Immersion broken by checking status and too much precision

[Shanti]

I feel like it breaks immersion to hit [Tab] to bring up the survival status / options menu. The worst part for me is that when this menu is up, I can't move, but time doesn't pause. I think this is a fine for inventory, foraging, first aid etc, because I think it accurately simulates the time I would take to remove my backpack, plan my next actions, remove mittens, etc. However, when I'm just trying to figure out how long it will take before I freeze to death, or how hungry I am, it really breaks the experience. Also, I love the feeling that I'm completely off the grid, and I feel that the precise measurements currently displayed break the immersion. I'll try to split my ideas into a couple of areas:

Non-Pausing Overlay HUD

I want a HUD that I can bring up by holding a button, which will simply overlay information on the screen while I continue walking or doing activities. Things like hunger, thirst, cold, fatigue, relative wind direction (see below), wind speed estimate (see below), estimated time of day, status effects, etc. I would love if this could also come up over the stove, skinning, and crafting menus, or the inventory, so I could check these values as I eat, craft, cook, etc.

Survival Info - move from absolute scales to relative

I LOVE that time is no longer absolute - I think it's brilliant to estimate the time it takes until sunset.

Can we do something similar with other information? I feel like the caloric counter is too precise - the hunger bar is just fine. If I eat too much, an "ugg, I can't eat another bite" sound clip would be perfect to know that I'm full. It seems like thirst is the same way - now I simply estimate how much water to bring, and it works itself out. Definitely leave the caloric values on food.

I would love a relative wind gauge. As an "outdoorsy" person, this is something I monitor constantly IRL. I would love an arrow that points the direction of the wind relative to me, and a super simple estimate of wind speed, for the conditions I'm standing in. If I'm inside a building, it makes sense that this readout says "no wind". If I'm sheltering behind a rock, and the 30 MPH wind speeds are reduced to 12 MPH, I would expect it to read "moderate", or whatever scale is in use (light, moderate, strong, very strong and blizzard for example). This would help me know when a fire cannot be lit (in high wind conditions or above), and where to move it to get those conditions.

Rather than temperature and windchill listed in degrees, can we just have an estimate of how long in current conditions it will take until freezing? I know from my own winter experiences that this isn't always an easy thing to estimate as "I'll be cold in 1 hour", so a visual gauge that indicates heat loss might make more sense. I think could look like a "thermometer" bar that fills or drops indicating whether I am currently getting warmer, colder or maintaining temperature in current conditions. Different colors of fill could account for air temperature and wind chill, and the maybe the "maintaining temp" line could change based on clothing?

Fire burning time should also change. About an hour would be just fine for me - I don't need to see that it will last for 1h and 2 minutes. Less than 5 minutes would be a good indicator that I should add wood. Also, when it's down to embers, it would be great if the embers lasted for 10 to 15 minutes in a stove, even if they go out almost immediately outside.

Time estimates for activities:

I would love to have some time estimates for fire usage. I want to melt 1.0 L of water. Can I see how long I think that might take? Same with boiling and cooking. I think this would dovetail really nicely with the estimates for fire burning above.

Also, if I'm only cooking .3 Kg of Rabbit, it seems like that should take a shorter amount of time than 1 Kg. Right now, it feels like everything takes the same amount of time to cook.

[Maikleeps]

I really like Shanti's idea of not having all the date precisely at a glance. How would one know how cold it is IRL without having a thermometer? Especially how would one know exactly how could it is while wind is blowing? All those meters should be replaced by more or less vague meters. Good suggestions have been made by Shanti.

[joki]

Time estimates for activities:

I would love to have some time estimates for fire usage. I want to melt 1.0 L of water. Can I see how long I think that might take? Same with boiling and cooking.

For this instance: 30mins per liter total for melting + boiling (20min melt + 10min boil... also: it's 20min to cook a steak).

But yes, I still agree with your suggestion nonetheless!

[bethany]

Good suggestions! Thanks for sharing.

All I can ever think about when I see a non-pausing overlay is State of Decay. I didn't realize the game didn't pause when you brought up the map...It's really cool, but also very terrifying the first time you get attacked while the map is open.

Hmm...

[elloco999]

TLD doesn't pause when you open a menu or your inventory. Time still keeps moving and when you're outside you can get attacked by wolves/ bears. But what the OP means is that the survival menu stops you from moving. If you're walking from point A to point B and you want to know how cold you are, you press TAB, this stops you dead in your tracks, you check the temp meter, press TAB again en now you can continue moving. It would be nice to be able to check things like this while moving. I don't have to stop walking IRL to see if I'm cold or not. It breaks immersion to have to do so in a game.

[bethany]

Yep, sorry, should have been more clear when I was describing that.

I meant an overlay that actually takes over the entire screen (map), not allowing you to see anything that's happening.

I do understand the input about wanting to continue moving and having the ability to pull up the screen during activities, though. Thanks!