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Stipan
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« Reply #3 on: February 13, 2019, 05:38:17 AM » |
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So, time to tell about game concept. Please read, say what do you think, have the idea chance to be interesting for someone exept me or all of that is secondary?
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Guide on the basics of survival on the terramorphic planet.
One of the three characters wakes up on the terramorphic planet where everything looks the same as it is on the Earth, yet everything is different. All plants and creatures look as if they've been restored by someone who used incomplete DNA data of the Earth flora and fauna, perhaps partially from inorganic materials. And this someone didn't really understand how our life works, but the world of this planet nevertheless survived and keeps evolving.
The chosen character wakes up near a half-ruined section of a starship. He doesn't remember how he got here, what his relation to this starship is or even who he is. Around him is frightening, unfriendly, dark, foggy, ghastly world, and the character has neither weapons nor tools, he doesn't even have a simple knife or matches. What is this place? Where is the character's home? What happened? Who was the character before he regained consciousness? His inner voice tells him to postpone all these questions and think about the ways to survive here and now, which means ensuring a shelter, fire, water, food and also tools, clothes and meds.
Omniscient inner voice will draw attention to the characteristics of the character's body that need to be paid attention to in order to survive. Generally it is the level of thirst and hunger that need to be watched, but it is also necessary to watch the levels of blood flow, thermal control, intoxication and mental state. Otherwise the character can die, respectively, of dehydration, exhaustion, blood loss as a result of fractures and bleedings, hypothermia or overheating as a result of heatstroke, food poisoning or poison from stings. And the mental state should be monitored so that the character doesn't panic. During panic the inner voice turns from a sidekick into a saboteur: it spouts nonsense, gives contradictory advice and makes it difficult to concentrate.
Initially characters vary in their abilities to survive. The first character is both fast and healthy, daytime monsters and hidden monsters don't pay attention to him. It's much easier for him to survive. It's a rookie character. Two other characters have it harder. Daytime monsters can sense and attack both of them; these characters need to check some landscapes to know where the hidden monsters are hiding. One of them is quicker than the rookie, but he is also weaker than him health-wise, but it is easier for him to build infrastructure and new camps. It's a trailblazer character. Another one, on the contrary, is healthier than the rookie, but slower, though it is easier for him to hunt and protect himself from monsters. It's a breadwinner character.
While there is no panic, forgotten experience represented by the inner voice helps the character craft tools from shit and sticks or any improvised material that's laying around and also from things that can be found in the places of the starship crashes (seems like they have accidents here way too often!). The character will have to start with the most basic things: how to make ropes from straw, light a fire using sticks, make knives from stones, how to weave burlap in order to make shelter - everything that survivors learn and teach others.
Besides, time is precious! If the character ends up without a shelter during the night, he will be attacked by terrible night creatures that will kill him in the dead of night. The only way to survive is to save yourself in the closed section of the starship or any other fortified dwelling.
Having survived the night, the character hears his wise inner voice whispering to him that he won't get rescued in the foreseeable future and he will have to survive on his own for a while, so it is necessary to think of a more or less constant source of food and drink. The inner voice tells the character, “Go explore”. Exploration, of course, will show that the surrounding area consists of different landscapes: it will be easier to walk on some of them, harder on others, and some places should be bypassed at all. Experienced inner voice will remind the character that the route should be planned so that it is possible to return to the shelter in time - otherwise, he'll die.
Obviously, the exploration will show the sources of food that are located nearby: bushes with berries, fruitful trees or even edible roots. As a last resort, the character will have to eat maggots.
Only the problem is that each source of food and water should be tested to ensure it's fit for consumption so that the character doesn't get poisoned and die. It can be done with the help of analyzer from the starship or by watching creatures. And to make sure the character doesn't mix sources that are suitable for eating or drinking they should be marked with plates with inscriptions, the character can do that by sticking these plates near the sources. And then the character navigates the surrounding area with the help of these plates. Unless, of course, at night sometimes these plates can get stolen by different creatures.
Plus on some landscapes the character should check where he's going, throwing a stone with a rope to the spot where he plans to move next. Because the swamp or the desert are crawling with creatures that burrow into the soil and attack when someone passes nearby. The inner voice will advise to mark checked safe routes with plates-scarecrows (audible weather vanes - pinwheels).
Having satisfied his hunger and thirst, the character should think about comfort - at least cover the section where he lives with fabric or even build a dugout, otherwise there is a risk to get hypothermia at night.
And there is no way to live without fire. It's a good thing it can be obtained differently, even using the most primitive ways. Of course, some ways are easier, some are more difficult. But the character needs fire for various things he can craft.
During cold nights the inner voice will hint in a fatherly way that the character can craft warm clothes (to protect himself from hypothermia), a hat (since there is a risk during the day to get heatstroke) and shoes (in order to reduce the risk of fractures and dislocations, plus it's easier to walk in footwear more quickly).
Over time the inner voice will rebelliously whisper that the character doesn’t have to constantly run from every single creature and that not all creatures are equally savage. The character can even hunt some of them, placing traps and even attacking the creatures with crafted spears in an ambush. But the character has to remember to check the meat so that he doesn't get poisoned.
And in order for the character to travel long distances the inner voice will advise to set up infrastructure, paving tracks along the necessary routes.
And when it seems that the character has coped with panic, tamed his animal fear and started getting settled, it becomes clear that tools and things are getting old, and the probability that they will break grows with time or use, so the character will have to create new things. And during the nights the camp is constantly attacked by terrible creatures, and it should be repaired as well if the character wants to survive.
Of course, the character can protect the camp - build a picket fence, place signal rockets or do something else. And just sit in the camp - that is if he uses the resources that are located nearby wisely.
On the other hand, the character can make long trips and just carry resources from miles away. Or search for rare resources and materials. Or even build transit camps if the trip takes several days.
However, the character can't take a lot of things with him on a trip - each item weighs something. Crafted backpack will solve this problem only partially. So the excesses should be left in the camp. But he can't leave things lying around the camp - they can get stolen during the night! The character has to craft boxes to store his things. Besides, his food vanishes, and it should be treated with heat to make it last longer and weigh less.
On top of that, if the character goes further and further away from the camp, then, besides terrible creatures, he will encounter other dangers: there is a risk to get an injury or a wound, he can burn, get too cold or in general go nuts, giving in to panic (though he can go mad in the camp, too). It's not that difficult to get an injury or a bleed - there is a slight chance each step can lead to it, though the inner voice will note that the risk depends on the type of the landscape. The risk can be reduced by paving tracks or making shoes. The injury limits the character's movements; in certain cases it can even immobilize him. And movement in this world is life. It's good that the inner voice will tell how to make a splint, create antidote or stop the bleeding. Too bad that the character can make a mistake and forget to take some ingredients that are needed for treatment with him on that trip.
And if panic creeps up, the character should get it together, get something to eat and drink, heal his injuries and just start crafting something simple.
By this time the character will have gone a long way from a lost little boy who's shaking with fear in a body of an adult who has been thrown away from his home into the alien world and turned into a skilled survivor who has rearranged this world for himself, is self-assured and ready to get answers about what happened to him and to this world.
However, it is quite strange that the character often encounters graves of people that look like him. If he digs up these graves, he can find some belongings, but the things he finds create vague memories that almost seem to come from past lives.
Also there are these strange artifacts that obviously have extraterrestrial origin.
In theory, the character can live here if it weren't for these terrible unpredictable creatures that instill uncertainty and fear. And if it weren't for this overwhelming loneliness.
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