Scenario difficulty rating standardization

The scenario numbers are presented as currently seen in-game and not according to their index in lua.

When assessing the difficulty of scenarios, I propose the following scale:

0 - Why are we counting from 0? 1 - Easiest, potentially relegated to un-losable. If we were to keep 0, this can be split into un-losable because the opponent is AFK, and un-losable but there's a pretense of a proper fight. 2 - Difficulty of SimpleAI with a handicap in the player's favour. 3 - Difficulty of SimpleAI in a fair fight 4 - Difficulty of BARb with a handicap in the player's favour. 5 - Difficulty of BARb in a fair fight. -- This is the culmination of tutorial-grade scenarios, any harder is a challenge to experienced players. 6 - Difficulty of a single BARb with a handicap in AI's favour. 7 - Difficulty of 2 BARbs with a handicap in the player's favour. The handicap has to be mild enough to remain more difficult than scale 6, having 2 BARbs is not an automatic bump to 7 if they are neutered enough. 8 - Difficulty of 2 BARbs in a fair fight. -- This is what I expect to be beatable by the average player with experience alone. Beyond this point a player might never beat a scenario no matter how much they play and learn, due to their personal skill ceiling. 9 - Difficulty beyond 2 BARbs in a fair fight. 10 - The hardest scenarios for the most skilled players.

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Placing the existing scenarios on this scale:

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001 Fortress Assault. Difficulty 1.

It's a fight against an inactive opponent. Current Diff 0

002 Testing the Waters. Difficulty 4.

This scenario puts the player against a BARb with a map-induced handicap that makes the AI waste metal on a land army that can't threaten the player. Once the AI gets a navy or macroes to t3, the handicap loses its relevance and the player has to fight against a proper BARb, putting them on the clock. Current Diff 1.

003 A Head Start. Difficulty 2.

The player is faced with a SimpleAI and given a head start on their economy. Easier than a fair fight against the same AI. Current Diff 1.

004 A Helping Hand. Difficulty 3.

This scenario is a 3v3 with SimpleAI on equal terms. Since SimpleAI is simple, it does not attempt to focus on the player's weaknesses if present, so the difficulty is not meaningfully different from a 1v1. Current Diff 1.

005 A Safe Haven. Difficulty 4.

This is a fight vs a fully functioning BARb, but the map is very player-favoured, neutering the AI's multitasking advantage and allowing for an extremely easy choke point defense. Even with the choke point, the player has to eventually get an advantage in army quality before the AI does, or utilise advanced tools like emp silos. Current Diff 2.

006 Mines, all mine! Difficulty 3.

Technically virtually un-losable, it requires a lot of relatively precise and potentially frustrating unit control to complete. Teaching the player about mines any earlier than 3 also seems like a bad idea. Current Diff 2.

007 Back from the Dead. Difficulty 4.

This scenario pulls double duty as the resurrection/capture tutorial and the first proper fight against a BARb on an open map. The player gets a more favourable economic start and can better utilise the capture mechanic, so it's not entirely a fair fight, but it's close. Current Diff 3.

008 King of the Hill. Difficulty 5.

Surprisingly easy for a 1v7, this scenario can still be very daunting. Personally, I think this is the cut-off point where the tutorials end and you use everything you've learned to beat a seemingly insurmountable horde of AIs. Therefore any tutorial scenarios have to be placed before this. The actual difficulty isn't that far off a proper 1v1 with a BARb. Current Diff 3.

009 Keep your secrets. Difficulty 5.

This is a fight against a real BARb where the BARb gets a meaningful starting advantage. Normally this would be a 6, but the scenario suggests you're meant to lose a macro game and the intended way to win is a com snipe. This makes it an asymmetric but more or less equal fight. Current diff 4.

010 Steal Cortex's Tech. Difficulty 5.

The player is unable to produce any combat units initially, but the commander can easily outgun anything the AI produces in that initial period, and the map is small enough that it's easy to set up a contain with porc. The player also knows about and is able to properly use resbots by now. In practice, this ends up being A Safe Haven with an extra step. Current Diff 5.

011 World War XXV. Difficulty 8.

The player is on a timer until one team takes over the entire map and starts spamming infinite titans. This is the scenario with the most variance in difficulty depending on the patch. Currently it takes 45-50 minutes for a team to come out on top. Historically, the green team could take over the entire continent in under 30 minutes. I'm rating this scenario based on its highest potential difficulty. Current Diff 5.

012 One Robot Army. Difficulty 4.

Something of a micro tutorial. Can be beaten on Normal with a lone gunslinger if you try hard enough. These are hard to judge, but subjectively it feels like a 4. Definitely lower than 5, but might be a 3. Current Diff 5.

013 David vs. Goliath. Difficulty 7.

Significantly harder than One Robot Army due to the more open map. The player needs to scout the AI base, will get flanked, and is at a significant disadvantage fighting uphill with vehicles. Current Diff 6.

014 The Sky is the Limit. Difficulty 4.

BARb is notoriously terrible at dealing with air. This might be a bit difficult on the first try as air plays very differently from ground/naval matchups, but as soon as the player discovers what the units do, it's over. Having 2 BARbs does not make this a challenge when the player has the space to easily outexpand both. Current Diff 6.

015 One by One. Difficulty 6.

Technically an equal fight, the variance is high due to the chaos of FFA. Diff 5 already has King of the Hill that has you defend on all fronts, so for the sake of pacing I'm leaning towards a 6. Current Diff 6.

016 Infantry Simulator. Difficulty 7.

The tech restrictions play out in the player's favour, but it's still a very long and difficult fight against 2 BARbs. Can devolve into gauntlet creep. Curernt Diff 7.

017 Outsmart the Barbarians. Difficulty 9.

A proper 1v3 on a large semi-open map. Something about BARb logic makes them act strangely consistently on this map. Requires better gameplay than I'd expect of most players, even veterans. IMO the benchmark of 9/10. Current difficulty 8.

018 Tick Tock. Difficulty 9.

More of a puzzle than a real fight. Can bug out, giving the player more time than intended. Quite difficult otherwise. Cuffent Diff 8.

019 New Beginning. Difficulty 8.

The real challenge here is breaking out of the contain before you get bombarded by infinite LRPCs. The start can also be difficult with the AI having a significant economic advantage. I still expect an experienced player to beat this if they try hard enough, even if they're not very skilled. Will become significantly more difficult if BARb ever learns to upgrade loadout mexes. Current Diff 9.

020 Supremacy. Difficulty 10.

The actual hardest scenario. Outright unbeatable without advance knowledge of the triggers. Current Diff 10.

021 Catch those rare Comets. Difficulty 10

The hardest fair scenario and a good benchmark for 10/10. I expect any scenario more difficult than this to devolve into pure cheese (this one gets cheesed enough as is). Current Diff 10.

022 Rich Resource Race. Difficulty 3.

This scenario does not exist, but if it did, this is its intended difficulty.

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After the changes, the new scenario order would be:

001 Fortress Assault. 003 A Head Start. 004 A Helping Hand. 006 Mines, all mine! 022 Rich Resource Race. 002 Testing the Waters. 005 A Safe Haven. 007 Back from the Dead. 012 One Robot Army. 014 The Sky is the Limit. 008 King of the Hill. 009 Keep your secrets. 010 Steal Cortex's Tech. 015 One by One. 013 David vs. Goliath. 016 Infantry Simulator. 011 World War XXV. 019 New Beginning. 017 Outsmart the Barbarians. 018 Tick Tock. 020 Supremacy. 021 Catch those rare Comets.

beyond-all-reason / BYAR-Chobby

Scenario difficulty rating standardization #606