Meaningful Customization - II: Temperature and Wetness

[Evil Minion 943]

I like the aspects of survival and charcter customization and in my opinion it would be great if those could be combined to allow for more choices. Some might be "just for show" while others might have some special use or general utility. Instead of only having "joke", "low tier" and "high tier" items there should be a variety of options that can prove useful under certain circumstances while also having some drawbacks attached to them. On the other side there should also be room for purely cosmetic aspects.

I decided to make multiple topics instead of a single long one but will use former thoughts in later ones (thats why the topic name has a number in it). Parts of the current mechanics are already ingame and here are some ideas how to put them to better use (maybe its already planned to do this). Its somewhat related to customization as it gives some basic mechanics that could prove useful.

 

Part I - Complete (formerly Stamina & Weight)

Part II - Temperature & Wetness

Part III - Character Creation

Part IV - The Dynamic Character

 

1 MECHANICS:

1.3 Temperature:

Instead of just freezing when getting too cold high temperature should also have some negative effects on the character (I would probably not get as far as including sunstroke). If you get hot you will consume water much faster and at maximum temperature you will have to drink a lot of water to keep going. You will also start to sweat which might help with getting cooler but also makes you wet (and thus more vulnerable to sickness and sudden weather change). Temperature is gained from heat sources like: yourself (especially when moving), other players (and maybe companion animals if implemented), fire, cooking devices, interiors during the day and maybe even hot midday sun. Temperature is lost when wet, outdoors during a night, bad weather, lying on bare ground and so on. You clothings protection both lowers temperature loss and increases temperature gain - as long as its dry enough.

With the right clothes you should be able to stay in the cold for quite some time before suffering negative effects but the same clothes might turn out too warm under different circumstances. Stuffing your jacket in your backpack might be the right thing to do if walking around in the open during a sunny day or sitting right next to a big fire for an extended period of time.

Very High (Sweating):
- strongly increased dehydration
- slowly getting wet from sweat

High (Hot):
- increased dehydration

Optimal (Warm):
- no ill effects

Low (Cold):
- higher chance of getting sick

Very Low (Freezing):
- high chance of getting sick
- loss of health and stamina

1.4 Wetness:

This is related to temperature. In particular getting wet will greatly reduce your resistance against temperature loss and getting dry usually requires you to increase your temperature (though you should become dry on your own but only very slowly). Staying wet for a longer period of time should also increase the risk of getting sick or might worsen an already aquired sickness. Of course the wetter you are the longer you need to become dry.

Some clothes might protect you from getting wet. However, they won't prevent you from getting wet via sweating. Other will soak up water and make it more difficult to dry up. In order to get dry you need to be next to a heat source. Clothes get dry faster if not worn (lying on the ground next to a heat source) and shorter clothes get dry much faster than longer clothes (in most cases becoming dry and exposure protection should be inverse). Also wet clothes are usually heavier than dry clothes and the water might also hurt their condition or the condition of items stored within. Use water-proof bags/containers to protect things from getting wet. Especially if you want to go for a swim - in which case you might consider taking off your down jacket.

Dry:
- no ill effects

Damp:
- slightly increased infection risk*
- slightly faster temperature loss

Wet:
- increased infection risk*
- faster temperature loss
- slight weight increase**

Soaked:
- increased infection risk*
- fast temperature loss
- weight increase**

*only if also cold or wet for a longer period of time
**depending on the clothes you are wearing

Edited July 5, 2014 by Evil Minion

[charliepow 100]

Great ideas, I'd like to see them implemented in the game. The more things to worry about other than players the better. I imagine these wouldn't be too hard to implement either by just giving wetness values to all items etc.

[ananist177 92]

awesome ideas guy! :thumbsup: :beans:

[WashedUpPoet 6]

really like it, not overly complex but still adds a lot of dept and realism. Fresh ideas.