Post by Palandus in Terraformental comments

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What if you added them with an Easter egg type of thing?

I think of that Deep Space 9 episode, Visionary, where Miles gets a nasty dose of Radiation, that lets him "see" into the future. Or the episode of Bhala, where Sisko gets a shock and is able to think and conceive of things, that lets him find a city lost to time for 10,000 years.

So, what I have in mind is that, you take this thing that "will" kill you, but it doesn't kill you immediately. You have to find out what Easter egg it unlocks, while you have the "debuff" and of course before it kills you.

That way, you'd have players that would see an obvious warning of don't do this, but then other players would realize you wouldn't put an obvious death thing in, unless it had a purpose, and now they are trying to find what that purpose is.

Kind of like the Pendant in Dark Souls. Though to be fair, there was one place no one bothered to check for its use and since no one was looking there, that is why I believe the developer said it was just a joke, so that people would stop looking.

... Alternatively, you could have something like a skill that increases called "Alertness" that is raised by deadly events, and helps to provide a "spiderman spidey sense" when it comes to detecting future dangerous events, so you don't do them... some of which could be tied to main story events. Like say the artifact in containment facility has a few options to interact with it, and some causes immediate or delayed death and one is safe, and choosing the wrong one means that the loop ends fairly fast.

Shadowsand209 days ago(+3)

The entire point is that I don't want to kill players, because while some (like you) would find it amusing and it'd add to the game for them, most would find it a frustrating waste of time because they want to progress the game and see more of the story, which dying actively prevents. Hiding bonuses behind dying would make it even worse, because players who see the death warnings and want nothing to do with them would then be missing out on whatever that bonus was.

As I said before, I may well add death actions at some point in the future, but they'll be disabled by default and you'll have to tick a box when you start the game to enable them.

Palandus209 days ago(-2)

Well... technically you already do have actions that kill players. So unless you intend to remove them... Examples:

-> When you go to hunt the missing rover, I died twice trying to find it. The reward for that? Lacklustre.

-> When you go to Santorini, and get a nuclear explosion to your face for the first time... instant death action.

-> When you get to the tram and Santorini explodes... you travel to your death.

-> When you get close to the center of the artifact in the mine, your water depletes super fast, to the point that you can dehydrate... thus dying.

Each of these are situations where the reward feels lacklustre and/or the death is abrupt and mood-killing.

So if those are all acceptable ways to kill the player, why are these methods wrong? There is a risk to any action you take in a sandbox style game... you eventually learn from your mistakes what to do and what not to do. You have to experiment to learn new things. Even something that is "obviously" going to kill you, doesn't always kill you. Like in most video games, I'll go stand in the nearest fire, and see if I actually get hurt. And I do this because, so many developers like to hide the first secret in the game behind a fake fireplace. Or a fake waterfall. Or a pushwall. Etc...

Shadowsand209 days ago(+3)

There's a difference between:
- Actions which are likely to kill the player if they're trying to do it when they're already low on resources or managing their resources badly
- Actions which kill the player if they do them wrong/at the wrong time
- Events which are likely to kill the player for the purpose of a set piece

- Actions which exist only to kill the player and do so immediately when you complete them for no reason other than "haha, now you're dead"

The missing rover is far from a death sentance. It's very easy to start tracking it down, go back to Laurion for supplies when you start getting low, then finish finding it in a single loop. You may find the reward lacklustre, but the pressure regulator is a huge buff, removing huge amounts of babysitting and time from all journeys for the rest of the game. Santorini's event is a set piece and the entirety of that facility's challenge. The tram is an existing action with other uses. Yes, it kills the player if they do it at the wrong time, but that's not its purpose for existing. And the obelisk, again, is a set piece and the challenge of the facility.

If you find the rewards for the rover and obelisk lacklustre, then I very much disagree. The obelisk reward has already been halved, and most people still think it might be a touch too strong, and the pressure regulator may be getting a slight nerf next update because it's always been too strong for how easily and early in the game you get it.

If you find these deaths abrupt and mood-killing, then I certainly don't think that adding more deaths with literally no benefit to doing them is going to help.

Palandus208 days ago(+1)(-1)

The issue is:

a) You can't manage resources until you reach a point where the game lets you manage them. And the Obelisk drains your water at like 3x normal speeds, so I'm not sure how you expect a player to manage their water effectively with a drain like that.

b) Except you can't do an action right, the first time, without at least dying once. That is a frustrating death. You aren't warned at any time that approaching Santorini could be dangerous. The logs from people fleeing the place, don't explain why they were... much like how the people from Talos didn't explain what was at Talos that was so bad that they abandoned you, left for Laurion, and then people disappeared from there.

c) Actions that kill you for a set piece, is the same basic idea as "haha you did a stupid and died now." You could have had it where Santorini explodes before you approach it and then you arrive at a blast crater, and then realize you need to get here faster next time, instead of outright killing the player. Oversight perhaps?

---

Now I'm not suggesting you add in "kill events" for the purpose of trolling the player. I'm suggesting putting them in there for side stories, easter eggs, or to make future content make more sense.

Like we do have a button that lets us suicide after all, and end a loop prematurely. So, the concept of death events that could provide other content, is something that could add immersion.

As for the pressure regulator, I forgot where I found that thing. Thanks for reminding me that is where you get it.

As for the obelisk, I've never drilled through that last layer, so I don't know what benefit it provides. Frankly, its too much work to find out. Took me 5 loops just to get down to that layer, as I kept running out of power at Laurion.

zoxzix207 days ago

For the Obelisk, have a nearby water source, you can do force drinking or step away for moments and wait for water to restock.
The Obelisk benefit makes everything else easier going forward.

Palandus206 days ago

I don't understand.

The mine requires interacting with the door and then leaving. There is no infinite water source at Laurion, unlike Talos. I bring as much water with me as I can, but I always dehydrate within seconds, regardless of force drinking or not

SMAsid206 days ago (1 edit)

Can't you just install the water filter in Laurion and when you're low on water, just go back and get more? I know that it isn't infinite but it does help

Along with that, bring the generator to laurion without installing in the rover it and laurion won't run out of power for a long time.

Shirokitsu203 days ago

You can park the rover at Laurion with the recycler installed. Mind, it only delays the inevitable, but it helps.

Palandus203 days ago

Didn't know you could park it. I'm assuming you have to plug in the generator and turn it on, to do that?

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