My Thoughts On Hardcore Mode...

[pawnluvguitarist]

First off, I'd like to say that I absolutely love hardcore mode, its a dream come true, endless options :)

One of the reasons why I love it so much is because it really seems like it was made with the tech/difficulty kind of skater in mind. Hardcore mode is all about having the perfect set up, getting the perfect flip, and having the exact right speed. To get stuff on lock you really have a small window for error, which doesn't leave much room for adding style, or approaching things the way you want instead of how the game wants it.

I can see how that would be very frustrating for people. Especially for the kind of people that have that flowing kinda style, where aesthetics are very important not just what trick it was or how hard it was to do. Instead of being able to be stylish and spontaneous, and just cruise, you are forced to pay close attention to your speed, angle distance ect, you are limited to what you can do if you wanna get the trick. There may only be one specific speed/angle/pop combo thats going to work, and its going to take time and a lot of session marker use. I think what a lot of people are mad about is that the "perfect set up" for the game doesn't really work like how it does in RL, it simulates the difficulty just not in the same way, kind of like how flickit simulates wow we flick trick in RL, but its not like we are using a real skateboard, its simulated difficulty not the actually difficulty.

I don't mind that, because since day one i've always been about the tricks, the tech, the difficulty, and not so much about the style and getting simpler tricks perfectly. For all my OATS style bangers in S2, there was only one way to get that double bonk or bonk grind popless or whatever, there was no room for error, no time to worry about perfect lock ins and landing animations there was one specific speed/angle/pop or whatever combo that was needed. Every trick would have a very small window of opportunity.

But now on hardcore mode every grind feels like i'm going for an OATS style banger because no matter how simple the grind it will always have that real small window of opportunity, and every time you land one it feels like a banger...


In closing, i hope they do patch it so a lot of you guys can have as much fun as i have :)

For guys like Demz that wanna approach shit from crazy angles or go for stylish animations let him do it his way, some guys dont like small windows or an annoying simulated difficulty that pushes you away:(

Not gonna post this at EA, at least not now, theres enough fighting there already...

ps: I think if instead of pushing you away you should just land in the grind then bail, and that should only happen if you were way off. That and give us the option for more windows.

[thesignguy]

I like your thought process.


No but seriously thats pretty much my exact thoughts. I have always aproached the game in the same way. I have gotten a lot of responses that I do a lot of simple stuff. But I might be the only one that knows I wanted to turn here or crouch there. I get the most joy out of stuff that might have taken hours, sometimes months to finaly go back and get. But thats me, and perhaps you. I knew that these changes would not befor everyone. So much preasure on using hardcore mode too, i hope it doesnt allienate. And i hope people realise if there was no hardcore mode at all, but you had all the new features, a brand new spankin city, and a way to create practically anything with cap then would you of been happy?

Edit: i really dont think it has anything to do with our style, design wise. I think it was just how it ended up, in the demo version at least. I think they really did do what they fealt was best. Just its a new system almost completely besides some of the animations. If it was this way from the get go there would be no complaints (haha no complaints haha) anyway you get my drift.

[Roccityroller]

i actually think its a bit easier to "flow" given the right spot. S2 i felt like it was more speed control in lines, making sure i didn't fly past the rail/stairs/etc. now it's like i'm just cruisin and focusing on tricks instead of my speed

[schnavolda]

I can see how that would be very frustrating for people. Especially for the kind of people that have that flowing kinda style, where aesthetics are very important not just what trick it was or how hard it was to do.

this.

i don't skate around looking for spots, they come to me on their own. but all the perfect approach/small window of opportunity really kills the fun in just dorking around the city. maybe it's just a matter of practice but it's a huge limitation. for me, a lot of the fun comes not from filming a specific trick at a specific spot but to just go out there and skate without a goal in mind. and i care about the look of a trick a lot.

so i'm really thinking about playing in normal mode while just cruising around until i find a good spot, then switch to hc to film there. i have the patience to try a trick for hours until i hit it right. it just wouldn't be fun to have to do that even when not filming.

if there was a larger window of opportunity and the hc grind system as it is now non-existant it would all be way better.

[okami16]

endless options

what more do you actually need.
HC mode is fine to me , even though i play a completley diffrent style to pawn i can still gey s2 lines, just takes couple more pushes and a bit of time.
my personal opinion i think people said they want a "challenge" but REEELY(gonna sound wierd but i dunno ny other way to explain it) they subconciuosly aint ready for S3 yet.
folks just need to let the fact thst S3 is like this and will be, sink in to there heads. like pawn ALREADY said give it 2 months and well all be used to it.

my opinion...

[Ebrice]

idk i don't think they need to revamp the grind mechanic..i just don't want to be pushed away by the ledge, even if i wasn't gonna stick the grind..i don't think they need to totally redo it like many are suggesting, just fix the glitch.i'd rather overshoot or have a runout animation than be thrown away from the ledge entirely. i feel like it would even help with the whole lack of style thing because whenever i come in at angles i would like in s2 it does the push...obviously i've adapted but i would still like the option to hit grinds differently.

[xx LiL sUpRa xx]

Pawn i couldnt have said it better myself.
;)
Finally someone is on the same page as me.

[BeatChemist]

maybe it's just a matter of practice but it's a huge limitation. for me, a lot of the fun comes not from filming a specific trick at a specific spot but to just go out there and skate without a goal in mind. and i care about the look of a trick a lot.

so i'm really thinking about playing in normal mode while just cruising around until i find a good spot, then switch to hc to film there. i have the patience to try a trick for hours until i hit it right. it just wouldn't be fun to have to do that even when not filming.

I totally appreciate this because it's how I play Skate. Maybe about 30% of the tricks I'm filming were stuff that I tried and laboured for hours to get. Probably less than that actually. I find more and more that I'm mostly concerned with the aesthetics of the skating and filming, and less about the difficulty of "making that trick happen in a video using the flickit system," - if that makes sense. It's like Call of Duty as well, I don't care about the fact that I had to play for hours or get xx amount of kills to unlock a gun - I just want to be able to shoot with an AK-47, you know? Less about bragging rights or competitiveness and more about expression and style.

That said, I respect the people who do care about the difficulty factor. I fully admit that I just don't have the patience to get sooooo skilled at the technical side of the flickit system.

I am enjoying hardcore a lot though, because it's doing like pawn said and making simple tricks feel good. It's frustrating as hell when I can't seem to get something to lock or whatever because of the push offs, but it's usually just a matter of adjust the line of approach or speed or whatever. Just fine tuning. But it's not nearly as frustrating as having to low pop or double grind by glitching in S2. So it feels more approachable to GET technical and find a balance between tech and style that I couldn't achieve in S2 because of lack of patience.

Ultimately. Endless options. Don't like the HC grind? Flip to Normal and low pop. Or like Schnav said just cruise on normal hitting stuff, finding lines, flowing through the city. Then switch to HC when you want to film or just session a single spot/object for a while.

So pumped for the 11th.

[yellowsnow]

I feel like hardcore mode opens as many doors as it closes. Its almost impossible to low-pop into a low ledge but now possible to low-pop a flip trick out without having to glitch popless. You lose one thing, and gain another. Basically I think of hardcore mode is an evolution.

I think many people are getting frustrated because they had a style in s1/s2 that won't translate as smoothly into s3. The low-pop guys or people big on aesthetics have some limitations with angles and ollie height, and i can see why thats frustrating

But i think we still have plenty of options to explore with hardcore mode. I think new styles will develop and people will find new ways to be unique with the new possibilities. Its just gonna take time and the transition won't be as smooth as it was from s1 to s2.

Overall, i think the community will evolve and develop with hardcore mode, and i think thats a good thing.