The case for seasons

CatX · 2019-10-21 07:03:21

There seems to be two main reasons behind the Rift:

- Bring people together
- Create a time of lack -> struggle

However, the rift also has its own issues:

- No surprise when it comes to where you're born
- No sense of winning

Seasons in an open world can solve these issues.

The idea is to have an open world, easier road building (like flat rock mining), and no Eve window.

Then implement two seasons, winter and summer. Summer is the present state in the game. During winter, no food grows, no rabbits can be caught, and you get no eggs from geese, no lambs from sheep. Clothes and fire become extremely important. During summer you have to gather food and hope your family has enough to last through winter. The length of winter and the time between winters can be somewhat random. The need for clothes should be lessened during summer.

If all families die, the world resets.

If they live through winter, all structures remain. All wild plants grow back - milkweed, burdock, bananas, everything. It's a time of abundance.

Here's how it would solve the current issues:

- Bring people together:
In an open world where you're born as Eve, but you have no chance of surviving if you spawn in during winter, you have to find cities with a surplus of food. More roads will help you locate them, even in an infinite world. With the peace mechanics implemented in the game, people should be more eager to build roads than right before the Rift was implemented. Road building will be an important summer activity.

- More variety in lives:
The pre-Rift system offered variety in whether or not you were born into an early village or an old city. With seasons, more variety exists because you might be born in a time of lack or in a time of abundance, forcing you to make different choices. A problem with the pre-Rift world was that people tended to /die in order to have a say in what life they wanted to live. This can either be fixed by giving people the option to be reborn where they last lived, or just keep /die-babies as an accepted part of the game. To give people an option of where to be born is not very different anyway than forcing everyone to live in a very small Rift that makes it easy to return wherever they want to be...

- Creates a time of lack but with a purpose and a win state:
The purpose is to prepare for winter (if summer), or to survive winter, and if you're alive when summer comes it will give you the feeling of having won, even as a new cycle has begun.

Last edited by CatX (2019-10-21 07:04:40)

Saolin · 2019-10-21 17:05:47

I like the seasons idea. How long would a season need to be to feel like an appropriate length? Half an hour?

Melea · 2019-10-21 18:38:11

I would love seasons just for the environmental variation. It doesn't have to be extreme, but just having the world itself be a bit different from this life to another would add a lot of interest imo.

Different world base temperatures, reskin of the ground and trees, maybe different decay and respawn timers based upon season. Seasons, or some other sort of players vs. environment interactions are sorely needed.

Edit - they wouldn't need to mimic normal real-life seasonal lengths either. A game of thrones-esque duration would be fine: a cycle of multiple random-length years (hours) of summer followed by multiple in-game years (hours) of winter.

Last edited by Melea (2019-10-21 18:40:19)

CatX · 2019-10-21 19:01:38

Yes, I think the length could vary. Perhaps the first winter after a reset could be short, like 15 minutes, but then they grow longer with time, making survival ever harder.

Saolin · 2019-10-21 20:28:07

CatX wrote:

Yes, I think the length could vary. Perhaps the first winter after a reset could be short, like 15 minutes, but then they grow longer with time, making survival ever harder.

Ah yes, great idea.

Toxolotl · 2019-10-22 03:43:37

I'd like to first say that i love this idea. But there are some issues i could see by implementing something like this.

- A good amount of assets would need to be made.
- The mechanics of winter could put a cloud around what causes end conditions and worst case could aid griefers looking to end the arc or wipe out families in a vulnerable state.
- Could be a new player killer.

I think aesthetically its brilliant though. More ambient sounds could go a long way as well.

Lum · 2019-10-22 07:50:54

Toxolotl wrote:

- Could be a new player killer.

WOULD be a new player killer.

CatX · 2019-10-22 09:24:12

Lum wrote:

Toxolotl wrote:
- Could be a new player killer.
WOULD be a new player killer.

But isn't that what Jason is creating already? A rift with dwindling resources, where it seems the goal is to make the arc unlivable towards the end. To see what interesting choices the players make in dire situations.

The difference is that in the rift, there is no hope. There is no win condition. There is only the end, and players disagree at what point the rift no longer has any fun to offer, and when everybody should start killing each other in order to end the pain sooner rather than later.

Seasons is the rift (but in an open world) with no hope for a while, but with a win condition: Survive the harsh winter, and summer will return. Unlike the rift, there is purpose in trying to survive.

Last edited by CatX (2019-10-22 09:24:43)

denriguez · 2019-10-22 14:17:30

Fully on board with this idea. I've always been supportive of the rift's objectives, but have never been a fan of the limited map that limits variety. Seasons have been floated numerous times before, but in the context of the rift, scarcity, and win conditions, it makes so much more sense than simple PvE for the sake of PvE.

Imagine if all of the trees lose their leaves in the winter, and you have to keep summer's last fire going all winter! That'd be a high-stakes, high-stress objective for the entire community. Winter would incentivize large-scale summertime building projects so everyone can keep warm when food is scarce.

Yes, it'd be a new-player killer, but really no more than the rift is currently, I think. In fact, there'd be some compelling drama here that I think new players would appreciate: imagine being a new player that spawns into a shivering town that's down to its last few pies. Your mom holds you close, puts on a brave smile, and says "just hold on, baby, we're going to make it." Just as she dies from hunger, leaving you alone with the last pie she saved for you, summer returns just in the nick of time.

Imagine being that starving, shivering family and suddenly a lone rider--a distant cousin--arrives with a horse cart full of food, saving your family. You name your first boy after him and you celebrate his memory with a massive feast when summer returns.

I really like this idea.

Joseph Stalin · 2019-10-22 23:59:42

yeah realistic issues not magical box issues

One Hour One Life Forums

#1 2019-10-21 07:03:21

The case for seasons

#2 2019-10-21 17:05:47

Re: The case for seasons

#3 2019-10-21 18:38:11

Re: The case for seasons

#4 2019-10-21 19:01:38

Re: The case for seasons

#5 2019-10-21 20:28:07

Re: The case for seasons

#6 2019-10-22 03:43:37

Re: The case for seasons

#7 2019-10-22 07:50:54

Re: The case for seasons

#8 2019-10-22 09:24:12

Re: The case for seasons

#9 2019-10-22 14:17:30

Re: The case for seasons

#10 2019-10-22 23:59:42

Re: The case for seasons

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