A Survival Book (a new spawn item)?

[quinch1199]

A proposed way of scaling/rescaling game play for a hint of more realism.

You're a pilot, you've come down in the wilderness...perhaps you've had a days worth of training for this situation but that's based on making yourself known to the outside world and being picked up within the first 48-72hrs.

NOT THIS!!

In this revision of the game play, you could start with a small box of really basic survival tools. Matches, a couple of signal flares, some energy bars, a knife and a survival blanket (those silver ones) but that's about it.

However, you DON'T know how to start a fire using anything else than matches or a lighter, you don't know how to make a bow or craft clothes or even repair what you have! These need to be learnt...the idea I have is that as a spawn in random locations you find various "how to/guide" books. These can be found lying around in various cabins and places.

Rifle repairs...you need to find the Guns & Rifles maintenance book.

Need to make a bow? that crafting option isn't unlocked until you've read the appropriate survival book. IF you don't explore and find it...you can't make it!

Clothes falling apart? Sewing for Beginners book..maybe even a workstation with a hand/foot cranked sewing machine? If you find the book you can make repairs and craft by hand...find the right work station with the sewing machine and BINGO! Crafting time is slashed.

Perhaps not all books will be on one map, more advanced books being hidden on maps further along. This opens the way for including crafting of fire bows/fire drills and other more primitive but ultimately complex and VITAL survival tools...even to stone tools!

Napping flint arrow heads is a highly skilled task for example and something that could be unlocked this way.

What does the community think to this idea? Been suggested before? Really dumb idea? This may also help encourage players to be more nomadic as the game clearly wants players to be and give greater challenge or incentive to veteran players also (gotta collect all the books!)

[djanico]

Awesome idea!! Thumbs up!

[Hesha]

I like the general idea, but I feel you underestimate what a complete layperson can do without any knowledge and just intuition. Many tasks really only get done faster with more training, not better.

[Viktor Kvasnica]

Good idea, I like it. I think it will enhance the survival aspect of the game and the realism too.

[quinch1199]

Thank you, I do think that tasks such as gun repairs, making bows etc are so well beyond any laypersons abilities that the only possible way you could achieve them is by learning them somehow.

In the absence of finding an "old man of the hills" NPC in the game...some form of guidebook is the only option.

That this potentially opens up even more options for crafting that can give even more longevity to the game and mean the mid to late stages can be rebalanced more. For example if there are options to learn more advanced fire making abilities (fire bow or drill or even a steel), more advanced foraging and hunting skills (types of edible plants expands) then the availability of other fire starting equipment and pre-packaged food in the game as a spawn can be dynamically balanced (basically reduced). This could go hand in hand with a rebalance in degradation of some food items such as tinned goods, which would make them rarer BUT effectively infinitely lasting as tinned goods last for years...these commodities become items whilst not found often, but truly horde items to keep for emergencies only.

So many people get to a certain knowledge of the game and gain the ability to horde to such large volumes that the game could focus away from spawning pre-packaged foods, lighter fuel, matches etc as the player picks up and learns more skills. In this instance collecting the book not only unlocks the next craftable item but also signals the game to reduce/remove the respawn of certain linked items.

This dynamically increases the difficulty level of the game in an evolutionary way within the core difficulty setting and during gameplay.

This might be a step to radical at this late stage of the game development but .... The Long Dark Part 2 perhaps?

[quinch1199]

Please note I mention modifying the REspawn rate as the knowledge tree is expanded. This means the initial spawn rate can remain as it is now across all maps...I'm assuming all maps are created in the game mind virtually as an initial spawn value as soon as you start playing for the first time rather than as you "discover" them.

If the further map item spawns are calculated as an when the maps are moved into then a recalculation may have to be adapted but the option is always open to discover new spawns of unique items anyway.

[KD7BCH]

...

This might be a step to radical at this late stage of the game development but .... The Long Dark Part 2 perhaps?

This is alpha not late stage at all. There should be some sort of way to learn skills or improve on them, clearly the point system is a placeholder.

[quinch1199]

...

This might be a step to radical at this late stage of the game development but .... The Long Dark Part 2 perhaps?

This is alpha not late stage at all. There should be some sort of way to learn skills or improve on them, clearly the point system is a placeholder.

That, of course, will all depend on the situation and schedule the dev team are in with the game. Regardless of overall build, we have to be considerate regarding their own targets but it would be a nice idea to be included before full release.

[Amateur Bushcrafter]

Didn't read other than the title so i'm going to go ahead and presume: Books with actual content to read? Gladly small common tips regarding actual survival that can have been taken out of any survivalist books so it could be commendable even for a game? Absolutely agree.

[quinch1199]

Didn't read other than the title so i'm going to go ahead and presume: Books with actual content to read? Gladly small common tips regarding actual survival that can have been taken out of any survivalist books so it could be commendable even for a game? Absolutely agree.

No reason what so ever that the books wouldn't ALSO be actually readable with factual tips on survival. Certainly that would be a good addition to the game generally and not unheard of in many fact based games.