Jatta Pake

Congrats Connall. It’s so cool how many fans transitioned to full fledged Indie Stoners.

2013. Achieved the glorious rank of “Advanced Member”. Created the Spiffo collections mod. Invented the “Legacy” play system (play till death then pass the save to another person to play until death then repeat to infinity. You end up with a lived in world full of mysteries and deceased player journals). This is how we died. Haven't played in ages but I check back from time to time. New animation system will probably suck me back in.

Love it!!! This mod is a must. I'd love to see it make its way into the base game. Skyforts are the worst. This is how you died. Not how you lived a long fruitful life in a magical flying fortress.

I loved the previous thread so I hope I'm not out of line creating this new one. 1. Spawn all new characters with a pen and notebook in their inventory. It won't unbalance anything and gives us RPG fans the ability to immediately start journal-ing. The tag line is "This is how you died". Give us the ability to record it! I think it would be fascinating finding a corpse in multiplayer with a long history written down in a notebook. 2. Allow some useless items to be re-named like bags. Again, it should not unbalance anything but will enhance immersion. Rings and lockets that can be inscribed with messages would be very cool to find. Glenn's pocket-watch in "The Walking Dead" has powerful in story meaning. 3. Spiffo Variants. What is the point of survival without the ability to collect Spiffos? Life has no meaning without variant collectible Spiffos.

Ideas for some new recipes: 5 of the Oddest Ways to Make Fire: http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/environment/g2824/odd-ways-to-make-fire/

291. Ability to write text on map objects. Maybe limit to 140 characters. Players could right click on a bathroom mirror and see a message. Or right click a crate and see the message "JP's stuff. Do Not Touch."

267. More "story elements". Notes left behind for loved ones. Unique keepsakes like a trophy that reads "Kindest Dad In The World". A partially finished coloring book. A photo album featuring birthday pictures of a child in a wheel chair. A sign taped on a door that says "Came by but no one answered. See you soon. -Dave". A "Get Well Soon" bouquet. A partially burned letter that says "Leave the area now. Too many variables. Alpha in effect."

Plot twist: NPCs are already being tested on multiplayer servers. Just kidding! But that's how I would do it. Throw in some bots on a big MP server and see what happens. As far as I can tell, Indie Stone is working on NPCs acting as procedurally generated narratives. These work better when the AI isn't "playing" the game but behaving like a simulated being existing inside the game. Kinda like how we are all simulated beings in Elon Musk's universe. Roguelike Radio had a great episode recently on "Simulations" with Tarn Adams, co-creator of Dwarf Fortress. Tarn calls DF a procedurally generated narrative game. The simulation runs, players act and react to it, and the story unfolds (and hilarity ensues). Optimized bot players work well in first person shooters, but a game like PZ needs characters. I think the key for success is making the character behavior understandable to the player. An NPC ally that charges head on into a horde for no apparent reason will get groans from players who bitch about stupid AI. But a character that charges head on into a horde because he's buying the player time to make an escape will be dramatic and possibly poignant. An NPC that charges head on into a horde to buy the player time to escape when the player already figured out a safe escape route will be hilarious and tragic. Aim for dramatic and poignant but enjoy hilarious and tragic.

Awesome!

I think your post touches on a more fundamental issue. To me, PZ currently straddles a line between simulation and traditional RPG. Skills progression is traditional RPG element and a time tested mechanic. Simulation play doesn't really care about character skills - the challenge is acquiring the resources to do what you want to do. This is also time tested play. The challenge is balance. I think some prefer balance to be tipped more towards simulation. I lean that way in the sense of building/crafting. Rather than unlock recipes at higher skill levels, I'd prefer higher skills to influence crafting/building quality or chance of success. Maybe some stuff is locked but the bulk should be open at level 0.

Just give it the same recipe name as the original in your new recipe file. Because mods load after base game, you can replace/change existing recipes with your mod recipes.

It's been awhile since I modded but you shouldn't need to replace recipe.txt Mods load after base files so recipe changes overwrite in memory when loading. Base files are not altered. You can check out my recipe files in MIB.

And just to add to the above, most player actions in game should result in the behind the scenes accumulation of points towards new negative traits. Survival should be a slow descent into madness.

I think we should be able to control mind points. We do already. They are called Skills. My idea doesn't require micromanagement but I understand the concern. Here is how I see it working: You select a starting trait of Annoying Voice. By default, other characters around you suffer some type of penalty. Perhaps they do not "learn" skills from your character as quickly cuz your character is annoying. Minor penalty. Most players might ignore. However, this could influence NPC behavior. Later you may decide to spend a point to eliminate this trait. You practiced interpersonal speaking or something. Your character changed. The problem is that you can't really model these types of actions in game. Most comparitive actions could go both ways. Do characters "get used to the Annoying Voiced character over time"? Or does the continual agitation grind away at their patience? These are Indeterminate Actions. Actions that could be good or bad in terms of character development. Skill actions are not. Do a skill, get better over time. Simple. An Indeterminate Action could result in either improvement or decline. Those are hard to program without getting "gamey". The solution is to turn it over to player choice. Allow players to guide the development of the character.

Actually, a randomly generated map would not be fun. You would have houses in the middle of freeways, grocery stores in the middle of forests, and parking lots in backyards. What you really want is a procedurally generated map with logical city zoning etc. Not only is that complex but it vastly complicates procedurally generated narratives which the devastated are working towards.