[MatthTheGeek]

Matth is very fond of reminding us all he plays on insane in every single post he makes

Well EXCUSE ME for not enjoying to play with cheats

[newman]

And, ladies and gentlemen, as further evidence of Matth's awesome skills (because I know you care), in his book cheating = playing on anything below insane. Because he's just that awesome. Seriously Matth, we get it, give it a rest already.

[headdie]

MatthTheGeek, remember also that FSO has had table options to adjust or remove the difficulty related cheats such as limits on number of attackers for years, many are as old as 3.6.10, and Diaspora uses these features heavily looking at the tables.  also remember "cheating" if you are desperate to call it that is playing below the difficulty the team intended for the mod to be played at, but even then some people just want to play the game and have fun and if they find themselves restarting too often for their tastes then thats cool, because, you know, the game is there to be experienced however the player is comfortable.

[MatthTheGeek]

As a modder you should know that every difficulty below Insane gives the player magic cheat buffs regarding damage, resistance, energy replenishment (in Diaspora translates only in faster burner recharge) and number of enemies that can target you, among other things. Plus autoaim, in Diaspora.

[Alex Heartnet]

The lowest difficulty setting gives you a more generous auto-aim then the one just above it.

[headdie]

As a modder you should know that every difficulty below Insane gives the player magic cheat buffs reguarding damage, resistance, energy replenishment (in Diaspora translates only in faster burner recharge) and number of enemies that can target you, among other things. Plus autoaim, in Diaspora.

Remember there is more than the severa tables at play here, if the game is balanced for say medium meaning that there is a 16 turret per ship target limit and that number of turrets are fairly deadly vs the player then the average hour or two several nights a week player is not going to cope with insane because they have other things to do with their lives than play games, let alone get good at just 1 game.

[QuantumDelta]

Matth's correct. Anything other than insane, basically = cheating.
Unless that mod has specifically made sure all difficulties are identical (there are a couple).
And yes. More people should play on/design for that difficulty.
Saying it's "designed for medium" just = lazy modding.

[newman]

As a modder you should know that every difficulty below Insane gives the player magic cheat buffs reguarding damage, resistance, energy replenishment (in Diaspora translates only in faster burner recharge) and number of enemies that can target you, among other things. Plus autoaim, in Diaspora.

I really don't need you to teach me about a game I spent years working on. The point wasn't that there's anything wrong about playing in insane, it's just that you keep remind us you do so every chance you get and it's becoming tiresome.

Saying it's "designed for medium" just = lazy modding.

Nobody is saying that, though. The game has difficulty settings to accommodate players of different skill levels. Making the game only work right on insane is a great way to diminish your player base. Which is why we have the easy settings that have autoaim and don't really require you to land in a proper way. AI difficulty varies as well, Sushi worked wonders with that. I wouldn't call any of the difficulty levels as actually cheating, as there is absolutely no way to determine what's realistic and what isn't in a made up space fighter that belongs in a made up universe. Difficulty levels have a function which they serve well, and everyone is more than welcome to play any difficulty they choose.

[Phantom Hoover]

BEING NEW OR INEXPERIENCED ISN'T ALLOWED EVERYONE HAS TO ENJOY PLAYING MISSIONS THROUGH TWENTY TIMES OR THEY'RE A DIRTY CHEATING NOOB

[newman]

Split locked as it doesn't really serve to answer the original question.