Extra Credits

Did Level Scaling Break Games? - Leveling in Open World Design (2019x45)

: 16, 2019

With whole new worlds open for exploring, game designers ran into a quick problem: how do you make sure new players don't run into a difficulty brick wall, and experienced players don't have to wade through trash mobs? Games like Oblivion and Assassin's Creed: Odyssey tried to fix this problem by simply scaling enemy difficulty to grow along with the player. But is that really the best solution? Or does level scaling doom open worlds to a same-y slog?