sanity


TheCanadianLoonie

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I am reviving the idea of going insane. hopefully, this idea doesn't get shit on by this one guy like it did last time.  

 

So, here's the spiel.  After surviving a plane crash and stuck in the middle of nowhere with no hopes of escape, you're bound to take a phycological impact from this whole ordeal. There is many ways that sanity can be implemented whether it be a sanity bar or something the player has to interoperate.  Such as the character will mckenzie starts talking to himself more and more often, or maybe cannot do certain quickly, such as harvesting meat.  Sanity should increase (or decrease, I don't know how that will be done) every time your character experiences something traumatic, such as a bear or wolf attack, or even staring at a dead guy for too long.  There should also be methods to gain sanity (become less insane) such as chopping wood, sleeping, drinking tea or coffee, hunting deer (not wolves), crafting, reading.  Pretty much anything that takes the characters mind of the situation he is in.

Let me know what you think

-H

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It will bring a lot to the table if implemented properly, for instance it can deter people to become allies if you look too unstable. That would liklnk to the NPC's I hope to see and have complex relationships to, it would be god to have a charisma bar too so that it will be easier to get more than one ally and a trustworthy group, so I am also making a point for NPC bars where you need to have a good group. This all needs to become more complex so bring this to my summary page. I want to make a list of implement worthy wishes and you got my attention:)

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2 hours ago, WillDakenzie2000 said:

It will bring a lot to the table if implemented properly, for instance it can deter people to become allies if you look too unstable. That would liklnk to the NPC's I hope to see and have complex relationships to, it would be god to have a charisma bar too so that it will be easier to get more than one ally and a trustworthy group, so I am also making a point for NPC bars where you need to have a good group. This all needs to become more complex so bring this to my summary page. I want to make a list of implement worthy wishes and you got my attention:)

Hold on a sec... define what the heck makes someone look unstable? O.o Because last time I checked, we often hear of serial killers, mass shooters, spouse and child abusers, and sexual predators being described by their neighbors, friends, and family as "nice, quiet individuals," "always so polite and kind," and "I'd never think they could do something like that." The OP's suggestion is an ignorant over-simplification of mental illnesses and now you're suggesting something that is grossly stereotypical as an indicator.

That someone may mutter to themselves, be nervous around strangers and/or not make eye contact, and whatever other outward signs you think indicate a person is 'unstable,' and therefore untrustworthy, are garbage. Millions of people live normal lives everyday with mental illnesses of varying degrees and aren't dangerous to anyone. At the same time, millions of people with no mental illness are raging jerks to other people everyday and do harm to others, mentally and physically.

That's exactly why something like this shouldn't be in the game, because it's based on ignorance and stereotypes that are ridiculously harmful.

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I have people in my family with mental disabilities I am not being grossly stereotypical, in fact I myself had a mental his ability that was minor enough to grow out of at a young age so that there in no need for even coping in fine now but its just a good idea since we know the world has dramatically changed, perhaps it will not reflect insanity but just trauma like ptsd where you are hypersensitive it will make you extra alert but look dangerous to the NPC's that's all I mean by this, understand me before you get too opinionated please. Do not cloud your mind with this we are simply here to make ideas and I believe showing the sad new world like this makes this idea  a good addition.

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We've seen suggestions relating to survivor's mental state before, and do find the idea interesting. It'd be important to us that we implement it thoughtfully, though.

If a mental/emotional wellbeing system were implemented, do you think it would change the tone of the gameplay? How might it contribute to the existing "mood" of the game, which is often one of loss, hardship, and loneliness?

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It is my understanding that Cabin Fever was introduced to account for going stir crazy. I think this addresses the sanity issue sufficiently.

Under the circumstances I think it is understood that the character suffers anxiety, loneliness and boredom. It's what the game is all about.

 

Edit:

He does talk to himself a lot.

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1 hour ago, Mel Guille said:

We've seen suggestions relating to survivor's mental state before, and do find the idea interesting. It'd be important to us that we implement it thoughtfully, though.

If a mental/emotional wellbeing system were implemented, do you think it would change the tone of the gameplay? How might it contribute to the existing "mood" of the game, which is often one of loss, hardship, and loneliness?

 

It could be a minor detail that shows how a person handles grief, traumatic events loneliness and hardship. Implementing it is worthwhile, the way it is gone about is subjective but it ought to be in the game for use with NPC's. It would deter NPC's from becoming friends but keep you more alert to your surroundings where you are more nervous and afraid, it will also make you louder though when you talk to yourself, and you may become so unstable you kill yourself if you do not take good care of your mental state, you can also  have other personality bars and dispositions as well as attributes and appearences, this would go ell with the other place where they talk of customizable players, where you can make yourself positive in areas you choose with a set amount of points which you earn through playing more, and later on you can change yourself more, because people change over time it would have a good feel, so this would be a small contributing factor in a larger idea called; characteristics, it would have your disposition mental state, strength, body type, facial features, color, scars, charisma, disposition, temperament, mindset and other attributes which you choose and later on get more points to decide what you want your character to be like, it will help in situations you have with animals, NPC's and yourself including your safety, health and wellbeing

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There have been extensive discussions about a sanity system (call it what you will - sanity, morale, willpower or something else) far in the past. The main issue iirc was the question what should happen if the sanity/morale bar runs low or depletes altogether. Think about that, or better still - dig up the old threads.

I would also like to remind people that the original concept of the story mode included a sanity system which features a photograph of o loved one as a last-resort sanity/morale booster. But each use wears the photo out, it fades away, so be careful. Since I haven't heard about this feature being dropped, I expect it to be planned for story mode still.

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 For an example of a really old thread on this topic here is a post from my pre-moderator days ;)

Note that the game has changed a lot in the past year so some of the things I suggested are no longer as relevant. Still, it illustrates how this is an idea people some like... it's just how do you implement character well being in a way that fits the game and doesn't just feel bolted on for the sake of it?

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1 hour ago, cekivi said:

it's just how do you implement character well being in a way that fits the game and doesn't just feel bolted on for the sake of it?

This War of Mine has a very simple 'Mood' meter, that runs from 'Content' down to 'Broken', via 'Normal', 'Sad' and 'Depressed'. If you keep your peeps well fed and healthy or you do something good like helping a fellow survivor, the Mood meter goes up. If you don't provide them with their basic needs or you do something bad like steal from or kill somebody, the metre goes down. When the meter's high, they are generally more energetic; when it's low, they lope around slowly and give up on tasks part-way through.

In the context of TLD, a similar system could be used whereby your happiness is affected over time by your four health levels (ie. how full they are on average) and by things like wildlife attacks or suffering afflictions, or by finding new places and new loot types. Higher happiness could give you more stamina and a Rest bonus, maybe? Perhaps quicker task-completion times? Lower happiness would be the opposite, I guess: low stamina, high fatigue rate, a sleep penalty maybe, time-penalty for performing tasks, etc.

I agree with earlier posters that mental health is a very complicated issue, and extremely tough to model accurately in a game. So I think it would have to be kept as simple and vague as possible so as not to run into those types of problems around generalisations or stereotyping of specific mental health issues, and so that it fits logically into the game's scenario.

Edit: Having said all that, any morale system that's implemented would have much more direct relevance to Story Mode, where you'll presumably be making choices about helping or hindering NPCs. And it has also been indicated that some features of Story Mode won't be included in the Sandbox, and vice versa. So that's a possibility.

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I like the idea of well being rather than sanity.  The bonus when you have a fire lit at night, even if its not needed for a task, hot food rather than cold, food at top condition being a plus, food at lower condition being a minus.  You could actually treat it like condition for clothes where lower condition means less functionality, higher condition better functionality, and you repair it with certain actions.  Different than the current condition which is a meter of how close you are from shuffling off this coil.  It could impact things like repairs, time it takes to do tasks, how susceptible you are to cabin fever.  It would even be really cool if the music was more mournful when your well being is low, and less mournful when your well being was high.  

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