I have some ideas that would improve the vanilla gameplay. I am also interested in hearing other people's ideas.
Water:
Bring back jars. (but no way to craft them)
All groundwater will get you sick. 100%
If you boil it, the chance is reduced to 35%.
Red tea and goldenrod reduce the chance to 20%.
Water in wasteland and burnt areas will kill you.
You will live off of boiled water in the beginning, and you will get sick from time to time and need to treat it. Making vitamins and red tea more useful.
Dew Collectors:
Only fill in the rain
You use jars to collect the water from them.
The water collected has a reduced chance of dysentery (lower than boiled water 10%)
The filter makes the dew collected water 100% safe.
Only a dew collector with a filter can make water 100% safe.
A filter is mandatory in burnt and wasteland. Regular dew collected water will still kill you in those biomes.
A special decontamination filter is needed just for wasteland. Making you need better stuff in the harder biomes.
Bike:
Bike parts found only in certain POIs (like gas stations)
Only level 1 trader missions send you to these POIs, and only in Pine Forest (This way you don't keep finding parts after you have a bike)
You can craft the bike as soon as you find all the parts (usually within 7-10 quests)
Parts can be found without quests, but the trader sends you to POIs more likely to have them. So you will get it quicker using the trader.
Trader:
You have to find them.
Finishing your start quest will give you a note with the “direction” of the first trader, but not the exact location.
At 10th mission, you get a “find trader mission”
They only tell you the direction, not the exact location. This keeps the adventure.
But he says, “It’s in the burnt biome, so here is a gas mask to help you find it.”
Each trader gives you the thing you need to enter the next biome to help find the trader.
Burnt: Gas mask
Desert: Desert headwrap
Winter: Puffer Coat
Wasteland: Radiation suit.
Biomes spawning:
Biomes will be placed in a particular order.
Wasleand to the East, surrounded by burnt forest.
Pine forest in the middle of the map.
Winter, North.
Desert, West.
You will have to wander to find them, but you know the general direction.
Biomes:
Biomes will harm you without the proper protection.
Desert: Hot, and you use more water.
Winter: Cold, and you use more food.
Burnt: You suffocate. Slowly die. (like it is now)
Wasteland: You get radiation poisoning and die unless you treat it.
No need to do silly stuff, the trader will give you the item you need when you complete the 10th mission.
Pine forest: Should only have small homes like camps, small gas stations, and log homes. This way, you want to leave to get to better POIs. Not great loot. No book stores or tool stores. Just food and low-level crap.
Wasteland: The Only place where large cities spawn. This is why they are wasted; they had bombs dropped on them.
Burnt Biome: Will be the suburbs. Larger homes and small businesses. Best place to find bookstores and low-level tools like wrenches and hammers (reason to go there). They surround every city “wasteland”. This is why they were burned, as they were close to the bombs.
Desert Biome: Only western-style homes. Ghost towns, gun stores, military bases, and nice western-style homes. Best place to find ammo and weapons.
Snow Biome: Log cabins, very large mansions, large stores like tool stores. The best biome to find tools like augers, nail guns, and chainsaws.
This way, there is a reason to enter every biome. Greater chance of each particular loot.
Storms: (basically remove your protection)
Wasteland: The only biome where your character must seek shelter (You lose health like the way it is now). Visibility near zero, character moves as if fully encumbered. Zombies move faster. You get radiation poisoning.
Burnt: Will make you really hot as fire is blowing all over. Chance of randomly catching fire. Visibility near zero, character moves as if fully encumbered. Zombies move faster. Lose more water.
Desert: Your character will overheat (ignore your desert clothing). Visibility near zero, character moves as if fully encumbered. Zombies move faster. Lose more water.
Winter: Your character will get cold (ignores winter clothing). Visibility near zero, character moves as if fully encumbered. Zombies move faster. Lose more food.
No instant storm reset where you can just step inside for a second and be fine. Storms are tied to your wetness. Being inside removes the penalties, but your “wetness” when you exit will determine the level of the storm penalties. The longer you stay inside, the more you will recover. 100% wetness will equal 100% storm penalties and make it nearly impossible to do anything. At 100% you will start losing health.
Storms will exist every 7th-day for the entirety of the 7th night spawn (random other times). This will remove simple 7th-day bases where you just stand on the other side of scaffolding ladders and smash. You will need more protection from the storm.
Vehicles:
Only the 4x4 will give you protection from the storm (making the 4x4 useful). The gyro will not fly during a storm (making it less OP). Vehicles will slide (as they do now), but only in the winter storm.
Zombies:
Make at least 50% of the zombies “straight path” to you, even if it means destroying blocks in the way. To prevent getting all of the zombies from forming into a nice line (as if they are smart) so they can be easily dealt with. The zombies should surround you. This will make base building more challenging and realistic.
Bring back:
Learn by doing
Random loot. No more “loot stages”. High-level stuff is just rare. Maybe you find an AR day 1, maybe not until day 21. It is “rare,” so it will always be more likely that you find it later. Loot will still get better as the game progresses, only naturally due to some items being rare. Better loot in better biomes (wealthier biomes) and only certain loot in certain biomes (as mentioned). Best loot in burnt (suburbs) and wasteland (cities).
This fixes so many “problems” with the game.
Water jars were OP (now they are not nearly as valuable)
Dew collectors aren’t really necessary, as you find enough dirty water in the game. Once you have a dew collector with a filter, dirty water jars are a nuisance. And why would the dew collector give you a jar? (Now the collectors have a real use, and finding dirty water jars is now valuable (for the jar) even in late game.
Biome progression had no rhyme or reason, and we had to be forced to go to them. (Now we will want to go to them to get specialized loot and likely want to go back and forth between them).
There is no “adventure” as you are given the location of each new trader. If they know exactly where the trader is, why is it a quest to find them? (Now you will be given a general area and direction, but still must find it. They know the general location but task you to locate them.)
Storms are fun, but make no sense. (now they are biome-specific and have different penalties)
You find so much loot later game that you eventually have 50 of everything. Biome-specific looting and no loot stage will cause you to find some items less and other items more. You won't keep finding cooking pots that you no longer need unless you go back to the forest.
The 4x4 is usually skipped, and the gyro is OP. Giving the 4x4 a storm bonus and the gyro a storm debuff will make players want a variety of vehicles for various reasons. I think this will make the 4x4 sought after. It was weird that you got it after the motorcycle, as the motorcycle was way better. Now it makes sense to come after.
7-th day bases can be too simple and easy to create. You now need a more complete base.
Water:
Bring back jars. (but no way to craft them)
All groundwater will get you sick. 100%
If you boil it, the chance is reduced to 35%.
Red tea and goldenrod reduce the chance to 20%.
Water in wasteland and burnt areas will kill you.
You will live off of boiled water in the beginning, and you will get sick from time to time and need to treat it. Making vitamins and red tea more useful.
Dew Collectors:
Only fill in the rain
You use jars to collect the water from them.
The water collected has a reduced chance of dysentery (lower than boiled water 10%)
The filter makes the dew collected water 100% safe.
Only a dew collector with a filter can make water 100% safe.
A filter is mandatory in burnt and wasteland. Regular dew collected water will still kill you in those biomes.
A special decontamination filter is needed just for wasteland. Making you need better stuff in the harder biomes.
Bike:
Bike parts found only in certain POIs (like gas stations)
Only level 1 trader missions send you to these POIs, and only in Pine Forest (This way you don't keep finding parts after you have a bike)
You can craft the bike as soon as you find all the parts (usually within 7-10 quests)
Parts can be found without quests, but the trader sends you to POIs more likely to have them. So you will get it quicker using the trader.
Trader:
You have to find them.
Finishing your start quest will give you a note with the “direction” of the first trader, but not the exact location.
At 10th mission, you get a “find trader mission”
They only tell you the direction, not the exact location. This keeps the adventure.
But he says, “It’s in the burnt biome, so here is a gas mask to help you find it.”
Each trader gives you the thing you need to enter the next biome to help find the trader.
Burnt: Gas mask
Desert: Desert headwrap
Winter: Puffer Coat
Wasteland: Radiation suit.
Biomes spawning:
Biomes will be placed in a particular order.
Wasleand to the East, surrounded by burnt forest.
Pine forest in the middle of the map.
Winter, North.
Desert, West.
You will have to wander to find them, but you know the general direction.
Biomes:
Biomes will harm you without the proper protection.
Desert: Hot, and you use more water.
Winter: Cold, and you use more food.
Burnt: You suffocate. Slowly die. (like it is now)
Wasteland: You get radiation poisoning and die unless you treat it.
No need to do silly stuff, the trader will give you the item you need when you complete the 10th mission.
Pine forest: Should only have small homes like camps, small gas stations, and log homes. This way, you want to leave to get to better POIs. Not great loot. No book stores or tool stores. Just food and low-level crap.
Wasteland: The Only place where large cities spawn. This is why they are wasted; they had bombs dropped on them.
Burnt Biome: Will be the suburbs. Larger homes and small businesses. Best place to find bookstores and low-level tools like wrenches and hammers (reason to go there). They surround every city “wasteland”. This is why they were burned, as they were close to the bombs.
Desert Biome: Only western-style homes. Ghost towns, gun stores, military bases, and nice western-style homes. Best place to find ammo and weapons.
Snow Biome: Log cabins, very large mansions, large stores like tool stores. The best biome to find tools like augers, nail guns, and chainsaws.
This way, there is a reason to enter every biome. Greater chance of each particular loot.
Storms: (basically remove your protection)
Wasteland: The only biome where your character must seek shelter (You lose health like the way it is now). Visibility near zero, character moves as if fully encumbered. Zombies move faster. You get radiation poisoning.
Burnt: Will make you really hot as fire is blowing all over. Chance of randomly catching fire. Visibility near zero, character moves as if fully encumbered. Zombies move faster. Lose more water.
Desert: Your character will overheat (ignore your desert clothing). Visibility near zero, character moves as if fully encumbered. Zombies move faster. Lose more water.
Winter: Your character will get cold (ignores winter clothing). Visibility near zero, character moves as if fully encumbered. Zombies move faster. Lose more food.
No instant storm reset where you can just step inside for a second and be fine. Storms are tied to your wetness. Being inside removes the penalties, but your “wetness” when you exit will determine the level of the storm penalties. The longer you stay inside, the more you will recover. 100% wetness will equal 100% storm penalties and make it nearly impossible to do anything. At 100% you will start losing health.
Storms will exist every 7th-day for the entirety of the 7th night spawn (random other times). This will remove simple 7th-day bases where you just stand on the other side of scaffolding ladders and smash. You will need more protection from the storm.
Vehicles:
Only the 4x4 will give you protection from the storm (making the 4x4 useful). The gyro will not fly during a storm (making it less OP). Vehicles will slide (as they do now), but only in the winter storm.
Zombies:
Make at least 50% of the zombies “straight path” to you, even if it means destroying blocks in the way. To prevent getting all of the zombies from forming into a nice line (as if they are smart) so they can be easily dealt with. The zombies should surround you. This will make base building more challenging and realistic.
Bring back:
Learn by doing
Random loot. No more “loot stages”. High-level stuff is just rare. Maybe you find an AR day 1, maybe not until day 21. It is “rare,” so it will always be more likely that you find it later. Loot will still get better as the game progresses, only naturally due to some items being rare. Better loot in better biomes (wealthier biomes) and only certain loot in certain biomes (as mentioned). Best loot in burnt (suburbs) and wasteland (cities).
This fixes so many “problems” with the game.
Water jars were OP (now they are not nearly as valuable)
Dew collectors aren’t really necessary, as you find enough dirty water in the game. Once you have a dew collector with a filter, dirty water jars are a nuisance. And why would the dew collector give you a jar? (Now the collectors have a real use, and finding dirty water jars is now valuable (for the jar) even in late game.
Biome progression had no rhyme or reason, and we had to be forced to go to them. (Now we will want to go to them to get specialized loot and likely want to go back and forth between them).
There is no “adventure” as you are given the location of each new trader. If they know exactly where the trader is, why is it a quest to find them? (Now you will be given a general area and direction, but still must find it. They know the general location but task you to locate them.)
Storms are fun, but make no sense. (now they are biome-specific and have different penalties)
You find so much loot later game that you eventually have 50 of everything. Biome-specific looting and no loot stage will cause you to find some items less and other items more. You won't keep finding cooking pots that you no longer need unless you go back to the forest.
The 4x4 is usually skipped, and the gyro is OP. Giving the 4x4 a storm bonus and the gyro a storm debuff will make players want a variety of vehicles for various reasons. I think this will make the 4x4 sought after. It was weird that you got it after the motorcycle, as the motorcycle was way better. Now it makes sense to come after.
7-th day bases can be too simple and easy to create. You now need a more complete base.