LOL!
Well, it beats the original choice of Irradiated Flying Cops (that puke).
-Morloc
Got to give it that!
Why?What's wrong with it?
I think radiated vultures are brilliant.
Since we don't have to worry about realism... you know... cuz zombies don't actually exist, I think they're great!
I've replied like 999 times to that... you asked for this
Developers often talk about realism for various game aspects - why do you think that is, since the vast majority of games contain fantasy content?
"Realism" in video games is not about the game being realistic to RL, it's about the game being realistic to its own universe/lore/theme/setting. For example - the game takes place on an earth-like place with physics, rules and entities which obey to these rules etc, and beyond that point the level of realism can differ according to gameplay needs/limitations, like - the player also has human-like needs etc. For example a gigantic, incorporeal, black hole-farting unicorn is unrealistic for this universe.
An acid-vomiting vulture doesn't go that far, but is still something gimmicky that barely fits that universe. You can say "but TFP decide what the universe will look like", so they might as well add that unicorn or add random fantasy enemies/magic spells etc irrelevant to the setting. They sure can, but a well-structured setting is valuable to any form of art (even abstract art has a framework), movies, games, you name it.
Creating a theme is not that simple. You can say that the giant hornet worked in Fallout - why would they replace it with vultures here? Besides its annoying buzz, the Fallout universe is a well-constructed one, with a variety of mutated animals/plants and environmental/lore/visual clues that make giant hornets believable and realistic to that setting.
In 7DTD it just didn't fit. Vultures "made more sense" than giant hornets/were more realistic to this universe. Small birds throwing acid projectiles not so much. One might even say that it scratches the realm of "magic". Let me give you an example - why are cops bloated? By being bloated, the player gets an involuntary cue that they are bloated with something. And creators tend to design creatures in accordance with what they do, sometimes even involuntarily! These are essentially, subtle, low level attempts at realism.
Surely, because gameplay takes precedence over realism, they are better than nothing at the moment. But realism and good gameplay are not mutually exclusive. Realism, besides making the universe more believable (immersion), it can offer much to gameplay, which already happens with human needs, diseases, injuries, crafting, vehicles, pretty much most things in this game. Even the new inventory/"weight" system is a realism attempt for a more engaging gameplay experience, but obviously, a perfectly realistic weight system would harm gameplay instead. Not having a gyro threat would also harm gameplay, so a solution is needed. But it might as well be something more realistic, which is a win-win. At any case this might just be a placeholder.
