I like the upgrades idea of using interchangeable parts for different abilities.

Sneakered feet for faster running.

Stone Golem feet for non-slipping on ice/goo/etc...

Claws for increased attack damage.

Wings for gliding.

Pelican beak for scooping fluids.

Woodpecker beak for breaking wooden doors/boxes.

Kangaroo legs for high jumping.

Waterbug legs for skimming puddles.

Mermaid tail for improved swimming.

Gorilla arms for swinging on ropes/vines.

Cats eyes for darkvision/ghost detection.

Or any combination thereof! I'm not good with gross, unfortunately, but I can still see this list of abilities growing long.

A lot of my favorite ideas have already been said, but:

A detached hand can run down narrow passages and manipulate things on the other side.

Nerves can be run across areas and linked to other body parts to create traps that trigger in reponse to different stimuli.

A chunk of brain plus a bit of nerve can ride an enemy and give you some limited control over it.

Intestines can be used to pump fluids from one pplace to another.

I can see this game having as its character a superhero zombie! I can definitely see limbs being used as levers. Maybe if you fill your stomach with gas it could float, and you could attach an eye and intestines to make a gruesome sort of spy kite or really gross bomb. Or maybe you could jump on it and have it cushion a fall or bounce you up to another level.

Rather than open up a new thread showing an initial implementation idea for how the body parts skill set might be determined, I figured I would keep on with this thread so that feedback and suggestions for body part utilisations might stay in one place. We have also created a journal to document the processes by which this game develops.

At this stage we are looking at body part usage being dictated by what thread requirements might be needed - so for more coarse or basic tool requirements you would only need hemp thread for the stitching and as the complexity of the tool or finesse needed in self-surgery increases so does the thread quality. Each sector would consist of 1 body part manipulation using hemp thread, 2 with cat gut and 3 with synthetic, so basically 24 possible body part manipulations would be available. Resource management would be handled by the availability of thread which will be found throughout the game.

A secondary aspect which leads to a deeper choice of body part possibilities will be the incorporation of sidegrades (I won't say upgrades as I feel that particular type of thinking and limitation would lend itself to less fun overall). These sidegrades would be body parts salvaged from the bodies of the enemies and stored in a miniaturised pocket storage that can be expanded to wardrobe size (a suitable backstory will be implemented about mad scientist having developed this storage device for replacement body parts for Frank as things drop off/wear out). Effectively the pocket storage will allow Frank to store a complete set of body parts for each body type he runs across in the game. This storage needing topping up as parts are used up/lost/broken....at this stage the tentative body types for the game will be human, rabbit and robot.

When incorporating a different sidegrade into the body we plan to have the available choices of body part manipulations automatically change. For example: human intestines might be long, rabbit intestines stretchy, robot intestines strong -- so depending on which type of intestines you use you may get access to a rope, or part of a crossbow or a tightrope. So the choices you have access to is very much dependant on what makeup you have stitched yourself together with.

What do you think - suggestions for how this might be improved or how this works as an interface for you would be appreciated, as well more body part suggestions