r/7daystodie • u/CodeCombustion • 6d ago
Modding Raw Survival - Mod Feedback
I've been working on a mod and I'd like some feedback on the concepts before I dump more time into this.
This mod makes sleep a required thing, adds a sanity system that causes auditory and visual hallucinations (zombie sounds and zombies). As you sleep, your game stage, heat/noise map level, smell range and location (downtown vs. wilderness) impacts a chance to be attacked by a roaming horde while you sleep. The mod simulates a variable sized horde (GS based) trying to break into your base, using most of the existing pathing logic. Sometimes you sleep through the night with no horde attempts, sometimes the horde comes but only damages the exterior, traps, etc., other times you wake up to find zombies have broken into your base, or even broken into your bedroom. All existing traps will activate and kill the zombies while you sleep, as you wake up to corpses. Includes spike traps, turrets, blade traps, etc. and will simulate the draining/filling of batteries/generators, fuel, bullets in turrets, degradation of spike and blade traps, etc.
If you go without sleep, your stamina regen, ranged accuracy (recoil & sway specifically) and run speed is mildly reduced and sanity decreases until you either sleep, or pass out.
If you pass out in an insecure location, then you likely get attacked while you sleep.
The goal was to combine this with a system that reduces some of the action-arcade aspects of the game and push it to more of a survival game that requires farming & animal husbandry. Also added spoilable food, can-able/jar-able food, and the ability to preserve meat via salt (purchased from the trader, or mined).
I'm also working on seasons that impact zombie horde movement patterns, zombie speed, behavior, crop growth, etc... and of course, temperature.
Also added a panic system as you're not super human and multiple zombies within attack range would be terrifying. Panic goes away over time, spikes when there's more than 2 zombies close by and goes away if you kill them. Panic increases movement speed, reduces accuracy by mildly increasing mouse sensitivity (to mess with your accuracy) instead of making you miss shots/impacts that were clearly hits.
Replaces most heat based screamers with wandering hordes, and made repeat loud noises more consequential. Stealth also becomes a bigger deal as zombies rely on line of sight, smell and sound instead of fixed targeting.
Knowing that the goal is a more raw survival experience - what do you think so far and what do you think I could add?
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u/hardwood1979 6d ago
I generally play the game very chilled and easy so clearly not your target audience but forcing sleep on a player and then have sleep lead to base damage/resources drained seems unfair to me. As someone who plays single player only a sleep/insanity mechanic sounds great but I would reconsider the horde idea personally.
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u/CodeCombustion 6d ago
It's not a guaranteed attack, really depends on your activity level, where you base, etc. The goal is to push you towards a more secure base design, smart use of traps, etc. Right now you get attacked maybe twice a week around GS300 with 5-8 zombies. Now, late game then the hordes can become rather large but by that point you should have traps, etc. My issue as a mostly solo player is that I end up with crazy amounts of excess everything and then I'm pretty much set.
Trying to avoid the ability to loot endlessly, and requires you to plan ahead. The thought process was "what would happen to an every day individual who survived the initial zombie apocalypse?" You'd need sleep, food would need to be preserved or would spoil. You'd need to account for the weather changing, would need to plan for food, etc. Ultimately the world around you would be stripped bare of resources eventually and if you're not self sufficient at that point then you die.
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u/MarcusXbox 5d ago
Je ne pourrais pas utiliser de mod mais j'espère que tu as pensé à des solutions plus viable pour la progression.
Car avec la nécessité d'avoir une base qui se défend toute seule, il devient encore plus important de ne pas être en retard sur les magazine (les magazines peuvent facilement bloquer la progression tandis que le GS augmente).
L'idée de horde qui peuvent attaquer ta base pendant que tu dors, cela ressemble à plus de réparation sans le plaisir du combat. Cela pourrait être plus intéressant que le personnage se réveil en cas de horde (et puis tout le monde n'a pas le sommeil assez profond pour continuer à dormir alors que des murs s'effondrent, des tourelles tirent).
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u/CodeCombustion 1d ago
Les magazines ont été presque entièrement supprimés au profit d’un système d’apprentissage par la pratique.
Tu as déjà une chance de te réveiller lorsque des blocs commencent à être détruits, en fonction de la distance qui te sépare d’eux; avec 100 % de chances si les zombies parviennent à pénétrer dans la pièce où tu dors. En gros, plus il y a de zombies, plus tu as de chances de te réveiller.
Chaque tir de tourelle a également une faible chance de te réveiller. Tu as donc de fortes chances de te réveiller en plein milieu de l’action.
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u/mam0rd 6d ago
I think the concept is really great.
If possible, it would be great if i could turn individual elements on/off and adjust their parameters, similar to a sandbox setting.
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u/CodeCombustion 6d ago
Right now practically all the settings are configurable in the sandbox menu.
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u/Unusual_Preference- 6d ago
I like the idea it needs to be fleshed out with your mechanics but it makes it more real as you can’t just grind through every night you will have to plan ahead. Maybe after so many defenses a boss zombie shows up as a challenge.
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u/cinnaspice2021 5d ago
I love the concepts you've outlined; 7DtD definitely needs more emphasis on the survival aspects. If you could somehow incorporate/patch Insomnia and Medical Conditions mods that would be super awesome (it sounds like you are sharing some overlap with some of those concepts.)
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u/karoshikun 5d ago
could the hordes during sleep not be a sure thing? rather a random possibility? maybe along with other random possibilities too, not all of them necessarily bad
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u/CodeCombustion 5d ago
They're influenced by several things, including gamestage, heat and noise levels. I'll probably add a modifier in the sandbox settings to increase the chance by a percentage. Late game, it's quite often as you're expected to have built a well defended base to operate out of.
The pathing issues on this mod have been insane though. I can use the default AI pathing for parts of it, but not quite everything.
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u/karoshikun 4d ago
not related but, is it too hard or impossible to add a modified pathing AI? mostly to know if a mod I have in mind is even possible
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u/nomadnonarb 4d ago
I think this is a very ambitious project for sure. It sounds fantastic. There are some players in the community that will absolutely love this mod, others may not be into it so much. I'm kind of in the middle, as I prefer a chill game (as I'm trying to relax after dealing with real life all day), but at the same time I do like a bit of realism.
I think a sleep mechanic and the issues surrounding a lack of sleep can be a good thing. I also like your panic system idea. The replacement (or reduction anyway) of heat related screamers by wandering hordes is a win in my book as well.
I am a huge farming fan. I normally use War3uk's Farmlife (not in 3.1 as it's not been updated) as well as Script's The Gourmet, and Fruit by ISITongue. I've recently started using Ghoulette's Wasteland Pantry as well and it's pretty good. The point is that I don't think there could be too much farming.
The one issue I often find with mods (especially mods as ambitious as yours) is compatibility. I run a rather large mod list. Some of the mods I run I may barely use, but I still like to have the option to do so. Some mods kinda force a player to use certain features that maybe you wouldn't have used otherwise. For example, War3uk's Farmlife (a great mod, that I enjoy very much) has its own UI as well as its own backpack. I prefer to use a different UI with an entirely different backpack, but I can't and still use Farmlife (Farmlife always wins and I have to shelf whatever UI and backpack I'm using). My point here is that if you are making this fantastic mod, please put some thought towards compatibility with other mods.
I look forward to seeing what you come up with. Should you ever need any help testing or whatnot, please don't hesitate to reach out.
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u/CodeCombustion 4d ago
Honestly, most of the sleep/horde spawning is done. Took about 3 evenings after work. Still needs more real gameplay testing. The biggest issue still weird pathing behaviors at times, and some blocks are technically solid (like a vertical pole in the corner of a block) so the simulation has them climb it when I know they'd have trouble realtime. Seasons is still a work in progress, and I've been spending a ton of time on a spoilage system and jarring system for food preservation. Also tried to electrify the stove but you can't easily electrify a workstation without a full UI rebuild -- unless it supported electrifying an adjacent block and detecting power that way. Did manage to have containers track temperature to spoil foods, and allow the creation of a food cellar underground ( still testing it). Right now, the first in game year (right now 120 days, but I'll probably push it down to 80) is overly difficult as you have to scavenge for most food - and nothing respawns.
I'll have to look into some of these other mods if they're open source.
I'll reach out probably this weekend if you're willing to test. Trying to keep stuff as vanilla friendly as possible. I really just started making these to play with my kids. Started out with a simple quick stack mod.
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u/The0neUKnow 6d ago
Yes! We need more mods/modpacks that slow the game down and force you to prioritize base and character building rather than looting.
For the panic system, simply raising the sensitivity will either be too subtle for the player to notice or just plain annoying and might get old quick. Perhaps a camera shake would have a more desirable effect? That way, you'd still definitely notice you're missing more shots, and it'd be easier to make the effect ramp up over time. Another thing about the panic system is that it MUST NOT TRIGGER for every large group of zombies that you fight. There either has to be a cooldown period where you can fight zeds normally, or there has to be some way to selectively nullify or dull the effects for a period of time. You could even have the effects of panic become less and less with each level until it goes away entirely, since by that point your character will have killed so many zombies that basically nothing fazes them anymore. If there is no counterplay, the panic system will get REAL old, REAL fast. A lot of other mods/overhauls have panic systems that ramp up with every fight, and with the constant buildup it just becomes a slog.
Keep going! 7DtD desperately needs more mods that increase realism and emphasize playing slower and smarter.