Re: PN2 Difficulty setting
That depends, were you playing on normal or hard? There is only one setting in this game, and it is comparable to the hard mode from the first game. I didn't get to do as much AI tweaking as I would like, but it plays reasonably well. Also, keep in mind that the AI for the game is designed to serve the characters, not necessarily play absolute perfect poker. You aren't up against Negreanu and Ivey here, these are just dudes playing poker to the best of their (theoretical) ability.
I have no idea why it was decided that the best way to attract and retain players was to eliminate the possibility of inexperienced player enjoyment, but...
Read the steam forums. 90% of the comments for your game are complaints about the difficulty. These are hard-core gamers who usually play things on the hardest settings.
I, for one, count it as a badge of honor that I've completed so many intense, challenging games on the hardest difficulty settings. But see, that's the thing - I had an option to do so. And when the difficult mode was insane, I could drop down to a more reasonable level of difficulty that fit my skill-level. This is basic game mechanics, and has been since the mid-nineties.
I play poker in real life and in games (both for fun), and I've never seen a less realistic, more insanely difficult standard playing mode than this one. Lacking the option to even bring it down to 'realistic' was a colossal mistake. I feel like I'm getting mugged every time I play, and so (apparently) do the majority of users who paid for your software.
Maybe a patch to resolve this core gameplay issue would be warranted?
I don't want to sound like I'm not sympathetic to the devs; the game is obviously a labor of love, and a lot of hours must have gone into getting everything just so. In most areas, your game is sound, and has some great things to it that would make it a very enjoyable experience, if the game weren't automatically and irrevocably set at 'lava-mode difficulty'.
Unfortunately I can't seem to enjoy them, because laborous is an understatement to describe the core gameplay...
Please help me enjoy your game the way I'm sure you wanted it to be enjoyed.
Thank you for taking time to read this post; I look forward anxiously to your response.
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