UNDYING

UNDYING

View Stats:
SteveLosive Aug 10, 2023 @ 2:28am
Religious Implementations
I've been seeing this a lot with East Asian developers/publishers. Lots of games have shrines, visiting temples, and similar things as optional collectibles or filler side quests. However, this game forces you to pray to a shrine every time you wanna save. Like, instead of using a bed or campfire, you use a shrine. You can keep the shrines as an optional thing, but as a man with a different faith/beliefs I find it insulting to the gaming community. I'm not gonna go around saying this is a conspiracy to promote buddhism or whatever. I think the developers added something they believe in and thought it would be a good idea to share with everyone who plays the game, I guess. However, it really is not a good idea to force it on those who wanna save their progress. You should rather make it present, but not an essential part of the game. It's rather simpler to use a bed or a campfire and gives more space for great features to be implemented.

I have mentioned this in my review as well:
https://steamcommunity.com/id/SteveLosive/recommended/638990?snr=1_5_9__402
Last edited by SteveLosive; Aug 10, 2023 @ 2:32am
Originally posted by Kingcole21:
Originally posted by SteveLosive:
Originally posted by Kingcole21:
Kinda surprised they didn't add fatigue as an option, but I like to think that as Anling starts becoming fatigued, the infection gets a stronger hold so that might be why she needs rest. Still don't mind the shrine being used as a save point though. It doesn't kill the mood for me, it just adds to the tone the story goes for...which is kinda grim, considering we're playing as a zombie infectee who might be praying for strength and forgiveness.

Gotta address something more related to story rather than game-play for a sec, if the story does end on the note that I think it's gonna end on, wouldn't that make Anling's prayers fall on deaf ears and make the religious elements even worse? Just some food for thought.

I never actually thought about that. I honestly haven't even played much, cuz it seemed like there was nothing to do after a while. Also, I still think it's better to keep the shrine as a background thing, add fatigue and let the game save whenever the character sleeps.

Or taking a third option, why not both? Have the player gain the ability to save at both the shrine and bed. One being a manual save, the other being autosave.

That way people get the best of both worlds.
< >
Showing 16-30 of 40 comments
Kingcole21 Sep 21, 2023 @ 10:36am 
Originally posted by SteveLosive:
Originally posted by Meep:
The game actually does autosave each day
I did not know that. Thank you for letting me know!

Now I feel like an idiot. Point still stands, though.
Meep Sep 21, 2023 @ 11:44am 
Actually, having revisited this now: it autosaves each scene change.

Like, if you choose your symptom(s) for the day & then exit, it will reset to that scene and you can choose them again.
But if you head downstairs, you start the autosave file at the moment in time you walked down the stairs.
Same goes for if you exit in say, The Park, it will load you at the entrance to the zone you entered last every time
Zone in this instance, seems to include any scene-changing doors you've gone through. So like, if you go to the Docks & leave off in the Warehouse or the Lab the autosave should start up at the entrance to that zone
Meep Sep 21, 2023 @ 12:00pm 
Also, I've played some meditation-style games, so I can tell you that a prayer simulator would go very differently than: character assumes pose in front of static object & then the save files pop out.

Lets use the hypothetical of a theoretical Christian prayer simulator, since we're both familiar enough with all that. Now picking on out of a hat: going up to the front it is!
First it would vividly try and recreate the experience of being in a church, try and get it so close that anyone who's actually spent a lot of time in churches starts filling in the sensations they can't communicate. Hymns sung by large groups would likely be playing.
Then you'd got down the aisle, hit a command to kneel on the cushions. At which point it would likely start with something like meditative guide prompts, mostly just saying what {insert what your denomination calls their preacher equivalent} would be saying before and/or during prayer time.

And that's probably what that would look like? Sounds like it wouldn't be a half bad activity to sim to be honest?? (Especially for people who can't get out as much)
SalsaTheOne Dec 2, 2023 @ 5:29pm 
Originally posted by .♥~*°("_")°*~♥.:
xDDD...
Religion & racism, they don't have their place in game, so play or don't, that's all...

The game is chinese & there's one million chinese/muslim who play World Of Warcraft & they don't ask Blizzard to change a church by a temple/mosque...

So you play a game that has no connection with your origins & beliefs, so either you respect or you break...

First of all there's no WoW in China for quite a long time now.

Second, they DID change the game due to religion, there were no skeletons in the game.

Third do a little research before you spout non-sense in a forum.
Meep Dec 2, 2023 @ 6:17pm 
Originally posted by SalsaTheOne:
Originally posted by .♥~*°("_")°*~♥.:
xDDD...
Religion & racism, they don't have their place in game, so play or don't, that's all...

The game is chinese & there's one million chinese/muslim who play World Of Warcraft & they don't ask Blizzard to change a church by a temple/mosque...

So you play a game that has no connection with your origins & beliefs, so either you respect or you break...

First of all there's no WoW in China for quite a long time now.

Second, they DID change the game due to religion, there were no skeletons in the game.

Third do a little research before you spout non-sense in a forum.
Oh my god! The ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ changes they had to make because of the skeleton thing, I cannot even. Wrath of the Lich King's Chinese release was several years after its global release because they couldn't sell it in China with any skulls or skeletons.

They just released a new expansion a few years back dealing heavily with the Warcraft universes afterlife. One of the zones has a heavy undead aesthetic to it. The skeletons are wrapped in skin now!

It's actually a good example of accommodation benefiting everyone: because those undead looking ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ awesome! I love the not-skeletons! Rather than just limiting themselves to boring bones they made something unique instead.

I am kind of sad it put an end to the open-gut style of abomination, can't win'm all. The recent abominations have been nice too.

~~~
But saying real world stuff has no place in games like... my dude, remember the vague mongol aesthetic WoW centaurs had? They just gave them the W3 Orc treatment. Now their allies with their own zone, in-depth culture and complex morals. It was the backdrop to a lot of kickass quests & a roaming event centered around hunting (their big on hunting).

Also one of the Khan's is deaf and she has a service dog you cannot pet (they're working you see). You can pet all the other dogs and cats now. The Centaur have so many hunting dogs, big floofy bois.
Barbarian Dec 31, 2023 @ 12:28am 
Originally posted by SteveLosive:
I've been seeing this a lot with East Asian developers/publishers. Lots of games have shrines, visiting temples, and similar things as optional collectibles or filler side quests. However, this game forces you to pray to a shrine every time you wanna save. Like, instead of using a bed or campfire, you use a shrine. You can keep the shrines as an optional thing, but as a man with a different faith/beliefs I find it insulting to the gaming community. I'm not gonna go around saying this is a conspiracy to promote buddhism or whatever. I think the developers added something they believe in and thought it would be a good idea to share with everyone who plays the game, I guess. However, it really is not a good idea to force it on those who wanna save their progress. You should rather make it present, but not an essential part of the game. It's rather simpler to use a bed or a campfire and gives more space for great features to be implemented.

I have mentioned this in my review as well:
https://steamcommunity.com/id/SteveLosive/recommended/638990?snr=1_5_9__402

Are you for real???? Of all the things to complain about, you choose shrines??????
dangomew Dec 31, 2023 @ 7:55am 
Imagine being so phobic of other cultures and religions you can't separate your own beliefs (or lack of) with the fictional character you're currently playing as' beliefs.
She explains the reason they have the shrine in game and what it means to her. It not only connects her to her religious beliefs, but also her family back home and her husband who bought it for her. It's great character development and makes Anling feel a lot more real for me.
By your own logic this means many people can't take the day off for Christmas, put up a tree or decorations, eat seasonal foods, listen to Christmas music and certainly not gift or receive gifts, as these all have roots in Christian or Pagan history and beliefs when they don't follow them. It's a save point that means something to the *character* not *you*.
I'm a Christian myself and found the inclusion of Anling's shrine as a save point very touching and meaningful. Nothing will shake my belief in my religion, and I am sure nothing will shake your own beliefs if you're sure enough about your path, so why complain about it?
Meep Dec 31, 2023 @ 8:12am 
Originally posted by Barbarian:
Are you for real???? Of all the things to complain about, you choose shrines??????
This thread was made during early access; there was way less game out for someone to find issue with.

We had only the Neighborhood, City, Supermarket, Farm, Trailer Park, Beach, Wharf, and the later three had no evolving storyline. There were no randomly generated areas, most of the plot wasn't there. The game ended on vague hopeful note at the dawn of 30th day for anyone who happened to get the vial from the docks.

What did exist was perfectly playable, and there was no really hard choices to make in the game ||honestly the only choice was killing Bill, which was less of a no-brainer, since he was pleasant, said he found the farm abandoned, and didn't steal your bat... still murdered the owner though & that version of the Uncle was kind to him!||

This isn't really for or against the complaint at hand, just more background than is probably necessary on the state of the game pre-full-launch.
Last edited by Meep; Dec 31, 2023 @ 8:14am
Meep Dec 31, 2023 @ 9:03am 
Originally posted by dangomew:
Imagine being so phobic of other cultures and religions you can't separate your own beliefs (or lack of) with the fictional character you're currently playing as' beliefs.
She explains the reason they have the shrine in game and what it means to her. It not only connects her to her religious beliefs, but also her family back home and her husband who bought it for her. It's great character development and makes Anling feel a lot more real for me.
By your own logic this means many people can't take the day off for Christmas, put up a tree or decorations, eat seasonal foods, listen to Christmas music and certainly not gift or receive gifts, as these all have roots in Christian or Pagan history and beliefs when they don't follow them. It's a save point that means something to the *character* not *you*.
I'm a Christian myself and found the inclusion of Anling's shrine as a save point very touching and meaningful. Nothing will shake my belief in my religion, and I am sure nothing will shake your own beliefs if you're sure enough about your path, so why complain about it?
If a frog is never forced to walk on land, hopping might come naturally as breathing, but its still scary and unfamiliar to learn how.
Sir has been living comfortable in his pond all his life, and we do not begrudge him his pond. It is a nice pond, it floods sometimes and gets in other creatures business, but that's not really something he has control over.
He may not even understand why people are upset to have pond water in their space, isn't pond water the best thing ever? Doesn't it make our poor dry lives all the better? Clearly we should go swimming more, it would do us all some good.

This isn't really about this person in general, but about how social majorities are never forced outside of their comfort bubble. When they are that understandably tend to makes them uncomfortable, its new and scary after all. Which often only serves to makes it more uncomfortable and scary.
They also tend to assume because this is a new feeling to them, its news & not the background noise of many peoples everyday lives.

Christianity is a very good religion that has been used to put some genuine kindness into the world. Bullying kings to be kinder and share what they have with peasants and the like, for an example. Church officials were known to sheltered members of the local Jewish population when their were riots against them in the middle ages. This occasionally cost them their lives, an eventuality most were aware of when they chose sheltered.

But humans are flawed lil creatures & we have misused the texts and livery of The Faith for some truly evil things, and infinitely more ones that were just kind of ♥♥♥♥-ish and mean.
I feel like its an important part of the Christian experience to seek out both sides of that coin, and not shy away from the darker chapters (only diving so far into details if its a particularly abominable incident on the other hand, is more than fine)

:gk_cross::gk_cross::gk_cross:

I can't come up with a good summation, faith is messy and complicated, but if one is mindful, it can do some real good in the world. Go forth and be kind to one another!!
dangomew Dec 31, 2023 @ 9:59am 
Originally posted by Meep:
Originally posted by dangomew:
Imagine being so phobic of other cultures and religions you can't separate your own beliefs (or lack of) with the fictional character you're currently playing as' beliefs.
She explains the reason they have the shrine in game and what it means to her. It not only connects her to her religious beliefs, but also her family back home and her husband who bought it for her. It's great character development and makes Anling feel a lot more real for me.
By your own logic this means many people can't take the day off for Christmas, put up a tree or decorations, eat seasonal foods, listen to Christmas music and certainly not gift or receive gifts, as these all have roots in Christian or Pagan history and beliefs when they don't follow them. It's a save point that means something to the *character* not *you*.
I'm a Christian myself and found the inclusion of Anling's shrine as a save point very touching and meaningful. Nothing will shake my belief in my religion, and I am sure nothing will shake your own beliefs if you're sure enough about your path, so why complain about it?
If a frog is never forced to walk on land, hopping might come naturally as breathing, but its still scary and unfamiliar to learn how.
Sir has been living comfortable in his pond all his life, and we do not begrudge him his pond. It is a nice pond, it floods sometimes and gets in other creatures business, but that's not really something he has control over.
He may not even understand why people are upset to have pond water in their space, isn't pond water the best thing ever? Doesn't it make our poor dry lives all the better? Clearly we should go swimming more, it would do us all some good.

This isn't really about this person in general, but about how social majorities are never forced outside of their comfort bubble. When they are that understandably tend to makes them uncomfortable, its new and scary after all. Which often only serves to makes it more uncomfortable and scary.
They also tend to assume because this is a new feeling to them, its news & not the background noise of many peoples everyday lives.

Christianity is a very good religion that has been used to put some genuine kindness into the world. Bullying kings to be kinder and share what they have with peasants and the like, for an example. Church officials were known to sheltered members of the local Jewish population when their were riots against them in the middle ages. This occasionally cost them their lives, an eventuality most were aware of when they chose sheltered.

But humans are flawed lil creatures & we have misused the texts and livery of The Faith for some truly evil things, and infinitely more ones that were just kind of ♥♥♥♥-ish and mean.
I feel like its an important part of the Christian experience to seek out both sides of that coin, and not shy away from the darker chapters (only diving so far into details if its a particularly abominable incident on the other hand, is more than fine)

:gk_cross::gk_cross::gk_cross:

I can't come up with a good summation, faith is messy and complicated, but if one is mindful, it can do some real good in the world. Go forth and be kind to one another!!

This is a great reply, kudos to you Meep!
Let us all learn more about each other and be kind and excellent to one another in 2024. Do one good and kind thing for another person each day if you can. Spread love and fight the forces of hatred and violence. Love, kindness, respect and joy are always the right way forward.
Watchout Jan 3, 2024 @ 8:29am 
it's just a game if saving in the little sanctuary offends you shouldn't play it or just play with the automatic save which doesn't need to pray
Mat Feb 19, 2024 @ 6:00am 
dude.... dude... are you ♥♥♥♥♥♥ for real??
You are playing as a chinese woman hahaha.
Search the "I am a surgeon" scene from the Good Doctor. That's literally how you are acting. Literally you, lmao. Imagine complaining about chinese things in a game where the main character is a chinese woman. Redditor moment.
Last edited by Mat; Feb 19, 2024 @ 6:01am
SteveLosive Feb 19, 2024 @ 10:04am 
Originally posted by Mat:
dude.... dude... are you ♥♥♥♥♥♥ for real??
You are playing as a chinese woman hahaha.
Search the "I am a surgeon" scene from the Good Doctor. That's literally how you are acting. Literally you, lmao. Imagine complaining about chinese things in a game where the main character is a chinese woman. Redditor moment.
You don't even own the game :orccaptain:
Meep Feb 19, 2024 @ 4:03pm 
Originally posted by SteveLosive:
Originally posted by Mat:
dude.... dude... are you ♥♥♥♥♥♥ for real??
You are playing as a chinese woman hahaha.
Search the "I am a surgeon" scene from the Good Doctor. That's literally how you are acting. Literally you, lmao. Imagine complaining about chinese things in a game where the main character is a chinese woman. Redditor moment.
You don't even own the game :orccaptain:
I have been informed by Gen Alpha 'only old people use the skull emoji like that' :gk_skull:

(but for serious, we should try and do better by younger generations than we were, don't know how relevant this is as I don't know how old any of u r)
SteveLosive Feb 19, 2024 @ 8:36pm 
Originally posted by Meep:
Originally posted by SteveLosive:
You don't even own the game :orccaptain:
I have been informed by Gen Alpha 'only old people use the skull emoji like that' :gk_skull:

(but for serious, we should try and do better by younger generations than we were, don't know how relevant this is as I don't know how old any of u r)
🤦‍♂️:sefacepalm:
Last edited by SteveLosive; Feb 19, 2024 @ 8:37pm
< >
Showing 16-30 of 40 comments
Per page: 1530 50