Candy Crush Saga

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Candy Crush Saga

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Is leaving the AI to run the game a big mistake?

I am starting to figure out how come that the level difficulty labelling seems "off" for me this week and I don't like it: I am wondering if leaving the AI in charge is the end of "pass without boosters" algorithms and if this could lead to an automatic and perhaps unwanted increase in level difficulty across the game.

Welcome! 👋

Comments

Peaches12

Forgot to mention, although I am sure you already know, that all levels increase in difficulty when a leaderboard is going on.

Peaches12

Playing old levels is part of how I play the game. It started out because I got bored just winning new level after new level, so I replayed old levels to try to get to number 1 in my friends list of scores for the levels I had already played and once they took that away, to compete with myself and improve my score. Now that scores are gone, it is just to improve the stars and to try to get sugar stars. I guess when stars go away I will quit. Anyway, for me the difficulty seems to come in waves. Some days I can beat even the old nightmare and legendary levels without boosters and other days I can't even beat the easy levels. I never use my boosters on old levels, so if I am playing a booster on an old level it is always a timed booster from either the daily treat machine or the fishing boat. You are correct on the first level of a new episode, lately it is always impossible for me, even though it is an unmarked level. I usually pass on the second or third try.

christinewupp

I have come to the conclusion that it is not a matter of "bespoke" level difficulty, in fact it seems quite to the contrary. But I would need others to share their experiences. I have tried a few levels out by scrolling back in two unrelated accounts and have found that levels are harder than they should be according to their rating in both, and the rating is identical, too. Here is one example

Level 2738 is rated "hard" and has been unchanged for over a year at least, this is a video of a lucky board allowing passing without boosters. To get such luck you need to match vertical candies in the second and second to last column and the game should drop a colour bomb, or two. There is an even luckier version post on YouTube 9 months ago, but I cannot link it here.

https://youtu.be/fLOEdoeWgsw?si=ZoDaGT95-w8o35aC

I have played this level over 20 times on both accounts and I cannot get lucky enough to pass this without boosters. After lots of retries I do get a colour bomb early occasionally, but this is not followed up by more luck (like you see in the video). The luck dries up in the mid section of the level. I have found this phenomenon of no luck in the mid section of almost all levels this week. This is similar to the design of the Midsummer Meltdown levels. It seems that there is no longer a lucky board as such, only a lucky beginning and a lucky end to most levels of Candy Crush. I am not altogether sure if this is intentional. I am wondering if it could be a side effect of leaving the AI to rewrite the algorithms.

I think what may be happening here is that the level difficulty is (and always has been?) based on how well players fare at passing the levels on a first attempt. The changes in the game that have led players to zoom through episodes and keep a win streak since the beginning of the year (aided by some very generous win streak boosters, super chargers, jelly fish behaviours etc) plus the almost permanent bombarding with timed starting boosters from events and features such as the daily treat machine, fishing boat and train (if it works…) has meant that almost all players have multiple special candies to aid them on their starting boards when they approach a level for the first time. So a level will appear as "easy" or unmarked if players pass it with all these boosters. But to pass a level without boosters is not easy at all.

So coming back to level 2738. Normally I would have thought that a "hard" level, in the past, would have produced some luck within 7-12 attempts. Any level that does not produce any luck within 20 attempts would have been classed as "nightmare" or "legendary". So to me the classification seems wrong.

I find this also with levels that are unmarked at the beginning of episodes. In fact all my beginning of episode levels seem to have been changed to levels impossible to pass without boosters and most are now marked as such. This is very recent. Level 3111 for example still shows the jelly + sprinks order on the pre level screen, but this is then replaced by this:

which is another level I have been unable to pass without boosters for well over 15 attempts. I lost count and got bored eventually.

To help players "enjoy" the game we do not see all levels harder than expected. The AI has kept and continues to write new levels that are "super easy". This should be a new category: levels that you will always pass, no matter what moves you play.

I don't think this continuous rewriting of level difficulty based on player behaviour is sustainable and may result in an ever higher spiralling of level difficulty for any players who fail at their first attempt. I am not convinced if it is intentional. It might be a by product of leaving an AI programme in charge. We have recently seen an ever increasing number of offers for players who failed on their first attempt to get back their win streak or gain timed boosters. This could all lead to a runaway situation of ever increasing level difficulty for those players who are out of gold and rely on replaying a level until they get lucky.

I would be interested to hear from others about their experiences when scrolling back to play levels without boosters. It may of course be that both my games are in the same test group and others do get different experiences.

e1960

Tekoälykö mahtaa sohlata, kun viikkokisassa on paljolti mukana pelaajia, jotka ovat aivan alkupään kentässä ja itse pelaan jo kenttää, joka on lähellä 10000. Tyhmää, kun joku helppojen alkutasojen pelaaja johtaa.

Comments

Peaches12

Forgot to mention, although I am sure you already know, that all levels increase in difficulty when a leaderboard is going on.

Peaches12

christinewupp

https://youtu.be/fLOEdoeWgsw?si=ZoDaGT95-w8o35aC

which is another level I have been unable to pass without boosters for well over 15 attempts. I lost count and got bored eventually.

e1960

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Discussions
Chat about Candy Crush Saga, share thoughts, news, or anything sweet!
Support
Stuck or having trouble with Candy Crush Saga? Ask your question here and get help from others.
Contests
Enter for a chance to win Gold Bars and sweet in-game rewards in Candy Crush Saga!
Ideas
Have a sweet suggestion? Share your ideas to help improve Candy Crush Saga.
Off-Topic
This is your chill zone! Talk about anything that’s not Candy-related with other Candy players!.