different on the normal difficulty. on my machine the combine were more apt to straff and try and flank, and overally more aggressive. on my friends they rarely did much flanking and were not nearly as aggressive. anobody else try this?

 

[GetCool]

Seriously, guys, turn off autosaving, don't use quicksaving, and try to make it through an entire chapter alive.

That's not the ideal solution for harder difficulty (a good difficulty mod would be the best), but the game does get a lot harder when you eliminate saving altogether, even if you have memorized many of the enemies.

 

[BigGoose2006]

Seriously, guys, turn off autosaving, don't use quicksaving, and try to make it through an entire chapter alive.

That's not the ideal solution for harder difficulty (a good difficulty mod would be the best), but the game does get a lot harder when you eliminate saving altogether, even if you have memorized many of the enemies.

I don't use quicksave, and I turned off autosave, it is still quite easy.... harder, but still not good enough for me.