Hi! I've created a new "challenge" for The Long Dark. What do you guys think?

[raposa95]

 

Hi! This is my first post on this forum, recommended by someone in my previous post on Reddit.

What do you guys think?

 

Disclaimer:

1. I never said the character would be suffering from clinical depression or some sort of mental illness. He/she is suffering from Survivor's Guilty, a known but very vague psychological condition after a traumatic event.
2.  I'll just quote my own reply in Reddit, self-explanatory: 

Quote

 

Well, thanks for your feedback. I never claimed to be knowledgeable in the faculties of depression or mental-illnesses. Much in contrary, I wanted to "dumb it down" and use vague terms on purpose for the sake of gameplay.

Obviously nobody can be sad/happy forever and a mere mushroom or random unlabeled antidepressant will not cure all your problems. I made it oversimplified like that on purpose, to justify my custom challenge's goals.

Furthermore, I said the character would feel guilty, not clinical depression. They'd let out depressed remarks, as in gloomy and doomsday phrases. You know, when they're too hungry or too cold, they start getting a little crazy in the head with imminent death. Same logic.

I used antidepressants as an item because that's a generalized term, such as "painkillers" or "herbal tea" - they don't specify what kind of item it is, just its general purpose. I was not trying to make it realistic, just functional enough to have a place in the game. We have man-made items like herbal tea, or birchbark tea as a natural resource, for the same purpose (condition healing). I followed the same logic for the new suggested mechanic contained in my idea.

 

 

[SirSharper]

I like the idea. It's obvious you put a lot of time into it. I'm not sure how Hinterland would feel about introducing hallucinogens to the game though. 
on a side note: I would really try to avoid Pleasant Valley mountain area. 

[wilsonaka]

I like most of your challenge's ideas except the Survivor's Guilt/depression aspect. This would be the same as introducing a "morale" meter into the survival needs of the player which, if I'm not mistaken, may have already been decided against. The closest they have to it is the cabin fever risk, which is mitigated fairly easily.

However, you don't mention any side-effects of the medicine(s) described, which would be important for balance in this particular case, especially for the proposed hallucinogenic mushroom cooked item(I'm assuming a tea).

[Arcadia]

I'd say this is nice idea for a challenge considering a touch from human pshycology. It would not hurt the game to have a mechanic just for a specific challenge. Like they did on Whiteout challenge (On whiteout there's a Calendar with fairly accurate weather forecast, which is something that would break survival mode)

EPISODE 3 SPOILER BELOW :

 

They have made insulin in episode 3, why not anti-depressant. To be realistic, even if you have the necessary skill to survive in Great bear for year or more, solitude on a deserted island is for sure make you depressed, even suicidal. The plane crash would definitely got you an injuries and maybe PTSD.

[PrincessAutumn]

That's a sweet idea, friend. And the part with finding stuffed animals and putting them within 10m of your sleeping position freezing your depression.. As someone who has depression, still plays with and sleeps with stuffed animals, I 100% fully support that. 

[Applesauce]

I like it. Especially the part about seeing dead people and killing animals, and the part about cosmetic items. I always thought it was a bit strange to see a corpse/carcass without any type of impact on the character. And the depression/survivor's guilt seems to really add another layer of struggle.

[H2Ohexagon]

It's intersesting. One of my favourite games is Senua's sacrifice so I'd like lots of different variations of trauma and diffrent functioning.

Like for instance hoarding, if you pick something up you will be unable to drop it, and can only get rid of it by useing it up or gift it.