- Joined
- Dec 17, 2004
- Posts
- 1,081
Hey, Vec! You made me curious about level 8, so for the last weeks, I've been playing exclusively on hard with the Shot Maker, mainly the on the Japan course. My notes so far:
- The first I noticed was, how difficult it became to get first place alone. It's (probably) only possible if you manage a one credit clear, which I still didn't accomplish. Hard, indeed.
- The rank gets incredibly high, if you're running on one credit, after loosing it, it becomes more MVS like difficulty.
- A striking change is the wind. Sure, high wind blows are always dangerous, but during my sessions on hard, the wind blew more, eh... intelligent. Like in a situation where a 5 m headwind, slight off center would be the worst, that could happen, that was exactly what happened. One whole further the same thing! On hard, the winds don't have to blow strong to give you trouble, just clever.
- The pin locations aren't different, but definitely further locations are unlocked, among them the most difficult ones. Together with the Hi-Q winds I described above, those more varied locations can make for some deadly traps.
To sum it up, it's great to play on such a high level. You learn more, it's like having a master to teach you. Also matches against other players get far more interesting, because everything can change during a single hole up to the end. No lead is certain anymore.
I didn't notice the wind being more awkward, but I do know it's hard to get first without playing perfectly. I'm usually too "in the moment" to notice the exact differences, but level 8 is noticeably more challenging. If I play level 8 regularly and go back to level 4, it feels easier and I get better scores.
I actually wish the wind increased more at level 8 so it was closer to the crazy wind found in 2P Match play. That is the best way to practice, but you can't regularly get that level of difficulty in single player. I really wish I was better with software so I could hack it into a cheat.