Body Temperature: Simplified

[dsheric 1]

I'm Canadian, do I get a bonus to cold water swimming? I can joint he Polar Bear club too.

[RomanMVP 0]

I've been researching the various comments on this forum related to the hot/cold management system.  I'm really looking forward to this feature as I feel it's the best feature which is yet to be implemented.  I like the idea of simplification, although I think what happens "under the hood", can be a bit more complex.  My searching has not found any yet established way upon which the devs have decided to implement the system, and so I'd like to share some of my own thoughts.

 

First, what the player sees and experiences:

 

If player spends extended time in hot/cold weather (less then around 5 or greater then 30 degrees celcius) without a break, a thermometer icon appears in the corner.  This thermometer indicates a problem that needs to be dealt with.  If it's cold, the icon is blue and begins emptying. Or if it's hot the icon is red and begins filling up. At halfway, the player gets slowed movement plus other negative effects. When the thermometer fills or emptys completely, the player dies.  Also, no need for an overly complex clothing system.  Just add an inventory slot for coats (or just forcing the player to use the "back" slot for coats might be interesting.)

 

Player management activities:  As Dunk pointed out, let's avoid micromanagment.  Here is a list of what (in my opinion) is an acceptable amount of management.

 

- Once a year, craft a new coat. (older coats decay with age)- During extreme cold weather, seek warmth once a day for a few hours (even with a coat). Maintain a supply of fuel for fire pits.- During extreme hot weather, jump in water every now and then to cool off.- Stay out of water during extreme cold weather!

 

Now here is an idea for how the system works under the hood (player does not need to worry about this stuff while playing, they just see the icon to tell them when there's a hot/cold problem.  First, some variables: 

 

Ambient temperature (AT):  The temperature outside.Actual temperature (T):  Ambient temperature plus effect of heat sources. (I think this is already implemented)High and low temperature thresholds (HT and LT):  Defines the temperature range at which nothing bad happens.  Can be a dice roll but should generally by 5 and 30 degrees Celcius.Body Condition Index: (BCI):  Under the hood variable which as tracked and used to trigger various effects. 

 

Now for the system:  The BCI is nuetral at zero.  Use the BCI to trigger events, such as when the thermometers appears, when negative effects happen, and when the player dies. 

Rules for th BCI:

 

-When the actual temperature (T) is below the low temperature threshold (LT), the BCI goes down at a rate of (LT-T) per minute. -When the actual temperature (T) is above the high temperature threshold (LT), the BCI starts going up at a rate of (HT-T) per minute. -When the actual temperature (T) is between the LT and HT, the BCI moves towards zero. -When the player jumps in water, instantly lower the BCI by 3600 points. (or some balanced number)

 

Coat Rules:

- Wearing a cheap coat lowers the LT by 2 degrees. (so it lets you both work with lower temperatures and also spend more time in the cold)- Wearing a fancy coat loweres the LT by 5 degrees.

 

Some suggested settings for BCI:

 

BCI of -3600 (12 hours at 0 degrees  with no coat or 20 hours with a cheap coat), the cold thermometer appears.BCI of -7200 (24 hours in 0 degrees with no coat), player dies.BCI of 3600 (12 hours at 35 Celcius), the hot thermometer appears.etc.... you get the idea. All could be changed for game balancing.

 

Any thoughts on this, or is it just mad ramblings of a midget who's been hit in the head too many times during thunderdome fights?   

 

 

The coats decaying seems odd, unrealistic.

 

Coats could slowly deteriorate while in the rain, this would add for the need for shelter in cold rainy weather instead of being a gypsy-yeti. An important part of survival is managing time in various weather conditions, not just climate.

Also, incorporate the hot springs for use in cold weather areas.

 

Armor also needs to be adjusted with this, will heavier armors cause your temperature to rise faster? or simply make your temperature drop slower?

Will water jugs freeze in cold weather?

Will placing chests of meat in cold water help preserve it?

Will animals in the rain freeze to death in cold temperatures?

Will spawns of different animals be effected?

 

 

For this system to be implemented I believe hunting should be improved upon first.

 

But the benefits of this being implemented are game changing. You have magnitudes more variety based on starting conditions:

 

In hotter temperatures, you become more thirsty with movement, but do not require coats. In various biomes like the desert you can have the night become extremely cold and then get extremely hot. 

There are lots of possibilities and a conversion like this can go from different to extraordinary.

[masterblaster 1]

@RomanMVPMostly good ideas. I think it boils down to how much coding time Dunk/Bioxx are willing to put into it. And also how much micromanagement players are willing to deal with, and whether each sub-feature actually adds anything to the game. Ex: We don't want it to turn into a click-fest, constantly checking to see if your coat should be on/off, etc. I personally prefer to keep it simple (see my list of "management activities" above) , although I can understand why a lot of players might want more complexity and realism.@NikkyDNext time you play the game, take a look at the debug menu. See that number at the bottom? We already have a temperature system that takes into account real world physics. All that's left to do is add the system for how the local temperatures affects the player. btw, I'd like to clarify the reason I brought up all that stuff about a "body condition index" in my post above. (in case anyone actually reads this stuff ). It doesn't make much sense to have a body temperature system which does not factor time into the mechanics. For example, spending a few hours in -15 degrees should not be a problem.  But if you spend 20 hours in -15, there should be a need to go spend a few hours by a fire to warm yourself up.  So we need an "under the hood" variable which tracks how long you've been in the cold.  Also the system should be forgiving enough that you don't run into the "annoyance" brought up by NikkyD of having to constantly "hop down and wait a bit, warm up, and travel up the mountain again".  I'd be fine with being able to spend a full day on top of the mountain before "hopping down to warm up".  Although I can't image that particular scenario would happen too often, unless you are building some big project on top of a very high mountain.

[RomanMVP 0]

@RomanMVPMostly good ideas. I think it boils down to how much coding time Dunk/Bioxx are willing to put into it. And also how much micromanagement players are willing to deal with, and whether each sub-feature actually adds anything to the game. Ex: We don't want it to turn into a click-fest, constantly checking to see if your coat should be on/off, etc. I personally prefer to keep it simple (see my list of "management activities" above) , although I can understand why a lot of players might want more complexity and realism.@NikkyDNext time you play the game, take a look at the debug menu. See that number at the bottom? We already have a temperature system that takes into account real world physics. All that's left to do is add the system for how the local temperatures affects the player. btw, I'd like to clarify the reason I brought up all that stuff about a "body condition index" in my post above. (in case anyone actually reads this stuff ). It doesn't make much sense to have a body temperature system which does not factor time into the mechanics. For example, spending a few hours in -15 degrees should not be a problem.  But if you spend 20 hours in -15, there should be a need to go spend a few hours by a fire to warm yourself up.  So we need an "under the hood" variable which tracks how long you've been in the cold.  Also the system should be forgiving enough that you don't run into the "annoyance" brought up by NikkyD of having to constantly "hop down and wait a bit, warm up, and travel up the mountain again".  I'd be fine with being able to spend a full day on top of the mountain before "hopping down to warm up".  Although I can't image that particular scenario would happen too often, unless you are building some big project on top of a very high mountain.

 

 

 

Minecraft is the biggest clickfest out there, you click constantly, i wear my mouse out faster than starcraft...

 

[bluepugpoo 0]

i think a very cool feature for terrafirmacraft would be to add a body temperature feature where if you get to hot you will begin sweating and suffering from heat exhaustion and heat stroke but if you get to cold you will start suffering from hypothermia and to regulate your temperature different Armours could have different insulating properties, and you can make a sweater to help stay warm, standing near a fire or in the sun, by eating cooked food that hasn't cooled down yet, or by running, and to stay cool you could swim, drink water, stay in the shade, etc 

 

it would make survival more challenging but i think it would also be a cool feature that would add a whole new level to the survival aspect of terrafirmacraft.

Edited 2 Jul 2015 by Kittychanley
Merged duplicate suggestion

[landryx 36]

any cue if dunk is still working on that feature?