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immersive start for the "second" survivor created, after a while


Raul_

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I got this idea from my personal experience with the game.

See, when I'm playing with my first created survivor, and he dies, I forgive that initial immersion in the world, because the second survivor is still inside his home, even though the apocalypse in his city has started more than 1 month ago! This is not immersive, nor does it make sense. After all, this game is a simulation of an apocalypse.

 

The second survivor must, as the name he describes suggests, be surviving! Whoever reads this agrees with me? Because of this surreal reason, I came here to propose that you, developers, or modders, create a Zed Story for the second survivor (and later), which suggests that he lives in a city that is really going through an apocalypse, this way, maintaining the immersion of the city and the game.


I got tired of deleting my game because I was not immersed in the second created survivor. I want him to have a story, like having just had a car accident, and having a cut on his leg, making you rip his shirt to stop the blood. Or you're camping out near the city, hungry for your food to run out.


This type of story makes you immersed that he spent 1 month surviving and suffocating as his first character, however, he does not do as well as his first survivor, and you need to continue seeing a dramatic and immersive story of a survivor , controlled by you. That's all I'm asking for. Enough is inside the house as if none of the dead were walking in your garden or eating your neighbors for more than 1 month!

 

I also suggest that Lore's story about the second survivor be told according to his chosen profession.

Some got suggested:

 

If he is a policeman, for example, a story that would fit with him could be an accident in his vehicle, he just got close to the chosen city of spawning, in a neighborhood, he is bleeding slightly due to a scratch caused in the accident , or cut, and it is necessary to tear your shirt to stop the bleeding.

 

If he is a lumberjack or forest ranger, he may be surviving in the woods, at a camp, near the road to a store or gas station in the chosen city. The food he collected and that helped him survive until then is over and he is a little hungry.

 

Other stories that suggest how the second survivor is surviving the apocalypse when you start to control it:

 

Inside a house with sheets on the windows and doors.

 

Inside the gas station store.

 

Inside a supermarket with an empty backpack.

 

Inside a car at the entrance to the city, but the fuel ran out.

 

Near a campfire, with rice. This fire may have been built near a city lake. or not having any food, just the campfire warming the survivor, and he

starts to sit next to him, warming up.

 

Inside a hospital, with a bandage wound. (I know you have a mod with a similar start, it's a good idea to dive in yourself)

 

And it can contain as many different immersive scenarios as you developers want to add.

 

Thanks for reading.

Sorry about my English.

 

Edited by Raul_
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This is one of those things on the backburner until we get to Build 44 and beyond. The devs plan to add persistent NPCs to the game after B43 introduces NPC scenarios and situations. I imagine this could actually even come as early as NPC stories since, as you say, we can just generate a story for the 2nd survivor in a save. However, this will be sloppy and sometimes still not make sense. A much more clean and beautiful fix would be to simply put you suddenly in the control of a persistent NPC who has been doing things to survive that has been tracked by the game. Imagine you are 6 months in and you die in the woods. Suddenly, you are in charge of a woman firing rounds down a dark hallway. You run out the back and discover you are in a hospital where you and your group has been surviving. Now all the sudden, it's overrun and it's on you to try and save everyone. Will you save your group and get out of dodge with your people? Will you round up the important supplies and dip solo? Will you hold up and defend a floor hopeful to secure this awesome base the AI built up for you. Barricades and supplies will already be here for you to use instead of being in an empty base.

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8 hours ago, TrailerParkThor said:

This is one of those things on the backburner until we get to Build 44 and beyond. The devs plan to add persistent NPCs to the game after B43 introduces NPC scenarios and situations. I imagine this could actually even come as early as NPC stories since, as you say, we can just generate a story for the 2nd survivor in a save. However, this will be sloppy and sometimes still not make sense. A much more clean and beautiful fix would be to simply put you suddenly in the control of a persistent NPC who has been doing things to survive that has been tracked by the game. Imagine you are 6 months in and you die in the woods. Suddenly, you are in charge of a woman firing rounds down a dark hallway. You run out the back and discover you are in a hospital where you and your group has been surviving. Now all the sudden, it's overrun and it's on you to try and save everyone. Will you save your group and get out of dodge with your people? Will you round up the important supplies and dip solo? Will you hold up and defend a floor hopeful to secure this awesome base the AI built up for you. Barricades and supplies will already be here for you to use instead of being in an empty base.

The spawn into an apocalypse with nothing, not even a backpack, and no skills shtick is old and it makes for a terrible beginning. Its like I'm some stand in actor that doesn't know what he's doing. I feel like a dumb shmuck when I spawn. Seriously, no skills, clothed, 27 years old, no items, in the middle of total chaos and death days, weeks, months after the balloon went up. Survival games have a lot to learn when it comes to their beginnings.

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12 hours ago, Badgzerz said:

Survival games have a lot to learn when it comes to their beginnings.

 

Well I definitely agree with that! And PZ is one of the worst offenders. I understand the devs have always stayed fast on the fact that they will never simulate the Day 0, but there should definitely be more to Day 1 than just spawning in 3 days after the evacuation with quite literally nothing but a belt, shoes, and the clothes on your back.

 

For one, Character Creation should allow you to select all the clothing and accessories you wish. I never understood why we start with a Belt, but not a Watch? Both are equally useful in different ways and not having a Watch just makes it hard to immerse yourself at first. Either we should get both or neither. Maybe if they made it so we needed Watch Batteries to keep a digital watch going, that would be a better balance to starting with one? Classic ones could need rewinding everyday. Regardless, allowing us to customize more things like piercings and outer layers would just help engage you with the survivor sooner. I understand they don't want to allow every character to start with a Big Hiking Bag, Rain Boots, and a Welder's Mask, but we need more options for customization. Things wear down and break anyways, so it's just a matter of a slightly better start.

 

It also bugs me that you can't start the game during the July 6th Evac day. I usually RP this by just starting that day at 5 PM through sandbox settings and pretend I slept through the army lol. However, this makes for a pretty unrealistic start as suddenly there are just hundreds of undead even though they just evacuated citizens. I understand the vibe they are going for by starting a few days later. You start the game as a survivor who is running low on supplies wherever they are and has finally decided they need to do something. Then you decide what that something is for them. It makes sense and it is a decent hook that doesn't force your hand on anything, but I wish there were more options that weren't just cosmetic date changes.

 

Like I said in my last comment, NPCs will probably fulfill what you are requesting, but I think they could also fill in the gaps here a little too. At least with NPCs, your start could be a little more realistic. Maybe you start on the Classic 7/9, I can imagine that the game would simulate a few people nearby you watch get eaten on the streets through a window. Maybe it could give you a wife or roommate that could be boarding up windows and tell you to go find food maybe. Survivors that start on the Evac Day might encounter a hundred people in the spawn cell all trying to get on a bus or boat or something. Suddenly, zombies come out of nowhere and its pure chaos. Maybe that's why you didn't get evacuated safely! Things like 6 Months Later, or a future Patient/Tourist in Knox Country scenario, would lend themselves well here. Lots of fun story to tell that could get you immediately caring about the survivor you're playing as.

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If it could be done, boosting the starting stats given by hobbies and occupations based on time past would make a lot of sense with an extra random skill point here and there. If months have passed in the game, then they'll surely have learned something new to help them survive. Then when the player is spawned, if they are placed in a building thematically chosen for them, apply a high chance to convert that place into a safehouse with the expected array of items.

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