Suggestion: stop starving so fast

[AggressionSsb]

Seriously every time I go out for 10 minutes to find some loot I start starving to death. Why do I starve 20x faster than real life. You should only have to eat 1 animal like every 30mins. Not 4 every 15 minutes. It really make that part of the game a chore more than anything. Not to mention I'm not even sure salt respawns. Those filter fish are pretty rare too so water is a limited resource IN A ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ OCEAN. We have the super tech to spawn submarine out of thin air but not turn salt water into pure?

[Miami_BaT]

actually its quite easy to get water, when not going into the radiated area use the Still Suit, also some Salt and Coral pieces will give you bleach to convert to Purified Water.

But yes the food and water do go down quite quick, should slow it down a bit, I know the game isn't being built on realism, but dam,.. kinda too quick for food and water to go down so quick.

[NotThatHarkness]

I thought the same when I first started playing, but now I can manage food and thirst just fine. Aside from the stillsuit to recycle body "moisture" there's also the heat knife upgrade which cooks fish instantly. I also am fairly proactive about topping off my hunger and thirst whenever possible. I almost always grab a fish on every trip out from my base/pod. And when I get aquariums built I grab 8 spade fish from the sparse reef (plentiful food there) or mushroom forest and keep them for emergencies. I rarely cure fish - mainly to keep in my inventory when I head out the the Aurora, or some unknown part of the map where the food supply is uncertain (to me). I also get the propulsion cannon early as possible, that helps a lot in grabbing fish (as does the stasis rifle).

[Miami_BaT]

Originally posted by Sarnaath:

I thought the same when I first started playing, but now I can manage food and thirst just fine. Aside from the stillsuit to recycle body "moisture" there's also the heat knife upgrade which cooks fish instantly. I also am fairly proactive about topping off my hunger and thirst whenever possible. I almost always grab a fish on every trip out from my base/pod. And when I get aquariums built I grab 8 spade fish from the sparse reef (plentiful food there) or mushroom forest and keep them for emergencies. I rarely cure fish - mainly to keep in my inventory when I head out the the Aurora, or some unknown part of the map where the food supply is uncertain (to me). I also get the propulsion cannon early as possible, that helps a lot in grabbing fish (as does the stasis rifle).

What Samaath said, great info.

Heated blade yes, of course forgot to mention this gem, very helpful.

[Malikyte]

That's the biggest problem with most "survival"/"realism" games.
Frankly, the fact that you starve to death in less than in-game day in so-called "survival" games these days completely destroys any sort of realism or even enjoyable survival, all it does is turn the game into a constant resource grind trying to find food.

Developers of games that implement hunger and thirst seem to forget the very basic fact that a human being can survive for weeks without food (won't be very happy or strong, but it is possible), whereas without water you'll die within a few days. This oversight of something so simple really irks me in games like this, where not only are you CONSTANTLY having to eat and drink, your hunger actually depletes even faster than your thirst.

[Myrador]

Originally posted by Malikyte:

That's the biggest problem with most "survival"/"realism" games.
Frankly, the fact that you starve to death in less than in-game day in so-called "survival" games these days completely destroys any sort of realism or even enjoyable survival, all it does is turn the game into a constant resource grind trying to find food.

Developers of games that implement hunger and thirst seem to forget the very basic fact that a human being can survive for weeks without food (won't be very happy or strong, but it is possible), whereas without water you'll die within a few days. This oversight of something so simple really irks me in games like this, where not only are you CONSTANTLY having to eat and drink, your hunger actually depletes even faster than your thirst.

i totally agree, thats why i started my new game on free mode where i don't need food and water so i don't eat the ocean empty

[TARL]

Have only been playing a few days now. I enjoy the hunger and thirst mechanics but agree that they decrease a little to quickly. It would be great if they were tweaked just a bit.

[moonmadness]

if you check the Trello you'll see that this issue is being looked at.

personally, i think the present status quo is fine, as you need only a couple of fishes a day to survive.

but i'd like to be able to grow or breed my own food eventually.

[Hex: Onii-Chan]

Originally posted by Malikyte:

That's the biggest problem with most "survival"/"realism" games.
Frankly, the fact that you starve to death in less than in-game day in so-called "survival" games these days completely destroys any sort of realism or even enjoyable survival, all it does is turn the game into a constant resource grind trying to find food.

Developers of games that implement hunger and thirst seem to forget the very basic fact that a human being can survive for weeks without food (won't be very happy or strong, but it is possible), whereas without water you'll die within a few days. This oversight of something so simple really irks me in games like this, where not only are you CONSTANTLY having to eat and drink, your hunger actually depletes even faster than your thirst.

Yeah, but what would be the point otherwise? Let's say you make a survival game that is realistic. Oh, you found a piece of meat somewhere and ate it? Good job, for the next 50 real-time hours you have diarrhea. Oh, so you broke your leg? Welp, sorry mate, i guess nothing will heal it faster than 2-4 weeks of laying in a bed.

If you found like 2-3 snacks and could last with it for days, there would be no incentive to find that stuff at all, unless it is ultra rare, which in turn will aggrovate people.

[BlackWater]

Decreasing the day/night cycle via console slows this down as well.

[Hex: Onii-Chan]

Originally posted by BlackWater:

Decreasing the day/night cycle via console slows this down as well.

Wow...i just had a realization - what if we aren't starving this fast but the time is simply shortened. What if the day & night have normal length and we actually can spend days without food?

[Malikyte]

Originally posted by Kasseopea:

Originally posted by Malikyte:

That's the biggest problem with most "survival"/"realism" games.
Frankly, the fact that you starve to death in less than in-game day in so-called "survival" games these days completely destroys any sort of realism or even enjoyable survival, all it does is turn the game into a constant resource grind trying to find food.

Developers of games that implement hunger and thirst seem to forget the very basic fact that a human being can survive for weeks without food (won't be very happy or strong, but it is possible), whereas without water you'll die within a few days. This oversight of something so simple really irks me in games like this, where not only are you CONSTANTLY having to eat and drink, your hunger actually depletes even faster than your thirst.

Yeah, but what would be the point otherwise? Let's say you make a survival game that is realistic. Oh, you found a piece of meat somewhere and ate it? Good job, for the next 50 real-time hours you have diarrhea. Oh, so you broke your leg? Welp, sorry mate, i guess nothing will heal it faster than 2-4 weeks of laying in a bed.

If you found like 2-3 snacks and could last with it for days, there would be no incentive to find that stuff at all, unless it is ultra rare, which in turn will aggrovate people.

This really is a pathetic cop-out at best. Believe it or not, it IS possible to go about fixing a problem without only going to extremes. Surprising, I know. And you know what? I see nothing wrong with raw meat making you sick. Most survival games already penalize you for not properly preparing your food before you eat it. Minecraft, Stranded Deep, seriously this is not a new concept. As for the broken leg BS, if you can just magically fix your leg instantly with some morphine-on-steroids, why even have broken legs in the game in the first place?

What you fail to understand is there needs to be a balance between realism and playability. Right now, the hunger mechanics in SN lack both. It's not realistic, and it just turns the game into a constant grind to track down food - which, by the way, is a finite resource for some ungodly reason. Apparently basic biology doesn't exist on this alien planet and everything on it was simply made by some bearded dude in the sky and nothing ever reproduces, not even living creatures.

[BlackWater]

Originally posted by Kasseopea:

Originally posted by BlackWater:

Decreasing the day/night cycle via console slows this down as well.

Wow...i just had a realization - what if we aren't starving this fast but the time is simply shortened. What if the day & night have normal length and we actually can spend days without food?

I would prefer that actually.

[Cougarific]

Mali you're ignoring all the facts being dumped in this thread.

-A Heat Knife makes finding food an afterthought at best, not a grind.

-A Still Suit makes fresh water a non-issue.

-Creepvines are edible and regrow (as long as you don't cut them down completely) so it's impossible to completely run out of food.

-Actual farming is in-the-works.

And even if you ignore Creepvines, I've played multiple 20+ hour playthroughs and never come close to exhausting the fish supply. So you have to travel a little further each time to find your fish, that's not unrealistic. It's how nomadic hunter-gatherer societies subsist to this very day.

[Flayra]

Hey guys,

Thanks for the discussion and lively debate. I've reduced the speeds of hunger and thirst for months now and I'm starting to think that no matter how much I reduce it, I will hear from people who think that it's a chore. That's why we have Freedom mode in there, for people who don't like playing like this.

Nevertheless, I do think it needs some help. I'm working on this right now:

https://trello.com/c/iT2cGhGs

[Grey Lil Helper]

Originally posted by Flayra:

Nevertheless, I do think it needs some help. I'm working on this right now:

https://trello.com/c/iT2cGhGs

Interesting approach. The connection to health and speed seems kinda natural as other games like minecraft have it too: As long as your hunger bar is above a threshold you regenerate health. Going under another threshold you loose health and are slowed down.

The stomach size and vomiting thing... ... hmmmm. It sounds plausible and all but yet another bar to watch and keep in mind? *sceptic look*

Then please if you really add this feature give us a recipe for the fabricator to make stomach medicine for free as long as we test it out till it's balanced, pretty please? Later on there can be some resticting ingredient requirements.

And yet another remark about going to freedom mode... -_- and from a developer too... *sigh*
I really favor the suggestion in an other thread were you can set the speed hunger and thirst deplete in the options via slider yourself. I don't wanna miss hunger and thirst because it breaks the immersion but the speed it goes down ... well it is discussed often enough so i won't repeat it here again.

But thanks for the info! I really appreciate the way you work and communicate with us players! Keep up the good work!