Should there be a hardcore mode? If so, what would the rules/content be?

I think so, here's how I'd play it [Your own opinions and ideas are welcome here] -

• 1 life only (No respawn). [OPTIONAL choice]
• Hunger, temperature, and energy bar constantly depleting at a faster rate.
• Starting threat level planet 2-3.
• Perhaps include a unique quest line and extra boss content, and some decent rewards to encourage this option (Such as unique easily identifiable vanity armour items in MP mode).

Unique Quest?
----Imagine starting hardcore mode like this:
a) WITHOUT a ship, so need to create/steal one from enemies on the map you're on.
b) Your ship crashed, and you need to recover parts, which can be obtained on the map.

Thoughts? I'd like to know how you'd like to play a Hardcore mode in Starbound.

 

Regarding that: I would add just another "difficulty" level in options. So you could play Hardcore on easy/medium/hard, and Softcore on easy/medium/hard.
That could separate players who just go for casual exploring and want easy boss fights, with people who want a little challenge added.

Btw, of course they should add hardcore, that is an absolute must have (for any game), as I see it. Especially in sandbox/survival game.

 

i think the challenge/rush/achievement of playing with one life is enough incentive for people to want to play hardcore without the need for extra rewards. its certainly a feature i would welcome

 

I found this in interface.config:

Code:

  "modeTypeTextAndColor" : [
    [ "???", [147, 147, 149] ],
    [ "n00bie", [78, 207, 221] ],
    [ "NORMAL", [75, 206, 58] ],
    [ "HARDCORE", [206, 58, 58] ]
  ],

So it's entirely possible we might see it.

(But eh... Beta, so things may change).

I would certainly love a hardcore mode. It wouldn't be something I'd play all the time (permadeath is too far for me). But it'd certainly be fun to dip into every so often.

I would also love a challenge mode too, with different challenges available to select (such as starting on a higher tier planet, lower stats, no natural energy regeneration, etc.), or multiple challenges if a player really wants to. It would really allow people to customise their experience.

 

Nah , just set the game to the first beta build for hardcore, that's more than enough

 

Personally, when Hardcore comes out, that's the only way I'm gonna play, so I wouldn't spoil any content in Softcore.

 

i dont like the 1 life feature, but crash landing your ship and needing to repair it sounds appealing to me. I would like to earn my ability to travel the stars, would make it feel more rewarding IMO. There should be a bigger build up to that first FTL jump.

 

Personally, i think this is dumb. Hardcore mode has been established in gaming for a long time. It is Permadeath. Nothing else.

Most often, it's implemented as a flag/checkbox IN ADDITION to the difficulty setting. You die, your character is deleted. that's the one and only thing hardcore mode should have.

hunger/cold/threat levels are already in the game. If you want them harder, that's what a hard difficulty is for. Personally i'd like that extra challenge without permanant death.

 

Which fits exactly in my easy/medium/hard suggestion, on top of softcore/hardcore checkbox, as you said.

 

I agree there should be a Hardcore mode (at release). But I wouldn't want to see "useful" gear exclusive to that mode. Not everyone wants to play a perma-death character, and as such would be locked out from content. If I was developing it, I would include a set of Hardcore only vanity items so you could identify yourself but that's about it. You don't want to force people to Hardcore to experience the full game.

 

The bind on character vanity items is an excellent idea, actually.

 

a softcore mode is a good idea too, i'd call it "casual" mode though.
remove all death penalties. remove hunger, temperature and fuel needs as well as any future survival mechanics that might be added (like atmosphereless planets).
That is casual mode. the survival aspect stripped out so people can just freely roam and build.

 

First off having hardcore difficulty be a modifier rather than a setting is probably the best way to do it.

As for actual implementation, I'd prefer it if you started with 1 life literally stranded on a planet without a ship, but that after you've gotten through most of the tiers you could construct a cloning lab or something and for an exorbitant price (and some fresh bodies?) you could build extra lives one at a time.
You could potentially use this cloning lab to switch species later on in regular difficulty.

 

Uhm, you went a little too far. That's simply removing the essence of the game. Or did you mean it ironically? In that case, sure, remove them all, and also monster dmg and need for crafting materials.

 

In my personal opinion - I felt that starting with a ship was a bit of a momentum killer, I'm just a hard-nut who prefers the hard road of earning things rather than given the keys and tools straight away, feels a bit like cheating to me. Surely, not something for everyone but the first FTL should definitely carry some more satisfaction than it currently does.

Bind on character vanity items earned from Hardcore mode is something that should be looked into, yeah. I'd appreciate seeing people who earned them around on the MP servers.

 

Cloning via some sort of exorbant price? That is actually a very thought provoking thing to put in.

 

You could just start with a broken ship on the ground and have to find rare/quest items to fix the engine/navigation. That would feel sooo much better than starting with a working ship and mining a few coal to jump wherever you want...

 

Cloning facility - Yay !

Dont forget, it should be really expensive.

 

I completely agree.

 

Could easily just use those freak of nature lab tanks that are in the game, but change the colour of the liquid to blue-ish, and you've got yourself a clone-tank.