[Suggestion] Clumsy Survivors

[Fenrix]

I would humbly like to suggest the one thing every single zombie movie has in it.

falling down.

 

thaats right, I would like to suggest some kind of mechanic where the player will have a chance of falling over, this could be caused by countless things such as that clumsy trait, panic, running on rough terrain, moving through rubbish piles, corpses, darkness.

 

now you all have seen it, person gets chased by zombies and while not paying attention, stumbles and falls down and becomes zombie food. I would love this to be in the game, not a hugely common occurance but. for example. if a player is running up some stairs in the pitch dark.... they should fall over. its going to happen to anyone who isnt a complete ninja.

 

 

a rough idea of how it might work:

 

we have a value: 100 which i will call "stability", this value is affected by all the various things that might affect it such as.

lack of shoes

raining

on stairs

on a body

injured leg

light level

traits

tiredness

 

each of these would subtract from the value of stability (some would add to it).  once the value reaches a set threshold we have the survivor fall over, assuming the survivor survived any subsequent zombie attacks we add some points to the value to represent the survivor taking a little more care... for a small amount of time that is >

 

 

yeah thats prettymuch it. something to make survivors have the possibility of falling over and being clumsily eated.

 

Thanks for reading.

[Bprince2010UK]

I approve of this idea.

[Connall]

I could get behind this as long as like most ideas it's implemented properly. Don't want to have your character falling over constantly when they have no reason too. Could certainly be interesting and rather humorous thing to add to the game.

[Liva98989]

Also add running as one of the things that will increase the chance. (And graceful trait should probably decrease the chance of falling.)

[Fenrix]

I'd totally add blood to the list as well now that I think about it. nothing like slipping in a pool of zombie blood and getting infected 

[Strider]

If this happened to me in game I think I'd find this massively frustrating.

Also add running as one of the things that will increase the chance. (And graceful trait should probably decrease the chance of falling.)

 

This is a good compromise. PZ is clearly a game where walking/sneaking is the order of the day. Tripping over would be a good way to discourage running.

[ArtosVI]

I'm just imagining that bit in the World War Z movie where the scientist slips and shoots himself when he's getting off the plane.

[Connall]

I'm just imagining that bit in the World War Z movie where the scientist slips and shoots himself when he's getting off the plane.

 

Yeah but to be fair...

 

That was an awful, stupid movie. Seriously, what was up with that film?

[Strider]

 

I'm just imagining that bit in the World War Z movie where the scientist slips and shoots himself when he's getting off the plane.

 

Yeah but to be fair...

 

That was an awful, stupid movie. Seriously, what was up with that film?

 

 

I don't fully understand but I think it's because it was started and stopped several times. Worked on by several directors and producers. 

 

An all round cluster fk.

[Fj45]

I'm just imagining that bit in the World War Z movie where the scientist slips and shoots himself when he's getting off the plane.

 

We don't talk about that.....

 

 

Could also add the weight of your backpack and how full it is. (one heavy item could shift around)

 

Edit: Could also be effected by how drunk you are.

[Szkeptik]

I also approve of this idea as long as tripping over is not a random occurence. For instance: Running on a paved road it would be almost or completely impossible to fall over, but moving through the woods would carry higher chances. This way the survivors would have to make a decision between moving fast and effortlessly on an open road that may be much more dangerous, or choosing the less populated woods to travel, but risking worse combat environment if things do go south.

[Fenrix]

yeah that was the general idea, you basically grab as many things as possible that might affect your ability to not fall over and then give each one a + or - score.

for example

 

long grass -4

corpse -9

blood -3

tired - 10

overloaded -20

trait- graceful +10

 

then you check these against your current stability, stacking where nessesary. so  

 

your in long grass -4

theres also a corpse in your current tile -9

theres blood too - 3

its dark - 30

 

= -46

 

we take this away from our stability which is 100

so

 

we now have 54 stability.

now lets assume the fall over threshold is 50.

your still not going to fall over.

but say as you move through the tile you suddenly get tired -10

 

now your on 44

 

player falls down.

 

thats basically how it would work. its balancing then would just be about tuning the values of each set of possible effectors on stability.

 

of course once the player actually falls down we add +20 temporarily or something showing the player is now being more careful.

you could still fall over if you got injured or encountered another hazard but your not going to just keep falling down constantly type thing.

 

edit: incase not clear, this does not mean walking through 2 tiles with corpses on them causes the corpse effector to stack, its a constant value per tile type thing. so the value will constantly change as you move through tiles depending on whats on that tile and the players various statistics. so you move off the zombie, no more negative from a zombie corpse.

[Fj45]

yeah that was the general idea, you basically grab as many things as possible that might affect your ability to not fall over and then give each one a + or - score.

for example

 

long grass -4

corpse -9

blood -3

tired - 10

overloaded -20

trait- graceful +10

 

then you check these against your current stability, stacking where nessesary. so  

 

your in long grass -4

theres also a corpse in your current tile -9

theres blood too - 3

its dark - 30

 

= -46

 

we take this away from our stability which is 100

so

 

we now have 54 stability.

now lets assume the fall over threshold is 50.

your still not going to fall over.

but say as you move through the tile you suddenly get tired -10

 

now your on 44

 

player falls down.

 

thats basically how it would work. its balancing then would just be about tuning the values of each set of possible effectors on stability.

 

of course once the player actually falls down we add +20 temporarily or something showing the player is now being more careful.

you could still fall over if you got injured or encountered another hazard but your not going to just keep falling down constantly type thing.

 

edit: incase not clear, this does not mean walking through 2 tiles with corpses on them causes the corpse effector to stack, its a constant value per tile type thing. so the value will constantly change as you move through tiles depending on whats on that tile and the players various statistics. so you move off the zombie, no more negative from a zombie corpse.

 

I'm no Dev so I have no idea how hard it would be to implement but this could be a very interesting and unique feature. Moving around would be much more difficult and you would have to plan ahead more. (If you are trying to go off road with lots of items.)

[John_234]

I've played a few games where you might be running, but if you come across a spill on the ground or a corpse, your character slows down to carefully go across / around it. You don't trip, but you still pay a cost for running into those sort of areas, much like forests in Project Zomboid.

 

Actual implementation of clumsiness as an intangible out of control of the player is going to be a love/hate gameplay element, IMO.

[Daec]

I like it

im not sure if this "out of control of the player" mechanic would be any more love/hate gameplay element.

than dying of an burnt steak or beeing with the 25% that get infected by a scratch are.

 

of course it shouldn't happen that you fall over everything, just has to be implemented right!

Moving backwards (while aiming) to the stairs with a bloody corpse lying on top of it totally should be something bringing you to fall...down the stairs....breaking some bones.

 

Damn...figting on or at stairs just isn't something you should do....wonder why nobody has written down this elementary rule

[Walther]

I like it

im not sure if this "out of control of the player" mechanic would be any more love/hate gameplay element.

than dying of an burnt steak or beeing with the 25% that get infected by a scratch are.

 

of course it shouldn't happen that you fall over everything, just has to be implemented right!

Moving backwards (while aiming) to the stairs with a bloody corpse lying on top of it totally should be something bringing you to fall...down the stairs....breaking some bones.

 

Damn...figting on or at stairs just isn't something you should do....wonder why nobody has written down this elementary rule

 

yeah, I am interest in the clumsy mechanic but the chances that you can fall should only apply to certain moments. I mean sure, running through the lower grass while it is raining in panic might be a moment where you could slip and fall, going up the stairs backwards or trying to climb a sheetrope/rope.

 

one shouldn't fall too often, this could really piss players off IMO. I don't fall very often. even if I stumble I catch myself pretty quickly again and don't fall. yeah I'm not getting chased by zombies but adrenaline also leads to a better focus, no?

[Suomiboi]

I do like the idea of falling down and imo it should be implemented not only to the player but also zombies and NPCs. OP's threshold idea is quite good but I'd still add chance in to play here, we don't want you tripping over every corpse when it's darky, you're tired in tall grass and there's a bloody corpse on the ground. Maybe after the "tipping point" hehe you'd just increase your chance of falling down. Also strafing or walking backwards could increase the threshold, climbing over fences through windows etc.

 

Maybe when the you're over the threshold you'd have a 5-10% chance of falling down and as it would increase it could go to let's say 25%.

 

But it might be that there's too much to calculate with even just the player (not to talk about NPCs) moving on every tile and the game checking if the threshold is over... It might reduce the game to a crawl.

[MrIdontknow]

The player should only fall down if you're sneaking backwards and come near a box or something foot level.

I still think it would be a massive hindrance though.

[ToastedFishSandwich]

Whilst I feel it would be annoying, if somebody could create a simple, little test mod and let a portion of the community try it out then maybe I could change my mind. I just don't like the idea of having my control taken away in a game like this one.

[TheCenturion]

This receives the Centurion Seal of Approval! 

 

But seriously, this sort of thing is good. The idea, anyway. It'd have to be balanced, perhaps a little out the way of realism, but tripping over should be a possible element of the game, if;

 

- You're panicked to a high degree.

- You're running.

- You're moving backwards.

- Your shoes are untied.

 

That way it only happens in extreme situations and the player can, to some degree, avoid the chance. Suggestions? No? Motion carried! Huzah! What? I'm not a developer? Aw. 

 

[Fj45]

Whilst I feel it would be annoying, if somebody could create a simple, little test mod and let a portion of the community try it out then maybe I could change my mind. I just don't like the idea of having my control taken away in a game like this one.

 

This sounds like a good idea. Instead of wasting Dev time on a possibly broken idea that may need to be fixed/refined several times, modders can implement it, see how it goes and maybe in the future it will get added.

[VamyreLord]

To fall or not to fall...

[Fenrix]

mmm I'm not sure about the random chance method, people use that alot. I mean having a random chance does stop players from fully understanding how the mechanic works and taking advantage of it, which people tend to do when playing any computer game. (counterstrike bunnyhopping is an example)

 

so randomness would make the game unpredictable which is both good and bad depending on your point of view, I think players should be able to predict the possibility of a fall relatively accuratly, because thats what people are able to do in the real world.

but randomness or some kind of coin flip type thing would destroy this and players could fluke an impossible situation which I think is just silly.

 

I mean as long as the falling down threshold is low enough it should make falling down rare enough that it does not inconvenience players too much, but there are many situations where it simply should inconvenience players. (if we ever get a winter map with ICE in it for example, this mechanic would be a perfect way to deal with it)

 

I like the idea that it might cause players to slow down instead but it's important to remember, players can't see why they might be moving more slowly, and while they will eventually figure out why they are moving more slowly, they won't appreciate having their speed capped if they are in a hurry. (hence the falling down mechanic, lets them see why they should move slower)

but its another possible take on the situation.

[RyukIsGod]

I'd love to be able to injure myself by falling down the stairs.

[Daec]

mmm I'm not sure about the random chance method, people use that alot. I mean having a random chance does stop players from fully understanding how the mechanic works and taking advantage of it, which people tend to do when playing any computer game. (counterstrike bunnyhopping is an example)

so randomness would make the game unpredictable which is both good and bad depending on your point of view, I think players should be able to predict the possibility of a fall relatively accuratly, because thats what people are able to do in the real world.

but randomness or some kind of coin flip type thing would destroy this and players could fluke an impossible situation which I think is just silly.

I mean as long as the falling down threshold is low enough it should make falling down rare enough that it does not inconvenience players too much, but there are many situations where it simply should inconvenience players. (if we ever get a winter map with ICE in it for example, this mechanic would be a perfect way to deal with it)

I like the idea that it might cause players to slow down instead but it's important to remember, players can't see why they might be moving more slowly, and while they will eventually figure out why they are moving more slowly, they won't appreciate having their speed capped if they are in a hurry. (hence the falling down mechanic, lets them see why they should move slower)

but its another possible take on the situation.

I think randomness would definitly make it a "hate" mechanic. Just like you said, people should know why they fell. Latest point beeing after they fell. Just like "god damn it why did i break my ne...oh there's a bloody corpse on top of the staircase i tripped over while backing there...damn it why didn't i listen to the guy brabbeling about not fighting on stairs?" .

No seriously i guess with the threshold there only should be clear falls. Like sprinting across wet grass in the rain, tripping over a corpse in the high grass. Thats something pretty logical. With slippery ground, bad vision because of heavy rain an a not so good placed corpse in the tall grass thats hard to see aswell.

On the side of the "taking it out of control of the player" part...a "push f to fall" function would be pretty useless i guess. Falls are out of control, otherwise you wouldn't fall.

Maybe if this would really work, like falling down the stairs could be a neat thing for dead bodies to implement. Cause a dead bodie mostly handles stairs at what it is. A 45 degree slope with bumps to gain momentum. So a zombie slain or pushed on some stairs would fall down, inflicting damage and possibility to fall for anyone downstairs. To teach you or the zombies to NOT FIGHT ON STAIRS DAMNIT!