My dearest ladies, gentlemen, and those that lie outside or between those boundaries, I have come to propose an idea of mine which I hope you find favorable. As we all know, my chaps, the plan for the TGR update has been made public and this includes the future updates after the revamp as well. One of these future updates includes eating food and, naturally, hunger. Here is the Trello with the information if you have not already been acquainted:
Food Items - Fish, fruit, etc. These will be able to be found or bought around the world and can be cooked into dishes that restore even more hunger. Very well-made dishes can even give long-lasting buffs.
I presume that the food and hunger feature serves a purpose to demonstrate the player’s journey and progress that they have made. A sense of time and progression is always a favorable aspect in a game that’s focused on a player’s odyssey, but perhaps we can add on to the idea of “Food Items”.
My suggestion goes like this: the more food you eat when you’re not hungry, the more exacerbated your character becomes. This would be made noticeable from a slight increase to the player’s weight and speed, essentially making them heavier and a bit wider in the gut. Now before I get accused of making a mock suggestion, please hear me out with these two and a half reasons why:
1. Time Mechanic
An increase in your character’s weight would diminish over time as your saturation goes back down to the healthy marker. Therefore, it would add another feature for the player to become aware of his sense of time. The sunsets, the moon rises, vice versa, and you realized that you’re not so slow anymore. My idea for the over-saturation would not be too much of a hinder on the player’s experience, more so, it would be a minuscule change to the player’s stats yet an observation that the player can point out.
2. Game Mechanic
The negligible negative effects of over-saturation could also play as a warning to the player that spamming saturation will not be a way to beat the hunger system. Sure, you may just simply not allow the player to eat anymore, but having a consequence for being greedy and uncivilized can discipline a player to not expect to be able to abuse this game and its features – as the game will play you if you are not careful.
2.5 Sociable Enjoyment (Note, this section is very opinionated and may be skipped if wish)
In Arcane Odyssey, we will have many features that are focused on social activity. Such as guilds or sailing on a ship with a couple of your dearest. A sociable activity would also include eating food with a couple of your shipmates. In the video game “Sea of Thieves” if one were to drink too much grog, they would throw up and it’s very humorous. Throwing up on your pals in the game builds a bond closer and creates a joyous memory. If I were to witness one of my buddies eating all the food on the ship and see his character grow in weight, I would find that humorous. We would have a splendid time and our bond will grow like a very healthy tomato plant.
Extra Details
Eating food that gives great saturation while you are almost full in terms of hunger, will not count as over-saturation. Over-saturation will only occur if you’re also at your limit for saturation; eating more will give the over-saturation effect and has a limit like hunger or saturation has a limit. I want to make clear that going over the saturation limit after eating one food will not completely hinder the player, I think a warning that they need to stop eating could be a feature. Only after they ignore the warning and keep eating, will they face this consequence.
Cons
Above are the pros of my feature, now here are the inevitable cons that I will do my due diligence to answer before anyone’s questioning.
Q: This would simply make the game more challenging and seems pointless/annoying.
A: Au contraire, mes amis, this is an added detail - as many things are - and adds an interesting quirk and quality to the game. Also, the negative effects occur if you go past the saturation limit and will only be challenging if you decide to make it more challenging. The annoyance will only occur if you wish to. It is not a feature that everyone would experience – only those who would seek it out.
Q: This is going to completely ruin the player’s movement.
A: With the weight and speed, I was thinking of a jump height and a run speed that would be slightly but noticeably lower and limited than the norm. Not something that can debilitate the player from performing maneuvers, but something that becomes a nuisance to punish them for their folly. I’m not good with numbers, but I was thinking somewhere between -15% debuff or -5%, again, I am awful with numbers so I have no clue what I’m saying.
Thank you very much for those who read and I will include a summary for those who do not have time nor patience to fully read.
Summary
Over-saturation happens if you eat too much after you hit your saturation limit - a limit that is after your hunger fulfillment - and will negatively affect you in jump and speed. Over-saturation can be viewed as three things: punishment for the player’s greedy curiosity, an active mechanic that gives the player a sense of time, and a feature that can make eating with friends distract us from outside troubles and allows us to have fun with our dearests.
Farewell.
