POI DIFFICULTY & TIERS
----------------------

POI challenge is an important aspect of the game that individuals, server
operators, and overhaul mod makers all face. There's a lot of factors that go
into what constitutes a challenge for players. Consider:

* Player Knowledge & Experience (newb vs veteran)
* Player Physical Capability (reaction time, motor skills, vision, hearing)
* Player Technical Limitations (hardware, graphics settings, network connection)
* Play Style (cautious vs aggressive vs reckless)
* Player Tactics (noisy vs stealth; follows path vs doesn't follow path)
* Number of Players (solo vs group)
* Game Stage (available equipment and ammo)
* Game Difficulty Settings (easy vs hard vs OMG)
* Game Time (day or night)
* Game Type (vanilla vs overhaul)
* POI Zed Placement (overt vs covert vs improbable)
* POI Zed Encounter Size (number of Zeds per Volume)
* POI Zed Difficulty (crawlers vs walkers vs exploding Zeds)
* POI Zed Encounter Design (can retreat vs trapped)
* POI Zed Density (Zeds per Volume and Volume size)
* POI Vertical Travel (Zed volume activation quirks)
* POI Ambush Volumes (Zed volumes that self-activate Zeds)
* POI Traps (use of unstable blocks, spikes, mines)

A player's enjoyment of a POI is going to depend on all that. How could a POI
designer possibly claim "balance" when most of the factors are out of their
control?

WHAT ARE VANILLA POIS?

I cannot speak for the TFP Design Team. My opinion is they're intended to be of
easy to moderate difficulty. In the early tiers, punches are pulled. That makes
them trivial to many veteran players. Around tier 3 things start to get more
serious, but the target audience is never those who are looking for an extreme
challenge. In my opinion, that's great because few players really want an
extreme challenge. For most, stepping up the game difficulty has them
adequately covered so Vanilla POIs hit the sweet spot.

If you're mixing in other modlets (or overhauls) the Vanilla POIs are the lowest
common demoninator. That is, you'll never have enough POIs if you don't use
them in your maps, so you're going to tune your game with Vanilla POIs in mind.
Typically, progression turns Zeds into bullet sponges. Bullet sponges make you
reload more often giving Zeds more of a chance to close the distance and hit
you. POIs that use larger encounter sizes (more Zeds per volume) get a bit more
difficult if you didn't plan for an egress or get trapped.

SHOULD ALL POIS MATCH VANILLA?

I don't think so. A player, or server operator, who is looking to apply modlets
to the game is neither likely to be a new player, nor looking to host players
who will fit into the "newb" category for long. The question is really how much
more difficult should they be? In my opinion, there are two groups to satisfy.

First, there are players who are enthusiastic about the game and want to
continue at a vanilla-like level. They're likely capable of a bit more
difficulty because they are not new players but they're not looking to be run
down and overwhelmed. (This is my target audience.)

Then, there are those who are looking for an extreme challenge. They're either
of the mindset that they can take anything the game throws at them or they're
people who get a laugh out of death in glorious fashion.

WHAT ARE POI TIERS?

While it is tempting to think of Tiers as a measure of difficulty, they're
really inadequate for that task. Most conventions rate tiers based on the total
number of Zeds in a POI. All that really tells you is the body count necessary
to complete the mission. Designers generally take it easier on the player with
tiers 1 and 2. The dirty tricks become more common in tiers 4 and 5.

ARE THESE POIS APPROPRIATE FOR MY DESIRED GAME?

Only you can answer that. I suggest you review the following information as
part of making your own assessment.

I did a study of zombie density in December 2022. I compared a number of POI
modlets based on "density", which to me is the maximum number of Zeds in a POI
divided by the number of Zombie Volumnes. (Density = Max-Zeds / Volumes) While
not perfect (as discussed above) I believe it is a better measure than a Tier
value based on just Max-Zeds. There's a built in assumption with density that
an encouter is just a single zombie volume being activated. Player Tactics
and POI traps mess up that assumption, but it is a metric that is feasible to
calculate.

As a result of that study, I summized:

                         Density
TFP Vanilla              1-2  Zeds per Volume
Deverezieaux Modlet      3-5  Zeds per Volume
ZZTong Modlet            4-5  Zeds per Volume
Darkness Falls PEP       4-8  Zeds per Volume
CompoPack 48.5           5-11 Zeds per Volume

Note that evaluating the CompoPack as one unit is not an accurate reflection
of any particular POI designer found within the CompoPack.

Based on those results I felt I was missing my goal of being "Vanilla
Friendly", specifically at Tiers 1 and 2. I decided to revise my
Modlet with the following goal:

            DENSITY GOAL       DENSITY RANGE
Tier 1      2.0                1.5 - 2.5
Tier 2      3.0                2.5 - 3.5
Tier 3      4.0                3.5 - 4.5
Tier 4      5.0                4.5 - 5.5
Tier 5      6.0+               5.5+

I also decided to continue to use the CompoPack Tier definitions as they work
fine and they are the only guidance available.

ZOMBIES    TIER
 0- 4      0
 5-15      1
16-30      2
31-45      3
46-60      4
61+        5

And, after having tried to conform to both this density goal and the CompoPack
tiers. I felt both goals worked well enough at Tiers 1 and 2. At Tier 3 I found
it hard sometimes to pack the zombies in as tight and stay within the tier.
Plainly stated, while a higher tier enjoys being able to make a more difficult
encounter, it doesn't mean the majority of encounters should scale as high.
When that happens, you fall short of the goal.

Thus, the Density Goal found above should be viewed less rigorously at higher
tiers. Indeed, if you take the number of Zeds allowed for a tier and divide it
by the density goal, you only end up with a certain number of zombie volumes
that you can use. This gets to be constraining the higher you go into the tiers
and you'll have to abandon the idead of an increasing density goal.

And so, my conclusion here is Density is important, but it isn't everything
except perhaps at Tier 1-2, and maybe 3.

TRIGGERS

Zombie volumes that are triggered by some event have been around for many
versions, but their use became more common to Vanilla POIs starting in A20
and ramping up significantly in A21. I suspect this happened in response to
player calls for more difficulty at higher tiers. But triggers have also been
a point of criticism by players, as players don't get an opportunity to
outsmart or outmaneuver triggered zombies. Thus, players who crave a slow,
methodical stealth adventure are often denied a stealthy conclusion to a POI
or have no choice but to face an ambush they worked hard to disarm. Other
players resent having zombies spawn behind the player in areas that have been
previously cleared.

There can be technical issues with triggers. When POIs are only installed on
the server and not the client, some triggers do not fire unless the trigger
object is destroyed. This is yet another subtle issue with POIs not being
installed on the client.

Because of these issues, my current approach to triggers is to use them
lightly. This likely makes my upper tier POIs easier than vanilla POIs.

WHAT IS THE COMPOPACK?

I think the way people view the CompoPack influences their opinion of it.

My preferred mindset for the CompoPack (CP) is that it is a library. Download
it and use the POIs you like. As a library, the CP provides a public service
allowing you to access nearly every POI ever created by the community. And,
the CP team keeps those POIs up-to-date with the latest version of the game.
That is a massive amount of work that I think deserves appreciation. I
contribute my POIs to the CompoPack so they'll hopefully be around even if I
no longer am.

If you use the entire CP then you must be aware you are getting some POIs that
are designed for an extreme challenge. You're choosing to view the CompoPack
as a single playable modlet. If that is what you want, and you're stepping
into that world with your eyes open, then Rock On! Otherwise, you're destined
for a rude awakening. Those who design extreme POIs are trying to trap,
overwhelm, and kill you. Even the best of players get forced to flee. If
you're new to those POIs, I suggest you don't enter them alone. Bring friends,
bring ammo, be able to move quickly, and don't be reckless.

WHAT ABOUT ZOMBIES FOUND OUTSIDE OF POIS?

Some people consider this a sign of a bad POI design because it is uncommonly
done in Vanilla POIs. My opinion is it is a technique best used sparingly
because it can lead to Zeds uselessly spawning as Players pass them by when
traveling. However, it is perfectly valid. TFP does it in several POIs and
Tiles. I wish people would quit poo-pooing the practice.

