Simulation, Gameplay, Narrative

[kevin.granade]

Farming IMO falls pretty far on the simulationist side of the game. You ask yourself, “what would I do in this situation”, and for some people one of the things at the top of the list is secure food supply -> farming. So it’s something that some people find jarring due to its absence.

You can say the same thing about building a shelter for yourself in the current incarnation of the game, all you need to do is find an abandoned house in the woods and you’re pretty much set for shelter, but some people really want to go build a house/fortress for themselves…

Arguably a fortress vehicle is a different kind of thing, the existing vehicles are pretty much not satisfactory.

[The_Darkling_Wolf]

Yeah, right now there’s not much reason to settle down in an area and defend it, the main style of gameplay is build deathmobile -> Laugh all the way home. Having farming, something which forces players to sit down and stay in one place for a length of time incentivises it for people who might not want to otherwise, and gives something to do to people who already settle an area (such as me)

[Binky]

[quote=“Benedict, post:6, topic:118”]I dunno… I feel like the simulation aspect of the game is actually pretty low.

I mean how often does a player actually struggle to meet day-to-day necessities? …[/quote]

Benedict, that post is my favourite thing on the internet as of now. The most vitrolic hatred towards expansions has never before been quite so well expressed.

In terms of ‘survival vs. gameplay’ I REALLY would like it to be much much more survival than the crazy, wacky, insane stuff. In my opinion survival IS gameplay, and it’s what raises cataclysm far above any other zombie game. The idea that ‘survival isn’t fun’ is only the case if some repetitive (and easy) action has to be completed to meet the bare necessities.

[system]

I want farming so I can eat something other than squirrels. And to brew moonshine… For fire-involved purposes.

[Benedict]

In my opinion survival IS gameplay, and it’s what raises cataclysm far above any other zombie game.

Word.

It’s why everyone’s dream zombie apocalypse scenario isn’t about facing the raging hordes, it’s about comfortably kicking back and living through it all whilst popping a cap in the odd passing Z when you head out for more crack and biscuits.

[blue_jay]

Just wanted to add my two cents. What cataclysm does, which most mainstream games do not, is create narratives instead of simply retelling one. When describing it to friends, I don’t call it a game. It is a zombie survival simulator. I think that the realism of the game, and of any game, is what allows the player to create a story within the fictional but still predictable framework of the game engine. Because games like cataclysm, fallout, dwarf fortress and morrowind aren’t just one game. Each character is a new game, a new story about people taking different paths, and ending up in different places. Not one of X predefined paths which were laid out by developers, but one of a nearly infinite number of paths, limited only by the imagination of the player, and the games ability to create a world which responds realistically when the player exerts his will on it through his character. Realism is the relationship between the players expectations and the game’s reactions. Because I expect houses to burn down when I throw an unlit molotov and then a lit one. I expect zombies to go blind when I spray them in the face with spraypaint. I expect a city of this size to have some form of agriculture. Nearby. I expect a lot, as a player… I’ll end this by saying thank you, thank you for creating one of the greatest story factories I have seen.