Tier 0 POI / Remnant Thoughts

[zztong]

I know I have mentioned this before (most recently in a T0 discussion) but I don't know that I've expressed it as a Pimp Dream.

Tier 0 POIs are important for a variety of world-building reasons, but they don't have to be without function. Some ideas along those lines:

Air Drops: Some Air Drops could drop their payload on Tier 0 POIs. This could be random placement, but better would be to involve a special POI block to mark where the Air Drop package could land, kind of like the marker used to start a POI mission or sleeper blocks. That is, not a real block to be seen or destroyed, but a signal to the code where to have the air drop land. The POI designer places one (or more) of those on the POI for some really interesting/awkward drop locations, perhaps with some sleeper volumes around it. Perhaps opening the Air Drop crate is a trigger for a POI event / minscript.

The chance an Air Drop goes to a POI could perhaps be controlled by a configurable setting so that Air Drops would still end up out in the wilderness most of the time.

Buried Treasure: The POI might support a buried treasure quest. It would act like a regular buried treasure quest, but the POI designer could place the treasure in an interesting location, such as in a cement vault or under a lot of rubble.

The chance of a Buried Treasure in POI quest being available could be controlled by something configurable.

 

[Hazmat616]

This idea is amazing

 

[InfiniteWarrior]

The function they serve is the same function boarded up and inaccessible buildings serve in other games in my estimation. They can be explored just for the sake of exploring, perhaps gathering materials or even just admiring the architecture of the POI along the way without a lot of interference, i.e. incessant combat. They can be converted into home or forward bases of operations. They can be used as shelters from storms. They're pauses. If they're expected by most players to serve any "function" beyond that, they may as well be turned into "questable POIs" the same as any other.

Not everything in a video game must serve a mechanical purpose. Aesthetics are just as important, but of course aren't usually treated as just as important beyond "pretty" graphics these days. Nope. Everything's purpose in a video game must be mechanical anymore. I think that's a problem with modern video games and perhaps even modern video game developers and players in general: the balance between aesthetics and mechanics is waaaaay off, when not nonexistent. Mechanics (is considered) > aesthetics by far. Reminds of Iain McGilchrist's Divided Brain, actually.

One thing has prevented me, personally, from exploring every downtown POI there is: performance. That's all. Just the performance issues caused by having every structure in the game open to exploration.

 

[Hazmat616]

That is a good argument and also helps show why we need poi’s that “aren’t worth it”. For example a poi infested with tons of zombies but no serious loot to offset it like the high school. Because realistically there would be places like that and it helps the player learn what places are worth going and what should be avoided if you aren’t desperate.

 

[Riamus]

That is a good argument and also helps show why we need poi’s that “aren’t worth it”. For example a poi infested with tons of zombies but no serious loot to offset it like the high school. Because realistically there would be places like that and it helps the player learn what places are worth going and what should be avoided if you aren’t desperate.

So you suggest we have places that people spend a lot of time clearing, only to find that there isn't any loot? That isn't going to go over well. And even though you learn what ones to avoid, that just means you have content that most people avoid, which is a waste of time developing that content.

At least with remnants, they do have a purpose... they are there to help with performance. If they wanted to make them filled with a lot of zombies, they'd need to also include a loot room or else a lot of loot throughout or they'd be even more ignored than they already are. As they are now, the easy looting appeals to some people, so they still go there. But if you have a POI that isn't worth it - something that has a lot of enemies and no real loot as you said - why would anyone bother if they can do another POI that takes just as much time (similar number of enemies) but has loot?

 

[Vaeliorin]

Not everything in a video game must serve a mechanical purpose. Aesthetics are just as important, but of course aren't usually treated as just as important beyond "pretty" graphics these days. Nope. Everything's purpose in a video game must be mechanical anymore. I think that's a problem with modern video games and perhaps even modern video game developers and players in general: the balance between aesthetics and mechanics is waaaaay off, when not nonexistent. Mechanics (is considered) > aesthetics by far.

I'm not really a "modern" gamer, being almost 50, but I am someone who isn't particularly interested in parts of a game that serve no mechanical/story purpose (and I've been that way for a very long time.)

But I'm decidedly not a visually-oriented person. Which is why all the modern graphics/sound are lost on me, and I'd rather have a paragraph of text telling me about how an area sounds/smells/feels than the highest fidelity ultra-realistic graphics. I'm also very math-brained, so I tend to look at most non-story related things as some sort of puzzle to solve (and of course, 7 Days has no story as yet, and I don't expect it to ever have a meaningful one.)

These combined is why visual storytelling doesn't work for me, at all. My eyes just skip right over it without really taking it in.

 

[zztong]

These combined is why visual storytelling doesn't work for me, at all. My eyes just skip right over it without really taking it in.

I can appreciate visual story telling if: (1) I take the time to look and (2) its obvious enough.

Stealth play slows the game down enough that I see it sometimes, but this is a game of action and folks are busy. I can count on one finger the number of people who have commented on one of my office buildings where there's a plank extended from the roof and a pile of bodies at the bottom. Nobody on the ground looks up. Players on the roof are looting and don't care about the plank. Visual story telling isn't a waste, but it often feels more like an inside joke between the POI developer and the few who notice.

 

[InfiniteWarrior]

this is a game of action and folks are busy.

You never stop to smell the roses? But you create roses!

all the modern graphics/sound are lost on me, and I'd rather have a paragraph of text telling me about how an area sounds/smells/feels than the highest fidelity ultra-realistic graphics

Visual storytelling is great when done well, but the tier 0s aren't even about visual storytelling. They're just there. I don't personally consider them something to avoid, but something that fleshes out the game and provides those pauses to those who appreciate them. They can be utilized in the manner described -- as home or forward bases; shelters from the storm; etc.

Unfortunately for us, most modern game development studios (especially, the triple As) are actively chasing the highest fidelity, "photorealistic" graphics when stylized is fine, too. Thankfully, independent studios, at least, appreciate that. I look at the triple As and think they must want to be in the movie-making business instead of video game development. That's even how their games have come to play: very little in the way of interaction, on rails, passive sort of affairs. Did they forget video games are an interactive medium or what?

 

[zztong]

You never stop to smell the roses? But you create roses!

Sure, sometimes. I go into the Tier 0's all the time too. I like to use them for bases. Also, I play stealth, so I go through the POIs slower. But my mindset is usually the mission. I'd have to see something odd to think of something more than "yeh, zombies attacked."