Womble's Soapbox - Part 6/10 - PVE threats - Update #1 (Patreon)

I've started working on part 6/10 on the series, hoping to produce a first draft for your feedback and thoughts as soon as I can. This chapter is one of the larger analysis chapters, and looks at some of the mechanics of survival sandbox games with many examples.

I'm about two thirds of the way through the necessary voice recording and I'm hoping to have that done by tomorrow. Leading onto audio corrections and then the visuals.

So this video has three distinct talking points

1.) Talk about the PVE challenges involved in survival games and explain how a savvy developer uses these to lead you through the game world like with carrots and sticks, with lots of examples. And explain how this related to DayZ. With loot = carrots, death by zombies = stick. And that the standalone struggling to implement its sticks may have had inforseen consequences.

2.) A look at Rust, which I think is a good example of a game that's really struggled to decide on its carrots and sticks. Having inconsistently implemented rad towns, zombies, loot, experience points, etc. Moving between them so much that Rust's player actions have largely been defined by PVP combat rather than survival sandbox.

3.) Properly representing Bohemia's position on why it took so long to implement the zombies (because I fear that if I don't, I may accidentally create a strawman arguement). And then explain how I fear their quest for a perfect implementation may have tunnel-visioned them a little, when a much more basic implementation would have worked just as well.

This all dove-tails quite nicely into the next chapter. Where I'd like to talk about the moral choices involved in DayZ. And how it's something that survival games should be trying to embrace as one of their main selling points. Something very few of them have been doing.

The work continues. Next update on Friday :)

Lots of love,

Soviet