Balancing/Stalker II

[MueckE]

Hello guys,

after all the time, i decided to open a new "balancing thread".

(original:

viewtopic.php?f=59&t=4837)

Alot of the ideas have been added to the game (hunting mechanic for example). Some of the things in the list were added in a different way as imagined, but in better ways, and some became obsolete.

I looked into all the threads about wishes and suggestions and picked a few of them in addition to my own to create this new balancing-concept. I apologize for not crediting all autors by their names, i just want to say: It is not all mine If you find your idea here and have the strong wish that your name shows up, send me a massage with the link to the original idea and i'll edit the thread.

As before, the goal of this is to make Stalker more challenging and deeper (the last months of updates did this already, i know) I want the player to force to go outside and do things and not just hibernate. In addition, i tried to suggest only things that can be added/changed easily (i hope at least as someone who doesnt

know how to program ), using mechanics that already exist. Everything you do should have pros and cons, so there is always a decision to make.

Like in the original thread, please try to read the following in a positive way. I didnt commend every single point and whats the idea behind it and what the consequences of this would be, of course i thought about it but than i would have to write a book.

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Fire:

-ability to eat and drink while you have a fire going

(directly from the fire, everything that you have cooked/boiled can be used directly without opening the backpack)

-Fir and Cedar now has to be cured before you can use it (just like hide)

-> sticks and reclaimed doesnt need to be cured

-ability to harvest coal from burned out fires

-> fireplace will disappear after

-> coal can be used as antiseptic + purify water

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Sleep:

-new sleep time duration to chose from:

short (1 - 3), middle (4 - 8), long (8 - 12) hours

-> if you are exhausted, you can't chose how long

(you will sleep between 4 and 12 hours, except your sleep gets interrupted - see below)

-sleep can be interrupted (again)

- a blizzard will interrupt your sleep, but only for a maximum of 1 time per day.

- if your condition is below 50% and you are freezing or starving, you will wake up from that

(so you will be able to warm up sleeping 1h in a bed - for example if you just have forgotten to put clothes on or whatever)

-> you can't accidentally sleep to death.

-> hypothermia, foodpoisoning, injuries will cause a 30% chance of sleep beeing interrupted

-opening the door will also interrupt your sleep (see "Doors")

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Doors:

-there is a 10% chance that a blizzard or heavy wind will open the door of your cabin/house

-> -10C temperature

-> if it happens while sleeping and you are freezing, you will wake up at 50% condition (see above)

-if you have raw meat in your cabin/house, there is a 40% chance that a bear breaks in and is stealing 90% of your food and damageing tools/materials/interior that are in the same room with the food.

-> this only happens while you are sleeping

-> this will not happen in strong buildings like the dam

-> if a bear broke in, the door will be damaged, meaning the temperature in the cabin will be lowered by 5C even if its closed (staying open -10C)

(despite its "unrealistic, cooked meat and other food will not attract a bear - it just would be to hard)

-> if you have fresh meat, i suggest you start a fire or risk getting raided You also could put it outside but than have the risk that it will be eaten from animals (see cans/bottles)

-Some houses doors are closed and you need tools to open. (just like some are burned down)

You can break through the windows but wolves, bears and cold will be able too.

-> temperature will be below 0 in that place

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Cans/Bottles/Food:

-empty cans (pork and beens, tomato soup ...) can be used, and are needed for melting snow/boil water

-> meaking tea/coffe

-empty cans, can be used to carry fire

-hot water (only if in a bottle) can be used as "bottle heater" (for 1 hour - warmth bonus)

-> combined with good clothes and a warm meal you should be fine in almost every weather for at least an

hour

-> sleeping with clothes on and a bottle heater guarantees a 100% good sleep (you can't freeze and starvation is much slower)

-all can goods will decay after the first 10 days (the food, not the can)

-Food can be placed outside in the snow

-> it will freeze, so you have to warm it up before you can eat it

-> frozen food does not decay

-> depending on where you place it, there is a chance that the food gets eaten by animals (floor, wildlife paths)

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Healing:

-> from 50% to 100% condition you have to invest double the time

(sleeping 3h, will heal you up by 10% -> you need 15h to get from 50 to 100)

-> if the condition is below 50%, you will heal as fast as now

-> if you are freezing, starving, beeing exhausted, sick ...., you always need double time

-> exeption: Between 1 and 10%, the condition will go up as fast as now (will to survive is boosting you )

-you are able to rest/sit on the ground for a slight reduction in fatigue consumption.

-> if you sit outside on the ground you will freeze fast

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Sickness:

-add cold (new sickness)

-> fatique stays above 50%, -20% condition, +20% more water needed

-> double time for all activities (harvesting, foraging, repair/crafting)

-> because of your weakness, you can not hold the bow for longer than 0.5 - 1 seconds

-> sneezing lets you missfire the bow, attracts predators to investigate

--------------------

Other things:

-You need a light for doing any work(repair, harvest and so on).

Without a lightsource, the chance of success is lowered by 50%.(at night)

-Eyes adjust to darkness over time (+ being stunned by bright light)

-add pine needles

-> can be used to make a tea

-> prevents you from becoming sick (skurvy, eating meat only)

-> cures cold (see above)

(an option would be, to use the birch for a tea. In reality the birch-tea is used for other things, but for now it would be easier instead of adding pine needles)

-herbal tea will do the same

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Rifle/Tools:

-there is only one rifle in the game

-the rifle will spawn inside a random building in the map you start

-the rifle always spawns below 50% of condition

(so depending on how much ammo you find, you will have to repair it on the long run, also you really have to think about how and when you gonna use it)

-there is only 1 simple tools, 1 quality tools, 1 hatchet, 1 knife,1 stormlantern, 3 sewing kits, 1 magnifying lens and 1 firestriker

-> lantern, hatchet and knife spawn always with condition below 50%

-the stormlantern, the hatchet and a few matches can always be found in the map you spawn.

-> you will find things in places where you expect them, for example will you find the hatchet most likely at clearcut or logging camp in ML or at the Log sort in CH. (same like the hammer at the dam, gas station or facility)

-there is a maximum of 50 matches you can find in the game (see carry fire with cans)

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Snare:

-If you catch an animal with a snare, the snare can't be used again

-can't be harvested anymore

-after 24h, a placed snare will decay if there is a heavy wind or blizzard.

-The amount of snares that are placed on one spot does not increase

-the chance of catching more than one rabbit anymore!

> so if you want to catch more than one, you have to put each snare far away from each other.

-if an animal got caught with a snare, there is a chance of 80% that it will disappear after the second day. So you have two days to get it or it will be most likely be gone (eaten by a wolf )

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Fishing:

-you need to have bait for fishing (guts, meat ...)

-fishing without bait only gives a 10% chance of catching a fish

-fishing tackle can't be harvested anymore

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Wolves:

-Wolves behave basicly like in Pilgrimmode. (If they see or smell you, they will run away)

*Exceptions:

-There is a 15% chance a wolf will act like now in stalkermode (rabies)

-If you come close to a wolf that is eating he either will attack you (if he has just started eating)

or he will run away if he already has eaten alot and you scare him off with a gunshot/flare.

If this wolf attacks you, he wont kill you because he just wants you to leave. (-40% condition + 70% chance of bloodloss)

-If your condition is below 50% and you have food with you, the wolves will act like they do now in stalkermode.

(except eatable plants)

-If your condition is below 50% and you are injured, or poisoned, or have a bloodloss, the wolves will act

like they do now in stalkermode.

-If your condition is above 50% and you are injured, or poisoned, or have a bloodloss, or you have food with you, the wolves will follow you from distance for a period of time but wont attack.

(only if in that period of time your condition gets below 50%)

-if a wolf is charging you, he doesnt bark, howl or growl

( sneaky attacks - you didnt see it coming )

-if you sneeze, start to talk ("hurts a bit, im gonna need some first aid, soon! ouf!), or using the hatchet foraging wood - there is a 20% chance you attract a wolf

-> try to avoid beeing loud

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Clothing:

-crafted clothes from animals dont get damaged in any kind of weather (you still will freeze)

-if you fall of a rock or another higher level you will be injured (sprained ankle), you lose condition

and your clothes get damaged (like they do in a wolfattack)

-all types of time consuming activities increase the rate of decay of your clothes

(foraging wood, working on workbench, sleeping, harvesting ...)

[Jytton Lames]

Man, I thought I loved this game - what an effort you put into this! I like a lot of it but my first thought was: "They're nearly at release, no way huge changes are happening now". But Raphael posted the anniversary video today and they've sold nearly half a million copies so in Season 2 or a sequel - it's possible. I've been thinking there should be a "Hardcore Stalker" mode for wolf loving masochists but mainly in terms of long game - i.e. edible wildlife should get scarcer after 100 days so you have to wander all over the map to find a bunny and would eventually starve unless you kept on the move between the major areas.

I'm not going point by point (it took a while just to read!) but my favourite is a bear coming in and busting up your cabin while jacking your food - imagine how people would react the first time that happened! More seriously I'd love if they'd do something with the fire to make cooking/boiling more realistic - you should totally be able to mend your boots while roasting strips of venison.

Thanks for your devoted work mate, especially if English isn't your first language. Hope you score 1 or 2 tweaks out all these!

[MueckE]

Yes i like the bear break in idea to. There are much more good ideas in the forum, but most of them are hard to implement. The bear could be done easily because you dont see the bear or have to fight him. You just wake up and see the mess - like a bad christmas I think this should be easy to implement.

[Jytton Lames]

Yes i like the bear break in idea to. There are much more good ideas in the forum, but most of them are hard to implement. The bear could be done easily because you dont see the bear or have to fight him. You just wake up and see the mess - like a bad christmas I think this should be easy to implement.

No way, you should be able to see the bear, just the standard animation when a bear beats the s**t out of you, with a black background. Then you wake up, freaked - was that a dream WTF - oh wait my base is wrecked and all my food is scoffed. It's beautiful man (woman?) Hinterland should totally be listening to your novel sized comments. And why the hell has nobody else commented on this? YES YOU! INPUT YOU BEAR FOOD WOLF SNACKS!!! :lol:

Edit: No offence to potential posters. :?