An Alternative to "Food = Survival"

[JonQGamer]

Greetings Astroneers!

I have been knee deep into the game for about a week now and it has very much consumed most of my available gaming hours, so naturally I am consuming as much info as I can regarding upcoming features. Yesterday I came across the dev's road map and one thing jumped out at me: The food system. Just as Jon Snow, we know nothing at the moment. But, what little we can glean does point to the whole "need to eat or die" mechanic.

My issue with this system:

• It creates a system where a player MUST do something in order to play the game.
• All I can speak for is myself, and I for one do not want to login only to think "okay, let me make sure I have enough food so I can do X".
• Having to eat all the time might feel like a chore.
• We already have oxygen and power as limiting factors.
• Forgive my naivety, but didn't NMS have some similar mechanic with recharging stuff which caused players to become more annoyed than anything else?

An alternate idea: Food = Buffs

Just some ideas/notes:

• Make food boost things like Oxygen consumption, movement speed, jumping ability, etc.
• Synthesis!... combining elements into different types of food (read: recipes)
• Food would be synthesized from organics/seeds/whatever comes from animals. <--- this would allow devs to constantly add new recipes, new elements, etc.
• Certain elements would only be available on certain planets, encouraging trade
• Boosts would last a finite amount of time (say, 5 minutes) which encourages players to continue to farm if that's something they want to do.
• Better quality foods would last longer than their lower level counterparts

 

In the end, I would like to see food/farming ADD something to the game, not be a requirement to play it.

Thanks for reading and feel free to tear this idea apart

-JonQ

[JonQGamer]

We have a good discussion going on about this on Reddit. I will post the highlights here:

 

• Add a "food slot" onto the backpack. Food is placed in there and depletes over time visually just like other resources do. No need for any GUI icons.
• Minecraft hunger is great early game, but becomes tedious and akin to busywork late game.

• "I think food buffs should be limited to only situational. No boosts to energy or breath regen or anything that makes it a "if you don't get this buff you're doing it wrong" thing.

  Little things like temporarily improving fall distance, less damage from enemies, increasing/decreasing the threshold to when you start sliding, jump height, and holding your breath that tiny bit longer when suffocating... I want food to act as a convenient tool rather than a barrier to gameplay. It'll also open up to players planning ahead when choosing their meals."

   

[Sad Brother]

I support first post fully.

Surprisingly not support second one.

Corner slots are good to feed character, no need of special slots. MC hunger is never great. No need to limit food fantasy.

[SimonTheAstroneer]

I not that sure if food system is actually a good idea but its just my opinion.

[Northstarranger]

question...... why does everone want this game to be exactly like another game ? I constantly see refrences to the food  cycle of this or that game. If your so enamored with the food cycle of that game please take your leave and go enjoy it. This is the game astroneer not another game . When the deves get around to bringing what ever type of dynamic to satisfy their thoughts on the food subject we will all find out.  NOW CAN WE PUT THIS TO REST!

[JonQGamer]

1 hour ago, Northstarranger said:

When the deves get around to bringing what ever type of dynamic to satisfy their thoughts on the food subject we will all find out.  NOW CAN WE PUT THIS TO REST!

I don't want to be THAT guy, but this is an "Ideas & Suggestions" forum. The whole point is to come up with ideas, have discussions about what we want to see in this game. All of us being gamers, we are going to bring ideas from other games here because that's where we get all of our gaming experience to date. Of course, the Devs can do whatever it is they want, but I would like to think they put this forum here for a reason.

[Northstarranger]

7 threads on this subject and its nothing but a fussing match mostly the same individuals or the same things hassed over and over and over with all of the same things

[thecarlocarlone]

22 hours ago, JonQGamer said:

Greetings Astroneers!

I have been knee deep into the game for about a week now and it has very much consumed most of my available gaming hours, so naturally I am consuming as much info as I can regarding upcoming features. Yesterday I came across the dev's road map and one thing jumped out at me: The food system. Just as Jon Snow, we know nothing at the moment. But, what little we can glean does point to the whole "need to eat or die" mechanic.

My issue with this system:

• It creates a system where a player MUST do something in order to play the game.
• All I can speak for is myself, and I for one do not want to login only to think "okay, let me make sure I have enough food so I can do X".
• Having to eat all the time might feel like a chore.
• We already have oxygen and power as limiting factors.
• Forgive my naivety, but didn't NMS have some similar mechanic with recharging stuff which caused players to become more annoyed than anything else?

An alternate idea: Food = Buffs

Just some ideas/notes:

• Make food boost things like Oxygen consumption, movement speed, jumping ability, etc.
• Synthesis!... combining elements into different types of food (read: recipes)
• Food would be synthesized from organics/seeds/whatever comes from animals. <--- this would allow devs to constantly add new recipes, new elements, etc.
• Certain elements would only be available on certain planets, encouraging trade
• Boosts would last a finite amount of time (say, 5 minutes) which encourages players to continue to farm if that's something they want to do.
• Better quality foods would last longer than their lower level counterparts

 

In the end, I would like to see food/farming ADD something to the game, not be a requirement to play it.

Thanks for reading and feel free to tear this idea apart

-JonQ

I agree!!

The game core should be: if you want more, you do more.

you can stay inside your base doing nothing, but if you want to explore you should: build a spaceship so you need to expand your base and so you need resource ti do that.

I really dislike the "I MUST DO this or" way of playing.

[Fly Boy]

1+ to the "survival should not depend on food in astroneer" 

[thatguyonsteam]

+1 for someone whos finally smart on these forums.

[NjalStorm]

i agree about the no food concept, however, i would like the survival / survivability to be,..... harder.  don't know what that magic balance will be, but harder than it is now......

[PROXY SENPAI]

On 1/25/2017 at 5:06 AM, thecarlocarlone said:

I agree!!

The game core should be: if you want more, you do more.

you can stay inside your base doing nothing, but if you want to explore you should: build a spaceship so you need to expand your base and so you need resource ti do that.

I really dislike the "I MUST DO this or" way of playing.

2nd!

[Leftcoast]

I like the idea of food buffs.     I dislike the idea of food not being important.   I also dislike the idea of a tedious hunger cycle like minecraft, which is fun in MC but Astroneer does not need to copy. 

My 2 cents, "hunger" should exist and buffs would be cool for putting in extra effort.  What I think this should be is a general food/starvation bar that is long lasting enough to allow for prolonged game play without worrying about food.  Rather than having a mechanic to eat the food, you just need to get close to a settlement that has food production and like oxygen your food/starvation bar refills. 

I believe that you should have fatal affects for ignoring this at the same time I think it should take a while in game play to become an issue and should not require loading food into your inventory in any way.  It should be done such that it adds more to do (think more modules, one basic and maybe advanced ones, etc) without being a chore like some people feel it is in Minecraft.  Again, I think Astroneer is prime to do this in a fun and unique way that is suited to this game play and that of any other game out there.

 

 

Edited January 27, 2017 by Leftcoast
Grammar and finished an unfinished thought.

[SoulTaker]

2 hours ago, Leftcoast said:

I like the idea of food buffs.     I dislike the idea of food not being important.   I also dislike the idea of a tedious hunger cycle like minecraft, which is fun in MC but Astroneer does not need to copy. 

My 2 cents, "hunger" should exist and buffs would be cool for putting in extra effort.  What I think this should be is a general food/starvation bar that is long lasting enough to allow for prolonged game play without worrying about food.  Rather than having a mechanic to eat the food, you just need to get close to a settlement that has food production and like oxygen your food/starvation bar refills. 

I believe that you should have fatal affects for ignoring this at the same time I think it should take a while in game play to become an issue and should not require loading food into your inventory in any way.  It should be done such that it adds more to do (think more modules, one basic and maybe advanced ones, etc) without being a chore like some people feel it is in Minecraft.  Again, I think Astroneer is prime to do this in a fun and unique way that is suited to this game play and that of any other game out there.

 

 

I think I like this idea the best so far. Beginning of game have to eat food to start off survival then once you have researched the proper modules you have a food source that runs with the tethers. Seems more reasonable than having to drag around food all the time taking up space in the pack. Although if you did decide to go off tether or away from the main base for awhile maybe have a separate container or space in which to keep a little food in the meantime that doesn't take up backpack space.

[thecarlocarlone]

On 27/1/2017 at 5:43 AM, Leftcoast said:

I like the idea of food buffs.     I dislike the idea of food not being important.   I also dislike the idea of a tedious hunger cycle like minecraft, which is fun in MC but Astroneer does not need to copy. 

My 2 cents, "hunger" should exist and buffs would be cool for putting in extra effort.  What I think this should be is a general food/starvation bar that is long lasting enough to allow for prolonged game play without worrying about food.  Rather than having a mechanic to eat the food, you just need to get close to a settlement that has food production and like oxygen your food/starvation bar refills. 

I believe that you should have fatal affects for ignoring this at the same time I think it should take a while in game play to become an issue and should not require loading food into your inventory in any way.  It should be done such that it adds more to do (think more modules, one basic and maybe advanced ones, etc) without being a chore like some people feel it is in Minecraft.  Again, I think Astroneer is prime to do this in a fun and unique way that is suited to this game play and that of any other game out there.

 

 

Speaking of minecraft, I remember that you needed a full hungry bar for running.

So maybe you need to be proprerly feed to do basic things (like running); instead of having the default astroneer + buff when feed, you have a default astroneer IF feed. (maybe for balancing purpoise will be add some buff but that's another story)

[Leftcoast]

Good ideas.  I do like the ideas of buffs for being fed, I also like the idea of making it not a big deal so long as you actually have food set ups going.  I like MC, however I just feel that food in MC would be an annoying chore in the scope of Astroneer where as it makes sense for MC.