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Hi, this is Mark Brown with Game Maker's Toolkit,[br]a series on video game design.

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Resident Evil 4 does something really clever.

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I mean, that's an understatement: the game's[br]a masterpiece. But I'm talking specifically

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about the way the game dynamically shifts[br]its level of difficulty to meet your skill

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level.

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Perform well at the game, by avoiding attacks[br]and shooting accurately, and the game will

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get harder as enemies do more damage and become[br]more aggressive. But if you suck, and keep

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dying or just keep getting hurt, the game[br]will ease off and the Ganados will go down

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more easily, and wait around longer to get[br]shot before rushing at you.

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Also, the contents of the crates and barrels[br]shift from being generous to being stingy

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as you become more skilled. And, sometimes,[br]enemies will completely disappear from existence

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if you're really struggling.

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Here I've been playing really well...

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...and I enter the notorious 'water room',[br]and get set upon by nine cultists - seven

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on the ground, and two crossbow snipers up[br]high. But then I die a few times and

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suddenly, the snipers are gone, making this[br]room slightly easier to tackle.

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Because the game keeps pace with your own[br]skill as a player, Resident Evil 4 helps you

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slip into a zone that psychologists and game[br]designers call "flow", which is the fabled

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middle ground between a game being so easy[br]it leaves you bored, and so hard it makes

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you anxious or frustrated.

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While the gradually rising difficulty curve[br]of most linear video games will try and keep

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players in that flow state, it can't account[br]for every type of gamer. And if the player

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picks the wrong difficulty option at the start,[br]they may instantly rob themselves of a satisfying

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experience.

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That's the advantage of a dynamic difficulty[br]setting, which constantly corrects itself

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to provide an experience that challenges the[br]player, without overwhelming them. And it

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stops them from getting stuck in a rut, but[br]it doesn't let them waltz through the game

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either.

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This is, however, not the most clever thing[br]about Resident Evil 4's dynamic difficulty.

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The smartest thing is that many gamers watching[br]this video right now are saying to themselves

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"Wow! I didn't even know the game did that!"

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And that may be the point. Capcom never officially[br]stated that the game altered its own difficulty.

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It's not an option in the menu, and it's not[br]in the manual. It wasn't in a trailer or a

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bullet point in a press release, and designer[br]Shinji Mikami - who would later turn this

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system into an entire game in the brilliant[br]PS2 brawler God Hand - didn't gab about it

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in interviews.

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The only real source for the feature's existence,[br]other than the experiences of Resident Evil

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obsessives, is from an official strategy guide[br]that came out almost a year after the game.

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You see, a number of games offer to help out[br]if you're struggling, like the Super Kong

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in Donkey Kong Country Returns, which clears[br]a tricky level for you if you fail too many

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times.

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But many hardcore players are too proud to[br]accept the helping hand, and would rather

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beat their head against the wall in frustration[br]than suffer the indignity of getting a free

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pass.

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Especially when the game actually mocks you[br]for reducing the difficulty. If you die too

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often in the upcoming Metal Gear Solid 5,[br]you'll be given the option to wear a goofy

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chicken hat, which reduces the challenge but[br]makes Snake look like a complete burk.

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However, by making the effects subtle and[br]not advertising them to the world like it

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did with Resident Evil: Darkside Chronicles,[br]Resident Evil 4 gives players all the advantages

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of dynamic difficulty adjustment without making[br]them feel patronised.

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Plus, if they don't know about it, players[br]can't game the system by intentionally killing

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or injuring themselves to drop the difficulty[br]setting, which is exactly what speed runners

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do.

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Here's a top Resi 4 speed runner, Robert 'Sunblade'[br]Brandl, getting hit on the ski lift and purposefully

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failing QTEs, to reduce the difficulty and[br]therefore make certain sections easier to

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dash through.

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Resident Evil 4 did not invent the idea of[br]a sliding difficulty scale, of course. NES

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and arcade shmups like Zanac and Xevious were[br]doing it back in the eighties, and Remedy

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applied the idea to a third person shooter[br]in Max Payne, a few years before Capcom had

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the chance.

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Left 4 Dead made particularly good use of[br]dynamic difficulty, to modulate dramatic tension.

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Here's Valve's Guatam Babbar on the subject:

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"We created a system that tracks each survivor's[br]stress level by watching for events like 'how

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much damage are you taking?', 'how many zombies[br]have you killed near you?', and so on."

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"If a survivor's stress level gets too high,[br]the system will step in and forcibly throttle

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back the zombie population system to make[br]sure the team gets a break every now and then".

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Kid Icarus Uprising and Super Smash Bros have[br]an interesting system where you essentially

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place a bet on the difficulty level you think[br]you'll finish the stage at. If you succeed

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- you get a big payout. But if you fail - you[br]lose a bunch of your stuff and get knocked

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down to an easier difficulty level, until[br]you can beat the game.

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And Flow, which is named after that psychological[br]zone, lets you manually moderate your level

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of difficulty, by choosing when to delve into[br]deeper waters - by chomping on a red organism

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- and when to retreat to safety my munching[br]on a blue one. It's a bit like deciding whether

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or not to grind for a while in a RPG.

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But the number of games with dynamic difficulty[br]adjustment is pretty small, and most of them

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advertise it to the world, like SiN Episodes,[br]which made a big song and dance of its 'Personal

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Challenge System' right there on the Steam[br]description.

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But I think this is something that game designers[br]should keep on the down low. Don't make it

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a press release or a blog post. Keep it a[br]secret.

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You want to let players reap the benefits[br]of a sliding difficulty scale, that keeps

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perfect pace with their skill level and helps[br]remove areas of boredom or frustration. But

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you also want to avoid the drawbacks, of hardcore[br]gamers getting cranky, and others spoiling

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their own experience by cheating the system.

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And yes, I do realise that there may be many[br]games that use this system but have done it

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*so* subtly that no one has actually noticed.[br]In which case, bravo mysterious game developers.

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Thanks for watching! Think you've spotted[br]a game with a secret sliding difficulty scale?

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Whack it in the comments below. Plus, please[br]like the episode, subscribe to the channel,

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and consider supporting me on Patreon.