Ageing and consequences

JSurvive · 2014-03-01T14:41:24.000Z

One game option that would be really nice to find, is ageing and consequences. A character would start his/her life as a survivor at an age equal to a given number of seasons, and would suffer consequences of ageing.

Reduced stats, blurry vision, age-induce traits like near or far-sighted, poor-hearing and others, increased probability to get ill when exposed to biological threats, … Death by age, ultimately.

Oh, and would a teenager survive better than a middle-aged character? … And what about a young kid? Less noisy, better dexterity, less visible, could carry less but could still drag a shopping cart. Oh, more recoil using guns maybe. Drugs would have far more power I guess. What a about a book that could remove illiterate trait after intensive use?

Ideas? Interesting feature? What do you think?

Inadequate · 2014-03-01T14:47:15.000Z

I don’t think most games last for a long enough timeframe for aging over time to be an issue, but a case might be made for allowing you to choose your character’s age during character creation.

Zireael · 2014-03-01T16:11:07.000Z

Inadequate:

I don’t think most games last for a long enough timeframe for aging over time to be an issue, but a case might be made for allowing you to choose your character’s age during character creation.

This is a brilliant idea, indeed!

detahramet · 2014-03-01T17:35:49.000Z

Perhaps there could be certain mutations to extend or shorten your rate of aging. Considering how short a game tends to last, perhaps we should treat each season as if it were a year, for the sake of this mechanic.

John_Candlebury · 2014-03-01T17:49:03.000Z

detahramet:

Perhaps there could be certain mutations to extend or shorten your rate of aging. Considering how short a game tends to last, perhaps we should treat each season as if it were a year, for the sake of this mechanic.

Nah.

Sounds terrible, but I cant quite place why I think its a terrbile idea.

Soyweiser · 2014-03-01T17:51:24.000Z

detahramet:

Perhaps there could be certain mutations to extend or shorten your rate of aging. Considering how short a game tends to last, perhaps we should treat each season as if it were a year, for the sake of this mechanic.

Why not simply reduce the season lenght? Seems strange that suddenly you age at 4x the rate.

Now if you had a mutation that made you age quicker…

detahramet · 2014-03-01T17:54:47.000Z

Soyweiser:

[quote=“detahramet, post:4, topic:5254”]Perhaps there could be certain mutations to extend or shorten your rate of aging. Considering how short a game tends to last, perhaps we should treat each season as if it were a year, for the sake of this mechanic.

Why not simply reduce the season lenght? Seems strange that suddenly you age at 4x the rate.[/quote]
…because the minimum season length is 17 days, if i recall correctly

Soyweiser · 2014-03-01T18:00:37.000Z

detahramet:

[quote=“Soyweiser, post:6, topic:5254”][quote=“detahramet, post:4, topic:5254”]Perhaps there could be certain mutations to extend or shorten your rate of aging. Considering how short a game tends to last, perhaps we should treat each season as if it were a year, for the sake of this mechanic.

Why not simply reduce the season lenght? Seems strange that suddenly you age at 4x the rate.[/quote]
…because the minimum season length is 17 days, if i recall correctly[/quote]
Oops

KA101 · 2014-03-01T18:40:14.000Z

Soyweiser:

[quote=“detahramet, post:7, topic:5254”][quote=“Soyweiser, post:6, topic:5254”][quote=“detahramet, post:4, topic:5254”]Perhaps there could be certain mutations to extend or shorten your rate of aging. Considering how short a game tends to last, perhaps we should treat each season as if it were a year, for the sake of this mechanic.

Why not simply reduce the season lenght? Seems strange that suddenly you age at 4x the rate.[/quote]
…because the minimum season length is 17 days, if i recall correctly[/quote]
Oops :D[/quote]

14 days when last I played: one day in DDA ~= one week IRL. Quite a lot of crafting/construction was compressed to that ratio. In general, it helps if the player can accomplish enough of $REALLY_LONG_PROJECT in a game day that xe can step back, check over the work, and think “yeah, I made progress today.”

So though you can expand season lengths to 1:1 DDA/IRL time, that makes the PC extremely fast.

As for the merits of aging: Yeah, I’m thinking trait/mutation at best. IME some chars last into year 2; not that many make it into 3. So I’ll suggest that starting young or old might be neat (metabolism, sleep, healing, maybe stat effects) but I’m not sold on having in-game aging, even with mutations.

(Edited: thing->think, fix grammar)

i2amroy · 2014-03-01T19:31:43.000Z

My vote goes against in-game aging. Games just don’t last long enough to justify it, and I don’t see any real reason why people in the Cataclysm should end up aging at 20x the normal rate. Definite down vote.

Funk · 2014-03-01T21:01:00.000Z

Im for age as a down perk type thing, it’d give your some random old age trouble i.e. bad back or eyes.

The some mutagens could de age you or age you more, it’d never out right kill you but leave you wreaked.

But in a normal game its unlikely you’d live to really age, by the end of first year you probably sorted base wise.

Really rapid ageing would feel iffy like your playing a mayfly instead of a man, and it makes the lack of decay of the world stick out.

Cherry · 2014-03-02T00:30:05.000Z

You can already roleplay any age you want using the traits in the game.

Adding pre-defined age traits is just another version of a profession.

JSurvive · 2014-03-02T02:08:59.000Z

[quote=“Cherry, post:12, topic:5254”]You can already roleplay any age you want using the traits in the game.

Adding pre-defined age traits is just another version of a profession.[/quote]

Then we already have Student and Senior Citizen without traits. One can play the game using one of these professions with traits and stats that seem to fit with the chosen profession.

I guess the average lifespan of a character isn’t worth implementing the feature I have suggested.

What would have been wonderful is a real multi-character version of the game, where playing a group of character means more chances to survive longer, developing a community, taking care of younger and older members of the community while fighting for food and against monsters. That’s a bit too much to dream of, I guess.

Anyway, back on the subject: the suggestion isn’t worth changing code, as current options already allow us to play as a Student or as a Senior Citizen. Thanks for the feedback, now I know what to do with my next character

JSurvive · 2014-03-02T02:22:35.000Z

It even makes sense, when trying to play as a “true” Senior Citizen, to get lots of points to invest in skills. Negative traits (Bad Back, Bad Knees, at least Flimsy, Far- or Near-Sighted or even both, Poor Hearing… Bad Temper?) give more points, as does reducing Stats (I’d keep Intelligence at a higher value than average, the rest quite lower). Then all the points go into skills, the experience of a long life. Nice!

Natures_Witness · 2014-03-02T18:46:24.000Z

Some age related professions or traits might be okay, but DEFINITELY NO in-game aging. Surviving in Cata is supposed to be about strategy and skill; adding some arbitrary, unstoppable kill switch to every character is just broken and rage-inducing.

“Oh wow, through strategy, skill, and luck you’ve survived a really long time!”
“Oops, you’re old now and fall over dead, too bad.”

-throws computer out window-

Just NO.

Adrian · 2014-03-02T18:54:47.000Z

i’m voting against in-game aging.
But what about age at character generation? Default at 35 and +1 point for every 10 years older?

TheGrifter · 2014-03-03T12:25:34.000Z

When a character in the game drinks as heavily as mine does, you have to wonder their life span.

That’s why I invest in Cataclysm Brand Life Insurance.

Cataclysm does NOT cover zombie attacks.

But it DOES cover:
Cancer, from over-exposure to radiation.

Liver failure, from alcohol consumption along with painkillers.

Skinwalkering.

Chickenwine drinking.

Contracting kuru, from cannibalism.

Becoming a C.H.U.D.

[size=8pt]Warning, Cataclysm Brand Life Insurance pays out in cyanide covered bullets. On sight.[/size]

Zireael · 2014-03-03T13:20:43.000Z

[quote=“Adrian, post:16, topic:5254”]i’m voting against in-game aging.
But what about age at character generation? Default at 35 and +1 point for every 10 years older?[/quote]

I’d say +1 for 20 years, but this is a good idea.

Soyweiser · 2014-03-03T18:13:25.000Z

[quote=“Natures Witness, post:15, topic:5254”]Some age related professions or traits might be okay, but DEFINITELY NO in-game aging. Surviving in Cata is supposed to be about strategy and skill; adding some arbitrary, unstoppable kill switch to every character is just broken and rage-inducing.

“Oh wow, through strategy, skill, and luck you’ve survived a really long time!”
“Oops, you’re old now and fall over dead, too bad.”

-throws computer out window-

Just NO.[/quote]

Well… you could always add some sort of rejuvination machine or thing somewhere. It is a common enough thrope in SF.

Inadequate · 2014-03-03T18:25:56.000Z

I’m fairly certain Cata tech hasn’t advanced to the point of stopping the aging process. Also, this is a really bad idea.