Timezones would only REALLY matter if you had some mode of high speed travel. If you go on a walking quest around the world, and you take 30 days to walk to europe, it will be as if only 30 days have past there too.

...and that''s how I successfully lead operation Desert Storm.

If we wanted RPGs to be realistic, we''d throw in the following features...

-Hunger
-Thirst
-Being tired
-Having to go to the bathroom
-Fear
-Shock
-Panic
-Mental Illness
-An actual explanation behind everything that isn''t standard in our world (such as monsters and their habits, or magic)

So forth. Many of these things aren''t even thought of in a game. Why? Because they just don''t have their place in a game. Sure it can be fun to make a game world realistic, but is it worth it? Will giving your character the need to go potty every once in a while make things more fun for the player? Will the player even care if your game is realistic if realism becomes too much of a hassle?

Reaslism does have its place in a game but there are limits. A game is just that: a game. Sometimes you just have to sacrifice some realism to keep games fun. I don''t want to play a game where my character runs away screaming like a little wuss from a group of orcs or suddently goes into shock and die after getting his arm savagely and rather randomly hacked off from a little psychotic kid in town with his daddy''s sword. ^^;

Hunger, thirst and sleep are some of the more basic human functions that keep us alive and I can see those having a certain degree of importance in a game. However if heroes were limited by things like sleep and other human frailties they wouldn''t be heroes. They would stop risking their necks once they''ve saved their village from monsters or whatnot because of mankind''s self-preserving nature. Would you throw yourself in the lair of a hoard of demons just for the thrill of it?

Unless of course you''re a really, really f[beep]ked up person.

quote: Original post by BB-Pest
what about making game time proportional (gametime=a*realtime) to realtime only in some areas(like world map) but event/story related in dungeons and other areas (ie: completing one quest will take 5 h) so eating and stuff would be needed while leveling but while advancing story it goes to background.

majora''s mask did this quite well...
the games normal speed was 1 real minute = 1 game hour. (of
course, you could play the inverted song of time and it''d slow
it down to 1/3rd of that). meanwhile, everything happened at
a precise time every single day (anju would take a walk on
the second day at 10:30, go to the ranch on the third day, ect)

-eldee
;another space monkey;
[ Forced Evolution Studios ]

Do NOT let Dr. Mario touch your genitals. He is not a real doctor!

Maybe the solution isn''t that farfetched. For example, a 15 minute powernap after lunch makes you feel more rejuivinated than 8 hours of normal sleep. Of course you still need the normal sleep, but you could introduce a gameplay mechanic where eating and then napping will give the player some more time in which he can effectively work without getting negative side effects. In this way, teams can then opt when to stop and let everybody get some grub & relax-time before continueing on the quest. Basically what your looking for is a way where the player can sleep and restore whatever, but still be able to act for long periods of time. If thats the case, I''d recommend upping how long you can go before you start to get punch-drunk. Remember that the player might be playing in a sleepy state too, so you don''t have to be TOO worried about it.

-> Will Bubel
-> Machine wash cold, tumble dry.

Is the game multiplayer? Then maybe while a player sleeps they can be in a dream world with any other player who sleeps. You could fight nightmares in a dream dungeon!

Using sleep and food for healing purposes or energy\stamina\mana regain is fine, forcing the player to eat or sleep to stay alive is annoying. The game where it was the worse was Betrayal at Krondor. Even though characters would eat automatically, they would eat a lot, and if you didn''t eat for just a few days you would die of hunger. Not only is this annoying (constantly worrying about getting food), it''s unrealistic.

quote: Original post by RuneLancer
If we wanted RPGs to be realistic, we''d throw in the following features...

-Hunger
-Thirst
-Being tired
-Having to go to the bathroom
-Fear
-Shock
-Panic
-Mental Illness
-An actual explanation behind everything that isn''t standard in our world (such as monsters and their habits, or magic)

GURPS models a lot of these things, including mental illness and fear. In X-Com fear and panic are a big part of the game. In Call of the Cthulu (sp?) mental illness is a major part of the game. In the Sims being tired and going to the bathroom are big things also.

It''s not that these things shouldn''t be in games at all, but in a lot of games they just become tedious and boring. Then again I think some things that you mentioned (mental illness, fear, shock, panic, explanation of magic and monsters) should be in more games.

hm... i think adding all those things is only good if:

<br>
• it plays good = not disturbing gameflow<br>
• it fits the general game concept<br>
• leaving it out would make the game worse<br>

quote: Original post by Impossible
...In Call of the Cthulu ...

its Chtulu i think

Most people have mentioned that eating and sleeping in most RPGs is boring. With sleeping, do it when the players quit, it would be transparent to the user, the character would be refreshed.
With eating, make it optional. In real-life eating is social, your players could meet at the local pub and talk about their next battle over a beer, but don''t make it necessary otherwise people will get bored.

Have the time that players spend off-line go towards rest... if they don't spend enough time off-line in a day, they begin to pass out. As people actually DO need sleep in real life, the players, in theory, will have sleep as well.

Food can be a bit tedious so keep it as simple as possible. When a player gets food, it decreases a "hunger" bar on the screen. Over time, the bar becomes maxed out and the player must stop for food (or take damage, perhaps). For long journeys, allow the player to create rations and add in a game option that allows rations to be automatically consumed when necessary. The player has to still think about buying food from time to time but doesn't have to stop what he/she is doing when they are hungry. Perhaps when the player kills a beast, the player can take some of the beasts remains as food. This might give a bit more of a feeling of accomplishment to the victor while allowing the player a way to survive longer periods without stopping in town for more food.

- Jay


[ Here, taste this ]

[edited by - coderx75 on December 1, 2002 3:06:25 PM]