Take it or leave it, here are some thoughts that came to mind. They can all be expanded upon, and are by no means required for enjoyment. Some are first impressions that, if implemented, would have greatly increased my enjoyment while playing this game the first few times. First impressions are important. Others might be good simply for modding purposes.
The numbers/slots/scales given are rough ideas, and not intended to be taken precisely.
Some of these are opinions, and people may disagree, which is totally fine. I wish to induce discussion, if nothing else.
Wet bonuses:
Each body part and article of clothing can get wet. If it is raining, the outermost piece of clothing gets wet first. Waterproof clothing prevents clothing and skin underneath it from getting wet.
Clothes and skin take time to dry, and the outermost layer dries first. Removing clothes will reduce wet penalties and allow the clothes to dry faster as a result.
Being wet decreases temperature.
During comfortable temperature:
wet body parts each give +1 morale bonus.
water friendly clothes always each give +0, no matter the temperature.
normal clothes give -2.
Waterproof clothing give -2, but only get wet if you jump in a river or something.
fully naked gives +12 morale, and water freindly clothes do not hamper this.
During chilly temperature:
all wet bonuses are 1 less except for water friendly clothes.
fully naked gives +0 morale.
Each value under comfortable gives -1 more on each body part and piece of non-waterfreindly clothing, while each value above give and additional +1.
Wet bonuses scale gradually depending on the temperature, not instantly.
Instead of pain simulating effects of injuries, varrying degrees of injuries should be in the list of effects.
If you take too much damage on a specific body part in a certain amount of time, that part will add an effect such as “minor injury - right arm” which would cause an effect similar to encumbrance on that body part.
Injuries to arms/hands decrease melee skill, dexterity in situations, etc.
The threashholds of these injuries would scale accordingly with max hp of the body part.
Degrees:
minor injury
injury
bad injury
very bad injury
extremely bad injury
Add effects explaining how a broken limb effects you.
Arms/hands should take the blunt of the damage against blockable attacks (perhaps to a smaller extent vs bullets) and be more likely to take a hit, then legs/feet, then torso/head.
This way, you defend yourself with your limbs in order to keep your vitals from taking hits, like in real life.
It would act as a meat sheild before you die, allowing you to be more brutally devoured alive.
The game should be a little more fair, and should not have desintigrating plasma cannon things being used against standard survivors. I’ve seen some pretty messed up stuff, man.
Slow down time, but keep same speed (upon further play, these estimates do not effect gameplay very much, but would make it more realistic, perhaps):
It currently takes forever to cross the street.
It currently takes 6 seconds to move 4 feet: that’s 2/3 foot per second, and is a snail’s pace.
It should be about 6 seconds to move 12 feet: that’s 2 feet per second, and is still quite slow.
Each action should be scaled faster in this way to make the day last longer, and hunger not be so annoying after simply traveling short distances. Balancing is required.
Perhaps have an option for this in the debug menu.
Rollerblades should gain speed in relatively straight lines, rather than give you the ability to turn on a dime at x2 speed.
Pain affects morale
Being uncovered and seen by creatures effects morale negatively, especially if they are npcs.
Girls recieve a smaller penalty when their chest is uncovered, and a large one when their groin is uncovered.
Guys only have a large one when their groin is uncovered, but it balances out with the girls if all of their bits are uncovered.
Cirtain clothing like coats and long shirts will cover the groin if they are not wearing anything else on the groin, and it will tell you this in the description. Similar to a coat’s hood and pockets described below. Example: "This piece of clothing is long enough to cover the groin."
Exhibitionist trait turns this into a morale bonus. :3
(upon further play, I realize the focus system basically does this.)Recieving the Depressed state due to negative morale is easier to obtain, and has verying degrees, and gradually effects your speed while studying/working until you can’t anymore. It would be hard to study if I was feeling blue too, but I would still be able to.
Focus has a more apparent effect on studying/speed, and is better described in the ? menu. More in depth ? menu in general.
Adrenaline counters pain:
Everyone gradually gains adrenaline when they fight, become afraid, and when they take damage.
When adrenaline gets to a certain point, they recieve a temporary stimulant effect which numbs their pain.
When the affect wears off, they recieve a penalty as they cool down, its degree depending on how much adrenailne they recieved. This effectively counts as a negative adrenaline stat and changes gradually. Pain is calculated normally at this point.
The penalty can be overwritten by recieving more adrenaline.
Wounds should decrease stats/movement so that pain doesn’t have to simulate that.
Limbs should be able to be ripped completely off.
Cybernetic and prosthetic limbs to replace them (CBMs, perhaps).
Mutations that regrow limbs into strange new ones.
Taking damage in different body parts will give certain negative effects, and will be listed and described in the character sheet under effects.
Unarmed combat traits op at start
Glare decreasing perception is unbelievably ridiculous:
The effect should only apply for short periods of the day, or should have less impact.
Dropping, removing, or having worn clothing that have storage get destroyed/ripped off will automatically drop the appropriate amount of items for free if you would be over volume.
perhaps assign which items are stored in specific clothing. This might be clunky, though.
Perhaps have an option to store them in certain equipment specifically, and have them automatically assigned otherwise.
(this is the best:)Or have all the items that are higher in the alphabet/have no symbol assigned be dropped before the ones before them. (letters assigned to items. Z would drop before Y, allowing your items that are assigned letters to be more likely to stay in your inventory.)
Descriptions of items are more exact on what they do, perhaps.
Conditions/effects are better explained when you highlight them. For example:
A chilly hand shows its progress towards being frostnipped, and a frostnipped hand shows its progress towards being cured and whether or not it is getting better or worse.
Bionics and mutations explain exactly what they do. This might require an identification/stat/skill requirement first. Prompt: “You better understand an installed bionic.”
Groin or lower torso or waist clothing slot.
Auto layer slots:
When clothing is equipped, it automatically goes on the appropriate layer.
If the clothing does not fit, only one piece of clothing can be worn in each layer per body part without added encumbrance.
Clothing that fits can go into the encumbrance slot without adding encumbrance.
Any more clothing in the same layer will add encumbrance like normal.
If they share the same body part and slot, each piece of clothing will layer appropriately depending on what it is. For example:
pants first, then shorts, then skirt.
panties, hot pants, tights, boxers
coat, bullet proof vest.
You can only wear up to double the amount of clothing than there are slots for each for each body part/layer, and it does not matter if they are different articles of clothing or not.
Blankets and sheets are draped over the clothing and have a “hood” for the head.
Hoods and pockets warm head and hands more effectively
The layer screen will show the slots that have been taken up, the slots that are open, and what items are taking up which slots. The slots will also be in a logical list format.
Torso:
“lies close to the skin”/“layers easily and lies close to the skin”/inner
inner encumbrance
"layers easily"
“generally worn as clothing”/“layers easily and generally worn as clothing”/middle
middle encumbrance
"worn over clothing"/outer/armor
"strapped on"
draped
Groin: same as torso
Legs: torso
Arms: torso
Feet:
“lies close to the skin”/“layers easily and lies close to the skin”/inner
inner encumbrance
"layers easily"
outer/armor
draped
Hands: feet
Head/mouth/eyes: feet
If each piece was separate, his gives a total of 57 possible articles of clothing worn without extra encumbrance, and 114 with it, but technically you can only be encumbered so much.
This formula might be better if simplified.
When putting on equipment, clothes are automatically taken off and put back on accordingly. Prompt: "remove pants to put on panties, then put pants back on? y/n"
seems too clunky.
perhaps don’t show the prompt, or have the option to show it in the options.
allows you to be caught with you pants down.
NPC AI. Huge revamp. This alone would make the game a million times better. You would have real people that actually have personality and intelligence that you actually care about. I know this aint no Sims, but for me, its all about the people. That’s what’s really interesting.
Start with the basics.
Give each individual a randomized personality which would change their AI and the way they act/speak.
Allow use/activation of items on other npcs:
medical supplies on specific body parts/wounds
cauterize their wounds with a hot item
feed
Have them make comments about how they are doing if they trust you enough/need something enough without interrupting gameplay. It would show up in the message area like all the other messages:
friend: “I’m starting to get hungry. Do we have any food left?” stranger:“I’m starving. Please. Do you have any food?”
“Ow… My leg…”
“Ugh… I feel so sick.”
“Yawn… I really need to lie down.” “I could go for a nice, hot cup of coffee right about now.”
“Sob… It doesn’t matter what I do… Sob… My life is a living hell…”
“Look out! There’s a [Zombie/mi-go/etc] to the northwest!”
“Please save me!”
“Don’t shoot!”
"Put your hands up!"
More actions with “C”:
play a game
give gift
share items/swap items/check their inventory
ask about info
ask about their life/get to know them. Would show their personality traits, revealing more depending on how good your relationship with them is.
tell them to pick up surrounding items by checking them off on a list
tell them to drop/ignore items
have them equip certain items (npcs should know what’s best for them anyways)
slap/insult/compliment/vent/console in/console/hug/kiss/sex(or as in the Sims: make woohoo)
get some rest.
stay here where it’s safe.
Add a relationship system which would unlock more actions depending on if they are enemies or close friends. Build relationships by spending time with them, doing activities, and interacting with them. There are some things you do that certain personalities wont like. NPCs have relationships with other NPCs, and will be sad if one of them dies. They can command eachother to do things, and secretly conspire against you if you aren’t watching them, but you can also eavesdrop on conversations. Suffer less/no morale penalty while naked in front of NPCs with close relationships to you.
Give them advanced combat AI, and high surviveability. Allow them to run/hide if need be. Have other survivors scavenge for food, even when you are not there. Balancing of amount of item/monster spawns required. They don’t whip out their flamethrower and go berserk at the first opportunity.
Don’t show them on the map, or put a marker at their last known location.
Simulate their activity while not in activation range. Use a simple program to save processing.
They have a situational awareness, and wont try to mug you if they are surrounded by zombies. They would do it later. Don’t attack anything that is ignoring them unless they need to.
Allow them to craft.
Describe what they are doing in the message area without interrupting gameplay.
Sleep/eat/drink/morale/read/everything.
Give them memory, so if they are wounded they will pick up a soldering iron you left in the basement that they saw earlier and use that to save themselves.
When an NPC is following:
give the option to increase/decrease how far away they stay behind you.
allow them to act on their own, pick up items, share items, etc.
they help speed up manual tasks. Some description will explain this.
More events.
Stats can increase over strenuous use of them over long periods of time.
Liquid on ground should dry up overtime:
water will evaporate slowly, similar to how a towel becomes dry.
other liquids will become “dry” and will stay there until mopped up.
some dry liquids can rot and decrease morale/heightens smells.
Morale is effected by the environment:
Decorations, plants, furniture, indoors/outdoors, noises, smells, etc.
Quirky actions to pass time, keep healthy/improve stats/morale at the cost of noise/time/cleanliness, etc. For example:
a: Drawing, writing a journal, writing a book, cleaning clothes/yourself, use item on yourself (use knife to cut yourself/candle to pour hot wax on yourself to induce pain for masochism (lost submissive starts with one, so why not?))
C: shouting, yelling some sort of communication to see if you get a response from a creature, screaming for help, warcry, singing
e: interacting with furniture and the world
Q: Commit suicide, dancing, working out/pushups, induce vomiting, going to the bathroom/peeing/pee in bottle, masturbating without vibrator, roll/leap over one tile
*: build mode (described below)
$: take a nap
HP should go up at a slow rate while awake and the body part has not taken damage recently.
Implement a fear system.
Low levels of fear will be benificial (fight or flight reflexes), while higher levels would increase your ability to run away, but lower your abilities to stay and fight.
Prompt examples:
“You piss yourself!”
“You scream in terror!”
“You panic and drop your fire axe!”
(upon further play, i better understand speed and feel it works well enough, but this would make it simpler, perhaps)Remove speed entirely? Only have moves per turn /100 as the average turn?
Have thoughts/descriptions of actions come up in the prompt that give your character life, explain how they are feeling, and effect morale. The same prompt will not repeat itself for a long period of time. Example:
“You cradle your wounded left arm.”
"You scream out in pain."
After waking up, then waiting: "You stretch out your back."
When waiting in close proximity of an enemy that you can see: "You get ready for a fight."
When wet bonus is high and positive: “Such a beautiful day for a swim.”
“I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired.”
“Your body yearns for a good smoke.”
“Your stomach growls.”
Examining items/furniture with “e” or “x” will give you a description of what you can do with it:
It looks too heavy to push.
This looks like a comfy place to rest.
If this was a gas stove, you might be able to use it, but since it is electric it is practically useless.
If the city had power, this fridge would actually have some sort of use. As of now, it might make for a decent barricade.
You can store things in here.
Sink: The water is not working.
Toilet: You can flush the toilet three times before it dries up since it isn’t receiving more water anymore. Or if you really wanted to, you could make like a dog and drink it.
The ability to activate/disassemble/use/use items on/craft with/grab and drag items on the floor.
The idea beneath this would fix most of this problem.
Show equipped items in advanced item manipulation and allow “e” to open the action menu for items you are not carrying.
Inventory tweaks:
Should always show weight/volume next to item.
Reading, eating, using, activating, crafting, etc. should pull items from around you.
Build mode allows easier movement of items, easier construction, easier repair/disassemble, and simulates moving furniture. Like placing buildings in an RTS.
Jumper cable fix. I duplicated this item once by using it and received errors.
(I feel this is very important)Condition of items should be displayed through their color in the inventory, rather than text before the name of the item.
Cleanliness:
Being dirty effects morale negatively.
Body parts get dirty overtime by themselves, and each of their conditions are displayed in the character sheet.
Dirty clothes/skin rub off on layers above and below them, including the skin, making them more dirty.
The environment can get you dirty.
Walking through blood/mud/bile/etc gets your shoes dirty.
Waterproof clothing will not transfer dirtiness through it.
There is a cap of dirtiness each substance can give to an item. Example:
dirt will only get an item up to the dirty state.
boomer bile can cap out the dirtiness scale.
Wet state removes dirtiness from clothing/body parts, then dries as time goes one, simulating cleaning.
Activating a liquid will give you the option to either drink it or clean something with it. If the liquid is not water or a clean liquid, for example blood, it will make the clothes more dirty instead, but you will still have the option to do so.
Low cleanliness will increase your scent, allowing creatures to track you easier.
Cleanliness will be shown after the item’s name in place of (wet), like a wet towel.
Peeing yourself would get the appropriate body parts/clothes dirtier.
Scale:
Clean and fresh: +1 morale per body part
No cleanliness indication: No effects
Wet: See wet bonuses above.
Dirty:
-1 morale per body part.
Filthy:
-2 morale per body part.
-1 morale per clothing.
-1 perception due to overwhelming smell if it gets to a certain point. Will be displayed/described in character sheet.
this makes boomers more dangerous.
(upon further play, this is no longer a problem since I know how to deal with them, but I will keep this first impression so you can see how one might react)Screw Riot Control Bots. Tear gas is completely broken, and is 100% lethal. It is a poorly programmed, ill conceived, and extremely broken enemy in all the bad ways.
They are way too fast.
Tear gas is a non-lethal gas that is used to non-lethally subdue people. May I stress non-lethal.
Normal handcuffs may be fine, but electric ones that literally cripple your arms is too much.
They only go for the player, and ignore all the violent, evil creatures around it. There should be different factions that fight eachother (as below).
Have different “factions” for all creatures, or program them to only attack/not attack certain creatures.
A pack of wolves would hunt anything they could eat.
Police robots would attack zombies as well. This would actually balance them a bit since there would be less zombies around and they would be distracted.