Yes, it has been tested and it works. Additional enemies spawn at certain parts, while enemy attack patterns can change--either they begin shooting faster and more frequently, or gain new attacks.kurismakku wrote:I love the idea of dynamic difficulty ! So better the player is - more challenging the game becomes.
How much did you test this ? Does it actually work ?
And what variables you track when calculating current difficulty ?
A good example would be the large spiked turtle pods in stage 2: in the current demo, at Rank 0-1 they only fire straight beams, but at Rank 2 they gain a forward spread shot which increases in speed the higher the Rank gets (I nerfed this to Rank 4 in the newer versions which will be released later this month hopefully). Likewise, the flying stingrays in Stage 2 gain twin laser beams at Rank 2, and spreadshots at Rank 4.
A more subtle example would be the Stage 1 boss. The higher the Rank gets, the faster his large waves become. Also, the exploding gravity orbs he throws during Phase 2 will slowly become more numerous (he normally throws 5 at a time, but adds extra orbs when the Rank gets higher). He actually has attacks for Rank 5-9 that you currently won't be able to see without manually altering the code.
If you do particularly well and get up to Stage 3 without dying or bombing too much, you can begin seeing the effects of Rank levels 6 to 9. Smaller enemies will begin firing revenge bullets on death, while bigger enemies will explode into bullet rings. Additionally, slain enemies begin dropping more point items at higher Rank. Some enemies even begin shooting unblockable bullets.
For my game, I chose simpler variables for managing rank. By default I set it so that it steadily increases as you play, but not so quickly as to overwhelm you when you aren't even 1/4 through the game yet (2 Player mode has faster rank increase, and the upcoming Survival modes have even faster rates than even regular 2 Player). Getting hit and bombing will lower the rank, and losing lives will lower it the most. Killing enemies, collecting gems and receiving 1ups will increase it.
It's really up to you how you want rank to be managed; many older games, like Capcom shooters, increased the difficulty simply through not dying and collecting lots of powerups, while dying would calm the game down so you have a chance to recover. Other "advanced" shooters such as the ones programmed by Shinobu Yagawa used more complicated measures like not missing a single bonus medal, controlling your rate of fire and purposely suiciding at key points.