cold ember
The way the difficulty system for the fetch gamemode currently works is that it seems to require more supplies to be gathered and more towers to be repaired, but enemy counts seem to be more or less the same as lower levels, if not slightly increased. This results in longer games where players are more spread out. The result of this is discouraging players from actually playing with each other and encouraging them to go off on their own while one player is on bot babysitting duty, as this is the most efficient means of clearing high difficulties. The usage of tools is also discouraged since you can't carry a tool along with supplies, so people don't use these, either.
I think if difficulty was reworked to make getting to supplies harder rather than requiring quite so many supplies, it would make higher difficulties and multiplayer gameplay feel way more fun. Here are some proposals I have for a difficulty rework:
As difficulty increases, supplies are more likely to spawn further away from the base. This requires players to venture out further, increasing the risk of them coming across entities. Some closer locations may not even spawn with any supplies, unlike how most locations are totally packed at higher levels in the current version.
As difficulty increases, more enemies spawn. This should be at a noticeable level, encouraging players to interact with the existing mechanics such as noise management/stealth and sticking in groups to deal with multiple spiders or banshees and such.
The total supplies required should be reduced at all difficulties past 3 compared to the current levels. As the game is now, higher difficulties with 2+ people can require players having to get over 40 supplies per run. Given the lack of player inventories, this grows incredibly tedius and bloats run times to a tremendous degree. Opting for shorter but more engaging runs at higher difficulties should increase player satisfaction and result in more memorable gameplay moments.
gleaming prism
floral yarrow
