Possible improvements to hunger/thirst

[Synchronicity 2]

I've been away from the forums for a while so I don't know if anyone has touched on this recently, but I just wanted to share some of my thoughts on how the current system of bodily needs could be improved in future updates. The system works fine as it is, but I think it would be nice if it was eventually made to mimic real life a bit more realistically.

Here are my ideas:

1. Hunger and thirst should decrease more slowly. Naturally, the game moves more quickly than real life, and allowing someone to go a full 72 hours without water would be excessive (particularly since most people don't even live that long), but I think the current rate is a bit high.

2. That said, food and water should restore a certain fraction of your total need, rather than all of it. A person dying of thirst needs more than a can of soda to be properly hydrated, but someone who is only mildly thirsty can get by just fine.

3. These two points alone would be fine, but here's where it gets interesting: there should be detrimental effects for having high thirst/hunger, such as:

-Impaired movement speed

-Increased stamina consumption/reduced stamina recovery

-Stuttering aim

-Fainting

-Increased likelihood of bleeding/increased rate of bleeding

So even though players would be able to survive longer without food or water than they could before, it would become increasingly debilitating if they don't keep their supplies up. Furthermore, a single can of food won't be enough to keep your strength up if you're very hungry.

4. Optionally, keeping yourself well fed and watered should allow your blood to regenerate (albeit slowly), as you would expect it to in real life. This would also negate the need for one-time blood bonuses from eating and prevent people from abusing this feature to rapidly recover from their injuries. Convalescence takes time, after all. Meat would therefore not give you extra blood, but would fill your belly better than a can of beans.

What I like most about this idea, apart from making the game a bit more realistic, is that it would create a greater sense of urgency when you find yourself running out of supplies. Imagine yourself trying to find water as your vision blurs and you find yourself struggling to keep a steady pace due to your worsening condition.

[1n5anity 0]

I posted something similar to this but after like 2 days of playing I'm glad this is not in DayZ. It would make is so much harder for beginners when there spawning near towns that have already been looted in front of them.

[Synchronicity 2]

I posted something similar to this but after like 2 days of playing I'm glad this is not in DayZ. It would make is so much harder for beginners when there spawning near towns that have already been looted in front of them.

Wouldn't it make it easier? Think about it. Right now you can only go something like 2 hours without food or water. My proposal is to make it more like 8 hours (just an estimate; testing would be required to determine what is optimal)' date=' but with gradually worsening symptoms after the first few. That would actually give new players - and everyone else - [i']more time to find supplies once they run out. The only difference is they would need to find more food and water to make up for time lost if it takes them too long to find it. But considering that they would be already be dead under the current rules, they would still be better off.

[kwhy (DayZ) 6]

Didn't Rocket say in one of his interviews that ideally he would have like to get rid of parts of the UI and replace it with visual and audible indicators to represent things like hunger, thirst, and pain?

I guess the question is how far do you go so not to upset the balance of gamers vs simulators?

Since this is a survival game then for me a key aspect should be getting food and water. I'd like to see more ways of gathering/making food incorporated like plant life, bugs, rain water catching, condensation devices, salt water filtering...ect.

I felt the urgency to get food in 1.7.1.2, but now back to 1.7.1.5 I've been able to get food and water pretty easy.

Right now you need food and water but you can wait to the very last minute and have no repercussions doing so. So basically everyone is like a car's gas tank. Once it is on empty you just need to fill it up. Where as in real life you can't just fill up at the last minute.

Taking away the food indicator and adding stuff like a growling stomach, slower movement speeds, heavy breathing, blurry sight, slower blood recovery, ect would add a whole new obstacle to the game, but doing so your going to upset the crowd that doesn't want to have to micro manage themselves.

Maybe if these indicators and effects had a slow degradation curve on things like movement speed, breathing, aiming, blurry vision, ect it might be received better, but I'm all for it.

[Synchronicity 2]

I don't think removing visual aids is a good idea. My rationale is that, for a normal human, your level of hunger or thirst is pretty easy to gauge, but you can't convey that feeling in a video game. Things like growling stomachs and impaired aim are certainly good enough to indicate that you are hungry, but they are too subtle to indicate how hungry you are, which is also critical. It doesn't necessarily need to be an exact number shown on the screen, but something that gives a clear, unambiguous indicator of how close you are to death is a must to avoid alienating people (myself among them).

[djkling 5]

Visual aids are a normal part of simulations since you cant make the player FEEL thirsty. This would be like not indicating a bone is broken, that youre bleeding, etc.

As a physician I can say that the average person can go a MINIMUM of 2 days before their hunger really starts making them make poor decisions. But after a day you become less effective, you run slower, your aim CERTAINLY would be worse. It could be a fun mechanic.

As for water... if you can fix the ability to just drink from ponds or puddles I'd sugguest a SHORTER duration of thirst (maybe 2 hours MAX... you are, in fact, moving a lot in this game!). If you can't fix that mechanic... it would be pretty hard to start out with that short of a timer.

[DannyRed 32]

I agree with the idea but i also would like to see less food and cola. It would make the scavenge much more extreme.