Fast/Slow Metabolism is wrong.

[Vegas]

Fast or slow metabolism does not increase or decrease the amount of weight you gain, nor energy used. Common misconception.

It increases or decreases the speed in which you gain energy from digestion and energy readiness in the cells. It *does not* increase/decrease the overall amount of energy gained. Overweight/underweight make much more sense and I would much rather see these returned.

If you would like to see people need more or less energy, these could be tied to fitness and strength levels as people who have more of each will require more kcal to keep going. Or how well people keep their homeostasis going by wearing correct clothing for the weather etc.

[Lexyvil]

I think in the game's context, the trait simply lowers or increases the daily caloric requirement before a shift in weight occurs. For example, the slow metabolism trait will lower the threshold so it doesn't require much calories before you notice a change to the arrow next to your weight. I could be wrong if that's how it was implemented though. It can kind of easily simulate how the body is burning more or less energy that way.

[Vegas]

You've missed my point... it *shouldn't* burn more or less energy. Like I said, it's common misconception.

[[Censored]]

Originally posted by .:Vegas:.:

You've missed my point... it *shouldn't* burn more or less energy. Like I said, it's common misconception.

is it breaking your immersion?

[Meefreese]

im fine with it. Im less fine with the under/overweight traits stacked on it, only giving you +2 each despite all the negative effects with those traits.

[Vegas]

Originally posted by Censored:

Originally posted by .:Vegas:.:

You've missed my point... it *shouldn't* burn more or less energy. Like I said, it's common misconception.

is it breaking your immersion?

Yes.

For weight gain/loss there are much better and nuanced ways to approach it rather than just a straight up arbitrary % modifier.

That being said I've had issue with it with the relative fats/carbs in B41.

[crisius]

cringe

[karal the crazy]

dude I am sorry your immersion is broken but this game has far more noticeable issues. Like massive numbers of zeds in small towns.

[Metro Gnome Holding Metronome]

Originally posted by karal the crazy:

dude I am sorry your immersion is broken but this game has far more noticeable issues. Like massive numbers of zeds in small towns.

dude i am sorry as well, both issues can be focused on at once, that's the entire point of a dev team.

[Armagenesis]

I mean, high BMR/low BMR will probably confuse people. Just like hemophobia confused some people.

[Zairev]

I think it would be cool if fast/slow metabolism affected body heat generation.
And maybe add underweight or overweight affecting insulation too.

I got very fast metabolism irl.
I can eat a horse and not gain weight, but problem is the constant feeling of being hot.
I am one of these people that walks in winter in shorts and tshirt - not because i like cold, but because i dont feel cold under certain treshold, since i am basically walking heater.

[Vegas]

Originally posted by karal the crazy:

dude I am sorry your immersion is broken but this game has far more noticeable issues. Like massive numbers of zeds in small towns.

Hey, bro, I'm with you man. There's much bigger issues, this is just one law of thermodynamics I'd rather see represented correctly.

Originally posted by Zairev:

I think it would be cool if fast/slow metabolism affected body heat generation.
And maybe add underweight or overweight affecting insulation too.

I got very fast metabolism irl.
I can eat a horse and not gain weight, but problem is the constant feeling of being hot.
I am one of these people that walks in winter in shorts and tshirt - not because i like cold, but because i dont feel cold under certain treshold, since i am basically walking heater.

Yes, and as a fellow high metabolism enjoyer, I also can get easily hot af. If they want to stick with high/low metabolism, maybe add heat generation. But not weight loss/gain. I have a familiar with slow metabolism, we eat the same stuff, do the same things, and our weights are completely consistent. Most of it in reality is tied to fitness level and activity etc, putting it into a trait is just a bit... meh. Starting out as fat, or under weight is genuinely a better option.

[Pomp And Circumstance]

i dont know what those traits do, but picked them both and im on my hottest longest strongest playthrough

[The Synx]

This is a silly game where you can break a crow bar by hitting zombies

[Zairev]

Originally posted by The Synx:

This is a silly game where you can break a crow bar by hitting zombies

Thats why every build the first mod i look for is increased durability, because i like realism, and in the world i live in, the crowbars are not made out of glass.

[Dr Whom]

This is, in my opinion, the problem with game balance vs realism.

In reality objects like metal pipes, crowbars etc would be almost infinitely effective whereas weapons like golf clubs and other household improvised weapons probably wouldn't even last more than a couple of strikes before being completely useless, if they were even effective to begin with. In the name of balance, some objects have to be more/less useful than their real counterparts. For example, most video games have shotguns as close-range pepper boxes that are usually totally ineffective at even medium ranges due to pellet spread.
In reality, shotguns can have quite tight grouping even at video game 'rifle' distances. Hardly anyone questions this video game logic because it's more fun to have situational weapons with more obvious payoffs/downsides rather than more realistic firearm behaviours.

The reasoning behind the weight gain / loss mechanics changes in relation to traits is probably (and I have no idea what the dev's are thinking, obviously) due to the "free points" that underweight / overweight traits were widely used for. The prevalent attitude was that although picking those traits might make your first few days a bit harder, the points were permanent, the negatives (that were supposed to balance the point value) were not.
This was especially true for more experienced players who take a more min-max approach rather than pick those traits for the comedy value of imagining some morbidly obese or stick-thin person trying to survive.
Metabolism CAN change with lifestyle (see epigenetics etc) and those changes can even be heritable but from a game-design perspective it makes more sense to have a trait that is harder to shake off than, say, underweight where experienced players just scoff butter for the first few days and make strong builds out of the "free points".

Developers have to tread a fine line between delivering an immersive, realistic experience, making a game that can be beaten, and creating entertainment that is fun to play/watch. Real life offers insurmountable challenges sometimes. A video game HAS to be beaten/solved. With 'harder' games this usually translates to player choices having more meaningful consequences and the "They died 100 turns ago, they just didn't realise it." situation. Still, it is expected and desired in any game that if you 'play well' or 'choose wisely' through intelligence, luck or experience, then you will do better than before.
This, difference is, ultimately, what creates the tension between immersion and balance when making 'realistic' games...