While I work on the college update, I still want to ensure I am making the existing game better. After a successful launch week (thank you!) I've seen more load on the game and how frequently people are able to hit high scores. Ultimately, I think normal was playing a little too much like easy, so I made a few balancing tweaks to improve the game experience and hopefully make victory a little more rewarding!
Balance Changes
Throwing and Jumping have been reined in: Both builds were too easy. I changed the way stats effect throwing to make it slightly less strength-dominant which is why any build was OP. For jumping, I slightly nerfed training to make it a little more work to build the perfect jumper.
Rebalanced stat weights across Sprints, Hurdles, and Distance events: This was some minor work around the edges, nothing has changed here that will likely be noticeable to the player.
Removed the small starting-stat head start: Builds used to get a 5-point stat bump in their most important skill at the start of the game, effectively giving you 105 starting points vs. 100 for normal mode. That is no more!
Elite performances are toned down: Previously, a fully maxed-out athlete could reliably hit the absolute best-case time or distance for their event. I've adjusted it so that is no longer how it works. An elite athlete can still hit the ceiling, but it requires near-perfect conditions and a little luck, the way breaking an incredible record should feel.
As players begin to experience these new changes, I'll gather more data and input and will likely balance again, but this feels like a step in the right direction based on what is being shared with me on the Discord.
Speaking of which - join the Discord: discord.gg/8BFuwmStGK