What do you mean here by "by running around" specifically? Is it literally just running or does including building, stealthing, gathering, and perhaps crafting? As with any system, the devil here will always be in the details. My first blush thought is that gathering definitely needs to be included along with basic walking. In my group I spend A LOT of time raiding and I don't engage in combat (by combat do you mean melee? Bows? Guns? Will all of those activities, if included, be treated equally?) unless I absolutely have to do so. Another person in my group prefers to gather and build.
Depends on how sedentary will be defined (crafting? building? just staying in one spot? Are you including bicycles with the rest of the vehicles?)
Good questions. I'm thinking 'running around' should include physical activities that make you sweat in real life: so running, walking, riding a bicycle, building, melee combat. Sneaking around would certainly be a calf work out, so that could be included. I probably would not include shooting guns, bows, or crafting. Was that more or less your thinking?
and the duration before a penalty kicks in (in game hours? days?) The measurement here will be key because vehicles are a great liberator in the game and opens up the world to the characters along with additional storage benefits. If I can't drive around and explore the map (I usually play on the big ones) without losing stamina, I probably won't be a huge fan. It also feels like it's penalizing the player for climbing the tech ladder and being able to craft and use these things that I've spent a lot of time (and points) to gain access to.
In terms of actual numbers, I think that is something that would need testing, but I would imagine maybe half an in-game day for a point to go up or down based on activities performed (or not) during that time. It might work best that the points take quicker or longer depending on how many you have:
- If you have less than 75 points, it could award you more readily and be slower to punish. This makes it easier to get back to the baseline of 75.
- If you have more than 75 points, it could award and punish at the same rate of 1 point per half an in-game day. Nice and slow so it's not a stress but it's not piss easy for you to max out your points.
Overheating and freezing probably need to be accounted for in here as well.
I think heatstroke should cause liquid to go down rapidly, and freezing should cause food to go down rapidly. Is that enough of a punishment or do you think: damage to health points at high severity?
Here is what I think might be weakest piece. 25 is not a lot of health and could very easily lock a player into a 'death spiral' which would then only encourage them to stay in their bases, running into a wall while periodically eating and drinking to get their health back up again. This might be the place to work in medical supplies as a way to help them boost health to a more acceptable level. A quick boost back to 75 if they have the med supplies.
I think the system more readily awarding them points and less frequently punishing them while they are below the baseline of 75 would help alleviate this, but your idea of med supplies might work too. On the other hand, the survival-lite version (where points never regress below baseline) is probably a setting a lot of whiny people (including me) would use. Whereas, RestInPieces, who loves his death penalties would go for the actual system.
The other part that will need careful defining is the intent. Is this system going to compliment the slow (relatively speaking) crawl from the stone age to (potentially) some level of dominance over the harsh and unforgiving apocalypse? Is the aim to have characters really struggle at first or to have it more background (important but not a big limiting factor)? The answers to those question will really change the potential tuning.
Again, these are great questions. In my mind, the system I'm proposing would not be something that needs to be closely micromanaged, but it still adds a level of complexity that I guess the Fun Pimps seem to believe is lacking from a traditional survival game (like the ones I defined in the OP), and it also adds an incentive to cook better quality food. As a background plus, TFP could somewhat satisfy the request for LBD. You are right in that it is kind of punitive to those who have progressed to guns and vehicles, but then life is like that. Fitness and health doesn't come from desk jobs generally. The punishment factor is really more for those who want it. There are people who complain about end game being too easy, so this could help. I prefer reward, and that's why the more I think about it, the more I want to play the survival-lite mode, but would love for there to be ♥♥♥♥ty death penalties and things for those who want them.
