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.

I debated on where to put this topic but I remember reading somewhere that the developer's ultimate goal with PZ was to have emergent storytelling be at the game's design core. If so, the purpose of this topic is simply to discuss and possibly (and humbly) suggest what I think this would look like in PZ. If this is no longer a goal, I'd like to see it manifest as a Mod. What is emergent storytelling? This article provides a fantastic overview and argument for what defines emergent storytelling in video games: Popmatters The author argues that emergent storytelling in videogames has one or both of two key components: Characters that change during play in meaningful ways that represent a true character arc, Gameplay forces players to give context and meaning to a scenario that results in a dramatic arc.Without these components, the narrative is not emergent. For example, a pre-defined series of events within a game may include story and character arcs, but they are not emergent. They are narratives designed by the game maker. Emergent storytelling happens through the interaction between the player and the system. I think PZ has the opportunity to push the envelope with emergent storytelling and I suspect that is the intent with NPCs. But I think more can be done with player characters. What would extreme isolation and constant war-like trauma do to a character? For characters that are put together in multiplayer, what would be the effects over time on characters having two conflicting personality types being forced together? I could see a new navigation pane, similar to the one that shows the health of the body, except one for the mind. While moodles might be outward expressions of character behaviors, the character's mind would be internal. Let's say two players are playing survivors, one plays Joe and one Sara. Shortly after meeting for the first time, Joe registers annoyance towards Sara within his mind. Sara may be able to see that Joe is mildly annoyed, but she would not know from what. After a certain threshold, highly annoyed characters might suffer skill penalties. If the two players are both friends in real life and plan to play together, Joe's player might chose to spend points (e.g. resources) on reducing Joe's internal annoyance towards Sara. Joe gets over his issues. Alternatively, Joe's player may need to spend mental points on fighting off his growing addiction to smoking cigarettes. He allows Joe's annoyance towards Sara to grow to the point that he now suffers a skill penalty fighting zombies. What happens next? Perhaps Joe accepts the penalty and risks his life and stays with Sara. Or maybe he finally snaps. During the next harrowing zombie encounter, Joe's player withholds critical assistance from Sara and allows her to be torn apart by a horde. "It was either her or me". To me, this is emergent storytelling. Letting Sara die isn't a meaningless event. Joe had a reason for doing what he did. He needed to rid himself of his concentration breaking annoyance or he risked himself dying to the horde. On the flipside, players could assign mental points to make their characters like each other more. Let's say Amy and Josh receive a skill bonus when they are together. They make a great team. But one day, Josh drops his guard and gets bit. The infection manifests quickly and Josh dies. Amy now suffers a deep depression which tank her skills. Does she persevere and eventually recover? Does her sorrow prevent her from successfully fighting off the next zombie? Does she drink the bleach? These are stories. They are more than just a series of events with importance only to the player. The narrative isn't dictated by the game maker. Instead, the narrative emerges from the interaction between the player and the system. What does it say about the human condition that Joe, when faced with risking his survival, let Sara die? To me, this is why PZ has permadeath and no final winning state. This is how you died. The game is about the journey, not the destination.

Memories... http://theindiestone.com/forums/index.php/topic/4519-more-useless-stuff/?p=60345 To address EnigmaGrey's concerns, you could have an Advanced Stuff sandbox setting. I like the added challenges with looting that sifting through stuff creates as LewisDTC notes. Although I'd prefer items to have a range of usefulness - less useful to more useful. Nothing adds to the stress of looking through a cabinet of stuff like the sun setting and zombies approaching. "Oh shit, I got too greedy! I can barely move!" On the other hand, I agree this would be a significant annoyance to large portion of players. I'm weird. I think mods will suffice though. As Hydro would probably attest, we need some crazy sprite making savant to join the community and literally make a sprite for everything that could possibly be found in Kentucky.

I've been waiting to dive back into PZ with Build 33. It is (or was at one time) expected to have the feature that allowed furniture and other map objects to be moved in game. It is such a little thing* but the ability to personalize a character's environment is irresistibly immersive in a game like this. Of all the new, upcoming features, moving furniture tops my list. *Little in terms of comparative game impact. I have no idea how little this is in terms of game development.

Just adding a comment of love and support to counteract any negativity. I've been assisting a couple of board game designers with their indie projects. The unprovoked online vitriol that sometimes target board game designers is baffling and disheartening. I think it just happens to be the age we live in. If any TIS staff or mods find themselves in Los Angeles, shoot me a PM. I can hook you up with some fun things to do.

Hydromancerx - I've been following your mod and watching it grow. It is impressive! I was just wondering if you had a end-state in mind in terms of size of the mod? Or are you just adding things as you think of them?

Although I've been following this mod since inception and downloaded many times, I haven't actually used it yet. Question: Should I bump up the loot settings with this mod? How are people using it?

I don't know what is more awesome. Your mods, or the fact you broke a bottle in a bar fight. +1 Awesome if you broke the bottle over someone's head!

None of this goes far enough for me. I believe video game cheaters should be prosecuted. Let them drop a few grand on lawyers in the States, or sit in a Polish prison cell for awhile. Ohio makes cheating a first degree Misdemeanor although I'm not aware of anyone ever getting arrested for cheating in a MMO. http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/2915.05 But they should. Society doesn't tolerate thugs marching into a baseball stadium interrupting play or stealing from church ladies at Bingo night. Someone cheating at darts in a bar will usually get bounced by a bar owner. Probably with a swift kick to the nuts. Or the cops drag them out for disturbing the peace. How is ruining gameplay for potentially millions of other paying people less of a problem? Why are tax paying business owners saddled with the cost of protecting themselves? We don't tolerate antisocial behavior in public. Video games are public entertainment places, and we should not tolerate antisocial behavior there either. Vote Jatta Pake 2016. *drops mic*

All player made furniture is destructible.

There is a video floating around demonstrating this in game from an earlier build. The character pushes furniture against a door to slow a horde. So very cool!