Adjust Alice's insulin usage rate

[AM-Humsauce]

Love the game, the only thing I can think of that could use some tweaking is the rate that Alice uses insulin at. She's using up like 80% of the gold I find or more; the only other thing you can't scavenge and don't have to buy is whichever strain antedote you just haven't managed to find and need. She's single handedly driving me broke. Hrm maybe someone needs to have an accident...

[Merliun]

Take control of her and get her to take care of a infected horde or looter mob... without backup :p .

[sausages]

her insulin usage rate is fine. If it's too easy, it's not an achievement.

[samuricex]

Yeah, I like the insulin rate. It really makes you wonder if it might be better to just let her die...

But it really isn't that expensive once you mass produce corn.

[The Bippler]

*cough* cheat engine

[Bob]

Yeah I'm gonna leave it how it is, sorry. I can see from reading the threads that a lot of people don't like it, but basically it's what the game (story) is about and it needs to be a thing that puts pressure on the player to make bad moral decisions and spend more gold than they can afford on.

A lot of games feature hard moral decisions that are basically about picking options in a dialogue tree, which is fine but I wanted to try and link them to actual game mechanics, so the game systems and the story would reinforce each other. Perhaps it was a flawed way of doing it, and I would try something different in a sequel, but in this game I think it has to stay how it is, for better or worse.

And yeah you can always make her leave the community or allow her to die, and you can still complete the game, you'll just miss out on a bit of story. You are Bad Person if you do this, of course :) But it's the zombie apocalypse, there are no good choices.

[Willa Grey]

As far as a game mechanic, I see the point. However, I'm not sure I care for the notion that "you are a bad person" because you don't dedicate your time and wealth to another's medical needs. Sure, if it's a loved one, I can see that. But a complete stranger? Acquiring insulin for Alice puts a strain on those involved, and presents a real danger of exposure to the infected and bandits. I get that the main character is supposed to be designed as the unlikable type, but I feel it’s a real stretch to condemn someone for only going so far to see to a stranger’s insulin needs, especially when said person takes on the role a leadership for many people.

[sausages]

Първоначално публикувано от MrSeagull:

As far as a game mechanic, I see the point. However, I'm not sure I care for the notion that "you are a bad person" because you don't dedicate your time and wealth to another's medical needs. Sure, if it's a loved one, I can see that. But a complete stranger? Acquiring insulin for Alice puts a strain on those involved, and presents a real danger of exposure to the infected and bandits. I get that the main character is supposed to be designed as the unlikable type, but I feel it’s a real stretch to condemn someone for only going so far to see to a stranger’s insulin needs, especially when said person takes on the role a leadership for many people.

Instead of calling it good/bad person issue, let's just call it a game mechanic where if you can keep Alice alive and don't randomly kill people by the end of the game, you gain an Achievement, shall we?

[AM-Humsauce]

I guess it's a question of is it morality vs is it just practical. It could make sense to bankrupt the group for a loved one; especially if most of the group is family. But I don't know that anyone would do it for a stranger (without the rest of the group of strangers killing one of the two for using so many resources on one person); especially one they haven't already been surviving with for a long time. But I get what the mechanic is going for and am ok with the notion. I think it might have been better if Alice was the main characters wife/mother/child. That would create some really dark morality choices deciding whether to save your most loved one at such a high cost. The fact that it's a stranger makes me care less.

[sausages]

If you do keep Alice alive until you reach FEMA base.... you will find out the surprise...

[Briar]

Първоначално публикувано от {MoO} oInK tHe CoW!?!?!?!?:

I guess it's a question of is it morality vs is it just practical. It could make sense to bankrupt the group for a loved one; especially if most of the group is family. But I don't know that anyone would do it for a stranger (without the rest of the group of strangers killing one of the two for using so many resources on one person); especially one they haven't already been surviving with for a long time. But I get what the mechanic is going for and am ok with the notion. I think it might have been better if Alice was the main characters wife/mother/child. That would create some really dark morality choices deciding whether to save your most loved one at such a high cost. The fact that it's a stranger makes me care less.

Joe wheeler is lonely and has know kids(that I know of). Now more than ever there is a pressure to find a mate and have kids (as he would also have been lonely when he met her), they could have quickly formed that love relationship with her much quicker than it would have happened in a perfect world (my game took about 40 days to complete but I killed alice so this doesn't really affect my game). But joe could have very well fallen in love with her that quick.

[Flytag]

I very much get the insulin is the variable that intertwines sandbox with story progression. The workaround I would be happy with is to be able to procure insulin yourself with a medical lab of some kind that could be constructed (late game). I think it's safe to say we want to save Alice. For the gamer, knowing there's only X amount left in the map means no matter how much you try to save her by getting her these meds, the long term solution will be that after she uses them up, insulin will eventually run out altogether. Those hard moral choices you've made in her favor will still mean the same outcome (she won't have insulin - eventually; she will die). I think it's either that, or have repeatable quest (from someone who 'gets insulin from out of town') with a cooldown that if you maintain, allows you to go through the game, still hungering for the extra buffer room for insulin, still gives you hard moral choices, but sustaining the pace you, as the gamer, enjoy playing through exploration.

[Bob]

Първоначално публикувано от Flytag:

Those hard moral choices you've made in her favor will still mean the same outcome (she won't have insulin - eventually; she will die).

Her storyline does have a resolution that is linked to completing the main quests (Missing, etc).

[BoogieMan]

To be bluntly honest, (and feedback can be useful, negative or postive) so far I'm finding it to be an un fun burden more than a interesting challenge.

Either let her die and be a terrible person, or burden yourself with nonstop search for insulin. I'm about 6 hours in to the game and I've done NOTHING else but look for insulin. I want to explore and build a base and get into the other mechanics, but at the rate she's using it up and the meager amounts of it I've been able to scrape together is not out pacing demand.

That and I find it hard to accept each and every person who somehow happens to have fresh insulin a year into the apocalypse would rather see her die than either sell it for a reasonable amount or allow you to trade specific and actually useful items for it instead of forcing you to commit crimes. Even the guy who should be more sympathetic, who had a diabetic daughter himself, doesn't give a damn. It's a very rare condition and the entire game so far seems to be built around it. Having to go person to person in different towns exist soley as a supply seems a bit.. forced and artificial. Not to mention, the odds of living a year into such a situation needing THAT much has got to be damn near impossible.

I get what the intent and what it is meant to do, but it doesn't work out for me. Because that is all the game is about, I've no time to take in the rest of the game. Always being pressured rushed isn't what I want in a game. Real life has enough of that.


I can sum up my thoughts on this very briefly as such:

One dose of insulin, something almost no one needs in this aplocalyptic world - is worth truckloads more than food, water, ammo, and even medical injections that protect you from the zombie virus that EVERYONE has to deal with and fears!

[sausages]

Well, in almost every action console game, time is an essense in each mission and this game happens to have a very large mission that runs 24/7 instead of giving you time to explore (which frankly, each area only worth exploring if you are on another mission. So, the insulin quest is really fine.

[Revan Tair]

I must agree, that the insulin mission is fine as it is. It's easy to press everyone with Joe or Lawrence into giving you everything. They are both good people :D