Last year I posted about the fatigue system and discussed the problem of infections adding so much fatigue that the character was basically immobilized for weeks. This is not very realistic and that’s why I recommended changing the system: Fatigue and hunger
My elaboration on RL fatigue is in the tenth message of the chain, I believe. Also new approaches at treating infections (and getting them, for that matter) would both be welcome and add realism.
Kevin’s sentiment at the time was that these issues should only be looked at after the big patch, which is excellent, btw =) Thanks to all who contributed.
I wondered if now would be a good time to review those old mechanics. Also, with the CoVid situation, it might be fun to consider adding some new illnesses, such as airborne ones.
Anyway, I’m still prepared to help. I’m not a very good coder, but as a doctor I’ll happily provide my insights on the real life mechanisms of fatigue, infectious diseases and medical treatments, should these be of use for the development team.
Of all the things wrong with the current systems of health, fatigue, metabolism, and disease, what would be the thing you’d amend first if you had all the necessary coding skills?
Well, I’m certain the system could use a total overhaul, but personally I think infection recovery is the biggest problem. I’ve several times had my character die due to the excessive amount of fatigue that has piled up during the healing process. Even though I’ve several times managed to thwart the infection itself, my character has been so tired afterwards that he’s kept falling asleep constantly and perished either to lack of supplies or being unable to fight back even against the most basic random zombie spawns.
Like I wrote earlier, this is just not the way healing and fatigue works. People tend to get gradually better, not worse, and it’s practically impossible to be so tired you can’t keep your eyes open even after having slept a full night during recovery.
I’m not certain what would be the best solution, but anything that makes tiredness act a bit more realistically would be crucial.
Also, having some other ways to treat the infection besides just antibiotics would add balance. I could in real life drain abscesses of pus from an infected limb. It just seems strange that the game is less forgiving in this sense and kills my character in scenarios I could personally have survived.
I tend to agree with your ideas overall, but draining an abscess could lead to septicemia, especially in conditions such as the post apocalypse. If sores/blisters/abscesses were introduced, which I think could add a whole new twist, I think there should be fails like septicemia and the like to go along with it all.
I agree with that. Without antibiotics, it’s risky to intervene surgically and the complication rate is high. Still, it’s feasible a skilled character could buy more time to look for drugs. Not intervening will lead to septic progression as well. Mechanical treatment and evacuation of secretions or revision of necrotic tissue is a core part of treating many bacterial infections IRL.
But yea… I didn’t want to push for any speficic little changes, since so many features are interrelated and the system probably needs a total redesign before anything is implemented.
I agree having more options for dealing with infections would be nice. Like using maggots to eat the dead flesh, or using natural remedies like garlic, honey, echinacea, goldenseal, etc.