"easy" Setting Taking Effect?

In Preferences, I have no green light next to the "EASY" difficulty setting. I don't want EASY, if you please.

In file alchemy.ini, it says:
I've noticed playing the Gold upgrade patch edition that I have tons of torps when playing subs in the campaigns and loads of DCs, too. Also, when selecting the 500 meter range on the TAC, subs always show up distinctly and never as a blurred dot anymore.

Is some amiss here?

I edited alchemy.ini and manually changed it to difficulty = true. Now the green light shows up next to the EASY setting in the Preferences screen and, going into a campaign mission, the amount of charges and torps is reduced.

Why is this backwards?

Yeah in Enigma Easy vs Diff, is actually reversed, not sure why they made it like this, but on easy you get tons of guns and on the 500m screen the enemies are triangles and not circles.

Playing on diff is infact easier than on easy cause the same rules apply to the AI as they do to you (ammo, visibility, 500m radar etc)

The easy setting is geared towards the FPS players who are having trouble adjusting to Enigma. 4x's the health, 4x's the ammo and you can see exactly where they are and the direction they are heading.

The easy setting is geared towards the FPS players who are having trouble adjusting to Enigma. 4x's the health, 4x's the ammo and you can see exactly where they are and the direction they are heading.

Yes but read carefully. It's hard when EASY is on and easy when EASY is off!

Read the response carefully: Because the FPS players tend to be un-subtle in their approach to combat, they require more resilience and ammunition. The visibility is the same for all because the AI are forced to use the same information that the player does.

Yep, easy mode is for all guns, no tactics mode. It might have been better to call it

Easy = Arcade mode.

Hard = Realistic.

Playing on diff is infact easier than on easy cause the same rules apply to the AI as they do to you (ammo, visibility, 500m radar etc)

I disagree:

1. AI are more accurate with their firings than human players in general or on average, so they should be more efficient with their ammo loads.

2. AI are more accurate in their tracking the enemy. We humanoids have to fidget with mouse, keys and voice commands, while the AI simply runs some code at the speed of a Pentium to keep track of the enemy.

I have just now inadvertantly played the beginning of the USN surface campaign thinking that with EASY off in Preferences, it should be more difficult (hence this thread). Far from it, from recalling the first time I played the campaign a year ago. Now that I've switched EASY on - meaning "difficult" - things have become more challenging.

1) The AI are not more accurate - the same calculations are used for the player and the AI.

2) The AI are not more accurate in tracking the enemy. Their positions update at exactly the same speed as your display + a random factor (always slower). The AI also deal with the same visibility rules. They are programmed to apply basic Naval tactics (slow operation when using hydrophones, out past 1500 meters when using asdic). It may appear that your assumptions are true, but I can tell you that the code does not allow the operations you are suggesting.

We built it from the inside out to be a MMOG - that means no cheating by the AI, no cheating by the player. Rules are the same for both, controls are the same for both - AI even has to set waypoints or adjust the throttle or rudder to accomplish any navigational task.

If tat is the case, East, why do the Gunnery Officers on your ship act like they are all one over the eight?

Much has to do with your angle of approach and speed. Both of these affect accuracy. There are optimum angles for every ship.

Also realize that the AI ships will make small course corrections under fire to try and throw your gunners off. You should be doing the same.