Need more food & water per player on multiplayer games, than solo?

[outhous]

It seems like when I play alone food need isn't all that bad, but on multiplayer we are constantly starving. I get my buddy and I are dividing the food we have, but we are also finding more, because there are two of us. Anyone else notice more food consumption on MP vs Solo?

[BFT2020]

19 minutes ago, outhous said:

It seems like when I play alone food need isn't all that bad, but on multiplayer we are constantly starving. I get my buddy and I are dividing the food we have, but we are also finding more, because there are two of us. Anyone else notice more food consumption on MP vs Solo?

Not to be a smartass, but more people = more food consumption

 

Oh what the heck, of course I am being a smartass  😉

 

Remember the game is setup to be a Co-Op game not a single player, so food and gear is balanced around multiple players rather than one.   The loot abundance slider addresses part of it if you slide it downwards to reduce loot for SP, though it has its issues and doesn't affect things like meat harvests.  As the game approaches gold status, they talked about additional sliders to adjust the game more so hopefully some of them can adjust to make the SP experience harder.  Otherwise, we just have to introduce mods ourselves to reduce items in the world if you find there is too much and want a struggle.

[zztong]

5 hours ago, outhous said:

It seems like when I play alone food need isn't all that bad, but on multiplayer we are constantly starving. I get my buddy and I are dividing the food we have, but we are also finding more, because there are two of us. Anyone else notice more food consumption on MP vs Solo?

 

That makes sense to me. The number of piles (food, ammo, meds) in POIs don't scale based on the number of players. Conversely, POIs don't really get any tougher with more players, so you can blaze through them much faster with a team.

 

I never really thought about it, but your observation is likely why I developed a habit of hunting animals for food, foraging for eggs, and building bases near sources of water. Otherwise, you can find POIs picked clean unless you stick strictly to doing quests.

Edited March 3, 2023 by zztong (see edit history)

[outhous]

My observation isn't we need more food because there are two of us in game. It is more that we seem to need more food individually in MP, we get hungry quicker. I joined his game after he had played about a week in game, after about three days in game with both of us he made as statement that before I joined he barely had to eat. After I joined he said that he had to eat way more often. I get we are two bellies to feed, but we loot separately a good bit of the time, so we get more food than looting the same POIs together. 

 

So it isn't that we are not finding enough food. It is that we seem to get hungrier faster in MP than Solo. Just wondering in anyone else noticed the same thing?

[8_Hussars]

5 hours ago, outhous said:

So it isn't that we are not finding enough food. It is that we seem to get hungrier faster in MP than Solo. Just wondering in anyone else noticed the same thing?

I have not noticed a difference.  However, I have noticed that activity level and biome affect food requirements.  I burn more food running in the snow and mining ore than chilling around the campfire in base sorting loot.  Maybe in MP you are just more active for longer periods of time in tougher biomes, due to the comfort level of having some backup.

Edited March 6, 2023 by 8_Hussars (see edit history)

[edyonline]

My wife likes to turn up the loot drop settings. It’s a lot easier.

 

But when I start a world, it’s all default settings. If you do more quests, it helps heaps, checking the whole kitchen, and can find burnt steak in the BBQs. Also there’s the odd water cooler.
 

Then with the extra money, you can check every vending machine you come across. They change stock every day. Can food is usually very cheap, but is a decent food source. Also keep an eye out for the drink with high food and water. And I like to buy key buff foods for my build. Ie beers if I’m a brawler. Or Scull crusher candy for sledge.

 

Then late game you need to be cooking those big dishes. Hobo Stew is great as you can get rid of your rotting flesh. And it provides a huge stamina buff for smashing the next quest.

Now we get enough food,I don’t have to spec farming anymore either. We usually full a whole chest when we start tier 5 questing.

 

Gone are the good old days of contemplating whether or not, we can eat that turd from the toilet.

Edited March 7, 2023 by edyonline (see edit history)

[myrkana]

You have to be conscious of the fact that youll need more food and split things up appropriately. Food is the #1 priority, hunt, loot, etc... With more players you can scavenge more, and specialize more. I play with 1 other person and 1 of us always takes the food perks, get farms up asap and base near a source of water for easy access.

[Roland]

2 hours ago, myrkana said:

You have to be conscious of the fact that youll need more food and split things up appropriately. Food is the #1 priority, hunt, loot, etc... With more players you can scavenge more, and specialize more. I play with 1 other person and 1 of us always takes the food perks, get farms up asap and base near a source of water for easy access.

 

The OP clarified that what he meant is that the food bar seems to him to decay faster in multiplayer than in single player and wants to know if anyone else sees the pink elephants he is seeing.