Trex_Crazy Posted June 4 Report Posted June 4 So being semi-lovecraftian and eldritch truth/horror themed one would expect a sanity mechanic to be likely in the game. Now I do understand that temporal stability is sanity adjacent with how it works, but its negatives and mechanics aren't really sanity like. Since specific, random?, areas just have randomly low stability isn't sanity like. And spawning more dangerous monsters is maybe sanity like but not really. Like looking at monsters drains sanity very slowly. (since itd be in line with the gnawing drain on your mental health beholding these abominations) Or have fake monsters appear/fake monster noises gaslight you at low sanity or something. You all know the sanity tropes. I'm not certain adding another balancing act would be the best for the game, especially people who just want to craft and explore, but moreso I'm just curious if this is something even being thought of being developed.
Demoncyborg Posted June 4 Report Posted June 4 I like that in VS it's not 'looking at monsters' but simply being deep underground that drains your gear. (those random areas can also be temporally stable, even deep underground!) but I think more mechanics around draining your gear could be neat. I do say that as someone who refuses to mine and makes my friends do it though, so not sure how they'd feel about that, lol.
Trex_Crazy Posted June 4 Author Report Posted June 4 1 minute ago, Demoncyborg said: I like that in VS it's not 'looking at monsters' but simply being deep underground that drains your gear. (those random areas can also be temporally stable, even deep underground!) but I think more mechanics around draining your gear could be neat. I do say that as someone who refuses to mine and makes my friends do it though, so not sure how they'd feel about that, lol. Well I'd want it to be its own seperate meter/mechanic. And when I say draining sanity by looking at them I mean, very, very, very slow. Not like amnesia. Id want it to be more of an overarching thing that would, much like many things in vintage story, take a long time. Like being around traders, smelting ore? restoring some sanity or maybe not looking at monsters but taking damage from them if thats a better alternative (since it'd be easy to tell your brain "oh it was super dark and I couldn't make outthe shapes" or "that couldn't have been trueI was just making it scarier than it was" But having to wrench a sharpened spine out of your shoulder isn't so easy to cover up) etc. In relation to having more things drain temporal stability I agree and have some, half baked partially thought through, ideas. What if there was a bell variation that had similar health to the regular one but only spawns one or two low tier drifters. But while its ringing it has an aura that drains temporal stability akin to standing in a rift. Another idea would be an enemy that instead of having the normal metal bits and gears sticking out of it it has temporal gears and fluid tubes in it and its attacks do very little physical damage but do large chunks of temporal stability damage. My idea, that I just had while writing what it does, is that it would have cloth (like locust nests) draping from it and it would float (not fly) which would let it go over fences and whatnot. (Honesty just have it graphically float but the collision box is just a regular one that can climb, so it'd "float" over fences) and would hover over water maybe? With some temporal fluid staining it and gears and fluid tanks sticking out of it. As well as make it tanky and slow. It'd be a wraith sort of thing (whether its a mechanical or living being idk, but living would mean it could have flesh for the objects to stick out of and add to the spook factor) itd only be about the size of the player as well. The idea is that its a risky enemy to fight. Slow and easily kiteable but chunks your temporal stability if it hits you, making it more likely for dangerous monsters to spawn and overwhelm you. Or just kill you with the damage from low stability. And it would have a (comparatively) high chance to drop temporal gears (considering you might need to use one after a fight) but also no chance of dropling rusty gears. (maybe have it hold a temporal blue lantern? idk) 1
Maelstrom Posted June 4 Report Posted June 4 6 hours ago, Trex_Crazy said: So being semi-lovecraftian and eldritch truth/horror themed [emphasis added] Well, let's take a moment and pause on this statement. VS is influenced by Lovecraft's stories (incredibly so, I will add) and the eldritch theme is just that - a theme. I don't think it's accurate to call it sanity in the Lovecraftian sense of sanity. The story devs (and Tyron's implementation of the story) have drawn a great degree of inspiration from Lovecraft, but it is just that; inspiration. The devs have springboarded off of Lovecraft in writing their own version of what Lovecraft called "weird fiction" (which evolved into Lovecraftian horror). If there is any kind of insanity it would be in the time of Jonas' activity. Jonas himself seems to have become, at the very least, of questionable sanity; but the people engaged in his grand design certainly went off the deep end of hero worship. Thanks to Jonas and by extension Tobias' tower, the temporal foundation of the world was ripped apart but seems to be "healing" in that temporal storms are not as bad as they were in the past. Another related anomaly is the rifts and emergence of the drifters.
LadyWYT Posted June 4 Report Posted June 4 3 hours ago, Trex_Crazy said: Well I'd want it to be its own seperate meter/mechanic. And when I say draining sanity by looking at them I mean, very, very, very slow. Not like amnesia. Id want it to be more of an overarching thing that would, much like many things in vintage story, take a long time. Like being around traders, smelting ore? restoring some sanity or maybe not looking at monsters but taking damage from them if thats a better alternative (since it'd be easy to tell your brain "oh it was super dark and I couldn't make outthe shapes" or "that couldn't have been trueI was just making it scarier than it was" But having to wrench a sharpened spine out of your shoulder isn't so easy to cover up) etc. I think this answers the question, really. If the sanity drain is very slow, then it's pretty much going to be worthless as a challenge since the player is going to spend more time around traders or doing domestic chores around the base than they will staring eldritch horrors in the lack-of-face. The drain would need to be higher, or otherwise make it very difficult for the player to restore sanity...neither of which are particularly good options since temporal stability already accomplishes the same thing and plenty of players complain about having to deal with that. That's not to say it's a bad idea, just I don't really think it fits. The eldritch horror is primarily background flavoring and not necessarily the main focus of the game, and adding mechanics like this would probably bring the horror to the forefront a little too much. I think it's better to just keep the monster designs creepy as well as the atmosphere for certain story locations, as appropriate, and just let the player's imagination do the rest. You don't need to force the player to sit at base to restore a meter if you can creep them out enough to voluntarily avoid the horror elements themselves. 1
Trex_Crazy Posted June 4 Author Report Posted June 4 2 hours ago, LadyWYT said: plenty of players complain about having to deal with that. Why...? As it stands I think there should be more drain. About the only thing it seems to accomplish, as of now, is to make me take a short break from mining or stab myself with a gear. Id like if there were more sources of drain and more negatives/punishments for low stability. 2 hours ago, LadyWYT said: like this would probably bring the horror to the forefront a little too much Thats probably a me thing since I love horror, I didn't really consider people not wanting more horror lol. 3 hours ago, Maelstrom said: influenced by Lovecraft's storie Yes I understand it isn't a carbon copy of lovecraft. Also spoilers???? I stoped reading but you should say something before you start writing spoilers. 2 hours ago, LadyWYT said: spend more time around traders or doing domestic chores around the base than they will staring eldritch horrors in the lack-of-face I can see that I suppose, though I like go on long monster hunting trips. Since flax takes awhile to grow (or never in winter) its the next best place to get the stuff. (except a merchant but I'm currently stranded on an island with only a survival goods and treasure hunter)
Maelstrom Posted June 4 Report Posted June 4 25 minutes ago, Trex_Crazy said: Also spoilers???? I stoped reading but you should say something before you start writing spoilers. My apologies. You are correct, I should have spoilered the comments about certain persons generic as I thought they were.
LadyWYT Posted June 4 Report Posted June 4 30 minutes ago, Trex_Crazy said: Why...? As it stands I think there should be more drain. About the only thing it seems to accomplish, as of now, is to make me take a short break from mining or stab myself with a gear. Id like if there were more sources of drain and more negatives/punishments for low stability. I mean I don't entirely disagree that stability could be a little more punishing than it is. As to the "why" players don't like it...I dunno, I'm not one of those players, and the answer will vary depending on who you ask. The general impression that I get though is those players find the mechanic annoying or disruptive and would rather just go about their business than need to plan around it. It's also not uncommon for the complaints to arise from players who didn't understand the stability/didn't pay attention and built their base on an unstable area, or who otherwise found a nice spot they wanted to build but couldn't because the area was unstable. 35 minutes ago, Trex_Crazy said: Thats probably a me thing since I love horror, I didn't really consider people not wanting more horror lol. Yeah I'm not a horror fan. If the game was focused on the horror aspect I probably would never have played it nor recommended it to friends. As it stands, the horror element is fine because it's there as a background element to make the story/environment more interesting, and not there being shoved in the player's face to force a reaction.
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