GSC

I was thinking that this option would only really be useful against humans / NPCs, but kinyoshi's explanation made me reconsider.
 
I still wouldn't want to get into a container when zombies are after me, but I might hop into a bin for a few seconds after turning a corner. But only if I could maintain some visibility around me. Need to know if the trick didn't work! Being trapped in a bin or wardrobe with zombies milling around outside would be terrible.
 
Hiding sounds like a better idea when it comes to NPCs / other players. Let's say you see / hear a raiding party break into your house and you are ill-equipped to fight them. Hop into a box and hope they don't find you. If they do, you'll probably wish you had run instead, but it would add more variety and tension to the game.
 
I don't think we need to complicate this by emptying the container first, doing an inventory volume check etc. Some containers should be big enough to hide in and that's it. Obviously if someone was to open the container, you would be found immediately.
 
I think some visual cues (like moving speech bubbles outside the box, as seen in the role reversed Kate and baldspot video) would be necessary to give some clues about what's happening outside. If the characters don't talk, there could be simple noise indicators as they move around (unless they sneak).

I was thinking that this option would only really be useful against humans / NPCs, but kinyoshi's explanation made me reconsider.
 
I still wouldn't want to get into a container when zombies are after me, but I might hop into a bin for a few seconds after turning a corner. But only if I could maintain some visibility around me. Need to know if the trick didn't work! Being trapped in a bin or wardrobe with zombies milling around outside would be terrible.
 
Hiding sounds like a better idea when it comes to NPCs / other players. Let's say you see / hear a raiding party break into your house and you are ill-equipped to fight them. Hop into a box and hope they don't find you. If they do, you'll probably wish you had run instead, but it would add more variety and tension to the game.
 
I don't think we need to complicate this by emptying the container first, doing an inventory volume check etc. Some containers should be big enough to hide in and that's it. Obviously if someone was to open the container, you would be found immediately.
 
I think some visual cues (like moving speech bubbles outside the box, as seen in the role reversed Kate and baldspot video) would be necessary to give some clues about what's happening outside. If the characters don't talk, there could be simple noise indicators as they move around (unless they sneak).

Close enough

When you see rotten food, think MC Hammer... :cool:

I was actually thinking this outline hint would be a much more realistic when it comes to trees, which - especially in small clusters - rarely conceal a standing / moving, human sized shape that is in your line of sight. You could catch a glimpse of a shambling zombie even if it was behind a tree. Buildings and other structures on the other hand can easily block your view completely, delivering a genuine surprise when you turn a corner, open a door etc.
 
More than once I have been scratched by a lone zombie that I ran into passing through 2-3 loosely connected trees in otherwise open ground. Since then I've learned to avoid all kinds of foliage when running.

This sounds like inserting (a slightly modified version of) the already existing "Last stand" game mode into regular survival as a mandatory minigame. I don't think this is a good idea. These 2 game modes require a different mindset and the disruption of your main game session would be too long (not to mention repetitive, when you are in a susceptible state).

You already have the option to sort your inventory / containers by item type, select a stack of similar items and drag-drop to move them to another container. Maybe there are issues with the UI at the moment, but it usually works for me. You can even queue you move orders, so it's just a question of doing some clicking and waiting for your bags to unload.
 
I don't think we need to automate this further.
 
A quick and easy way to unpack is to dump your items on the ground. Noone who will steal them at the moment

Not that I want this, but I just realized that arm injuries would also affect aiming / accuracy and reloading. That means I probably would fail to hit a wall of zombies with a shotgun when I'm injured and panicked

I like the idea of NPCs having the same damage system, especially when it comes to zombies. Would be cool to see their injuries, even when bandaged. And this could have an impact on personality and attitude. Macho badass with a scratch? Probably still a badass. Macho badass with a broken leg, gunshot wounds, fever and possibly infection? Probably more of a crybaby and more likely to ask for help.
 
Head injuries could be the most serious. They could affect your vision, hearing, feeling of sickness, drowsiness, general mood etc. They would be hard to deal with. To compensate, I would suggest a variety of stylish and protective headgear (microtransaction hats! - just kidding). I know I would always put on my motorcycle helmet + pads when going outside in the zombie apocalypse! :cool:
 
As a side note about visible bandages: I can already see myself running around looking like a mummy when things go badly.

Hey thanks to all for responding and your opinions, it was just a little idea of mine. Anyway, just thought it would be cool to add a sleeping bag to the camping aspect of the game. This game is great and we all want more. :cool:

Heya guys,
 
I'm making this thread to discuss the future of mental health in PZ. Lemmy mentioned at one point that he wanted this in the game in some form or another, and so I wanted to take this space to post my thoughts on it and hear everyone elses'.
 
So without further ado:
 
Sanity
 
Introduces a sanity moodle to the game. There is no positive version of the sanity moodle, just a negative:
 
Imbalanced: You are shaken by the current events and have been physically affected by them.
You get a slight negative modifier to your interactions with NPC's You may occasionally hear small sounds that don't exist Unstable: You have been severely affected by the apocalypse, and it shows.
You have a negative modifier to interactions with NPC's You often hear sounds that don't exist You have trouble sleeping Insane: Your mental health is fully compromised.
You have a large negative modifier to interactions with NPC's You often hear sounds that don't exist You have trouble sleeping You occasionally see things that aren't there, including NPC's, loot, and zombies. These images are exactly like their real counterparts, but can have no effect on the player and disappear after a time. You talk to yourself sometimes, causing a small amount of sound You have a chance to be much more or much less susceptible to the panic moodle For short periods of time you won't see moodles that are affecting you With the introduction of insanity comes two new traits in the beginning of the game:
 
Strong Willed: Much more likely to stay sane, and stops at "Unstable," not able to become completely insane.
Unstable: Much more susceptible to insanity
 
And finally, things that effect your sanity:
 
Antidepressants: Help stave off insanity, but become addicting
Alcohol: Can temporarily stave off insanity, but long term increases it if addicted
Corpses: Nearby corpses negatively influence sanity (implemented after cleaning up corpses)
Home: Staying in the same house more than once increases sanity
Cigarettes: Temporarily helps increase sanity
Losing a Companion: Losing a companion severely effects sanity
Becoming Injured: Being injured or sick decreases sanity
 
Nota Bene, the insanity effects are quite strong and should take a large amount of time to build up, particularly to the final stage. It should only become a problem if you neglect it or if you take the unstable trait.

This will make the third "Overhaul" suggestion I've posted so far (behind sleep and item damage, which have both gotten some changes at least).
 
For this one, I want to discuss character damage and the possible future of npc damage.
 
I  have a feeling that NPC's will probably be managed like zombies when they're implemented (with just a hit point pool and not a full damage system) but I could be completely wrong about this. The suggestion, then, is two-fold:
 
Give NPC's the same damage system as the player, and
Make the player damage system a bit more realistic.
 
I know this was at the least mentioned in the old forums, but it's been a long time and I'd like to see a good discussion over it.
 
Basically, my recommendation is that each body part that is damaged has a specific effect on how your character behaves, just like it would in real life:
 
Head: Possible reduction in vision, hearing, increase in nausea, greater chance for mental trauma (which will hopefully be added soon, too)
Upper Arms: Decreased carrying capacity and strength
Hands/Lower Arms: Slower weapon swing speed, possibly making it so you can't carry a two handed weapon as well
Chest: Faster damage taken than other areas, increased exhaustion
Legs: Decreased carrying capacity and run speed
Feet: Decreased run speed and increased noise caused by walking/running
Groin: Greatly increased pain.
 
I'd also love to see some sprites to go with this. This was a big problem before because they required so much work, but I'm hoping now it would be a bit easier. Mainly I just want to see a limp and bandages being able to be shown visually. These could easily wait until later in development, though.
 
Your thoughts?

Now that all zombies / corpses have standard clothing items in their inventories, I find it much more tedious to sift through their pockets. They carry valuable items sometimes, but clicking through a stack of bodies and noticing the odd extra item is difficult.
 
As we rarely need to loot more than 1 or 2 zombies / closets for clothing in an entire game session, I think it would be useful to have a clothing filter for these (and possibly other) containers that can be turned on and off, making it easier to spot items of interest.
 
I don't think this would be unrealistic or against the spirit of the game. If I were looting in real life, I would be able to ignore clothing when searching a body or a wardrobe for useful items.

Oh yes. This is indeed likely to happen. You leave Bob at home to guard the house. You come back 5 hours later and the fridge is empty. And he just looks at you like "whaaat?". You take him along for a raid, melee some zombies, glance back over your shoulder when things are heating up... and he's gone. Or you try to sneak past a massive horde and Bob starts firing his pistol (that only has half a clip). Or he smashes a shop window with a brick instead of coming in through the door after you, drawing the attention of a few dozen zombies.
 
I think we will have all of this and more. 

Please add my clothing / item type filter for containers suggestion. It didn't get a lot of responses, but it seems to be supported in one way or another.

For boobytraps or passive defense I was thinking of logs / planks studded with nails or axes swung down when triggered, though these would probably be complicated to build and endanger me as much as the zombies or rogue NPCs.
 
I would be more inclined to use traps that are essentially a harmless early warning system (e.g. a cooking pot balanced on top of door / window frame or tied to a string, which makes noise if something triggers it.

Could be hard to figure the UI for it, but I like the spirit of the idea. I think perhaps something like Eve Online has, checkboxes for each "category" of item:
 
Clothing:
Consumables:
Accessories:
Weapons:
Food:
 
And you can keep as many of them checked or unchecked in any inventory window to filter your own bags or the loot window.

Now that all zombies / corpses have standard clothing items in their inventories, I find it much more tedious to sift through their pockets. They carry valuable items sometimes, but clicking through a stack of bodies and noticing the odd extra item is difficult.
 
As we rarely need to loot more than 1 or 2 zombies / closets for clothing in an entire game session, I think it would be useful to have a clothing filter for these (and possibly other) containers that can be turned on and off, making it easier to spot items of interest.
 
I don't think this would be unrealistic or against the spirit of the game. If I were looting in real life, I would be able to ignore clothing when searching a body or a wardrobe for useful items.