Greetings scientists,
With The Final Echoes Update being less than a week away, we wanted to take this last opportunity to showcase one of the new features being added to Forever Skies in this update, Custom Difficulty Mode!
Tailor the game to your playstyle
Play However You Like: Custom Difficulty Mode
Difficulty Customization is a feature you, the community, have been asking for for a long time, and we're excited to be bringing it to the game. We felt that the Final Echoes Update was the perfect opportunity to introduce this feature finally.
The latest update includes new challenges such as additional enemy encounters above the dust and a more engaging Airship damage system. However, we know many of our players prefer a more relaxed adventure through the skies, and because of this, we wanted to make sure the experience remains enjoyable for as many players as possible. Difficulty Customization gives players the freedom to tailor the experience to their own playstyle.
Whether you want to focus more on combat, more on traditional survival mechanics, or just want to turn off water, food, and crafting costs altogether, Custom Difficulty Mode has you covered!
Where To Find Custom Difficulty Mode & What Is Included
You can find this option in the same section as the other difficulty modes from both the main menu and the pause menu. Simply scroll through Easy, Medium, Hard and finally, Custom - then just click on “Customize”.
Access CDM via the main menu or the pause menu at any time
Here is the full list of options you can tailor in-game, and the options available to select:
- HUNGER MANAGEMENT - Easy / Medium / Hard / Disabled
- THIRST MANAGEMENT - Easy / Medium / Hard / Disabled
- ENERGY MANAGEMENT - Easy / Medium / Hard / Disabled
- OXYGEN MANAGEMENT - Easy / Medium / Hard / Disabled
- CRAFTING COST MODE - Normal / Free Crafting
- DEATH ON FALL FROM AIRSHIP - On / Off
- ITEM LOSS ON DEATH - Medium / Hard / Disabled
- ENEMY HEALTH - Slider ranging from 10% - 200%
- ENEMY DAMAGE - Slider ranging from 0% - 200%
- ENEMY QUANTITY - Reduced / Normal / Increased / No Enemies
- THUNDER STRIKE DAMAGE - Reduced / Normal / Increased / No Damage
- DEVICE EXPLOSION DAMAGE - Reduced / Normal / Increased / No Damage
- ELECTRICITY EMERGENCY DAMAGE - Reduced / Normal / Increased / No Damage
- ELECTRICITY OVERLOAD DAMAGE - Reduced / Normal / Increased / No Damage
Questions We Predict You May Have About Custom Difficulty Mode
We suspect you may have a few questions about all of this, so we will attempt to answer a few of them here in this section we’re calling “Questions We Predict You May Have About Custom Difficulty Mode(™)”
- Can these options only be chosen at the start, or can I change them whenever I like? You can tailor your game at any point you like. In fact, you can start your game in one of the set difficulty modes (easy, medium or hard) and then change to custom at any point afterwards.
- If I do change to Custom Difficulty Mode mid-game or adjust any of the settings, will it affect any achievements/trophies? No. You can tweak your settings at any point, and it will not block any of your achievements/trophies being tracked. We don’t want to restrict players from tailoring their experience like that.
- Does this change the tutorial in any way? No. The tutorial will stay the same, no matter what changes you make with Custom Difficulty Mode. The tutorial is still designed to cover the basics of the normal Forever Skies gameloop. Any changes you make in the Options, such as removing food and water bars for example, only come into play once you leave the starting area in the Airship.
- Are all hostiles removed by the “No Enemies” toggle? Selecting “No Enemies” removes all Mantis, Webling Larvae, Drone and Ram Drone enemies from the game. Stationary enemies such as Thorn Bee, Grass Cricket and Crustpede will still be present to prevent players from getting soft locked in the games progression and having access to useful resources.
- How does it work in co-op? It works in the same way as it does now with the set difficulty levels. The host can customize the difficulty for their world/game. The players who join the host will experience the same difficulty settings they have chosen.
- Can I use Custom Difficulty Mode on my existing saves, or is it for new saves only? You can use Custom Difficulty Mode on your existing saves; you don’t have to start a new save.
A customized game with no Energy, Food or Water mechanics.
We hope you found these answers useful! Got any other questions? Let us know in the comments! We really hope you enjoy experimenting with these new options at your disposal.
See you next week for the official release of Final Echoes!
Team FFH