Yeah, Batman style "detective mode" and Spidey's "radio" stuff would serve well enough for the super-senses. Add in some infrared, and a telescopic "zoom in/out" option and you're basically there. There's no need for Clark's senses to be at "what pretty DNA you have!" levels. I want a fully powered and powerful Superman, but not a Silver Age plot device.
Returns did that and it was awful. I'm one of those folks insisting he isn't nerfed and turned into a generic video game character and I support alternative parameters for mission success/failure, but on the old game thread I made the mistake of using Returns as an example of what *a* mission *might* look like with different success/failure parameters, then for several pages had to try to explain that I didn't want another Returns, I just wanted more variety in the kinds of missions you can do and how you get through them.Yeah, I think the bigger issues emerge because some people are really insistent that you don't nerf him and want to do some kind of city health bar instead of an individual one, which is totally unfeasible and just doesn't sound fun
Agreed. Split the gangs up by borough, give them each different mechanics and abilities and, I say, level ranges. That way you can get an idea of how difficult an area is just by looking at what kind of trash mobs are wandering around. Maybe the 100 are the lowest level gang, so you know you're pretty safe in their territory and will be mostly fighting guys with pistols and Molotov cocktails (little chance of physical defeat) with the occasional tougher foe or mini boss using some street magic (higher chance of physical defeat). Maybe the Invisible Mafia is your mid-range threat, where you know more trash mobs will have a chance of defeating you but it's not much to worry about unless you get stupid, and the tougher foes and mini bosses are folks like Red Mist, where they can put up a solid fight but probably have some kind of Achilles' heel you can exploit to drop them quickly. Then you use Intergang for your high-end zone, where most of them are using high-grade weapons and even the trash mobs can be a problem if you're not careful.
Then you just work the main story through the city appropriately. When you start the game you're in the Slums, where your low level and inexperience as a player makes those trash mobs more challenging than they should be. Mid-game, you're working through zones controlled by the Invisible Mafia, so you've got a solid grasp on the mechanics and you've earned some levels and skill points (or whatever progression system) but the foes are a little tougher too, so you're still not just steamrolling everything. Endgame you're dealing with Intergang, and it's a good thing you've got those skill points and hours of playtime because the trash mobs are much more dangerous.
Just something like that, I think, would provide a challenge for players while still making Superman feel like Superman. And since we're talking open world, and presumably you can go anywhere at any time, you can always quest in a different area if you want more or less of a challenge, but don't want to change the entire difficulty setting.
And I need some world bosses scattered around the map too. Maybe Titano is hanging around on top of the LexCorp building, and you can go fight him whenever you want....but he's a world boss, so if you're not high level and/or really, really good with the combat system you'll just get your ass kicked. DCUO does that, and it's a jumpscare when you walk around a corner in a level 12 zone only to find the level 30 Bizarro hanging around, just waiting for some noob player to get into aggro range.