Improvement to Psychosis

[Dailyyy]

Make psychosis pose more of a threat. There's so much you could do with it, here's some of my ideas:

- Sonar will make you see things that aren't there.
- You will see afflictions your crew members don't have on your health scanner hud/heal menu.
- Status monitor will show you non-existent leaks
- You will see your crew as enemies, like mudraptors.
- Items in your hotbar will be invisible unless selected.

If you think all of this is a bit powerful, do remember psychosis isnt an affliction you get often and can be easily cured.

[Buggy Boy]

How about your character will start doing things if you stand idle for more than a few seconds or actively counteract them, such as say things in chat, take out a weapon and start shooting imaginary monsters, maybe you see someone walking around your sub who starts saying things in a real audible voice telling you things and suggesting actions to take, e.g. paranoid things like someone is plotting against you and the rest of the crew (no names, but suggestive generic hints about who it could be). Ok, so you'll probably twig pretty quickly that it's psychosis, but controlling your character's actions will be where the challenge lies.

[Dailyyy]

Originally posted by Buggy Boy:

How about your character will start doing things if you stand idle for more than a few seconds or actively counteract them, such as say things in chat, take out a weapon and start shooting imaginary monsters, maybe you see someone walking around your sub who starts saying things in a real audible voice telling you things and suggesting actions to take, e.g. paranoid things like someone is plotting against you and the rest of the crew (no names, but suggestive generic hints about who it could be). Ok, so you'll probably twig pretty quickly that it's psychosis, but controlling your character's actions will be where the challenge lies.

I feel like this would be more annoying than disruptive to the crew, as it would just annoy you because your character would do things without you touching it, and I don't think that'd be a fun feature. As for the voice part, it could work, but it would require a voice actor, and I think it'd uncanny to suddenly hear a person's voice in say, a singleplayer match. Good idea though.

[Саныч]

Sorry for this Google translation, but I'm very interested in the topic of improving psychosis.

The psychosis definitely needs to be improved.
Now it's just a minor inconvenience, although a game can be built around psychosis.
If flooded alien cities and Lafcraft references are planned in the future, then psychosis may become part of the "complexity" that the player has to deal with.
In this way, several degrees of psychosis can be made. 1) Primary causes inconvenience as it is now and can be easily removed. Such psychosis is more like stress.
The impact of the current psychosis does not suit me as a player. I can easily ignore it and this psychosis doesn't create problems for me, just a little annoying.
It can be optimized a little - add spectacular on the screen, for example. Events caused by psychosis are very easy to distinguish from real ones - if it were possible to make them more realistic - it would be cool.

For example, when I hear the sounds of sirens and shots, I understand that I have psychosis and ignore everything I hear. But when I swim into the nest of crawlers and hear the sounds of crawlers (although there are none) - this is where I get really scared, even if I know that I have psychosis.
Maybe adapt the sounds depending on where you are? Fires in the middle of the cabin are easy to ignore. Now, if only the reactor ignited, how many people would be mistaken in their understanding of psychosis?
Optimizing psychosis sounds like a daunting task, but I guess it's just a matter of discussion and brainstorming.

2) The next level of psychosis can no longer be simply removed with ethanol (just drown it out a little) and you have to either “live” with it or use more serious means of protection. What - you can think of yourself. The player can hear voices in his head, whispering (let it be in an incomprehensible language, like a voice from the depths). Chat messages calling for the killing of crew members or sabotage. Crew members can suddenly look like Husk. The appearance of non-existent wounds, poisons, infections, a visual decrease in health. Let this state of psychosis not be as annoying as the first state (or as it is now), but will complicate the life of the player more and encourage him in every possible way to not fulfill his duties and harm the boat and crew. For example, hitting another player results in a buff (rage) that grants running and attack speed, which will make the player want to "do some harm". But this is only the beginning of the end.

3) The last level of psychosis can be critical for the crew, which will inevitably lead to breakdowns, internal struggles on the boat, attacks, suicide attempts, etc. (for example, when the player character involuntarily tries to do something, and if you do not press the keys, he will do it). Indulging these urges should reward the player with buffs so that the player is tempted to interrupt the peaceful game idyll and have "fun".

Regular prevention and friendly support can help reduce psychosis, or at least tolerate it (I haven’t figured out how, write your opinion). In the future, changing perks can increase resistance to psychosis (for example, a medic with alien talents). Special artifact items can also protect against psychosis if carried around (but are rare).

[Саныч]

You can expand the game with content around psychotropic creatures and locations. "Watcher" produces a frightening effect, especially close up due to the sound of grinding. But he's harmless. If he looked at the boat at a great distance (so that it was difficult to kill him), and if he swam when he was looking at you, he would cause severe psychosis, screen shaking and scary sounds.

The severe psychosis of one of the crew members can lead to the appearance of real monsters - small worms or beetles that gnaw through small holes and crawl into the ship. Or appear right inside the ship in the darkest corners. Nests may appear to spawn more of them. Let these creatures themselves be very weak, cause little damage to the player and die from a couple of blows with a crowbar (so that it is simple workers who can kill them). But their constant appearance, quantity, sprawl, terrible appearance can frighten the players. They also have a chance to cause even more psychosis when bitten, or a weak poison (there are many poisons and antidotes in the game, but they are very rarely used). You can come up with new weak poisons or types of ailments. Infections similar to Husk, but less critical.

Ultimately a game around psychosis, virus infestations, genetic modifications, mutations and ways to play "out of the box" while exploring alien ruins and the mysteries of Europe.

This way you won't need to make a lot of new content, but it will enhance the atmosphere in the game. Right now the game is too easy - most players get bored on the boat. Swimming from beginning to end in the company is not a test of endurance, nerve strength or team reliability, but only a question of "how the players do not get tired of performing duties and they start to break the game."

Let the outside world of Europe constantly try to break the players, not only directly physically, but also mentally, and through diseases, the temptations to get something secret and alien (which will bring danger to the boat). The player's struggle against temptations and dangerous environments will encourage players to stand together for each other.

[Саныч]

Ultimately, you can create locations and "ancient creatures in the depths" that will call players to you. They can be made something like the Thalamus, with tentacles and an eye that also needs to be fought. A player who succumbed to maximum psychosis and wants to be a servant of this creature is something like the Church of the Husk, a person who wants to evolve. A person who succumbs to the ancient "god" can also receive advantages or even conditionally go over to the side of enemies.

Just like you can create a team of clowns - you need to be able to create a team of husks and an infested ship (which will float and function, but will be affected by something like ballast flora with its pros and cons, just like infected players). Right now, the Husk Man can't communicate, but if your team is part of the Husk Cult (whatever that means), let these players have some special way of communicating.

And the new crew sailing on the shuttle must make a decision - submit to this sect, or be killed.

Similarly, it would be great to have a Cult of Psychosis (an ancient creature) that is "played" not through mutations, but through psychic powers, artifacts, etc. And you can create a team consisting of such sectarians, with their pluses and minuses.

Ultimately, my message from all these comments is to 1) improve the atmosphere of the game 2) give the player more freedom to do what they want, contrary to the captain's commands and normal routine. 3) create more complexity, not leading to direct "battle right now" and instant kills, as is the case with traitors and griefers.

If you like my ideas - please pass them on to the developers. (I looked at their trello board, and there is nothing specific about updates =(

I write a lot of guides (and plan to do more in the Russian segment) and I want the game to grow. But all the players I met say that the game is too easy and there is no challenge, it quickly becomes boring with the same actions and only the chaos of betrayal sometimes amuses them.
The kind of content that I described will allow the game to become famous and draw players in for a long time.