Adjustments to Skill Progression, XP, etc.

[providence1111]

There is a lot I like about the book system.  It makes books a valuable resource you have to search for, the drawback though is book reading is critical to skill building and it is about the most boring part of the game.  I don't dislike it takes time, since time is a resource attached to zombie migration, hunger, boredom, etc.  How I would change how books work would be to simply make it work similar to sleeping, just with a built in mechanic that would pull you out of the timelapse if a moodle became severe (i.e. you won't read if staving to death, very sick, having a panic attack, etc.) or a zombie was spotted or banging on your house somewhere.  You could choose how long to read in hour increments and it would timelapse for you.

 

 

Another angle that could add more variety to skill progression would be to have static locations contain an XP bonus.  For instance, a hardware store or a rural warehouse contain a special workbench and that is the only way to get a high carpentry XP bonus,  Maybe an electronics store had a maintenance bench in the back for electronics.  An automotive shop for leveling mechanics, shooting range for guns, etc. etc.  The idea of having these XP bonuses would be that they would be worth the time to frequently visit, but given they are static locations scattered through out each town, it would require you to traverse the town to revisit them.  Also to add more complexity, you are required to supply specific materials for each skill building task, electronics parts, wood, ammo, etc. this way you are driven to gather supplies to level these skills up, another reason to explore the map and loot more.   

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 1, 2019 by providence1111

[nickodemos]

Interesting idea. I would say that your system has some merit but if it was implemented maybe only for levels after five. This way you have a grasp of things but to expand into higher learning you need the shops.

[Magic Mark]

A very well-written post.

 

I can agree with almost everything you have said here, except that I find some difficulty in defining what counts as a work area to add towards XP growth. That said, I totally agree that having the option to practice something removes a lot of excessive button mashing and repeating the exact same minor processes.

 

For balance, one may consider having practice consume resources, while granting the player an extended growth of that skill over a long period of time.

 

I think reading skip through time faster is a great idea that has little downside for the reason that sleeping uses the same system. I would love to see this implemented.

[ZonaryQuasar]

The first part (make book reading similar do sleep - black screen) I don't agree... I like the way it is, you have to be able to see your surroundings when your character is reading.

But the other part... is brilliant! Fixed locations with XP bonus for certain skills, and as Nickodemos suggested, making book reading after lvl 5 even more harder, it's an awesome idea because it forces you to leave your mega fortified base to do something (because this is the biggest problem of late game IMO). More and more things to do outside your base is what the game needs.