Optional automation of game play elements

Game Talk The Drawing Board
1

There are a number of variables one has to keep track of and then press a series of buttons in order to adjust them.
Hunger, Thirst, Pain, etc
Normally this isn’t much of an issue but after a few years it tends to get a little tiresome.

AutoEat & AutoDrink from inventory, nearby tiles. Would probably be better off with a player defined whitelist/blacklist.
This would be especially handy for long crafting operations or vehicle construction.

AutoApply various medications from inventory, nearby tiles. Player defined would be the way to go here.
Rather than hunting through the apply menu, could just auto apply aspirin once pain > set value
Same would go for vitamins, etc

Automatic reloading of various tools. IE: Reload sewing kit or welder rather than saying you are out of thread or batteries.

Some form of automatic clothing adjustment, loosening scarfs and so forth depending on player temperature.

Some other minor suggestions:
universal reload menu (might already be in progress)
a vehicle part type than can convert one fueltype into another

2

As long as you can only do it while in safe mode or have the option to only do it while in safe mode, this actually isn’t bad at all!

3

Autoeat is planned.

4

Someone could explain to me why autothings are necessary? Because i think it is a wrong direction. Maybe you see some tasks as a chore, but it is part of the game, the game reality. Seeing it as a chore is like viewing ordinary zombies as time wasting obstacles because they are weak against a mid-game character. There will be auto-killing against weak monsters in the future? Auto-hunting and auto-farming? My problem is everyone has a different opinion, where is the limit?

I think auto-actions are wrong. If something is a chore then it should be rethought not automaticed. Making foods and eating them is a chore? Simplify it. Make every food big enough to fed the characters for a full day. Make it a daily rations. And let us eat two or more rations. It is realistic? No, but make the action less annoying.
Tool reloading is a chore? Discard reloading for tools. Let them use their charges from the inventory. Just show us how many charges we have and will be used.

Pills are problems because the overdose effects. Maybe you could just give them full day effect with a warning for possible overdose. But maybe it is good as it now, after all the pain is in the game to give instant regret without killing the character instantly. It should be a problem not an auto-resolved annoyance. Btw i see no problem with the pills, i simply set letters to them so i can use them without hunting them in the menu…

The clothes are problems because the temperature is too detailed, only few different temperature would be less chore because every clothes could defined to a temperature. Now the characters sometimes needs to wear or take of their socks because the temperature changing just a little, but enough to make the temperature uncomfortable.

I know it sound wrong because i talk about simplify things which are very detailed and awesome, but if some tasks are a chores, then the game is too detailed.

5

Simplifying the game won’t happen due to “politics”. Unless someone makes a fork.

6

Nearest workaround is automation.

7

Well, there are certain things that aren’t really bad that OP said, like reloading tools or just eating aspirins or antidotes. I mean, don’t have to be so close minded. It could work fine!

8

The problem is with the automatic reloading for example if you have just few batteries maybe you don’t want the game to reload your soldering iron because left you without batteries for your flashlight and later you have to walk in the dark in a city because you left your soldering iron in your base. So i think using batteries from the inventory without reloading would be better.

It is the same with the pills, maybe you don’t want to use your disinfectant because this was the last zombie you wanted to kill today and you don’t mind the pain because you want to craft for the rest of the day and you are healthy enough to survive a zombie bite.

I think it is really hard to make an UI which easy to use for players and can handle exceptions. Maybe the easiest solution would be an “auto-resolve” button which would pop up all the fixable problems and you can confirm them or disable some of them.

9

Well that’s a good argument there, now. I see your point!

10

“Battery pool” may happen someday, but it’s complex (consider multiple battery types) so I wouldn’t even call it “planned”.

11

[quote=“latogato, post:8, topic:13666”]The problem is with the automatic reloading for example if you have just few batteries maybe you don’t want the game to reload your soldering iron because left you without batteries for your flashlight and later you have to walk in the dark in a city because you left your soldering iron in your base. So i think using batteries from the inventory without reloading would be better.

It is the same with the pills, maybe you don’t want to use your disinfectant because this was the last zombie you wanted to kill today and you don’t mind the pain because you want to craft for the rest of the day and you are healthy enough to survive a zombie bite.

I think it is really hard to make an UI which easy to use for players and can handle exceptions. Maybe the easiest solution would be an “auto-resolve” button which would pop up all the fixable problems and you can confirm them or disable some of them.[/quote]

Automatic actions would not be stuck on, It would be easy enough to make a series of toggles, just like safemode.
It’s more intended for hanging around a base, crafting stuff. While not having to worry about more key presses.

12

autoeat during reading or crafting would be nice but i do not think we need everything else

escpecialy a vehicle part type than can convert one fueltype into another would be to powerfull or useless, and we can have battery generated by other fuels

13

[quote=“Arek_PL, post:12, topic:13666”]autoeat during reading or crafting would be nice but i do not think we need everything else

escpecialy a vehicle part type than can convert one fueltype into another would be to powerfull or useless, and we can have battery generated by other fuels[/quote]

Not any kind of specific part, just the part type added to the core for modding purposes.
Mainly so one could combine tinder with water in the ‘converter’ to make steam

14

Personally I’m pretty sick of vehicle modification. Could use a command “add military composite to all tiles” and then the game would start adding them until no more plates are found nearby. This would go well with auto-eat.

Or better yet, something like “turn this vehicle into THIS vehicle”. Ability to save customized vehicle designs for future games. The game would list the needed parts for any chosen vehicle transformation project while being aware which parts it can use from the old car. If all parts are not found, you’d still have the option to go ahead. An in-game vehicle designer would be great, too - something to play around with to learn the ropes. I suspect it could largely use the current vehicle “editor”, which is the interface with which we normally modify vehicles. It would just use virtual parts and part installations would be instantaneous, while requiring no tools or skills. The vehicle editor could also be a separate executable from the game.

If anything is needed, it’s solving the ‘creature spotted’ pop-up annoyance. Yes, I would like to ignore the distant dog that keeps reappearing in my visual range. No, I would like to do something about that approaching dog. Consider this: "You see a dog in the distance. Stop crafing? (Yes/No/Ignore this creature type/Ignore this creature type unless it approaches)

Ability to upgrade a container without moving the contents. Or rather, skip the chore of moving the items into the new container.

Ability to auto-pick straight into a dragged cart. Also: examine item shelf -> tag items -> “move to dragged cart”

Hotkey for “Reload all carried and worn battery-operated items”. Only for normal batteries, not like plutonium or whatever.

Move liquids between specific tanks within a vehicle.

Cooking is in desperate need for streamlining or more serious changes. The woods soup needs broth, but I have the ingredients for that as well, yet I’m forced to cook the broth first. That sort of backtracking or recursive automation could extend only 1 step. Perhaps more steps with higher INT. Of course the game would have to be aware that if it can craft the broth, is it still able to craft the woods soup? (and so on with all the other multi-step recipes). Also, what to do with failed crafts. Perhaps recursive crafting should only be allowed if the success rate is 100% all the way. Something like eating and cooking are never-ending (recurring) tasks, which is why they should be straightened out as much as possible. Again, favorite recipes, which is what I’ve suggested multiple times. Should be the first tab in the crafing screen.

All this might come down to each of our playstyle. We also get sick of different chores. It comes down to psychology. I believe much of the eating annoyance could be resolved by extending the range of “normal” hunger status, which is between “hungry” and “full”. The “very hungry” state lasts very long in my opinion, so that could be shortened. And I don’t mind eating twice as much to go from “hungry” to “full”. It’s just that seeing the “hungry” appear on the screen so often, that’s what bothers me. Maybe jsonize the hunger statuses? I mean you’d still need the same amount of food per day.

15

vehicle designer and saving templates for latter sounds good, in empyrion galtactic survival is common strategy to make ship in creative and then make this same ship from saved blueprint from materials on survival or server
but even without “creative” designer a template system would be nice because we can use debug menu on another world and character to make templates

and recipe favourite tab sounds amazing

16

[quote=“Arek_PL, post:15, topic:13666”]vehicle designer and saving templates for latter sounds good, in empyrion galtactic survival is common strategy to make ship in creative and then make this same ship from saved blueprint from materials on survival or server
but even without “creative” designer a template system would be nice because we can use debug menu on another world and character to make templates

and recipe favourite tab sounds amazing[/quote]

i feel like having to build the template by hand once before it’s considered validated would probably be a good thing however, so you can’t just save templates of every useful vehicle you find and carry around enough spare parts to produce them as needed.

i would personally love more automation stuff, particularly while constructing vehicles as well as the around the house use case already mentioned, i love to mess around in the vehicle editor and i love grandiose plans, so that would be nice things to have when i’m spending weeks or months of ingame time on a larger creation.

[edit] this is almost certainly off-topic, but sorta related, if we get vehicle templates, then maybe one day we can create constructor vehicles and produce “drones” for interesting and unique use cases that don’t warrant a full death-mobile, or just to have more friendlies around with you. [/edit]