I think I’d enjoy survival games a lot more if:

• they didn’t have hunger/thirst mechanics
• or, hunger/thirst was only expended when doing actions so there wasn’t a constant time pressure
• or, hunger/thirst was paused while you were at your base so it was only a problem when you were searching outside of your base for more supplies

but omg having an omnipresent time limit that is refilled through constant tedium is so incredibly stressful and unfun to me

@kasdeya hmm, what if it was a survival game where you play as a robot with only a battery charge requirement, so that an early game upgrade would be to add wireless charging to your home base? that would work exactly like you describe it :3

@sudo_EatPant ooh I love that! there’s a survival-horror game that does a similar thing called Frostbite: Deadly Climate where the meter running down is heat, but early on you unlock an infinite source of heat (a room with a space heater) and you can always return there to warm up again - which creates some really satisfying cycles of tension and relief as you slowly explore the area around you but are always able to return to safety when you need it

@kasdeya this sounds like a vintage story post lmao

@kasdeya not a survival game, but that reminds me of steamworld dig, where you dug as a robot miner for your limited battery, acquired loot, turned loot into upgrades so you could delve deeper and longer etc

@kasdeya Maybe check for each of those appealing to you outside of those mechanics how games can be customised, for I know there are a number of them in that genre allowing you to change the settings of your runs, and disable some stuff.

@kasdeya Yeah, these are some of the mechanics that I find are really hard to get right, too. Like, Subnautica's air system works really well and works great for what you're thinking about, but then the hunger and thirst mechanics have exactly those problems if you leave them enabled

@kasdeya there's a surprising amount of games where if you don't run you actuwlly don't loose hunger bar. people just don't walk because they got used to always moving twice-ish as fast so walkjng feels super slow

@kasdeya There's been a couple of games I've played where they instead use hunger as a way to buff your character - if you are 'hungry' then you simply operate at a baseline level, but if you eat one or more different types of food, you get more health/stamina for a while.

I think Valheim was the first one I saw that did this, and Bellwright the latest one (Bellwright not quite being as Survival-based as others)

@andyeff I love that Valheim tried this tbh. the game never really called out to me to be played but I was always kind of curious about it for this mechanic in particular, because it seems like a fantastic way to implement eating in a game

@CIMB4 omg really? I’d be curious to hear about some of them because I didn’t know that was a thing at all

@november yess I love Subnautica’s air system! I tried playing that game in the past but I had hunger/thirst turned on and I felt kind of aimless and got bored, but I wonder if I’d feel differently with hunger/thirst turned off

@kasdeya i think minecraft is the most popular example. running isn't the only thing that makes your hunger bar go down but if you don't run (and don't take damage) it's significantly harder to starve. can't come up with more examples rn but i know i've played such games..