Today, I was thinking about how the difficulty could be improved, seeing as how right now the only difference between Keter and Euclid is the appearance of quicksaving. I came up with some ideas:

SAFE:
-Quicksaving.
-SCP 106 spawns much less often.
-The starting room contains the essentials, those being a gas mask, two batteries, and a First Aid Kit.
-Bullets and swipes from 049 zombies do less damage.
-Gate's A and B are easier to reach, as they spawn closer to you.
-When activated, it takes a great deal of time for 096 to sufficiently break down the structural integrity of a door before he can smash it down.
EUCLID:
-Quicksaving.
-SCP 106 spawns normally.
-The starting room contains a gas mask.
-Bullets and other non-lethal hits do normal damage.
-Spawning functions act normally.
-096 takes his normal time in breaking down doors, roughly half a second.
KETER:
-No quicksaving.
-The starting room contains nothing.
-Bullets and other non-lethal hits do elevated damage. MTF's have their training upgraded-they will go directly for your chest, allowing them, with luck, to dispatch you in a single shot.
-Gate's A and B are harder to reach, spawning a great many blocks away from you through multiple SCP chambers and containment zones.
-SCP 106 spawns more often.
-!THEORETICAL! 079 receives more control of the facility and will attempt to hinder your progress as you begin to use the electronic devices, like recontaining 106, using secondary lighting, using 914, and manipulating tesla gates. He will begin to pump prominent rooms full of toxic gas, lock doors to certain rooms that you can only override using a level 5 (Overseer clearance) card and above, and guide soldiers to your position like a mini-Metroplex.
-096 will run through doors like a knife cuts through paper.

Unlocked if Keter is beaten:

THAUMIEL:
-No quicksaving
-All hits are lethal.
-SCP-173 stays in the starting room.
-SCP 106 is a bona fide busybody. Tesla gates no longer impede him.
-Keycards placed in 914 have a much greater chance of warping into playing and credit cards. The super gas mask is not able to be synthesized.
-MTF's automatically spawn as soon as you leave the starting room.
-All sentient and mobile SCP's receive speed and hostility upgrades.
-The ballistic vest and first aid kit are dampened in effectiveness.
-Gate's A and B are incredibly hard to reach. As you get closer to one, room spawn parameters change, resulting in a much greater variety of security features, like lockrooms, tesla gates, and camera rooms.
-The HUD, being your sprint bar and blink meter, is invisible.
-!THEORETICAL! 079 knows of your presence from the get-go, and will actively hinder your progress.


Thoughts?

There are good ideas! By the starting room, do you mean SCP-173's containment chamber or the storage room where SCP-173 kills a janitor and a scientist?
However I think the SCP-500-1 pills should fully heal the player no matter which difficulty level is selected.

Feguelion wrote:There are good ideas! By the starting room, do you mean SCP-173's containment chamber or the storage room where SCP-173 kills a janitor and a scientist?
However I think the SCP-500-1 pills should fully heal the player no matter which difficulty level is selected.

Actually, I meant the one you are in the minute you exit the testing chamber, where Franklin and Ulgrin are escaping 173. Maybe you are right. I suppose it would be non-canon to make the pills less effective. Maybe they could be less common? Hm.

A very awesome idea. I think it's about time the overlooked difficulty system got some improvements, and your ideas just about hit the spot.

Some ideas to add on there:

1: No console commands with Keter & Thaumiel.

2: 's difficulty should vary with the difficulty chosen. Maybe ranging on a scale from Safe = Easy to survive, to Thaumiel = Screwed on the spot. Other SCP's like , , and 939 should also be faster.

3: Keter & Thaumiel would still have perma-death, right?

4: Keter & Thaumiel: SCPs such as , , & 939 can be everywhere in the facility once encountered in their chambers.

5: Lighting should vary. Safe = A bit dim, to Thaumiel = So freakin' dark.

6: Keter & Thaumiel: No duckies, no weed, no teddy bear, & no butt-ghost.

7: Thaumiel: No HUD. No helpful on-screen messages either.

8: Higher difficulty = more jumpscares.

SugarLumpy wrote: 7: Thaumiel: No HUD. No helpful on-screen messages either.

This is... excellent. It's the one missing piece. I hope, at minimum, this is what they do with the insane mode.

EDIT: Also, I think added no quicksaving. That is permadeath, right? Also, I think console commands should be available in all difficulties, because they aren't meant to be used by the player. They are used for various functions like debugging the game and testing new features.

Since in BoH the achievements menu shows if the seed/current save file has had console commands used at one point or not, why not in vanilla too? It seems unfair to show no indication in any of the save files if console commands were used or not, since you can claim to have easily beaten the game when in fact you just noclipped through. That said, it is unfair as well to not allow console commands on Keter and Thaumiel as suggested. Also agree with SCP-500-1 having the same capability in all modes, and with the HUD disappearing (perhaps on Keter the sprint meter could go away, and both meters on Thaumiel?) As for SCPs, perhaps on Keter 106, 049(and 2), and 173 are indeed a bit faster in moving now (and the pocket dimension harder to escape), while on Thaumiel, they're more slower, but once you seem them only once, they'd chase you nonstop, so you ALWAYS must move to get away from them? And perhaps there'd still be easter eggs on Keter/Thaumiel, but every time one appears a deadly SCP is close as well?

Overall, these are some really good ideas and some that didn't really convince me.
However, I feel like the difficulty levels that you suggested could be independent from the setting of being able or unable to quicksave. Maybe there could be one option like Safe/Euclid/Keter/Thaumiel and another one like Normal Saving/Limited Saving/No saving?

Akatos wrote:Overall, these are some really good ideas and some that didn't really convince me.
However, I feel like the difficulty levels that you suggested could be independent from the setting of being able or unable to quicksave. Maybe there could be one option like Safe/Euclid/Keter/Thaumiel and another one like Normal Saving/Limited Saving/No saving?

I feel like quicksaving is an integral part of the difficulty system. It doesn't really matter how hard the game is, you can just die, go back, and do it right.

EDIT: Which parts of the list didn't stick with you? I'd be happy to know, so that we can improve.

whathopercy wrote: Also, I think console commands should be available in all difficulties, because they aren't meant to be used by the player. They are used for various functions like debugging the game and testing new features.

isnt that already one of the bullet points when you beat the game "didn't use console commands"

That Same Anon wrote:

whathopercy wrote: Also, I think console commands should be available in all difficulties, because they aren't meant to be used by the player. They are used for various functions like debugging the game and testing new features.

isnt that already one of the bullet points when you beat the game "didn't use console commands"

It is. But I've never actually seen the ending, so I didn't know anything besides Markiplier let's-plays.