Differences between insane / ace

[Sum0Beatz]

I am playing Descent 1 Rebirth, I was wondering if there was a different AI for ACE or INSANE difficulty.

I've exclusively played INSANE but recently decided to try ACE, and boy was there a HUUUGE difference!

The robots actively ambush my position and are much more tricky to predict on INSANE, while on ACE its almost no problem at all

Insane is very taxing and I like the idea that one small mistake is instant death

[LightWolf]

In the code Insane is referenced as Lunacy. I guess they were trying for literal craziness.

[Marvin]

Yes, the difference is really big. I think the biggest problem is how fast robots move and can avoid your shots. If you expect to kill someone with particular shot, but fail, you can be in real trouble. Btw they sometimes even escape a homing missile, lol.
I was actually thinking of making insane-max run of full game, but that seems to be way to hard to not die anywhere..

[Sum0Beatz]

Yes, the difference is really big. I think the biggest problem is how fast robots move and can avoid your shots. If you expect to kill someone with particular shot, but fail, you can be in real trouble. Btw they sometimes even escape a homing missile, lol.
I was actually thinking of making insane-max run of full game, but that seems to be way to hard to not die anywhere..

You're the only who can do it, you have all the routes mapped out in your mind.

You must do it! Not only for yourself to say you finally mastered this game but to finish the mission Material Defender!

[Marvin]

I really remember all levels at the moment. Like every robot in the game. Still doubt I can do such a run..
Would you like to watch it? Maybe I will give it a try if I see more people wish to see that.

[Sum0Beatz]

I really remember all levels at the moment. Like every robot in the game. Still doubt I can do such a run..
Would you like to watch it? Maybe I will give it a try if I see more people wish to see that.

yea you should stream ur attempts or just go as far as uploading the progress you are making, you will be in for a frustrating journey, but it will be finished at some point. Theres some great decent players out there but I truely believe your the guy for the job. You've been training for this all these years beginning with your insane walk throughs 7-8 years ago.

Go for it.

[Sum0Beatz]

i made this thread because ive been trying to beat Level 9 cold start on insane.

I started playing in 2017 and I learned how to play exclusively on level 6 insane, for the most part I can complete that level 8/10 times. I believe it will be a similar journey with level 9. I really like the combat aspect of level 9 where level 6 has gone stale.

Came close to beating it today, its a very tough level. I can beat it no problem on ACE, but man INSANE i feel hunted by the bots. I get more jumpy as I get closer to beating the level, and that damn roaming medium hulk scares the life outta me when I lose track of him.

[LightWolf]

If I were to insane-max the whole game I would allow saves And drop the cold start rule...

[Marvin]

i made this thread because ive been trying to beat Level 9 cold start on insane.

I started playing in 2017 and I learned how to play exclusively on level 6 insane, for the most part I can complete that level 8/10 times. I believe it will be a similar journey with level 9. I really like the combat aspect of level 9 where level 6 has gone stale.

Came close to beating it today, its a very tough level. I can beat it no problem on ACE, but man INSANE i feel hunted by the bots. I get more jumpy as I get closer to beating the level, and that damn roaming medium hulk scares the life outta me when I lose track of him.

Faster you play this level, there is a better chance robots won't start roaming. That was my experience.

If I were to insane-max the whole game I would allow saves And drop the cold start rule...

Playing full game means no cold start by definition, so go for it:). But no saves:P.

[Marvin]

yea you should stream ur attempts or just go as far as uploading the progress you are making, you will be in for a frustrating journey, but it will be finished at some point. Theres some great decent players out there but I truely believe your the guy for the job. You've been training for this all these years beginning with your insane walk throughs 7-8 years ago.

Go for it.

Actually I currently have no internet in my home, so I can't stream. Anyway, I would have to develop some different strategies than in my speedruns. There is zero chance to make it this way. Maybe I should rewatch those old walkthroughs you mentioned.. But that would be pain to watch, I couldn't even trichord, lol.
Btw I tried play it on insane without dying a few times in past (but not seriously with decision to really make it). Furthest I made it was Secret level 1..

[Sum0Beatz]

Full run without saves would be the rule.

And you got to level secret level 1? Thats beating the first 10 levels without dying, thats pretty good !

[Marvin]

1/3 of the game maybe sounds good, but it means nothing, since next levels are so much harder. And it is hard to keep focus and patience for so long.
But I tried make kind of speedrun of max category on hot shot, you don't have to care about anything at all. Did it in 2h and 1 minute of ingame time, but missed one robot in level 25, lol.

[DarkFlameWolf]

I know The Enemy Within had an insane difference between Insane and Ace mods in terms of how hard Robots were. I also made a change between Trainee and Rookie where there was a stark difference on trainee and you could pretty much beat the entire level set with eyes closed on that difficulty setting!

[Marvin]

So I tried go for that full game run with 100% kills without dying again. This time I didn't miss anything (last time I missed one robot). Did it in 1h56min on hotshot and 2h11min on ace. I think I should be able to go under 2 hours on ace too, since I basicly used same route, but I wanted make sure I won't die, so I took a lot of safety shields everywhere. Anyway, insane would be different story, I would have to change many things and I still feel lazy to try that, it is serious task.

[Marvin]

So I tried it twice on insane today. In first one I died at L10, in second I actually did something more stupid than dying. At the end of secret level 1 I had 170+ shields, unfortunately I missed fusion shot to supervisors (only one projectile hit), so I had to step more back for another shot. I was way to close to exit tunnel, so the mega missile shot pushed me to exit before destroying last robots, lol.

[Marvin]

Today I started from L11 (I have saved spot, so it is not cold start) to see how it goes in next levels. I died in L13, but next death came in L23! So it actually seems to be more doable than I though!

[Marvin]

New best run - I died at the end of L18. Pretty unnecessary death, damn.

[Marvin]

Made it to L23 today and died only because I don't like playing slowly, it was easily avoidable. The whole thing is definitely doable.

[Sum0Beatz]

Please upload run!

[Marvin]

I'm not going to upload failed run. The demo file is long and converting to avi is problematic for me (I don't have enough free space, also it is lagy, so I have to put down a resolution a lot). If you wish to see it, I can send you a demo file.

[Sum0Beatz]

Yes please demo file would be amazing.

I am not as good as a pilot as you, but I want to copy cat ur demo and see how far i can get on insane. My goal is to complete the game without dying some day

[Marvin]

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