Psychological condition
TrickyStick
USA Join Date: 2016-06-20 Member: 218849Members
USA Join Date: 2016-06-20 Member: 218849Members
Sup! New guy here! Absolutely in love with Subnautica. Considering the game has you in an isolated environment, alone on an alien world and possibly the only survivor left, I figured there could be something along the lines of the player character's psychological condition and how it will affect the immersion. With mechanics such as what affects you, how it affects you and what can be treated.
Causes of psychological distress:
Time spent in isolation- As the days go by, being a lonely explorer on an uncharted alien world will degrade one's psychological condition. Especially if they are trapped on an oceanic world with no social contact with anyone other than the inhabitants. It could go where the psychological condition of the character decreases by -0.4% for every minute.
Eldritch sea creatures- Leviathans, colossal aggressive sea creatures and parasitic looking worm creatures about a Cyclops in length. There are many unnatural entities in the environment and these ones are no exception, decreasing sanity by -10% when in the vicinity. (the encounter timer resets every five minutes spent away from said creature to not continuously degrade psyche.
Getting attacked- By pretty much anything from leviathans to the smaller predators. Piranhas to those weird spike shooting plants. Cave crawlers and such. With a -2% each attack dealt to you. The world is not friendly and you will not be prepared by the ultra aggressive ecosystem at work.
Disturbing imagery and auditory effects- From corpses of survivors, to hallucinations induced by the player character. Wrecked life pods, creaking of wrecks, the roar of the leviathan. Getting your seamoth attacked even! Anything can cause a detrimental effect to your well being by -15%.
Eating rotten food- From creep-vines to fish. -10% everytime. Not so good for the mind as much as it is for the body.
Effects of distress:
Hallucinations- From supposed survivors, hearing voices as you explore your underwater habitat modules, or the cyclops. Seeing things that aren't there, getting attacked when there's nothing around you. Even hearing voices from the communications array, even when no one is around and nothing is there. Errors when there are none. A good common occurrence to a person who's not having a good time.
Bodily effects- You're character will be experiencing some bodily shakes and trembling habits. Nervous conditions brought on by low psyche. Their hands quake, making using items difficult. They will also breathe heavily, mumble to themselves, cry when remaining idle for a period of time
Increased dehydration and hunger- Psychological distress can hop up adrenaline in a person. Also meaning high metabolism and dehydration. You will be more hungry and more thirsty when a certain percentage drops. And then increases so on and so forth.
Treating Psychological distress:
Decorated environment- Be it a bedroom or a workstation. Giving your room some jazz by including windows, foliage, pictures, a nice comfy chair, a bed and a small aquarium even. This gives your character a sense of familiarity and comfort in his new home away from home. 1% for each minute passed in the room.
Interacting with animals- If you have a large aquarium, or rather alien containment, you can expect your condition to improve. Having pets can be a good thing even in such an unknown world! Just being around the large tank filled with aquatic creatures can sustain your sanity. 5% increase for each second inside the tank.
Eating and drinking- Self explanatory. A healthy mind needs a healthy body. So eat some of those good fish n chips. Minus the chips. Psyche condition differs from animal to animal.
Discovering new blueprints-That sense of victory fills you with hope and determination! 'You think to yourself; everything is going to be ok!' New tech means new means of survival. 20% for each newly discovered blueprint.
This is just a rough concept of the idea really. But would like to hear how you folks think about it.
Causes of psychological distress:
Time spent in isolation- As the days go by, being a lonely explorer on an uncharted alien world will degrade one's psychological condition. Especially if they are trapped on an oceanic world with no social contact with anyone other than the inhabitants. It could go where the psychological condition of the character decreases by -0.4% for every minute.
Eldritch sea creatures- Leviathans, colossal aggressive sea creatures and parasitic looking worm creatures about a Cyclops in length. There are many unnatural entities in the environment and these ones are no exception, decreasing sanity by -10% when in the vicinity. (the encounter timer resets every five minutes spent away from said creature to not continuously degrade psyche.
Getting attacked- By pretty much anything from leviathans to the smaller predators. Piranhas to those weird spike shooting plants. Cave crawlers and such. With a -2% each attack dealt to you. The world is not friendly and you will not be prepared by the ultra aggressive ecosystem at work.
Disturbing imagery and auditory effects- From corpses of survivors, to hallucinations induced by the player character. Wrecked life pods, creaking of wrecks, the roar of the leviathan. Getting your seamoth attacked even! Anything can cause a detrimental effect to your well being by -15%.
Eating rotten food- From creep-vines to fish. -10% everytime. Not so good for the mind as much as it is for the body.
Effects of distress:
Hallucinations- From supposed survivors, hearing voices as you explore your underwater habitat modules, or the cyclops. Seeing things that aren't there, getting attacked when there's nothing around you. Even hearing voices from the communications array, even when no one is around and nothing is there. Errors when there are none. A good common occurrence to a person who's not having a good time.
Bodily effects- You're character will be experiencing some bodily shakes and trembling habits. Nervous conditions brought on by low psyche. Their hands quake, making using items difficult. They will also breathe heavily, mumble to themselves, cry when remaining idle for a period of time
Increased dehydration and hunger- Psychological distress can hop up adrenaline in a person. Also meaning high metabolism and dehydration. You will be more hungry and more thirsty when a certain percentage drops. And then increases so on and so forth.
Treating Psychological distress:
Decorated environment- Be it a bedroom or a workstation. Giving your room some jazz by including windows, foliage, pictures, a nice comfy chair, a bed and a small aquarium even. This gives your character a sense of familiarity and comfort in his new home away from home. 1% for each minute passed in the room.
Interacting with animals- If you have a large aquarium, or rather alien containment, you can expect your condition to improve. Having pets can be a good thing even in such an unknown world! Just being around the large tank filled with aquatic creatures can sustain your sanity. 5% increase for each second inside the tank.
Eating and drinking- Self explanatory. A healthy mind needs a healthy body. So eat some of those good fish n chips. Minus the chips. Psyche condition differs from animal to animal.
Discovering new blueprints-That sense of victory fills you with hope and determination! 'You think to yourself; everything is going to be ok!' New tech means new means of survival. 20% for each newly discovered blueprint.
This is just a rough concept of the idea really. But would like to hear how you folks think about it.
Comments
As much as I hold DS's sanity system in high esteem, I'm not sure if such a thing would work for Subnautica too. For gameplay reasons (no recipe freedom) and for atmosphere/setting (the big fishes aren't "unnatural" and corpses goes against the exploration/amazement element).
I'd have to say 'No' for the base game, but it'd be an intriguing mod to the game should they allow for that following the big 1.0 release. Spending time with your fishie friends to help relieve the stress so to speak hm... Then you'd actually have a reason for a three story tall aquarium filled with peepers
just imagine getting a message on the radio and all you can hear are whispers or maybe seeing false silhouettes of leviathans in the dark blue sea!
It's not something that's supported right now, but hopefully might be once the game has its full release.
http://forums.unknownworlds.com/discussion/comment/2280703/#Comment_2280703