In Reverence of Max's Last Stand: Tending to the Dead

[levism84]

I understand this is a survival game with limited resources in the dead of winter, but I would like the option to bury, burn, or otherwise tend to the dead. Finding a frozen corpse of a complete stranger would be horrifying and probably should impose some sort of psychological debuff on the protagonist. Perhaps sleep provides less of a benefit for 24 hours after searching a body. However, I think there would be some sense of purpose and closure if you were able to properly tend to a dead body in a respectful manner. Perhaps it removes the aforementioned debuff and grants an increased benefit to sleep or your general condition doesn't deteriorate so quickly.

Mechanically, I understand there are issues involved in moving the corpses, but perhaps it is handled with the same off-screen care as foraging for wood. You select the "Remove Corpse" option and an hour or more later (depending on if you have a shovel handy ) the corpse is gone, you've expended time and calories, but you have a psychological buff for having laid the body to rest.

Additionally, you could expand this to include removing the carcasses of wolves and deer if you also included a mechanic where wolves or other predators would be attracted to dead bodies and be more likely to spawn in their presence. Since the scavenger birds can circle corpses (which is super cool) it doesn't seem too much of a stretch for predators to be attracted to bodies as well. In this way, spending time to remove the bodies becomes a calculated risk that may or may not improve your chances of avoiding predators and ultimately surviving.

Just a thought.

[gwishades]

+1 i like it, in addition to the off screen handling of the bodies would be neat if the protagonist set up a nice lil cross for them. also showing a mound in the ground where there body is. the whole mental fatigue of seeing corpses could also play part if you decided to resort to cannibalism as i've seen in other threads.

note: also would like to hear the protagonist make comments on seeing said corpses, and an afterthought after laying them to rest. all these actions take up more of your own personal time putting you in greater danger, so you could let them lay undisturbed or let your human morals take control and do whats right.

[levism84]

Hmm... eat or bury... eat or bury..,?

[gwishades]

haha tough choices i really think a metal status bar needs to be added to the game.

[ubiquityxx]

+1 Wow that is deep. There is a respect for life in the act, and honoring the struggle of the one who has passed; Closure. It also echoes the ultimate price, if it all goes wrong ... a cold, lonely death.

I like the idea of it being an action. A cross could be placed where the body was buried. Side effect of this is it could be a waymarker the player references to know places they have been. Like marking a tree with chalk.

Maybe the voice over reacts to the corpse but there isn't a debuff. Having the voice potentially respond to moments, items or things in the world that would cause psychological stress in any other person would be meaningful.

Here's the thing about the burial "action". The player would need a shovel, player's gotta dig a hole "six feet under" and that takes calories ... which are already in high demand. eeks.

[TarjaS]

I'm not sure about burying the dead, but I think there should be a possibility to remove a corpse from indoors. For example, if you want to use the Camp Office as your base, you should be able to remove the corpse upstairs, if it's there.

[levism84]

I agree the actual act of disposing of the corpse would probably take time, calories, and would require a tool of some kind. That is why I left it sort of vague. Plus, there is a shovel icon for building a snow structure, so I imagine a shovel would be introduced later in play anyway, that was why I winked at mentioning the shovel in the OP. A marker might be nice, in theory, but harder to implement in game... especially if removing a corpse from inside a building.

I like the idea of the protagonist reacting to the corpse without a debuff, just a few additional pieces of dialog (provided they still have the voice actor available). That would also get rid of the need for the buff mechanic and make everything purely role-playing. Of course, if corpses still attract predators, removing corpses would still provide a mechanical bonus to justify the expenditure of calories.

[gwishades]

I agree the actual act of disposing of the corpse would probably take time, calories, and would require a tool of some kind. That is why I left it sort of vague. Plus, there is a shovel icon for building a snow structure, so I imagine a shovel would be introduced later in play anyway, that was why I winked at mentioning the shovel in the OP. A marker might be nice, in theory, but harder to implement in game... especially if removing a corpse from inside a building.

I like the idea of the protagonist reacting to the corpse without a debuff, just a few additional pieces of dialog (provided they still have the voice actor available). That would also get rid of the need for the buff mechanic and make everything purely role-playing. Of course, if corpses still attract predators, removing corpses would still provide a mechanical bonus to justify the expenditure of calories.

agreed, shovel will probably be an additional tool so burying the body could be realistic. and like i stated you dont have to bury the body if you dont want to, that's your choice. use the calories to bury the dead and perhaps lessen the attention from predators or leave it exposed to the elements. just like in the vignette videos, would you walk away from the tent, open the door to the cabin, or eat the carcass of an animal....its your choice.

[gwishades]

I'm not sure about burying the dead, but I think there should be a possibility to remove a corpse from indoors. For example, if you want to use the Camp Office as your base, you should be able to remove the corpse upstairs, if it's there.

the corpse makes a nice locker though :lol: