Creeping Exhaustion - Suggestions.

[BentNose]

Hello! I have enjoyed this game muchly, therefore I have an opinion that I wish to share! It is, after all, my duty as a person who exists on the internet.

I'm aware of the idea that being absolutely exhausted is being worked on to have the character fall unconscious after a period of time. Well that's fine, but there are a few other things to do that might help add a bit of realism and also give the player some small concessions here and there as well.



Suggestion #1: Circadian Rhythm

The circadian rhythm is the tendency for the human body to adhere to a schedule of sleep, being wide awake in the middle of the day and having the body naturally wind down when it gets dark.

Have the character's tired status be augmented by the clock. It progresses very slowly during the height of day, and very quickly during the dead of night. Right now it feels like the character becomes too sleepy too quickly during the day. Having sleepiness build up faster during the night also makes it even riskier to attempt to do things during midnight. This could be augmented further with a drug item that drops sleepiness (with potential after effects) or character perks/flaws that flip or alter the cycle. 'Early Bird', ''Night Owl', etc.

Suggestion #2: Micro Sleeps

A lesser problem with being extremely sleep deprived tends to actually go unnoticed due to the nature of the problem. People who are exhausted tend to have 'micro-sleeps', moments where they sort of flatline. They stop thinking or acting, asleep, even though their eyes are still open. Anyone who drives a lot has that experience of waking up halfway through the commute and realizing they can't remember the last five minutes. Micro-sleeps are kind of like that, except you don't realize you weren't there anymore.

This could be duplicated in game by removing sight for a short period of time. Treat it as a temporary blindness that indicates that the character's eyes have closed during the micro-sleep. This would make driving while exhausted very dangerous... as it is in real life. I've driven through the night, this is a serious problem for anyone who considers doing such a thing, it would make sense for Zomboid to have this too.

Suggestion #3: Panic and Adrenaline

Adrenaline is a thing that the game doesn't seem to consider and is a key part of panic. Adrenaline is the fight side of fight or flight and is really important for our survival mechanisms by giving us a burst of strength and energy when it is most needed.

When panicking, the character should have a rise in strength to accompany the loss of accuracy. It would also be realistic to have a momentary endurance recovery, with an appropriate penalty when the danger passes. This would be the most ideal spot for an exhaustion induced period of unconsciousness too. Here more than anywhere else, the character would probably fall straight to sleep if the panic ended while they were fully tapped out. They'd also be very likely to wake up early and still fatigued with a nightmare though.

It would also be realistic to find a way to allow Veterans to benefit from adrenaline since they know how to act without letting their panic hurt them, but I don't know how easily that could be to implement.

[TrailerParkThor]

I like a lot of this, and have had similar thoughts about the "Passing Out System," and how it could be implemented in a way that doesn't cause you to die in stupid ways. If you've ever played the Sims, I think you'll agree that tying it directly to fatigue is a bad idea. This is why there does need to be another system tracking how close you are to zooting.

 

My thoughts are that there should be an Epenephrine number that can't be seen by the player except with Moodles. When Epenephrine is baseline, your body is operating at normal levels and you are totally fine. Once you become Ridiculously Tired, that meter starts to go into the negative. Obviously, testing and tweaking is needed to find balance but this is all hypothetical. As you go down you'll become Sleep Deprived (maybe -15). This signifies that your body is working overtime to keep you awake. Core body temperature is reduced, and strength/speed is slightly reduced. Once you hit a certain negative number, you will get hit with a Dangerously Sleep Deprived moodle (-20). While in this state, the character will experience even worse debuffs than before, as well as an increased Anxiety rate and lower immunity to both infections/colds. If you do not get any sleep soon, you will hit the Epenephrine min cap (-25) and collapse where you are for 10 mins. This will bump you back up to -20 Epenephrine. Every time you pass out without sleeping, the amount of time before waking up is increased by 10 mins and the amount of Epenephrine you regain is 1 less. So you can pass out 5 times and know you will wake up within the hour. On the 6th time, you will not wake up from passing out until all negative tired moodles are gone. This is a guaranteed death sentence in the open. Outside of combat, this will stop players from staying up weeks at a time as long as they are safe. This has never been too realistic anyways.

 

Let's say that you have been up for a day or two and you get hit with the Sleep Deprived moodle. You are at your base, and go to sleep until the Drowsy moodle is gone. The Sleep Deprivation debuff will still be there. Survivors only build up Epenephrine while not affected by any Tired state, and they can only build it back up to +10 this way. This means, if you regularly stay up for days at a time, getting one night of good sleep wont allow you to do the same thing the next few days. Survivors will suffer permanent sleep deprivation unless put back on a good sleep schedule long enough to recover to normal levels. This would incentivize players to regularly spend time sleeping and taking care of needs at their base, so they can build up some positive Epenephrine. So major ops and long trips without a vehicle must be planned efficiently and only pulled off occasionally as to not suffer from Sleep Deprivation. If you're gone from home too long sleeping in chairs and pulling all nighters, you will suffer the consequences.

 

These ideas have been forming in my head for a while now, but I think there are some weak spots that your ideas fill in nicely. My biggest issue with this idea has been the whole sleep schedule concept. Obviously players would need to sleep most every night to maintain good adrenaline, but if you start sleeping during the day or maybe play a Wakeful/Sleepyhead/Restless Sleeper character, the game could basically bottleneck you into only being functional at night. While this would be a fun challenge to deal with and fix during a playthrough, I think it should be hard for players to unintentionally end up with a sleep schedule that makes them nocturnal. Of course punishing players who pull too many midnight scav runs is the point, but it shouldn't be easy to fall into that trap. The circadian rhythm idea you had is the perfect thing for this while remaining super simple to code. This would make it hard for players to become nocturnal, as well as making it easier to get out of it. I like the micro sleeps idea, and I think it would make for super fun gameplay to essentially start to see the visual cone fading and flashing when Sleep Deprived, and those long "blinks" you mentioned when Desperately.

 

Incorporating Panic into Epenephrine to have them synergize would be incredible as well. Maybe Slight Panic could give a +1 to Epenephrine with Panic granting a +2, Strong a +5, and Extreme a +10 to the previous.This would mean a lightly Sleep Deprived survivor could actually remove that moodle during combat if Panicked enough. This would also mean that your idea about passing out immediately after combat could be done almost cinematically. Your panic slowly reducing, and your Epenephrine going down more and more until you stomp the last zombie head in, and collapse to the floor. Now, on the idea of Panic actually raising your strength and speed, I also have some thoughts. If natural regeneration of Epenephrine tops out at 10, then there needs to be a way to raise this number higher. Strong and Extreme Panic could actually do this with their +5 and +10 buff if the survivor is at +10 Epenephrine. This could actually give a Wide Awake (+15) or an Adrenaline Rush (+20) moodle respectively. These would both increase core body temperature while also giving bonuses to speed and strength. So accuracy and vision will be reduced, but the hits you make will connect hard and you will have a better chance at escape.

 

Most players will never be at high Epenephrine so they will not usually see this effect naturally. However, what if the devs actually added an Adrenaline Shot to the game! It could grant a +10  boost to Epenephrine. Essentially acting as a medicine form of the Extreme Panic boost. Taking this at full Epenephrine would cause the Adrenaline Rush effect. The only difference is that, without the panic, the visual cone and hearing radius of the player is actually increased as well. There would be two parts to crafting it. A Bottle of Adrenaline, and an empty syringe. These spawns would probably be very rare, and only at hospitals, pharmacies, and clinics. Syringes could maybe also be found in random trashcans or in abandoned warehouses, however they would be used. Taking the shot would cause Minor Pain and would require some Medical Skill to use on others, and even more to use on yourself. It should not be possible for Hemophobic characters to do either way. Core body temperature would be increased a lot as well. So this would have two functions. The first would be to counteract the effects of Sleep Deprivation. Let's say you are planning a mission that will take several days and you can't guarantee safe sleep. You are already in the low negatives on Epinephrine, and you know you might be chancing passing out somewhere. You could bring a backup Adrenaline Shot, and when you hit the Dangerously Sleep Deprived state, you can take the shot and shoot right back up to relatively safe levels. The other use is the more powerful, but dangerous one. Using the Adrenaline Shot when fully rested up will give you the Wide Awake or Adrenaline Rush moodles. While Wide Awake is entirely beneficial, it seems pretty dumb to waste a rare medicine on a small boost to speed and strength. The problem comes when in the higher levels of Epinephrine. If at 25+, the survivor will actually go into cardiac arrest. If at high health status, they may be able to metabolize adrenaline and lower Epinephrine to safe levels (+24 or less) before death, but it is still not likely. Players will not be able to overdose on one Adrenaline Shot, however if they are at +20 Epinephrine, and are afflicted by even a Strong Panic, they will go into cardiac arrest. Even at +15, an Extreme Panic will stop your heart. This would function as a balance to the shot so it can't just be abused whenever you are in combat. You would probably only use the shot in life or death situations where the risk is highly worth it. I guess Beta Blockers would be an obvious companion to this drug, as it would make it much harder to go into cardiac arrest. Of course you can use the shot strictly for Sleep Deprivation, and never sleep again with no risk of ill effects. I just think the idea of popping some Betas and stabbing a big needle in your chest during your last stand behind a bar as the undead hordes stream in.

 

Let me know any other ideas you have on this topic. I think it could be very easy to implement into the game and be super rewarding. Not only adding tons of new gameplay options and loops, but tons of mechanics that would make the game more realistic. I honestly wouldn't even be mad if I was Adrenaline Rushing through an overrun neighborhood, turned the corner to a horde and immediately had a heart attack and died from fear. Not to mention, this system opens the door for Morphine Shots which I have been wanting for a long time. It could basically function as the inverse version. It would drastically decrease Epinephrine, while acting as a super powerful version of vanilla painkillers. Would make movement nearly impossible, like a different type of encumberance, but slow bleeding a lot. This already sounded cool on its own, but now I'm picturing the group medic injecting the melee tank with Adrenaline before having to go rescue him and give him Morphine to save his life. Maybe being able to carry survivors if they are in cardiac arrest or passed out is a good addition too. This way, your friends could potentially save you in MP servers during these life-threatening situations. Hell, maybe just allowing players to carry other players would be great in general. Bone fractures, bleeding out, extreme pain. All of these would be less dangerous if your team could easily evac you.

 

Edit: If syringes are added, and used ones can be found in the trash, they should also add a Dirty Needle feature. A needle should have condition as well as amount left. If the condition is lower than 66%, it becomes a Used Syringe. If less than 33%, it becomes a Dirty Needle. Used Syringes have chance to pass on infections to the survivor it was used on. Dirty Needles carry an even higher risk. Hopefully, a Disease Update comes one day. Then we can really get crazy with Hepatitis and HIV type stuff. Until then, I think this is a good middleground

Edited November 16, 2020 by TrailerParkThor

[BentNose]

You've gone quite deep on this, but I agree that there should be something that also prevents a player from just functioning on caffeine instead of ever sleeping.