Difficulty level

This is the place for chit chat! Everything goes even Star Trek! Just make sure to buy the Moderator a drink!
Post Reply

Difficulty level

User avatar
Epsilon Eridani
Cadet 3rd Class
Posts: 48
Joined: Sun Jul 08, 2018 6:57 am

Post by Epsilon Eridani » Tue Jan 29, 2019 5:27 pm

Hello,
I would be curious to know what's the difference between the 3 difficulty levels (easy, medium and hard) in X-Wing Alliance.
I see when I play hard the enemies shoot faster and more accurate.
Does it have something to do with the AI level settable in the flight simulator?
Do missions use a similar logic?

Thanks in advance for the reply.

Rich C
Lieutenant
Posts: 873
Joined: Thu Jan 18, 2001 12:01 am

Post by Rich C » Wed Jan 30, 2019 5:02 pm

As far as missions go, in many of them there are one or two groups of enemies that will only spawn if the difficulty is set above a certain threshold, and they usually have their AI level set higher than most (Ace/Top Ace).

In some rare cases across the series, there are also Rookie/Officer groups that only spawn on easy difficulty.
"If you're going through hell, keep going."

User avatar
Phoenix Leader
Rebel Alliance
Posts: 437
Joined: Wed Aug 08, 2018 2:20 pm

Post by Phoenix Leader » Thu Jan 31, 2019 11:51 am

When playing Medium level all the Flight Groups of all teams have the AI as displayed when opening the mission with a mission editor.
Hard level increases the AI of all Flight Groups in all enemy teams by 1 point (example: Veteran AI becomes Ace AI).
The Flight Groups in player's team and allied teams retain their default AI regardless of the difficulty level.

User avatar
Epsilon Eridani
Cadet 3rd Class
Posts: 48
Joined: Sun Jul 08, 2018 6:57 am

Post by Epsilon Eridani » Thu Jan 31, 2019 11:47 pm

Thank you for answering me.
Now I know what to expect: most of enemy flight groups have Veteran AI in AlliED, so they are actually Ace AI in mission when playing hard level.

User avatar
Phoenix Leader
Rebel Alliance
Posts: 437
Joined: Wed Aug 08, 2018 2:20 pm

Post by Phoenix Leader » Fri Feb 01, 2019 3:27 pm

I forgot another relevant difference between Medium and Hard: when playing Hard all the craft components are shielded.
This means you will have to bring down the shield before damaging components, and this could take a lot of fire power.

User avatar
Phoenix Leader
Rebel Alliance
Posts: 437
Joined: Wed Aug 08, 2018 2:20 pm

Post by Phoenix Leader » Tue Feb 05, 2019 10:22 pm

Phoenix Leader wrote:
Thu Jan 31, 2019 11:51 am
When playing Medium level all the Flight Groups of all teams have the AI as displayed when opening the mission with a mission editor.
Hard level increases the AI of all Flight Groups in all enemy teams by 1 point (example: Veteran AI becomes Ace AI).
The Flight Groups in player's team and allied teams retain their default AI regardless of the difficulty level.
The interesting point here: defecting crafts.

Post Reply